Judges 1:7

1:7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick up¹ food scraps² under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them.”³ They brought him to Jerusalem,⁴ where he died.

Judges 2:12

2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors⁵ who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped⁶ them and made the Lord angry.

Judges 2:17

2:17 But they did not obey⁷ their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped⁸ them. They quickly turned aside from the path⁹ their ancestors¹⁰ had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not.¹¹

Judges 3:20

3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated¹² upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God¹³ for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat,¹⁴

Judges 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him,¹⁵ “Must you fight Baal’s battles?¹⁶ Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause¹⁷ will die by morning!¹⁸ If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles!¹⁹ After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.”²⁰

Judges 8:3

8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?”²¹ When he said this, they calmed down.²²

Judges 9:7

Jotham’s Parable

9:7 When Jotham heard the news,²³ he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below,²⁴ “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!

Judges 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son.²⁵ You must never cut his hair,²⁶ for the child will be dedicated to God²⁷ from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power²⁸ of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:7

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son.²⁹ So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.³⁰ For the child will be dedicated³¹ to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

Judges 15:19

15:19 So God split open the basin³² at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength³³ was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring³⁴ En Hakkore.³⁵ It remains in Lehi to this very day.

Judges 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret.³⁶ He said to her, “My hair has never been cut,³⁷ for I have been dedicated to God³⁸ from the time I was conceived.³⁹ If my head⁴⁰ were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

Judges 18:10

18:10 When you invade,⁴¹ you will encounter⁴² unsuspecting people. The land is wide!⁴³ God is handing it over to you – a place that lacks nothing on earth!”⁴⁴

¹tn Elsewhere this verb usually carries the sense of “to gather; to pick up; to glean,” but “lick up” seems best here in light of the peculiar circumstances described by Adoni-Bezek.

²tn The words “food scraps” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

³tn Heb “Just as I did, so God has repaid me.” Note that the phrase “to them” has been supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.

⁴map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁵tn Or “fathers.”

⁶tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).

⁹tn Or “did not listen to.”

¹⁰tn Or “bowed before.”

¹¹tn Or “way [of life].”

¹²tn Or “fathers.”

¹³tn Heb “…walked, obeying the Lord’s commands. They did not do this.”

¹³tn Or “cool.” This probably refers to a room with latticed windows which allowed the breeze to pass through. See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 144.

¹⁴tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”

¹⁵tn Or “throne.”

¹⁷tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

¹⁸tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

¹⁹tn Heb “fights for him.”

²⁰sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.

²¹tn Heb “fight for himself.”

²²tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).

²¹tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”

²²tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”

²⁵tn Heb “And they reported to Jotham.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

²⁶tn Heb “He lifted his voice and called and said to them.”

²⁹tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.

³⁰tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”

³¹tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

³²tn Heb “hand.”

³³tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.

³⁴tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

³⁵tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

³⁷tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.

³⁸tn Heb “spirit.”

³⁹tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴⁰sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”

⁴¹tn Heb “all his heart.”

⁴²tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

⁴³tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

⁴⁴tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

⁴⁵tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).

⁴⁵tn Heb “When you enter.”

⁴⁶tn Heb “you will come to.”

⁴⁷tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”

⁴⁸tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”