Discovery BoxJudges 2:6--16:31
Context2:6 When Joshua dismissed 1 the people, the Israelites went to their allotted portions of territory, 2 intending to take possession of the land. 2:7 The people worshiped 3 the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men 4 who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed 5 all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. 6 2:8 Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten. 2:9 The people 7 buried him in his allotted land 8 in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 2:10 That entire generation passed away; 9 a new generation grew up 10 that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel. 11
2:11 The Israelites did evil before 12 the Lord by worshiping 13 the Baals. 2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors 14 who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped 15 them and made the Lord angry. 2:13 They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars. 16
2:14 The Lord was furious with Israel 17 and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. 18 He turned them over to 19 their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks. 20 2:15 Whenever they went out to fight, 21 the Lord did them harm, 22 just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. 23 They suffered greatly. 24
2:16 The Lord raised up leaders 25 who delivered them from these robbers. 26 2:17 But they did not obey 27 their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped 28 them. They quickly turned aside from the path 29 their ancestors 30 had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. 31 2:18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people 32 from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them 33 when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. 34 2:19 When a leader died, the next generation 35 would again 36 act more wickedly than the previous one. 37 They would follow after other gods, worshiping them 38 and bowing down to them. They did not give up 39 their practices or their stubborn ways.
2:20 The Lord was furious with Israel. 40 He said, “This nation 41 has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors 42 by disobeying me. 43 2:21 So I will no longer remove before them any of the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. 2:22 Joshua left those nations 44 to test 45 Israel. I wanted to see 46 whether or not the people 47 would carefully walk in the path 48 marked out by 49 the Lord, as their ancestors 50 were careful to do.” 2:23 This is why 51 the Lord permitted these nations to remain and did not conquer them immediately; 52 he did not hand them over to Joshua.
3:1 These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites. 53 3:2 He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war. 54 3:3 These were the nations: 55 the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath. 56 3:4 They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. 57
3:5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3:6 They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; 58 they worshiped 59 their gods as well.
3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. 60 They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. 61 3:8 The Lord was furious with Israel 62 and turned them over to 63 King Cushan-Rishathaim 64 of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects 65 for eight years. 3:9 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he 66 raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued 67 them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 68 3:10 The Lord’s spirit empowered him 69 and he led Israel. When he went to do battle, the Lord handed over to him King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram and he overpowered him. 70 3:11 The land had rest for forty years; then Othniel son of Kenaz died.
3:12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. 71 The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel 72 because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight. 3:13 Eglon formed alliances with 73 the Ammonites and Amalekites. He came and defeated Israel, and they seized the City of Date Palm Trees. 3:14 The Israelites were subject to 74 King Eglon of Moab for eighteen years.
3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he 75 raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. 76 The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. 77 3:16 Ehud made himself a sword – it had two edges and was eighteen inches long. 78 He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh. 3:17 He brought the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)
3:18 After Ehud brought the tribute payment, he dismissed the people who had carried it. 79 3:19 But he went back 80 once he reached 81 the carved images 82 at Gilgal. He said to Eglon, 83 “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon 84 said, “Be quiet!” 85 All his attendants left. 3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated 86 upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God 87 for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat, 88 3:21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and drove it into Eglon’s 89 belly. 3:22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud 90 did not pull the sword out of his belly. 91 3:23 As Ehud went out into the vestibule, 92 he closed the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
3:24 When Ehud had left, Eglon’s 93 servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself 94 in the well-ventilated inner room.” 95 3:25 They waited so long they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. Finally they took the key and opened the doors. 96 Right before their eyes was their master, sprawled out dead on the floor! 97 3:26 Now Ehud had escaped while they were delaying. When he passed the carved images, he escaped to Seirah.
3:27 When he reached Seirah, 98 he blew a trumpet 99 in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites went down with him from the hill country, with Ehud in the lead. 100 3:28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” 101 They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River 102 opposite Moab, 103 and did not let anyone cross. 3:29 That day they killed about ten thousand Moabites 104 – all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped. 3:30 Israel humiliated Moab that day, and the land had rest for eighty years.
3:31 After Ehud 105 came 106 Shamgar son of Anath; he killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad and, like Ehud, 107 delivered Israel.
4:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight 108 after Ehud’s death. 4:2 The Lord turned them over to 109 King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. 110 The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 111 4:3 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, because Sisera 112 had nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, 113 and he cruelly 114 oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
4:4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, 115 wife of Lappidoth, was 116 leading 117 Israel at that time. 4:5 She would sit 118 under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel 119 in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled. 120
4:6 She summoned 121 Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “Is it not true that the Lord God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun! 4:7 I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army. 122 I will hand him over to you.” 4:8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go. But if you do not go with me, I will not go.” 4:9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame 123 on the expedition you are undertaking, 124 for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman.” 125 Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 4:10 Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; 126 Deborah went up with him as well. 4:11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away 127 from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived 128 near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.
