Judges 1:1

Judah Takes the Lead

1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked ¹  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” ² 

Judges 11:5-8

11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, ³  the leaders ⁴  of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back ⁵  from the land of Tob. 11:6 They said, ⁶  “Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.” 11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave ⁷  my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?” 11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ⁸  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ⁹  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ¹⁰  of all who live in Gilead.” ¹¹ 

Isaiah 3:1-8

A Coming Leadership Crisis

3:1 Look, the sovereign Lord who commands armies ¹² 

is about to remove from Jerusalem ¹³  and Judah

every source of security, including ¹⁴ 

all the food and water, ¹⁵ 

3:2 the mighty men and warriors,

judges and prophets,

omen readers and leaders, ¹⁶ 

3:3 captains of groups of fifty,

the respected citizens, ¹⁷ 

advisers and those skilled in magical arts, ¹⁸ 

and those who know incantations.

3:4 The Lord says, ¹⁹  “I will make youths their officials;

malicious young men ²⁰  will rule over them.

3:5 The people will treat each other harshly;

men will oppose each other;

neighbors will fight. ²¹ 

Youths will proudly defy the elderly

and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ²² 

3:6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother

right in his father’s house ²³  and say, ²⁴ 

‘You own a coat –

you be our leader!

This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ ²⁵ 

3:7 At that time ²⁶  the brother will shout, ²⁷ 

‘I am no doctor, ²⁸ 

I have no food or coat in my house;

don’t make me a leader of the people!’”

3:8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles,

Judah falls,

for their words and their actions offend the Lord; ²⁹ 

they rebel against his royal authority. ³⁰ 

Isaiah 34:12

34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom

and all her officials will disappear. ³¹ 

[1:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”

[11:5]  ³ tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”

[11:5]  ⁴ tn Or “elders.”

[11:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “went to take Jephthah.”

[11:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “to Jephthah.”

[11:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

[11:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).

[11:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.

[11:8]  ¹⁰ sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.

[11:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”

[3:1]  ¹² tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.

[3:1]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “support and support.” The masculine and feminine forms of the noun are placed side-by-side to emphasize completeness. See GKC 394 §122.v.

[3:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all the support of food, and all the support of water.”

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “elder” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NCV “older leaders.”

[3:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the ones lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.

[3:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the wise with respect to magic.” On the meaning of חֲרָשִׁים (kharashim, “magic”), see HALOT 358 s.v. III חרשׁ. Some understand here a homonym, meaning “craftsmen.” In this case, one could translate, “skilled craftsmen” (cf. NIV, NASB).

[3:4]  ¹⁹ tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The prophet speaks in vv. 1-3 (note the third person reference to the Lord in v. 1), but here the Lord himself announces that he will intervene in judgment. It is unclear where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s pick up again. The prophet is apparently speaking again by v. 8, where the Lord is referred to in the third person. Since vv. 4-7 comprise a thematic unity, the quotation probably extends through v. 7.

[3:4]  ²⁰ tn תַעֲלוּלִים (ta’alulim) is often understood as an abstract plural meaning “wantonness, cruelty” (cf. NLT). In this case the chief characteristic of these leaders is substituted for the leaders themselves. However, several translations make the parallelism tighter by emending the form to עוֹלְלִים (’olÿlim, “children”; cf. ESV, NASB, NCV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV). This emendation is unnecessary for at least two reasons. The word in the MT highlights the cruelty or malice of the “leaders” who are left behind in the wake of God’s judgment. The immediate context makes clear the fact that they are mere youths. The coming judgment will sweep away the leaders, leaving a vacuum which will be filled by incompetent, inexperienced youths.

[3:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “man against man, and a man against his neighbor.”

[3:5]  ²² tn Heb “and those lightly esteemed those who are respected.” The verb רָהַב (rahav) does double duty in the parallelism.

[3:6]  ²³ tn Heb “[in] the house of his father” (so ASV); NIV “at his father’s home.”

[3:6]  ²⁴ tn The words “and say” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your hand”; NASB “under your charge.”

[3:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[3:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he will lift up [his voice].”

[3:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “wrapper [of wounds]”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “healer.”

[3:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for their tongue and their deeds [are] to the Lord.”

[3:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to rebel [against] the eyes of his majesty.” The word כָּבוֹד (kavod) frequently refers to the Lord’s royal splendor that is an outward manifestation of his authority as king.

[34:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”