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 11:1-40

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ³  11:2 Gilead’s wife also gave ⁴  him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, ⁵  because you are another woman’s son.” 11:3 So Jephthah left ⁶  his half-brothers ⁷  and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. ⁸ 

11:4 It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel. 11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, ⁹  the leaders ¹⁰  of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back ¹¹  from the land of Tob. 11:6 They said, ¹²  “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 ¹³  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, ¹⁴  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ¹⁵  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ¹⁶  of all who live in Gilead.” ¹⁷  11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! ¹⁸  If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, ¹⁹  I will be your leader.” ²⁰  11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, ²¹  if we do not do as you say.” ²²  11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement ²³  before the Lord in Mizpah.

Jephthah Gives a History Lesson

11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have ²⁴  you come against me to attack my land?” 11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ²⁵  my land when they ²⁶  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ²⁷  Now return it ²⁸  peaceably!”

11:14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king 11:15 and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal ²⁹  the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites. 11:16 When they left ³⁰  Egypt, Israel traveled ³¹  through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh. 11:17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us ³²  to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. ³³  Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. ³⁴  So Israel stayed at Kadesh. 11:18 Then Israel ³⁵  went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; ³⁶  they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border). 11:19 Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.” ³⁷  11:20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He ³⁸  assembled his whole army, ³⁹  camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. 11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took ⁴⁰  all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land. 11:22 They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west. ⁴¹  11:23 Since ⁴²  the Lord God of Israel has driven out ⁴³  the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? ⁴⁴  11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us. ⁴⁵  11:25 Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them? ⁴⁶  11:26 Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time? 11:27 I have not done you wrong, ⁴⁷  but you are doing wrong ⁴⁸  by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’” 11:28 But the Ammonite king disregarded ⁴⁹  the message sent by Jephthah. ⁵⁰ 

A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter

11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered ⁵¹  Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went ⁵²  to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. ⁵³  11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 11:31 then whoever is the first to come through ⁵⁴  the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he ⁵⁵  will belong to the Lord and ⁵⁶  I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.” 11:32 Jephthah approached ⁵⁷  the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. 11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! ⁵⁸  The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. ⁵⁹ 

11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out ⁶⁰  to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. ⁶¹  She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. 11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! ⁶²  You have brought me disaster! ⁶³  I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” ⁶⁴  11:36 She said to him, “My father, since ⁶⁵  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ⁶⁶  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ⁶⁷  your enemies, the Ammonites.” 11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. ⁶⁸  For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” ⁶⁹  11:38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave ⁷⁰  for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills. ⁷¹  11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. ⁷²  Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. ⁷³  11:40 Every year ⁷⁴  Israelite women commemorate ⁷⁵  the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. ⁷⁶ 

Judges 18:1-31

The Tribe of Dan Finds an Inheritance

18:1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place ⁷⁷  to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel. ⁷⁸  18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, ⁷⁹  capable men ⁸⁰  from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house. ⁸¹  18:3 As they approached ⁸²  Micah’s house, they recognized the accent ⁸³  of the young Levite. So they stopped ⁸⁴  there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ⁸⁵  18:4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying, ⁸⁶  “He hired me and I became his priest.” 18:5 They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us, ⁸⁷  so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.” ⁸⁸  18:6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence. ⁸⁹  The Lord will be with you on your mission.” ⁹⁰ 

18:7 So the five men journeyed on ⁹¹  and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there ⁹²  were living securely, like the Sidonians do, ⁹³  undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. ⁹⁴  They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. ⁹⁵  18:8 When the Danites returned to their tribe ⁹⁶  in Zorah and Eshtaol, their kinsmen ⁹⁷  asked them, “How did it go?” ⁹⁸  18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, ⁹⁹  for ¹⁰⁰  we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, ¹⁰¹  but don’t hesitate ¹⁰²  to invade and conquer ¹⁰³  the land. 18:10 When you invade, ¹⁰⁴  you will encounter ¹⁰⁵  unsuspecting people. The land is wide! ¹⁰⁶  God is handing it over to you – a place that lacks nothing on earth!” ¹⁰⁷ 

