Judges 1:17

1:17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon ¹  and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath. ²  So people now call the city Hormah. ³ 

Judges 1:30

1:30 The men of Zebulun did not conquer the people living in Kitron and Nahalol. ⁴  The Canaanites lived among them and were forced to do hard labor.

Judges 1:35

1:35 The Amorites managed ⁵  to remain in Har Heres, ⁶  Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily, ⁷  the Amorites were forced to do hard labor.

Judges 9:6

9:6 All the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo assembled and then went and made Abimelech king by the oak near the pillar ⁸  in Shechem.

Judges 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ⁹  reporting, “Beware! ¹⁰  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ¹¹  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ¹² 

Judges 21:18

21:18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them, ¹³  for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’ ¹⁴ 

[1:17]  ¹ tn Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”

[1:17]  ² tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ³ sn The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).

[1:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “the people living in Kitron and the people living in Nahalol.”

[1:35]  ⁷ tn Or “were determined.”

[1:35]  ⁸ tn Or “Mount Heres”; the term הַר (har) means “mount” or “mountain” in Hebrew.

[1:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “Whenever the hand of the tribe of Joseph was heavy.”

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tc The translation assumes that the form in the Hebrew text (מֻצָּב, mutsav) is a corruption of an original מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “pillar”). The reference is probably to a pagan object of worship (cf. LXX).

[9:31]  ¹³ tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה (ramah, “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.

[9:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ¹⁵ tn The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.

[9:31]  ¹⁶ tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).

[21:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”

[21:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “is cursed.”