1:31 The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco or Sidon, 1 nor did they conquer Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob. 2
1:33 The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath. 3 They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites 4 living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.
14:15 On the fourth 6 day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. 7 If you refuse, 8 we will burn up 9 you and your father’s family. 10 Did you invite us here 11 to make us poor?” 12
18:7 So the five men journeyed on 13 and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there 14 were living securely, like the Sidonians do, 15 undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. 16 They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 17
1 map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
2 tn Heb “The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco, the people living in Sidon, Ahlab, Acco, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.”
3 tn Heb “the people living in Beth Shemesh or the people living in Beth Anath.”
4 tn The term “Canaanites” is supplied here both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
5 tn That is, took as its own possession.
7 tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.
8 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
9 tn Heb “lest.”
10 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
11 tn Heb “house.”
12 tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew
13 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
9 tn Or “went.”
10 tn Heb “who were in its midst.”
11 tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”
12 tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”
13 tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’aram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’adam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.
11 tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”
12 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”
13 tn Heb “But you are inactive.”
14 tn Or “be lazy.”
15 tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”