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 3:19-20

3:19 But he went back ⁵  once he reached ⁶  the carved images ⁷  at Gilgal. He said to Eglon, ⁸  “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon ⁹  said, “Be quiet!” ¹⁰  All his attendants left. 3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated ¹¹  upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God ¹²  for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat, ¹³ 

Judges 7:2

7:2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. ¹⁴  Israel might brag, ¹⁵  ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ ¹⁶ 

Judges 9:54

9:54 He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons, ¹⁷  “Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say, ¹⁸  ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died.

Judges 11:36-37

11:36 She said to him, “My father, since ¹⁹  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ²⁰  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ²¹  your enemies, the Ammonites.” 11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. ²²  For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” ²³ 

Judges 13:6-7

13:6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God ²⁴  came to me! He looked like God’s angelic messenger – he was very awesome. ²⁵  I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ²⁶  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ²⁷  For the child will be dedicated ²⁸  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

Judges 14:3

14:3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our ²⁹  people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” ³⁰  But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, ³¹  because she is the right one for me.” ³² 

Judges 14:12

14:12 Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, ³³  I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets ³⁴  of clothes.

Judges 15:11

15:11 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.”

Judges 16:13

16:13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair ³⁵  into the fabric on the loom ³⁶  and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

Judges 16:15

16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me? ³⁷  Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.”

Judges 16:18

16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, ³⁸  she sent for ³⁹  the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me ⁴⁰  his secret.” ⁴¹  So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.

Judges 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ⁴²  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ⁴³ 

Judges 19:19

19:19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant, ⁴⁴  and the young man who is with your servants. ⁴⁵  We lack nothing.”

[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.

[3:19]  ⁵ tn Or “returned” (i.e., to Eglon’s palace).

[3:19]  ⁶ tn The words “when he reached” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text simply reads “from.”

[3:19]  ⁷ tn Or “idols.”

[3:19]  ⁸ tn The words “to Eglon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Hush!”

[3:20]  ⁹ tn Or “cool.” This probably refers to a room with latticed windows which allowed the breeze to pass through. See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 144.

[3:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”

[3:20]  ¹¹ tn Or “throne.”

[7:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”

[7:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”

[7:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”

[9:54]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds, “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[9:54]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds, “concerning me.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[11:36]  ²¹ tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ²² tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

[11:36]  ²³ tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”

[11:37]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”

[11:37]  ²⁶ 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.”

[13:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “The man of God.”

[13:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome.”

[13:7]  ³³ tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.

[13:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

[13:7]  ³⁵ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

[14:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.

[14:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”

[14:3]  ³⁹ tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.

[14:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”

[14:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”

[14:12]  ⁴² tn Heb “changes.”

[16:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.

[16:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.

[16:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”

[16:18]  ⁵³ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:18]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”

[16:18]  ⁵⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).

[16:18]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[17:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).

[17:10]  ⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.

[19:19]  ⁶¹ tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.

[19:19]  ⁶² tc Some Hebrew mss and ancient witnesses read the singular, “your servant,” which would refer to the Levite. If one retains the plural, then both the Levite and his wife are in view. In either case the pronominal suffix emphasizes their dependence on the old man for shelter.