Judges 13:12

13:12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true, ¹  how should the child be raised and what should he do?” ² 

Judges 11:10

11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, ³  if we do not do as you say.” ⁴ 

Judges 6:37

6:37 Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it ⁵  is dry, then I will be sure ⁶  that you will use me to deliver Israel, ⁷  as you promised.”

Judges 6:39

6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. ⁸  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.” ⁹ 

Judges 10:18

10:18 The leaders ¹⁰  of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge ¹¹  against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”

Judges 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹²  You must never cut his hair, ¹³  for the child will be dedicated to God ¹⁴  from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power ¹⁵  of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:7

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹⁶  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ¹⁷  For the child will be dedicated ¹⁸  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

[13:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”

[13:12]  ² tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”

[11:10]  ³ tn Heb “The Lord will be the one who hears between us.” For the idiom שָׁמַע בַּיִן (shama’ bayin, “to hear between”), see Deut 1:16.

[11:10]  ⁴ sn The Lord will judge…if we do not do as you say. The statement by the leaders of Gilead takes the form of a legally binding oath, which obligates them to the terms of the agreement.

[6:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the ground.”

[6:37]  ⁶ tn Or “know.”

[6:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”

[6:39]  ⁷ tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”

[6:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”

[10:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “the people, the officers.”

[10:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Who is the man who will begin fighting.”

[13:5]  ¹¹ tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.

[13:5]  ¹² tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”

[13:5]  ¹³ 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”).

[13:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

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

[13:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

[13:7]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”