12:1 The Ephraimites assembled 3 and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight 4 with the Ammonites without asking 5 us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” 6
19:22 They were having a good time, 13 when suddenly 14 some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, 15 surrounded the house and kept beating 16 on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.” 17
1 tn Heb “and Zebul his appointee.”
2 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abimelech) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”
4 tn Heb “cross over to fight.”
5 tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”
6 tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”
5 tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”
6 tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”
7 tn Heb “crossed over to.”
8 tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “dedicating, I dedicate.” In this case the emphatic infinitive absolute lends a mood of solemnity to the statement.
8 tn Heb “to the LORD from my hand for my son to make a carved image and cast metal image.” She cannot mean that she is now taking the money from her hand and giving it back to her son so he can make an image. Verses 4-6 indicate she took back the money and used a portion of it to hire a silversmith to make an idol for her son to use. The phrase “a carved image and cast metal image” is best taken as referring to two idols (see 18:17-18), even though the verb at the end of v. 4, וַיְהִי (vayÿhi, “and it was [in the house of Micah]”), is singular.
9 tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”
10 tn Heb “and look.”
11 tn Heb “the men of the city, men, the sons of wickedness.” The phrases are in apposition; the last phrase specifies what type of men they were. It is not certain if all the men of the city are in view, or just a group of troublemakers. In 20:5 the town leaders are implicated in the crime, suggesting that all the men of the city were involved. If so, the implication is that the entire male population of the town were good-for-nothings.
12 tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.
13 tn Heb “so we can know him.” On the surface one might think they simply wanted to meet the visitor and get to know him, but their hostile actions betray their double-talk. The old man, who has been living with them long enough to know what they are like, seems to have no doubts about the meaning of their words (see v. 23).
11 tn Heb “standing before him.”
12 tn Heb “I” (collective singular).
13 tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).
14 tn Heb “I” (collective singular).
15 tn Heb “him” (collective singular).
13 tn Heb “went out to meet.”
14 tn Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.”
15 tn Heb “from the army wounded ones.”
16 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
17 tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
15 tn Heb “A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the Lord at Mizpah, saying, ‘He must surely be put to death.’”