1 tn Or “were determined.”
2 tn Or “Mount Heres”; the term הַר (har) means “mount” or “mountain” in Hebrew.
3 tn Heb “Whenever the hand of the tribe of Joseph was heavy.”
4 tn The Hebrew term גֹּמֶד (gomed) denotes a unit of linear measure, perhaps a cubit (the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger – approximately 18 inches [45 cm]). Some suggest it is equivalent to the short cubit (the distance between the elbow and the knuckles of the clenched fist – approximately 13 inches [33 cm]) or to the span (the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the little finger in a spread hand – approximately 9 inches [23 cm]). See BDB 167 s.v.; HALOT 196 s.v.; B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 142.
7 tn Heb “Sisera.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Or “summoned.”
10 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
11 tn Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”
12 tn Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.
13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”
15 tn Heb “perform for me.”
16 tn Heb “The
19 tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”
20 tn Heb “this thing.”
21 tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.
22 tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”
22 tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”
25 tn Heb “gleanings.”
26 sn Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim’s mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon’s family.
28 tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
29 tn Heb “places them before me.”
30 tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.
31 tn Heb “came to.”
32 tn Heb “the woman.”
33 tn Heb “I [am].”
34 tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”
35 tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”
37 tn Heb “and he went up.”
38 tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
40 tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.
43 tn Heb “heavy”; or “severe.”
44 tn Heb “And they did not know that touching against them was disaster.”
46 tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”
49 tn Heb “And this is the thing that you will do.”
50 tn Heb “every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male.”
51 tc Some Greek witnesses (notably Codex Vaticanus [B]) add the words, “‘But the virgins you should keep alive.’ And they did so.” These additional words, which probably represent the original Hebrew text, can be retroverted: וְאֶת־הַבְּתוּלוֹת תְּחַיּוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן (ve’et-habbÿtulot tÿkhayyu vayya’asu khen). It is likely that a scribe’s eye jumped from the vav (ו) on וְאֶת (vÿ’et) to the initial vav of v. 11, accidentally leaving out the intervening letters. The present translation is based on this reconstruction.
52 tn Or “elders.”
53 tn Heb “What should we do for the remaining ones concerning wives?”