Judges 1:2

1:2 The Lord said, “The men of Judah should take the lead. ¹  Be sure of this! I am handing the land over to them.” ² 

Judges 1:1

Judah Takes the Lead

1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked ³  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” ⁴ 

Judges 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. ⁵  You must never cut his hair, ⁶  for the child will be dedicated to God ⁷  from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power ⁸  of the Philistines.”

Judges 20:18

20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel ⁹  and asked God, ¹⁰  “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” ¹¹  The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”

[1:2]  ¹ tn Heb “Judah should go up.”

[1:2]  ² tn The Hebrew exclamation הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally, “Behold”), translated “Be sure of this,” draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

[1:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”

[13:5]  ⁵ tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.

[13:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”

[13:5]  ⁷ tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

[13:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

[20:18]  ⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[20:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

[20:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”