Hakim-hakim 15:6-8

15:6 The Philistines asked, ¹  “Who did this?” They were told, ²  “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite ³  took Samson’s ⁴  bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. ⁵  15:7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this, ⁶  I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.” ⁷  15:8 He struck them down and defeated them. ⁸  Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.

[15:6]  ¹ tn Or “said.”

[15:6]  ² tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

[15:6]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.

[15:7]  ⁶ tn The Niphal of נָקָם (naqam, “to avenge, to take vengeance”) followed by the preposition ב (bet) has the force “to get revenge against.” See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.

[15:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “and afterward I will stop.”

[15:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.