Judges 12:10

12:10 then he ¹  died and was buried in Bethlehem.

Judges 12:8

Order Restored

12:8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem ²  led ³  Israel.

Judges 8:6

8:6 The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give ⁴  bread to your army?” ⁵ 

Judges 17:7

Micah Hires a Professional

17:7 There was a young man from Bethlehem ⁶  in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah. ⁷ 

Judges 19:18

19:18 The Levite ⁸  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ⁹  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ¹⁰  But no one has invited me into their home.

Judges 5:8

5:8 God chose new leaders, ¹¹ 

then fighters appeared in the city gates; ¹² 

but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, ¹³ 

among forty military units ¹⁴  in Israel.

Judges 17:8-9

17:8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house. ¹⁵  17:9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.” ¹⁶ 

Judges 19:2

19:2 However, she ¹⁷  got angry at him ¹⁸  and went home ¹⁹  to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months,

Judges 19:5

19:5 On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave. ²⁰  But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, ²¹  then you can go.”

Judges 7:13

7:13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. ²²  The man ²³  said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw ²⁴  a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” ²⁵ 

Judges 8:5

8:5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Give ²⁶  some loaves of bread to the men ²⁷  who are following me, ²⁸  because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

Judges 8:15

8:15 He approached the men of Succoth and said, “Look what I have! ²⁹  Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” ³⁰ 

Judges 19:1

Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited

19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite ³¹  living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine ³²  from Bethlehem ³³  in Judah.

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, ³⁴  and the young man who is with your servants. ³⁵  We lack nothing.”

[12:10]  ¹ tn Heb “Ibzan.” The pronoun “he” is used in the translation in keeping with English style, which tends to use a proper name first in a sentence followed by a pronoun rather than vice versa.

[12:8]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[12:8]  ³ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

[8:6]  ³ tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

[8:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 155).

[17:7]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[17:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “There was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, from the tribe of Judah, and he was a Levite, and he was temporarily residing there.”

[19:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:18]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[19:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [to] the house of the LORD I am going.” The Hebrew text has “house of the LORD,” which might refer to the shrine at Shiloh. The LXX reads “to my house.”

[5:8]  ⁶ tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.

[5:8]  ⁷ tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)

[5:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).

[5:8]  ⁹ tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (’elef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).

[17:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “He came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, making his way.”

[17:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “And I am going to reside in a place I can find.”

[19:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and his concubine.” The pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “was unfaithful to him.” Many have understood the Hebrew verb וַתִּזְנֶה (vattizneh) as being from זָנָה (zanah, “to be a prostitute”), but it may be derived from a root meaning “to be angry; to hate” attested in Akkadian (see HALOT 275 s.v. II זנה).

[19:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “went from him.”

[19:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he arose to go.”

[19:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”

[7:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”

[7:13]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.

[7:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”

[8:5]  ¹² tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

[8:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because these were warriors and in ancient Israelite culture would have been exclusively males.

[8:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “who are at my feet.”

[8:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “Look!” The words “what I have” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your exhausted men bread?”

[19:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”

[19:1]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on the word “concubine” in 8:31.

[19:1]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[19:19]  ¹⁵ tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.

[19:19]  ¹⁶ 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.