Hakim-hakim 10:14-18

10:14 Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!” ¹  10:15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, ²  but deliver us today!” ³  10:16 They threw away the foreign gods they owned ⁴  and worshiped ⁵  the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much. ⁶ 

An Outcast Becomes a General

10:17 The Ammonites assembled ⁷  and camped in Gilead; the Israelites gathered together and camped in Mizpah. 10:18 The leaders ⁸  of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge ⁹  against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”

[10:14]  ¹ tn Heb “in your time of trouble.”

[10:15]  ² tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”

[10:15]  ³ sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”

[10:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “from their midst.”

[10:16]  ⁵ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “And his spirit grew short [i.e., impatient] with the suffering of Israel.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) also appears as the subject of the verb קָצַר (qatsar) in Num 21:4 (the Israelites grow impatient wandering in the wilderness), Judg 16:16 (Samson grows impatient with Delilah’s constant nagging), and Zech 11:8 (Zechariah grows impatient with the three negligent “shepherds”).

[10:17]  ⁷ tn Or “were summoned;” or “were mustered.”

[10:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “the people, the officers.”

[10:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “Who is the man who will begin fighting.”