Discovery BoxJudges 14:15
Context14:15 On the fourth 1 day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. 2 If you refuse, 3 we will burn up 4 you and your father’s family. 5 Did you invite us here 6 to make us poor?” 7
Judges 16:9
Context16:9 They hid 8 in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, 9 Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. 10 The secret of his strength was not discovered. 11
Judges 16:14
Context16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here, 12 Samson!” 13 He woke up 14 and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.
Judges 18:7
Context18:7 So the five men journeyed on 15 and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there 16 were living securely, like the Sidonians do, 17 undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. 18 They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 19
[14:15] 1 tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.
[14:15] 2 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
[14:15] 4 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:15] 6 tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew
[14:15] 7 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
[16:9] 8 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vÿha’orev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).
[16:9] 9 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:9] 10 tn Heb “when it smells fire.”
[16:9] 11 tn Heb “His strength was not known.”
[16:14] 15 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:14] 16 tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.
[16:14] 17 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[18:7] 23 tn Heb “who were in its midst.”
[18:7] 24 tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”
[18:7] 25 tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”
[18:7] 26 tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’aram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’adam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.
