Judges 18:21

18:21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions. ¹ 

Judges 21:10

21:10 So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors ²  against Jabesh Gilead. ³  They commanded them, “Go and kill with your swords ⁴  the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children.

Judges 5:13

5:13 Then the survivors ⁵  came down ⁶  to the mighty ones; ⁷ 

the Lord’s people came down to me ⁸  as ⁹  warriors.

Judges 5:22

5:22 The horses’ ¹⁰  hooves pounded the ground; ¹¹ 

the stallions galloped madly. ¹² 

Judges 11:7

11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave ¹³  my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”

Judges 11:24

11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us. ¹⁴ 

Judges 5:14

5:14 They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, ¹⁵ 

they follow ¹⁶  after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers.

From Makir leaders came down,

from Zebulun came ¹⁷  the ones who march carrying ¹⁸  an officer’s staff.

Judges 5:23

5:23 ‘Call judgment down on ¹⁹  Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic ²⁰  messenger;

‘Be sure ²¹  to call judgment down on ²²  those who live there,

because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, ²³ 

to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ ²⁴ 

[18:21]  ¹ tn Heb “They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them.”

[21:10]  ² tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

[21:10]  ³ tn Heb “there.”

[21:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “the edge of the sword.”

[5:13]  ³ tn This probably refers to those who responded to the call for war. They were “survivors” of the Canaanite oppression (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 250).

[5:13]  ⁴ tn The translation assumes a repointing of the verb as a perfect or imperfect/preterite form of יָרַד (yarad, “to go down”). The form as pointed in the MT appears to be from רָדָה (radah, “to rule”). See GKC 188 §69.g. The same form, translated “came down,” occurs in the next line as well.

[5:13]  ⁵ sn The expression mighty ones probably refers to the leaders of the army.

[5:13]  ⁶ sn The speaker may be Deborah here.

[5:13]  ⁷ tn The translation assumes the preposition ב (bet) prefixed to “warriors” has the force of “in the capacity of.” For this use of the preposition, see GKC 379 §119.i.

[5:22]  ⁴ tc The MT as it stands has a singular noun, but if one moves the prefixed mem (מ) from the beginning of the next word to the end of סוּס (sus), the expected plural form is achieved. Another possibility is to understand an error of scribal haplography here, in which case the letter mem should appear in both places.

[5:22]  ⁵ tn The words “the ground” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “galloped, galloped.” The repetition is for emphasis and is more appropriately indicated in English with an adverb.

[11:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

[11:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the Lord our God dispossesses before us we will possess?” Jephthah speaks of Chemosh as if he is on a par with the Lord God of Israel. This does not necessarily mean that Jephthah is polytheistic or that he recognizes the Lord as only a local deity. He may simply be assuming the Ammonite king’s perspective for the sake of argument. Other texts, as well as the extrabiblical Mesha inscription, associate Chemosh with Moab, while Milcom is identified as the god of the Ammonites. Why then does Jephthah refer to Chemosh as the Ammonite god? Ammon had likely conquered Moab and the Ammonite king probably regarded himself as heir of all territory formerly held by Moab. Originally Moab had owned the disputed territory (cf. Num 21:26-29), meaning that Chemosh was regarded as the god of the region (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 203-4). Jephthah argues that Chemosh had long ago relinquished claim to the area (by allowing Sihon to conquer it), while the Lord had long ago established jurisdiction over it (by taking it from Sihon and giving it to Israel). Both sides should abide by the decisions of the gods which had stood firm for three hundred years.

[5:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “From Ephraim their root in Amalek” (the words “they came” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons). Because of the difficulty of the MT, many prefer to follow one of the ancient versions or emend the text. For various proposals see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 252-53. The present translation repoints שָׁרְשָׁם (shorsham, traditionally translated “their root”) as a Piel verb form with enclitic mem (ם). The preposition ב (bet) on עֲמָלֵק (’amaleq) introduces the object (see Job 31:12 for an example of the construction). Ephraim’s territory encompassed the hill country of the Amalekites (Judg 12:15).

[5:14]  ⁸ tn The words “They follow” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:14]  ⁹ tn The word “came” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or possibly “who carry.”

[5:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “Curse Meroz.”

[5:23]  ⁹ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.

[5:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Curse, cursing.” The Hebrew construction is emphatic.

[5:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[to] curse.”

[5:23]  ¹² tn Heb “to the help of the Lord” (the same Hebrew phrase occurs in the following line). Another option is to read “to aid the Lord’s cause.”

[5:23]  ¹³ tn Or “along with the other warriors.”