1:14 One time Acsah 1 came and charmed her father 2 so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”
9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives. 21 He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family, 22
14:5 Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached 28 the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. 29 14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered 30 him and he tore the lion 31 in two with his bare hands 32 as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
1 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “him.” The pronoun could refer to Othniel, in which case one would translate, “she incited him [Othniel] to ask her father for a field.” This is problematic, however, for Acsah, not Othniel, makes the request in v. 15. The LXX has “he [Othniel] urged her to ask her father for a field.” This appears to be an attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency and probably does not reflect the original text. If Caleb is understood as the referent of the pronoun, the problem disappears. For a fuller discussion of the issue, see P. G. Mosca, “Who Seduced Whom? A Note on Joshua 15:18 // Judges 1:14,” CBQ 46 (1984): 18-22. The translation takes Caleb to be the referent, specified as “her father.”
3 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.
5 tn Heb “their fathers.”
6 tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”
7 tn Or “drop.”
5 tn The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21). In this case the
6 tn The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn The words “I [i.e., the
8 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Or “way [of life].”
10 tn “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.
11 tn Or “fathers.”
7 tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.
11 tn Heb “with what.”
12 tn Heb “in my father’s house.”
11 tn Heb “good.”
13 tn Heb “brothers.”
14 tn Heb “to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother.”
15 tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”
17 tn Heb “and he went up.”
18 tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
19 tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”
20 tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”
21 tc The MT reads, “Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When they approached…” Verse 6b states that Samson did not tell his parents about his encounter with the lion (vv. 5b-6a), but v. 5a gives the impression they would have seen the entire episode. One could assume that Samson separated from his parents prior to the lion’s attack, but the Hebrew text does not indicate this. It seems more likely that the words “with his father and his mother” were accidentally copied into the text, perhaps under the influence of v. 4a, where the same phrase appears. An original singular verb (“he approached”) may have been changed to the plural form (“they approached”) after the words “his father and his mother” were accidentally added to the text.
22 tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”
23 tn Heb “rushed on.”
24 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
25 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
26 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
27 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
27 tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”
29 tn Heb “and his concubine.” The pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30 tn Or “was unfaithful to him.” Many have understood the Hebrew verb וַתִּזְנֶה (vattizneh) as being from זָנָה (zanah, “to be a prostitute”), but it may be derived from a root meaning “to be angry; to hate” attested in Akkadian (see HALOT 275 s.v. II זנה).
31 tn Heb “went from him.”
31 tn Heb “and he arose to go.”
32 tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”
33 tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”
34 tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”
35 tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.
36 tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”