Judges 2:4

2:4 When the Lord’s messenger finished speaking these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.¹

Judges 9:30

9:30 When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious.²

Judges 13:12

13:12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true,³ how should the child be raised and what should he do?”⁴

Judges 5:29

5:29 The wisest of her ladies⁵ answer;

indeed she even thinks to herself,

Judges 16:16

16:16 She nagged him⁶ every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it.⁷

Judges 11:11

11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement⁸ before the Lord in Mizpah.

Judges 13:17

13:17 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.”⁹

Judges 11:28

11:28 But the Ammonite king disregarded¹⁰ the message sent by Jephthah.¹¹

Judges 9:3

9:3 His mother’s relatives¹² spoke on his behalf to¹³ all the leaders of Shechem and reported his proposal.¹⁴ The leaders were drawn to Abimelech;¹⁵ they said, “He is our close relative.”¹⁶

Judges 11:10

11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us,¹⁷ if we do not do as you say.”¹⁸

Judges 15:17

15:17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down¹⁹ and named that place Ramath Lehi.²⁰

Judges 16:10

16:10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived²¹ me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.”

Judges 8:1

8:1 The Ephraimites said to him, “Why have you done such a thing to us? You did not summon us²² when you went to fight the Midianites!” They argued vehemently with him.

Judges 9:38

9:38 Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words,²³ ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men²⁴ you insulted?²⁵ Go out now and fight them!”

Judges 16:13

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 hair²⁶ into the fabric on the loom²⁷ and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹tn Heb “lifted their voices and wept.”

²tn Heb “his anger burned.”

³tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”

⁴tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”

⁴tn Or “princesses.”

⁵tn Heb “forced him with her words.”

⁶tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”

⁶tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.

⁷tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.

⁸tn Heb “did not listen to.”

⁹tn Heb “Jephthah’s words which he sent to him.”

⁹tn Heb “brothers.”

¹⁰tn Heb “into the ears of.”

¹¹tn Heb “and all these words.”

¹²tn Heb “Their heart was inclined after Abimelech.”

¹³tn Heb “our brother.”

¹⁰tn Heb “The Lord will be the one who hears between us.” For the idiom שָׁמַע בַּיִן (shama’ bayin, “to hear between”), see Deut 1:16.

¹¹sn The Lord will judge…if we do not do as you say. The statement by the leaders of Gilead takes the form of a legally binding oath, which obligates them to the terms of the agreement.

¹¹tn Heb “from his hand.”

¹²sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”

¹²tn See Gen 31:7; Exod 8:29 [8:25 HT]; Job 13:9; Isa 44:20; Jer 9:4 for other uses of this Hebrew word (II תָּלַל, talal), which also occurs in v. 13.

¹³tn Heb “by not summoning us.”

¹⁴tn Heb “is your mouth that says.”

¹⁵tn Heb “the people.”

¹⁶tn Or “despised.”

¹⁵tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.

¹⁶tn 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.