6:28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw 9 the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.
1 tn Heb “encamped.”
2 tn Heb “and he arose to go.”
3 tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”
3 tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.
4 tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”
4 tn The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.
5 tn Heb “The woman came at the turning of the morning and fell at the door of the house of the man where her master was until the light.”
5 tn The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.
6 tn Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.
7 tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”
8 tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”
9 tn Heb “fights for him.”
10 sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.
11 tn Heb “fight for himself.”
12 tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).
8 tn Heb “Look! He and the people who are with him will come out to you, and you will do to him what your hand finds [to do].”
9 tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”
10 tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.
11 tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”
12 tn Heb “were silent.”
13 tn Heb “saying.”
14 tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
15 tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “and he caused [her] to go outside to them.”
12 tn Heb “knew,” in the sexual sense.