Judges 2:10

2:10 That entire generation passed away;¹ a new generation grew up² that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.³

Judges 3:9

3:9 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he⁴ raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued⁵ them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.⁶

Judges 3:15

3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he⁷ raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.⁸ The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment.⁹

Judges 3:20

3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated¹⁰ upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God¹¹ for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat,¹²

Judges 8:21

8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon,¹³ “Come on,¹⁴ you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.”¹⁵ So Gideon killed¹⁶ Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.

Judges 16:3

16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left.¹⁷ He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all.¹⁸ He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.¹⁹

Judges 19:3

19:3 her husband came²⁰ after her, hoping he could convince her to return.²¹ He brought with him his servant²² 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.²³

Judges 19:9

19:9 When the man got ready to leave²⁴ with his concubine and his servant,²⁵ his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over!²⁶ Stay another night! Since the day is over,²⁷ stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.”²⁸

¹tn Heb “All that generation were gathered to their fathers.”

²tn Heb “arose after them.”

³tn Heb “that did not know the Lord or the work which he had done for Israel.” The expressions “personally experienced” and “seen” are interpretive.

⁴tn Heb “the Lord.”

⁵tn Or “delivered.”

⁶tn “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb’s nephew).

⁷tn Heb “the Lord.” This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸tn The phrase, which refers to Ehud, literally reads “bound/restricted in the right hand,” apparently a Hebrew idiom for a left-handed person. See Judg 20:16, where 700 Benjaminites are described in this way. Perhaps the Benjaminites purposely trained several of their young men to be left-handed warriors by restricting the use of the right hand from an early age so the left hand would become dominant. Left-handed men would have a distinct military advantage, especially when attacking city gates. See B. Halpern, “The Assassination of Eglon: The First Locked-Room Murder Mystery,” BRev 4 (1988): 35.

⁹tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”

¹⁰tn 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.

¹¹tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”

¹²tn Or “throne.”

¹³tn The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁴tn Or “Arise.”

¹⁵tn Heb “for as the man is his strength.”

¹⁶tn Heb “arose and killed.”

¹⁶tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”

¹⁷tn Heb “with the bar.”

¹⁸tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”

¹⁹tn Heb “arose and came.”

²⁰tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”

²¹tn Or “young man.”

²²tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”

²²tn Heb “the man arose to go.”

²³tn Or “young man.”

²⁴tn Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”

²⁵tn Or “declining.”

²⁶tn Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”