Judges 14:20

14:20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. ¹ 

Judges 15:3

15:3 Samson said to them, ²  “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” ³ 

Judges 9:23

9:23 God sent a spirit to stir up hostility ⁴  between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal ⁵  to Abimelech.

Judges 11:27

11:27 I have not done you wrong, ⁶  but you are doing wrong ⁷  by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”

Judges 20:13

20:13 Now, hand over the good-for-nothings ⁸  in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.” ⁹  But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

[14:20]  ¹ tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”

[15:3]  ² tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular “to him.”

[15:3]  ³ tn Heb “I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm.”

[9:23]  ³ tn Heb “an evil spirit.” A nonphysical, spirit being is in view, like the one who volunteered to deceive Ahab (1 Kgs 22:21). The traditional translation, “evil spirit,” implies the being is inherently wicked, perhaps even demonic, but this is not necessarily the case. The Hebrew adjective רָעַה (ra’ah) can have a nonethical sense, “harmful; dangerous; calamitous.” When modifying רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) it may simply indicate that the being in view causes harm to the object of God’s judgment. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 253) here refers to a “mischief-making spirit.”

[9:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “The leaders of Shechem were disloyal.” The words “he made” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:27]  ⁴ tn Or “sinned against you.”

[11:27]  ⁵ tn Or “evil.”

[20:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”

[20:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”