Judges 13:7

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ²  For the child will be dedicated ³  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

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, ⁴  and the young man who is with your servants. ⁵  We lack nothing.”

¹ tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.

² tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

³ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

⁴ tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.

⁵ 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.