Judges 9:8

9:8 “The trees were determined to go out ¹  and choose a king for themselves. ²  They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’ ³ 

Judges 2:17

2:17 But they did not obey ⁴  their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped ⁵  them. They quickly turned aside from the path ⁶  their ancestors ⁷  had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. ⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “Going they went, the trees.” The precise emphatic force of the infinitive absolute (“Going”) is not entirely clear. Perhaps here it indicates determination, as in Gen 31:30, where one might translate, “You have insisted on going away.”

² tn Heb “to anoint [with oil] over them a king.”

³ tn Or “Rule over us!”

⁴ tn Or “did not listen to.”

⁵ tn Or “bowed before.”

⁶ tn Or “way [of life].”

⁷ tn Or “fathers.”

⁸ tn Heb “…walked, obeying the Lord’s commands. They did not do this.”