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 6:11

Gideon Meets Some Visitors

6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger ⁵  came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon ⁶  was threshing ⁷  wheat in a winepress ⁸  so he could hide it from the Midianites. ⁹ 

Judges 6:19

6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, ¹⁰  along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food ¹¹  to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.

[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.

[6:11]  ⁵ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.

[6:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.

[6:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “beating out.”

[6:11]  ⁸ sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.

[6:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “Midian.”

[6:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”

[6:19]  ¹⁰ tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.