Judges 2:18

2:18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people ¹  from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them ²  when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. ³ 

Judges 6:2

6:2 The Midianites ⁴  overwhelmed Israel. ⁵  Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters ⁶  for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

Judges 6:11

Gideon Meets Some Visitors

6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger ⁷  came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon ⁸  was threshing ⁹  wheat in a winepress ¹⁰  so he could hide it from the Midianites. ¹¹ 

Judges 11:33

11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! ¹²  The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. ¹³ 

¹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “the ones oppressing them and afflicting them.” The synonyms “oppressing” and “afflicting” are joined together in the translation as “harsh oppressors” to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.

⁴ tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”

⁵ tn Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”

⁶ tn Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.

⁷ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.

⁸ tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.

⁹ tn Heb “beating out.”

¹⁰ sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.

¹¹ tn Heb “Midian.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”

¹¹ tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”