18:11 So six hundred Danites, fully armed, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. ¹⁰⁸  18:12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan. ¹⁰⁹  It is west ¹¹⁰  of Kiriath Jearim.) 18:13 From there they traveled through the Ephraimite hill country and arrived at Micah’s house. 18:14 The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish ¹¹¹  said to their kinsmen, ¹¹²  “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.” 18:15 They stopped ¹¹³  there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah), ¹¹⁴  and asked him how he was doing. ¹¹⁵  18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate. ¹¹⁶  18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole ¹¹⁷  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men. ¹¹⁸  18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole ¹¹⁹  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser ¹²⁰  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ¹²¹  18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group. ¹²² 

18:21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions. ¹²³  18:22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors ¹²⁴  gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 18:23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites ¹²⁵  turned around and said to Micah, “Why have you gathered together?” 18:24 He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’” ¹²⁶  18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men ¹²⁷  will attack you, and you and your family will die.” ¹²⁸  18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized ¹²⁹  they were too strong to resist, ¹³⁰  he turned around and went home.

18:27 Now the Danites ¹³¹  took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city. ¹³²  18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city ¹³³  was far from Sidon ¹³⁴  and they had no dealings with anyone. ¹³⁵  The city ¹³⁶  was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites ¹³⁷  rebuilt the city and occupied it. 18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. ¹³⁸  But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped ¹³⁹  the carved image. Jonathan, descendant ¹⁴⁰  of Gershom, son of Moses, ¹⁴¹  and his descendants ¹⁴²  served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped ¹⁴³  Micah’s carved image ¹⁴⁴  the whole time God’s authorized shrine ¹⁴⁵  was in Shiloh.

[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?”

[11:1]  ³ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[11:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “bore.”

[11:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the house of our father.”

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Or “fled from.”

[11:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “brothers.”

[11:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”

[11:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”

[11:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “elders.”

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

[11:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to Jephthah.”

[11:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

[11:8]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”

[11:9]  ¹⁷ tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “places them before me.”

[11:9]  ¹⁹ tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.

[11:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “The Lord will be the one who hears between us.” For the idiom שָׁמַע בַּיִן (shama’ bayin, “to hear between”), see Deut 1:16.

[11:10]  ²⁰ sn The Lord will judge…if we do not do as you say. The statement by the leaders of Gilead takes the form of a legally binding oath, which obligates them to the terms of the agreement.

[11:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.

[11:12]  ²³ tn Heb “What to me and to you that…?”

[11:13]  ²⁵ tn Or “took”; or “seized.”

[11:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he” (a collective singular).

[11:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

[11:13]  ²⁸ tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.

[11:15]  ²⁷ tn Or “take”; or “seize.”

[11:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “For when they went up from.”

[11:16]  ³⁰ tn Or “went.”

[11:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “me.” (Collective Israel is the speaker.)

[11:17]  ³² tn Heb “did not listen.”

[11:17]  ³³ tn Heb “Also to the king of Moab he sent, but he was unwilling.”

[11:18]  ³³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel; the pronoun in the Hebrew text represents a collective singular) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:18]  ³⁴ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to my place.”

[11:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Sihon.” The proper name (“Sihon”) has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) because of English style; a repetition of the proper name here would be redundant in English.

[11:20]  ³⁸ tn Heb “all his people” (also in the following verse).

[11:21]  ³⁹ tn That is, took as its own possession.

[11:22]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the desert to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

[11:23]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Now.”

[11:23]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “dispossessed.”

[11:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly “it,” i.e., the territory]?” There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.

[11:24]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the Lord our God dispossesses before us we will possess?” Jephthah speaks of Chemosh as if he is on a par with the Lord God of Israel. This does not necessarily mean that Jephthah is polytheistic or that he recognizes the Lord as only a local deity. He may simply be assuming the Ammonite king’s perspective for the sake of argument. Other texts, as well as the extrabiblical Mesha inscription, associate Chemosh with Moab, while Milcom is identified as the god of the Ammonites. Why then does Jephthah refer to Chemosh as the Ammonite god? Ammon had likely conquered Moab and the Ammonite king probably regarded himself as heir of all territory formerly held by Moab. Originally Moab had owned the disputed territory (cf. Num 21:26-29), meaning that Chemosh was regarded as the god of the region (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 203-4). Jephthah argues that Chemosh had long ago relinquished claim to the area (by allowing Sihon to conquer it), while the Lord had long ago established jurisdiction over it (by taking it from Sihon and giving it to Israel). Both sides should abide by the decisions of the gods which had stood firm for three hundred years.

