Judges 1:7

1:7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick up ¹  food scraps ²  under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them.” ³  They brought him to Jerusalem, ⁴  where he died.

Judges 2:17

2:17 But they did not obey ⁵  their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped ⁶  them. They quickly turned aside from the path ⁷  their ancestors ⁸  had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. ⁹ 

Judges 4:6

4:6 She summoned ¹⁰  Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “Is it not true that the Lord God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun!

Judges 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, ¹¹  “Must you fight Baal’s battles? ¹²  Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause ¹³  will die by morning! ¹⁴  If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! ¹⁵  After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” ¹⁶ 

Judges 6:39

6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. ¹⁷  Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.” ¹⁸ 

Judges 13:7

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹⁹  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ²⁰  For the child will be dedicated ²¹  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

Judges 15:19

15:19 So God split open the basin ²²  at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength ²³  was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring ²⁴  En Hakkore. ²⁵  It remains in Lehi to this very day.

Judges 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ²⁶  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ²⁷  for I have been dedicated to God ²⁸  from the time I was conceived. ²⁹  If my head ³⁰  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

[1:7]  ¹ tn Elsewhere this verb usually carries the sense of “to gather; to pick up; to glean,” but “lick up” seems best here in light of the peculiar circumstances described by Adoni-Bezek.

[1:7]  ² tn The words “food scraps” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “Just as I did, so God has repaid me.” Note that the phrase “to them” has been supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.

[1:7]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:17]  ⁵ tn Or “did not listen to.”

[2:17]  ⁶ tn Or “bowed before.”

[2:17]  ⁷ tn Or “way [of life].”

[2:17]  ⁸ tn Or “fathers.”

[2:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “…walked, obeying the Lord’s commands. They did not do this.”

[4:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “sent and summoned.”

[6:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

[6:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

[6:31]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “fights for him.”

[6:31]  ¹⁶ sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.

[6:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fight for himself.”

[6:31]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).

[6:39]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”

[6:39]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”

[13:7]  ²¹ tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.

[13:7]  ²² tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

[13:7]  ²³ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

[15:19]  ²⁵ tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.

[15:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “spirit.”

[15:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:19]  ²⁸ sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”

[16:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

[16:17]  ³¹ 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”).

[16:17]  ³² tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

[16:17]  ³³ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).