Judges 2:1

Confrontation and Repentance at Bokim

2:1 The Lord’s angelic messenger ¹  went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. ²  I said, ‘I will never break my agreement ³  with you,

Judges 3:20

3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated ⁴  upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God ⁵  for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat, ⁶ 

Judges 6:19

6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, ⁷  along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food ⁸  to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.

Judges 6:39

6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. ⁹  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.” ¹⁰ 

Judges 7:5

7:5 So he brought the men ¹¹  down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” ¹² 

Judges 7:25

7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. ¹³  They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb ¹⁴  in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites ¹⁵  and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. ¹⁶ 

Judges 9:7

Jotham’s Parable

9:7 When Jotham heard the news, ¹⁷  he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below, ¹⁸  “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!

Judges 9:36

9:36 Gaal saw the men ¹⁹  and said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadows on the hills – it just looks like men.” ²⁰ 

Judges 11:8

11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ²¹  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ²²  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ²³  of all who live in Gilead.” ²⁴ 

Judges 11:17

11:17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us ²⁵  to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. ²⁶  Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. ²⁷  So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

Judges 11:36

11:36 She said to him, “My father, since ²⁸  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ²⁹  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ³⁰  your enemies, the Ammonites.”

Judges 12:3

12:3 When I saw that you were not going to help, ³¹  I risked my life ³²  and advanced against ³³  the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up ³⁴  to fight with me today?”

Judges 13:8

13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, ³⁵  “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God ³⁶  to visit ³⁷  us again, so he can teach ³⁸  us how we should raise ³⁹  the child who will be born.”

Judges 19:11

19:11 When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late ⁴⁰  and the servant ⁴¹  said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at ⁴²  this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”

Judges 21:5

21:5 The Israelites asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes has not assembled before the Lord?” They had made a solemn oath that whoever did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah must certainly be executed. ⁴³ 

Judges 21:22

21:22 When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us, ⁴⁴  we’ll say to them, “Do us a favor and let them be, ⁴⁵  for we could not get each one a wife through battle. ⁴⁶  Don’t worry about breaking your oath! ⁴⁷  You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’” ⁴⁸ 

[2:1]  ¹ sn See Exod 14:19; 23:20.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “the land that I had sworn to your fathers.”

[2:1]  ³ tn Or “covenant” (also in the following verse).

[3:20]  ⁴ tn Or “cool.” This probably refers to a room with latticed windows which allowed the breeze to pass through. See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 144.

[3:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”

[3:20]  ⁶ tn Or “throne.”

[6:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”

[6:19]  ⁸ tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[6:39]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”

[6:39]  ¹¹ tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”

[7:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “the people.”

[7:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”

[7:25]  ¹⁶ sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.

[7:25]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:25]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Midian.”

[7:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).

[9:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And they reported to Jotham.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

[9:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “He lifted his voice and called and said to them.”

[9:36]  ²² tn Heb “the people” (also in vv. 38, 43, 48). These were warriors, so “men” has been used in the translation, since in ancient Israelite culture soldiers would have been exclusively males.

[9:36]  ²³ tn Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”

[11:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).

[11:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.

[11:8]  ²⁷ sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.

[11:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”

[11:17]  ²⁸ tn Heb “me.” (Collective Israel is the speaker.)

[11:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “did not listen.”

[11:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Also to the king of Moab he sent, but he was unwilling.”

[11:36]  ³¹ tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ³² tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

[11:36]  ³³ tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”

[12:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”

[12:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”

[12:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “crossed over to.”

[12:3]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:8]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the man of God.”

[13:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “come to.”

[13:8]  ⁴⁰ tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (vi’irenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (vÿyorenu, “to teach”).

[13:8]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “what we should do for.”

[19:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and the day was descending greatly.”

[19:11]  ⁴¹ tn Or “young man.”

[19:11]  ⁴² tn Heb “turn aside” (also in the following verse).

[21:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the Lord at Mizpah, saying, ‘He must surely be put to death.’”

[21:22]  ⁴⁶ tc The (original) LXX and Vulgate read “to you.”

[21:22]  ⁴⁷ tn The words “and let them be” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:22]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “for we did not take each his wife in battle.”

[21:22]  ⁴⁹ tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the logic of the statement.

[21:22]  ⁵⁰ tc Heb “You did not give to them, now you are guilty.” The MT as it stands makes little sense. It is preferable to emend לֹא (lo’, “not”) to לוּא (lu’, “if”). This particle introduces a purely hypothetical condition, “If you had given to them [but you didn’t].” See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 453-54.