Judges 2:12

2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ¹  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ²  them and made the Lord angry.

Judges 3:28

3:28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” ³  They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River ⁴  opposite Moab, ⁵  and did not let anyone cross.

Judges 4:15

4:15 The Lord routed ⁶  Sisera, all his chariotry, and all his army with the edge of the sword. ⁷  Sisera jumped out of ⁸  his chariot and ran away on foot.

Judges 4:21

4:21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. ⁹  She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground ¹⁰  while he was asleep from exhaustion, ¹¹  and he died.

Judges 6:2

6:2 The Midianites ¹²  overwhelmed Israel. ¹³  Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters ¹⁴  for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

Judges 6:21

6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. ¹⁵  Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. ¹⁶ 

Judges 6:25

Gideon Destroys the Altar

6:25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. ¹⁷  Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.

Judges 7:8

7:8 The men ¹⁸  who were chosen ¹⁹  took supplies ²⁰  and their trumpets. Gideon ²¹  sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; ²²  he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites ²³  were camped down below ²⁴  in the valley.

Judges 7:15

Gideon Routs the Enemy

7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. ²⁵  Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!”

Judges 8:3

8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” ²⁶  When he said this, they calmed down. ²⁷ 

Judges 8:21

8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, ²⁸  “Come on, ²⁹  you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” ³⁰  So Gideon killed ³¹  Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.

Judges 9:20

9:20 But if not, may fire blaze from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! May fire also blaze from the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and consume Abimelech!”

Judges 9:24

9:24 He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother ³²  who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. ³³ 

Judges 9:45

9:45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled ³⁴  the city and spread salt over it. ³⁵ 

Judges 11:21

11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took ³⁶  all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.

Judges 11:29

A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter

11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered ³⁷  Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went ³⁸  to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. ³⁹ 

Judges 15:6

15:6 The Philistines asked, ⁴⁰  “Who did this?” They were told, ⁴¹  “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite ⁴²  took Samson’s ⁴³  bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. ⁴⁴ 

Judges 16:31

16:31 His brothers and all his family ⁴⁵  went down and brought him back. ⁴⁶  They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led ⁴⁷  Israel for twenty years.

[2:12]  ¹ tn Or “fathers.”

[2:12]  ² tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).

[3:28]  ³ tn Heb “for the Lord has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand.” The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

[3:28]  ⁴ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

[3:28]  ⁵ tn Or “against Moab,” that is, so as to prevent the Moabites from crossing.

[4:15]  ⁵ tn Or “caused to panic.”

[4:15]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “before Barak.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “got down from.”

[4:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand.”

[4:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “and it went into the ground.”

[4:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “and exhausted.” Another option is to understand this as a reference to the result of the fatal blow. In this case, the phrase could be translated, “and he breathed his last.”

[6:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”

[6:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”

[6:2]  ¹¹ tn Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.

[6:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”

[6:21]  ¹² tn Heb “went from his eyes.”

[6:25]  ¹³ tn Or “Take a bull from your father’s herd, the second one, the one seven years old.” Apparently Gideon would need the bulls to pull down the altar.

[7:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “The people.”

[7:8]  ¹⁶ tn The words “who were chosen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[7:8]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text has “in their hands.”

[7:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “tents.”

[7:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Midian.”

[7:8]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “him” (i.e., Gideon).

[7:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”

[8:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”

[8:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”

[8:21]  ²¹ tn The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:21]  ²² tn Or “Arise.”

[8:21]  ²³ tn Heb “for as the man is his strength.”

[8:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “arose and killed.”

[9:24]  ²³ tn Heb “their brother.”

[9:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal might come, and their blood might be placed on Abimelech, their brother, who murdered them, and upon the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to murder his brothers.”

[9:45]  ²⁵ tn Or “destroyed.”

[9:45]  ²⁶ tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”

[11:21]  ²⁷ tn That is, took as its own possession.

[11:29]  ²⁹ tn Heb “was on.”

[11:29]  ³⁰ tn Heb “passed through.”

[11:29]  ³¹ tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”

[15:6]  ³¹ tn Or “said.”

[15:6]  ³² tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

[15:6]  ³³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.

[16:31]  ³³ tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”

[16:31]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and lifted him up and brought up.”

[16:31]  ³⁵ tn Traditionally, “judged.”