5:23 ‘Call judgment down on 3 Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic 4 messenger;
‘Be sure 5 to call judgment down on 6 those who live there,
because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, 7
to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ 8
8:22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.” 14
10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped 15 the Baals.”
11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have 16 you come against me to attack my land?”
13:21 The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger. 17
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn The Hebrew text has “and he went out to the [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew word פַּרְשְׁדֹנָה (parshÿdonah) which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. The noun has the article prefixed and directive suffix. The word may be a technical architectural term, indicating the area into which Ehud moved as he left the king and began his escape. In this case Ehud is the subject of the verb “went out.” The present translation omits the clause, understanding it as an ancient variant of the first clause in v. 23. Some take the noun as “back,” understand “sword” (from the preceding clause) as the subject, and translate “the sword came out his [i.e., Eglon’s] back.” But this rendering is unlikely since the Hebrew word for “sword” (חֶרֶב, kherev) is feminine and the verb form translated “came out” (וַיֵּצֵא, vayyetse’) is masculine. (One expects agreement in gender when the subject is supplied from the preceding clause. See Ezek 33:4, 6.) See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 146-48, for discussion of the options.
3 tn Heb “Curse Meroz.”
4 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
5 tn Heb “Curse, cursing.” The Hebrew construction is emphatic.
6 tn Heb “[to] curse.”
7 tn Heb “to the help of the
8 tn Or “along with the other warriors.”
5 tn Heb “came up.”
6 tn Heb “numerous.”
7 tn Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”
8 tn Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.
7 tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”
9 tn Heb “hand.”
11 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
13 tn Heb “What to me and to you that…?”
15 tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the
17 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
18 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
19 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
19 tn Heb “are upon you.”
20 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
21 tn Heb “and said.”
22 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
21 tn Heb “saw.”
22 tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”
23 tn Heb “her”; the referent is more naturally stated in English as “the pieces.”
24 tn Heb “throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel.”
25 tn Heb “a wicked and disgraceful [thing].”
25 tn Heb “heavy”; or “severe.”
26 tn Heb “And they did not know that touching against them was disaster.”
27 tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”
28 tn Heb “is cursed.”