Judges 10:13

10:13 But since you abandoned me and worshiped ¹  other gods, I will not deliver you again.

Judges 8:7

8:7 Gideon said, “Since you will not help, ²  after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh ³  your skin ⁴  with ⁵  desert thorns and briers.”

Judges 11:8

11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ⁶  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ⁷  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ⁸  of all who live in Gilead.” ⁹ 

[10:13]  ¹ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[8:7]  ² tn Heb “Therefore.”

[8:7]  ³ sn I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.

[8:7]  ⁴ tn Or “flesh.”

[8:7]  ⁵ tn This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229-30.

[11:8]  ³ tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).

[11:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.

[11:8]  ⁵ sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.

[11:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”