3:24 When Ehud had left, Eglon’s 1 servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself 2 in the well-ventilated inner room.” 3
5:8 God chose new leaders, 4
then fighters appeared in the city gates; 5
but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, 6
among forty military units 7 in Israel.
13:21 The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger. 21
The Israelites retreated before 30 Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah.
1 tn Heb “his.”
2 tn Heb “covering his feet” (i.e., with his outer garments while he relieves himself).
3 tn The Hebrew expression translated “well-ventilated inner room” may refer to the upper room itself or to a bathroom attached to or within it.
1 tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.
2 tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)
3 tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).
4 tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (’elef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).
1 tn Or “look.”
1 tn Heb “his people.”
2 tn Heb “And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city.”
3 tn Heb “he arose against them and struck them.”
1 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).
2 tn Heb “Look, you.”
3 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
1 tn Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “Look.”
3 tn Heb “came to.”
1 tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the
1 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
2 tn Heb “on their faces.”
1 tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the
1 tn Heb “and he went up.”
2 tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
1 tn Heb “get.”
2 tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees…”
1 tn Heb “house.”
1 tn Heb “saw.”
2 tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”
1 tn Heb “the man, the traveler.”
1 tn Heb “gave place to.”