[11:25]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew grammatical constructions of all three rhetorical questions indicate emphasis, which “really” and “dare to” are intended to express in the translation.

[11:27]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “sinned against you.”

[11:27]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “evil.”

[11:28]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “did not listen to.”

[11:28]  ⁵² tn Heb “Jephthah’s words which he sent to him.”

[11:29]  ⁵³ tn Heb “was on.”

[11:29]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “passed through.”

[11:29]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”

[11:31]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotse’, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.

[11:31]  ⁵⁶ tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.

[11:31]  ⁵⁷ tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the Lord’s service, but if an animal comes through the doors, he will offer it up as a sacrifice. However, it is far more likely that the Hebrew construction (vav [ו] + perfect) specifies how the subject will become the Lord’s, that is, by being offered up as a sacrifice. For similar constructions, where the apodosis of a conditional sentence has at least two perfects (each with vav) in sequence, see Gen 34:15-16; Exod 18:16.

[11:32]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “passed over to.”

[11:33]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”

[11:33]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”

[11:34]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”

[11:34]  ⁶² tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”

[11:35]  ⁶³ tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.

[11:35]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”

[11:35]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”

[11:36]  ⁶⁵ tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

[11:36]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”

[11:37]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”

[11:37]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity – I and my friends.”

[11:38]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “he sent her.”

[11:38]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.

[11:39]  ⁷¹ 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]  ⁷² tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”

[11:40]  ⁷³ tn Heb “From days to days,” a Hebrew idiom for “annually.”

[11:40]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “go to commemorate.” The rare Hebrew verb תָּנָה (tanah, “to tell; to repeat; to recount”) occurs only here and in 5:11.

[11:40]  ⁷⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in the year.” This is redundant (note “every year” at the beginning of the verse) and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:1]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “an inheritance.”

[18:1]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “because there had not fallen to them by that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel an inheritance.”

[18:2]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”

[18:2]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

[18:2]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”

[18:3]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “When they were near.”

[18:3]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).

[18:3]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[18:3]  ⁸² tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”

[18:4]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “He said to them, ‘Such and such Micah has done for me.’” Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially “for me”), the phrase “such and such” appears to be the narrator’s condensed version of what the Levite really said.

[18:5]  ⁸³ tn Heb “Ask God.”

[18:5]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “so we can know if our way on which we are going will be successful.”

[18:6]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “in peace.”

[18:6]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going.”

[18:7]  ⁸⁷ tn Or “went.”

[18:7]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “who were in its midst.”

[18:7]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”

[18:7]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”

[18:7]  ⁹¹ tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’aram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’adam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.

[18:8]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “They came to their brothers.”

[18:8]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “brothers.”

[18:8]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “What you?”

[18:9]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

[18:9]  ⁹² tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”

[18:9]  ⁹³ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

[18:9]  ⁹⁴ tn Or “be lazy.”

[18:9]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

[18:10]  ⁹³ tn Heb “When you enter.”

[18:10]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “you will come to.”

[18:10]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”

[18:10]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

[18:11]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “They journeyed from there, from the tribe of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men, equipped with weapons of war.”

[18:12]  ⁹⁷ tn Or “Mahaneh Dan”; the Hebrew term “Mahaneh” means “camp [of].” Many English versions retain the transliterated Hebrew expression, but cf. CEV “Dan’s Camp.”

[18:12]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “behind.”

[18:14]  ⁹⁹ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”

[18:14]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “brothers.”

[18:15]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[18:15]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “Micah’s house.”

[18:15]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”

[18:16]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”

[18:17]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

[18:17]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”

[18:18]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

[18:19]  ¹⁰⁹ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

[18:19]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”

[18:20]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”

[18:21]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them.”

[18:22]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”

[18:23]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:24]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”

[18:25]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.

[18:25]  ¹²² tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

[18:26]  ¹²³ tn Heb “saw.”

[18:26]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”

[18:27]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ¹²⁶ tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

[18:28]  ¹²⁷ tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

[18:28]  ¹²⁸ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[18:28]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”

[18:28]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

[18:28]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

[18:30]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

[18:30]  ¹³² tn Heb “son.”

[18:30]  ¹³³ tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.

[18:30]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “sons.”

[18:31]  ¹³³ tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”

[18:31]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”

[18:31]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “the house of God.”