Judges 2:3

2:3 At that time I also warned you, ¹  ‘If you disobey, ²  I will not drive out the Canaanites ³  before you. They will ensnare you ⁴  and their gods will lure you away.’” ⁵ 

Judges 5:30

5:30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder ⁶  –

a girl or two for each man to rape! ⁷ 

Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, ⁸ 

he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, ⁹ 

two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,

for the neck of the plunderer!’ ¹⁰ 

Judges 7:12

7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. ¹¹  Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

Judges 11:26

11:26 Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time?

Judges 19:1

Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited

19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite ¹²  living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine ¹³  from Bethlehem ¹⁴  in Judah.

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “And I also said.” The use of the perfect tense here suggests that the messenger is recalling an earlier statement (see Josh 23:12-13). However, some translate, “And I also say,” understanding the following words as an announcement of judgment upon those gathered at Bokim.

[2:3]  ² tn The words “If you disobey” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See Josh 23:12-13.

[2:3]  ³ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Canaanites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צִדִּים (tsiddim) is uncertain in this context. It may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “snare.” If so, a more literal translation would be “they will become snares to you.” Normally the term in question means “sides,” but this makes no sense here. On the basis of Num 33:55 some suggest the word for “thorns” has been accidentally omitted. If this word is added, the text would read, “they will become [thorns] in your sides” (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “their gods will become a snare to you.”

[5:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “Are they not finding, dividing the plunder?”

[5:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “a womb or two for each man.” The words “to rape” are interpretive. The Hebrew noun translated “girl” means literally “womb” (BDB 933 s.v. I. רַחַם), but in this context may refer by extension to the female genitalia. In this case the obscene language of Sisera’s mother alludes to the sexual brutality which typified the aftermath of battle.

[5:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “the plunder of dyed cloth is for Sisera.”

[5:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “the plunder of embroidered cloth.”

[5:30]  ¹⁰ tn The translation assumes an emendation of the noun (“plunder”) to a participle, “plunderer.”

[7:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”

[19:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”

[19:1]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on the word “concubine” in 8:31.

[19:1]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.