Judges 1:1

Judah Takes the Lead

1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked ¹  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” ² 

Judges 5:19

5:19 Kings came, they fought;

the kings of Canaan fought,

at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, ³ 

but ⁴  they took no silver as plunder.

Judges 6:29

6:29 They said to one another, ⁵  “Who did this?” ⁶  They investigated the matter thoroughly ⁷  and concluded ⁸  that Gideon son of Joash had done it.

¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

² tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”

³ map For location see Map1-D4; Map2-C1; Map4-C2; Map5-F2; Map7-B1.

⁴ tn The contrastive conjunction “but” is interpretive.

⁵ tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”

⁶ tn Heb “this thing.”

⁷ tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.

⁸ tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”