Judges 4:9

4:9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame ¹  on the expedition you are undertaking, ²  for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman.” ³  Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Judges 6:22

6:22 When Gideon realized ⁴  that it was the Lord’s messenger, he ⁵  said, “Oh no! ⁶  Master, Lord! ⁷  I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!”

Judges 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. ⁸  You must never cut his hair, ⁹  for the child will be dedicated to God ¹⁰  from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power ¹¹  of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:16

13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, ¹²  I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.) ¹³ 

Judges 14:3

14:3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our ¹⁴  people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” ¹⁵  But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, ¹⁶  because she is the right one for me.” ¹⁷ 

Judges 16:18

16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, ¹⁸  she sent for ¹⁹  the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me ²⁰  his secret.” ²¹  So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.

¹ tn Or “honor.”

² tn Heb “on [account of (?)] the way which you are walking.” Another option is to translate, “due to the way you are going about this.” In this case direct reference is made to Barak’s hesitancy as the reason for his loss of glory.

³ tn Heb “for into the hands of a woman the Lord will sell Sisera.”

⁴ tn Heb “saw.”

⁵ tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Or “Ah!”

⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15], Lord”).

⁷ tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.

⁸ tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”

⁹ tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

¹⁰ tn Heb “hand.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “If you detain me.”

¹¹ tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the messenger represented the Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the Lord’s messenger, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, yÿhvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s messenger” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ’adonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).

¹³ tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.

¹⁴ tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”

¹⁵ tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.

¹⁶ tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “all his heart.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”

¹⁸ tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).

¹⁹ tn Heb “all his heart.”