Judges 15:12

15:12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me ¹  you will not kill ²  me.”

Judges 18:25

18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men ³  will attack you, and you and your family will die.” ⁴ 

Judges 7:2

7:2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. ⁵  Israel might brag, ⁶  ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ ⁷ 

Judges 9:54

9:54 He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons, ⁸  “Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say, ⁹  ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died.

Judges 14:15

14:15 On the fourth ¹⁰  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ¹¹  If you refuse, ¹²  we will burn up ¹³  you and your father’s family. ¹⁴  Did you invite us here ¹⁵  to make us poor?” ¹⁶ 

[15:12]  ¹ tn Or “swear to me.”

[15:12]  ² tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.

[18:25]  ³ tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.

[18:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

[7:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”

[7:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”

[7:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”

[9:54]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds, “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[9:54]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds, “concerning me.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:15]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”

[14:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lest.”

[14:15]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “house.”

[14:15]  ¹⁴ tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew mss and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable הֲלֹא (halo’), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.

[14:15]  ¹⁵ tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.