Judges 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹  You must never cut his hair, ²  for the child will be dedicated to God ³  from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power ⁴  of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:7-8

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ⁵  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ⁶  For the child will be dedicated ⁷  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, ⁸  “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God ⁹  to visit ¹⁰  us again, so he can teach ¹¹  us how we should raise ¹²  the child who will be born.”

Judges 18:3

18:3 As they approached ¹³  Micah’s house, they recognized the accent ¹⁴  of the young Levite. So they stopped ¹⁵  there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ¹⁶ 

Judges 19:3

19:3 her husband came ¹⁷  after her, hoping he could convince her to return. ¹⁸  He brought with him his servant ¹⁹  and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly. ²⁰ 

Judges 19:9

19:9 When the man got ready to leave ²¹  with his concubine and his servant, ²²  his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over! ²³  Stay another night! Since the day is over, ²⁴  stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.” ²⁵ 

Judges 19:11

19:11 When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late ²⁶  and the servant ²⁷  said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at ²⁸  this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”

Judges 19:19

19:19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant, ²⁹  and the young man who is with your servants. ³⁰  We lack nothing.”

¹ tn 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.

² tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”

³ tn 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”).

⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

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

⁶ tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

⁷ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the man of God.”

¹¹ tn Heb “come to.”

¹² tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (vi’irenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (vÿyorenu, “to teach”).

¹³ tn Heb “what we should do for.”

¹³ tn Or “When they were near.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).

¹⁵ tn Heb “turned aside.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”

¹⁷ tn Heb “arose and came.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”

¹⁹ tn Or “young man.”

²⁰ tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”

²¹ tn Heb “the man arose to go.”

²² tn Or “young man.”

²³ tn Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”

²⁴ tn Or “declining.”

²⁵ tn Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”

²⁵ tn Heb “and the day was descending greatly.”

²⁶ tn Or “young man.”

²⁷ tn Heb “turn aside” (also in the following verse).

²⁹ tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.

³⁰ tc Some Hebrew mss and ancient witnesses read the singular, “your servant,” which would refer to the Levite. If one retains the plural, then both the Levite and his wife are in view. In either case the pronominal suffix emphasizes their dependence on the old man for shelter.