Judges 6:19

6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, ¹  along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food ²  to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.

Judges 9:48

9:48 He and all his men ³  went up on Mount Zalmon. He ⁴  took an ax ⁵  in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it ⁶  on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!” ⁷ 

Judges 13:7

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ⁸  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ⁹  For the child will be dedicated ¹⁰  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

Judges 14:18

14:18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?”

He said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer, ¹¹ 

you would not have solved my riddle!”

Judges 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ¹²  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ¹³  for I have been dedicated to God ¹⁴  from the time I was conceived. ¹⁵  If my head ¹⁶  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

¹ tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”

² tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “his people.”

⁴ tn Heb “Abimelech.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”) due to considerations of English style.

⁵ tn The Hebrew text has the plural here.

⁶ tn Heb “he lifted it and put [it].”

⁷ tn Heb “What you have seen me do, quickly do like me.”

⁵ tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.

⁶ tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

⁷ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

⁷ sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.

⁹ tn Heb “all his heart.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

¹¹ 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”).

¹² tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

¹³ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).