Judges 8:16

8:16 He seized the leaders ¹  of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then “threshed” the men of Succoth with them. ² 

Judges 9:4

9:4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous ³  men as his followers. ⁴ 

Judges 16:11-12

16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, ⁵  I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ⁶  Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) ⁷  But he tore the ropes ⁸  from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

¹ tn Heb “elders.”

² tc The translation follows the reading of several ancient versions (LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) in assuming the form וַיָּדָשׁ (vayyadash) from the verb דּוֹשׁ (dosh, “thresh”) as in v. 7. The MT reads instead the form וַיֹּדַע (vayyoda’, “make known”), a Hiphil form of יָדַע (yadah). In this case one could translate, “he used them [i.e., the thorns and briers] to teach the men of Succoth a lesson.”

³ tn Heb “empty and reckless.”

⁴ tn Heb “and they followed him.”

⁵ tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”

⁷ tn Heb “are upon you.”

⁸ tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”

⁹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.