Judges 5:30

5:30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder ¹  –

a girl or two for each man to rape! ² 

Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, ³ 

he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, ⁴ 

two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,

for the neck of the plunderer!’ ⁵ 

Judges 16:24

16:24 When the people saw him, ⁶  they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” ⁷ 

Exodus 14:3

14:3 Pharaoh will think ⁸  regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused ⁹  in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ ¹⁰ 

Exodus 14:5

14:5 When it was reported ¹¹  to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, ¹²  the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, ¹³  “What in the world have we done? ¹⁴  For we have released the people of Israel ¹⁵  from serving us!”

Exodus 14:1

The Victory at the Red Sea

14:1 ¹⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses:

Exodus 4:5

4:5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Job 20:5

20:5 that the elation of the wicked is brief, ¹⁷ 

the joy of the godless ¹⁸  lasts but a moment. ¹⁹ 

Micah 7:8

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ²⁰  do not gloat ²¹  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ²² 

[5:30]  ¹ tn Heb “Are they not finding, dividing the plunder?”

[5:30]  ² tn Heb “a womb or two for each man.” The words “to rape” are interpretive. The Hebrew noun translated “girl” means literally “womb” (BDB 933 s.v. I. רַחַם), but in this context may refer by extension to the female genitalia. In this case the obscene language of Sisera’s mother alludes to the sexual brutality which typified the aftermath of battle.

[5:30]  ³ tn Heb “the plunder of dyed cloth is for Sisera.”

[5:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “the plunder of embroidered cloth.”

[5:30]  ⁵ tn The translation assumes an emendation of the noun (“plunder”) to a participle, “plunderer.”

[16:24]  ⁶ tn Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see C. F. Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon.

[16:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “multiplied our dead.”

[14:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “and Pharaoh will say.”

[14:3]  ⁹ sn The word translated “wandering around confused” indicates that Pharaoh thought the Israelites would be so perplexed and confused that they would not know which way to turn in order to escape – and they would never dream of crossing the sea (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 115).

[14:3]  ¹⁰ tn The expression has also been translated “the desert has shut [the way] for them,” and more freely “[the Israelites are] hemmed in by the desert.”

[14:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and it was told.” The present translation uses “reported,” since this involves information given to a superior.

[14:5]  ¹² tn The verb must be given a past perfect translation because the fleeing occurred before the telling.

[14:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they said.” The referent (the king and his servants) is supplied for clarity.

[14:5]  ¹⁴ tn The question literally is “What is this we have done?” The demonstrative pronoun is used as an enclitic particle for emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[14:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “released Israel.” By metonymy the name of the nation is used collectively for the people who constitute it (the Israelites).

[14:1]  ¹⁶ sn The account recorded in this chapter is one of the best known events in all of Scripture. In the argument of the book it marks the division between the bondage in Egypt and the establishment of the people as a nation. Here is the deliverance from Egypt. The chapter divides simply in two, vv. 1-14 giving the instructions, and vv. 15-31 reporting the victory. See among others, G. Coats, “History and Theology in the Sea Tradition,” ST 29 (1975): 53-62); A. J. Ehlen, “Deliverance at the Sea: Diversity and Unity in a Biblical Theme,” CTM 44 (1973): 168-91; J. B. Scott, “God’s Saving Acts,” The Presbyterian Journal 38 (1979): 12-14; W. Wifall, “The Sea of Reeds as Sheol,” ZAW 92 (1980): 325-32.

[20:5]  ¹⁷ tn The expression in the text is “quite near.” This indicates that it is easily attained, and that its end is near.

[20:5]  ¹⁸ tn For the discussion of חָנֵף (khanef, “godless”) see Job 8:13.

[20:5]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase is “until a moment,” meaning it is short-lived. But see J. Barr, “Hebrew ’ad, especially at Job 1:18 and Neh 7:3,” JSS 27 (1982): 177-88.

[7:8]  ²⁰ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ²¹ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ²² sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.