13:6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God 24 came to me! He looked like God’s angelic messenger – he was very awesome. 25 I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. 26 So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. 27 For the child will be dedicated 28 to God from birth till the day he dies.’”
16:13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair 35 into the fabric on the loom 36 and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.”
16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me? 37 Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.”
1 tn 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.
2 tn The words “food scraps” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
3 tn 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.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn Or “returned” (i.e., to Eglon’s palace).
6 tn The words “when he reached” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text simply reads “from.”
7 tn Or “idols.”
8 tn The words “to Eglon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Or “Hush!”
9 tn 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.
10 tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”
11 tn Or “throne.”
13 tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
14 tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
15 tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
17 tn The Hebrew text adds, “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
18 tn The Hebrew text adds, “concerning me.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
21 tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
22 tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the
23 tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”
25 tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”
26 tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity – I and my friends.”
29 tn Heb “The man of God.”
30 tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome.”
33 tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.
34 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
35 tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”
37 tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.
38 tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”
39 tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.
40 tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”
41 tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”
42 tn Heb “changes.”
45 tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.
46 tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.
49 tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”
53 tn Heb “all his heart.”
54 tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”
55 tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).
56 tn Heb “all his heart.”
57 tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).
58 tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.
61 tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.
62 tc Some Hebrew