Judges 1:14

1:14 One time Acsah ¹  came and charmed her father ²  so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

Judges 11:36

11:36 She said to him, “My father, since ³  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ⁴  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ⁵  your enemies, the Ammonites.”

Judges 11:39

11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. ⁶  Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. ⁷ 

Judges 14:6

14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered ⁸  him and he tore the lion ⁹  in two with his bare hands ¹⁰  as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

Judges 19:5-6

19:5 On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave. ¹¹  But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, ¹²  then you can go.” 19:6 So the two of them sat down and had a meal together. ¹³  Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!” ¹⁴ 

Judges 19:8

19:8 He woke up early in the morning on the fifth day so he could leave, but the girl’s father said, “Get some energy. ¹⁵  Wait until later in the day to leave!” ¹⁶  So they ate a meal together.

[1:14]  ¹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ² tn Heb “him.” The pronoun could refer to Othniel, in which case one would translate, “she incited him [Othniel] to ask her father for a field.” This is problematic, however, for Acsah, not Othniel, makes the request in v. 15. The LXX has “he [Othniel] urged her to ask her father for a field.” This appears to be an attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency and probably does not reflect the original text. If Caleb is understood as the referent of the pronoun, the problem disappears. For a fuller discussion of the issue, see P. G. Mosca, “Who Seduced Whom? A Note on Joshua 15:18 // Judges 1:14,” CBQ 46 (1984): 18-22. The translation takes Caleb to be the referent, specified as “her father.”

[11:36]  ³ tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ⁴ tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

[11:36]  ⁵ tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”

[11:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.

[11:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”

[14:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “rushed on.”

[14:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”

[19:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he arose to go.”

[19:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”

[19:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”

[19:6]  ¹² tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”

[19:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.

[19:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”