4:12 When Sisera heard 129 that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 4:13 he 130 ordered 131 all his chariotry – nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels – and all the troops he had with him to go from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the River Kishon. 4:14 Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action, 132 for this is the day the Lord is handing Sisera over to you! 133 Has the Lord not taken the lead?” 134 Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 4:15 The Lord routed 135 Sisera, all his chariotry, and all his army with the edge of the sword. 136 Sisera jumped out of 137 his chariot and ran away on foot. 4:16 Now Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army died 138 by the edge of the sword; not even one survived! 139
4:17 Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor 140 and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty. 141 4:18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest, 142 my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera 143 stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him. 4:19 He said to her, “Give me a little water to drink, because I’m thirsty.” She opened a goatskin container of milk and gave him some milk to drink. Then she covered him up again. 4:20 He said to her, “Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say ‘No.’” 4:21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. 144 She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground 145 while he was asleep from exhaustion, 146 and he died. 4:22 Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, “Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent, 147 and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead 148 with the tent peg in his temple.
4:23 That day God humiliated King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. 4:24 Israel’s power continued to overwhelm 149 King Jabin of Canaan until they did away with 150 him. 151
5:1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this victory song: 152
5:2 “When the leaders took the lead 153 in Israel,
When the people answered the call to war –
Praise the Lord!
5:3 Hear, O kings!
Pay attention, O rulers!
I will sing to the Lord! 154
I will sing 155 to the Lord God of Israel!
5:4 O Lord, when you departed 156 from Seir,
when you marched from Edom’s plains,
the earth shook, the heavens poured down,
the clouds poured down rain. 157
5:5 The mountains trembled 158 before the Lord, the God of Sinai; 159
before the Lord God of Israel.
5:6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael caravans 160 disappeared; 161
travelers 162 had to go on winding side roads.
5:7 Warriors 163 were scarce, 164
they were scarce in Israel,
until you 165 arose, Deborah,
until you arose as a motherly protector 166 in Israel.
5:8 God chose new leaders, 167
then fighters appeared in the city gates; 168
but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, 169
among forty military units 170 in Israel.
5:9 My heart went out 171 to Israel’s leaders,
to the people who answered the call to war.
Praise the Lord!
5:10 You who ride on light-colored female donkeys,
who sit on saddle blankets, 172
you who walk on the road, pay attention!
5:11 Hear 173 the sound of those who divide the sheep 174 among the watering places;
there they tell of 175 the Lord’s victorious deeds,
the victorious deeds of his warriors 176 in Israel.
Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates –
5:12 Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing a song!
Get up, Barak!
Capture your prisoners of war, 177 son of Abinoam!
5:13 Then the survivors 178 came down 179 to the mighty ones; 180
the Lord’s people came down to me 181 as 182 warriors.
5:14 They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, 183
they follow 184 after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers.
From Makir leaders came down,
from Zebulun came 185 the ones who march carrying 186 an officer’s staff.
5:15 Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah,
the men of Issachar 187 supported 188 Barak;
into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command. 189
Among the clans of Reuben there was intense 190 heart searching. 191
5:16 Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, 192
listening to the shepherds playing their pipes 193 for their flocks? 194
As for the clans of Reuben – there was intense searching of heart.
5:17 Gilead stayed put 195 beyond the Jordan River.
As for Dan – why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? 196
Asher remained 197 on the seacoast,
he stayed 198 by his harbors. 199
5:18 The men of Zebulun were not concerned about their lives; 200
Naphtali charged on to the battlefields. 201
5:19 Kings came, they fought;
the kings of Canaan fought,
at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, 202
but 203 they took no silver as plunder.
5:20 From the sky 204 the stars 205 fought,
from their paths in the heavens 206 they fought against Sisera.
5:21 The Kishon River carried them off;
the river confronted them 207 – the Kishon River.
Step on the necks of the strong! 208
5:22 The horses’ 209 hooves pounded the ground; 210
the stallions galloped madly. 211
5:23 ‘Call judgment down on 212 Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic 213 messenger;
‘Be sure 214 to call judgment down on 215 those who live there,
because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, 216
to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ 217
5:24 The most rewarded 218 of women should be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite!
She should be the most rewarded of women who live in tents.
5:25 He asked for water,
and she gave him milk;
in a bowl fit for a king, 219
she served him curds.
5:26 Her left 220 hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
She “hammered” 221 Sisera,
she shattered his skull, 222
she smashed his head, 223
she drove the tent peg through his temple. 224
5:27 Between her feet he collapsed,
he fell limp 225 and was lifeless; 226
between her feet he collapsed and fell limp,
in the spot where he collapsed,
there he fell limp – violently murdered! 227
5:28 Through the window she looked;
Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so slow to return?
Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses 228 delayed?’
5:29 The wisest of her ladies 229 answer;
indeed she even thinks to herself,
5:30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder 230 –
a girl or two for each man to rape! 231
Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, 232
he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, 233
two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,
for the neck of the plunderer!’ 234
5:31 May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord!
But may those who love you shine
like the rising sun at its brightest!” 235
And the land had rest for forty years.
6:1 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, 236 so the Lord turned them over to 237 Midian for seven years. 6:2 The Midianites 238 overwhelmed Israel. 239 Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters 240 for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds. 6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, 241 the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. 242 6:4 They invaded the land 243 and devoured 244 its crops 245 all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, 246 and they took away 247 the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. 6:5 When they invaded 248 with their cattle and tents, they were as thick 249 as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. 250 They came to devour 251 the land. 6:6 Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
6:7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian, 6:8 he 252 sent a prophet 253 to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt 254 and took you out of that place of slavery. 255 6:9 I rescued you from Egypt’s power 256 and from the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave their land to you. 6:10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God! Do not worship 257 the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living!” But you have disobeyed me.’” 258
6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger 259 came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon 260 was threshing 261 wheat in a winepress 262 so he could hide it from the Midianites. 263 6:12 The Lord’s messenger appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, courageous warrior!” 6:13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, 264 but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster 265 overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, 266 ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 6:14 Then the Lord himself 267 turned to him and said, “You have the strength. 268 Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! 269 Have I not sent you?” 6:15 Gideon 270 said to him, “But Lord, 271 how 272 can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” 273 6:16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but 274 I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” 275 6:17 Gideon 276 said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, 277 then give me 278 a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me. 6:18 Do not leave this place until I come back 279 with a gift 280 and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”
6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, 281 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 282 to him under the oak tree and presented it to him. 6:20 God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, 283 and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed. 284 6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. 285 Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. 286
6:22 When Gideon realized 287 that it was the Lord’s messenger, he 288 said, “Oh no! 289 Master, Lord! 290 I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!” 6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! 291 Do not be afraid! You are not going to die!” 6:24 Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it “The Lord is on friendly terms with me.” 292 To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
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. 293 Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole. 6:26 Then build an altar for the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern. 294 Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.” 6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants 295 and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family 296 and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime. 297
6:28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw 298 the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar. 6:29 They said to one another, 299 “Who did this?” 300 They investigated the matter thoroughly 301 and concluded 302 that Gideon son of Joash had done it. 6:30 The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him! 303 He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.” 6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, 304 “Must you fight Baal’s battles? 305 Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause 306 will die by morning! 307 If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! 308 After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” 309 6:32 That very day Gideon’s father named him Jerub-Baal, 310 because he had said, “Let Baal fight with him, for it was his altar that was pulled down.”
6:33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east 311 assembled. They crossed the Jordan River 312 and camped in the Jezreel Valley. 6:34 The Lord’s spirit took control of 313 Gideon. He blew a trumpet, 314 summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 315 6:35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well. 316 He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.
6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, 317 as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. 318 6:37 Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it 319 is dry, then I will be sure 320 that you will use me to deliver Israel, 321 as you promised.” 6:38 The Lord did as he asked. 322 When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl. 323 6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. 324 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.” 325 6:40 That night God did as he asked. 326 Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.
7:1 Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and his men 327 got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod. 328 The Midianites 329 were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley. 7:2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. 330 Israel might brag, 331 ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ 332 7:3 Now, announce to the men, 333 ‘Whoever is shaking with fear 334 may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’” 335 Twenty-two thousand men 336 went home; 337 ten thousand remained. 7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. 338 Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. 339 When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; 340 when I say, 341 ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” 342 7:5 So he brought the men 343 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.” 344 7:6 Three hundred men lapped; 345 the rest of the men 346 kneeled to drink water. 7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army 347 and I will hand Midian over to you. 348 The rest of the men should go home.” 349 7:8 The men 350 who were chosen 351 took supplies 352 and their trumpets. Gideon 353 sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; 354 he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites 355 were camped down below 356 in the valley.
7:9 That night the Lord said to Gideon, 357 “Get up! Attack 358 the camp, for I am handing it over to you. 359 7:10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant 7:11 and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave 360 and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp. 361 7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. 362 Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 7:13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. 363 The man 364 said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw 365 a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” 366 7:14 The other man said, 367 “Without a doubt this symbolizes 368 the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”
7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. 369 Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 7:16 He divided the three hundred men into three units. 370 He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. 371 7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! 372 I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp 373 at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. 374 7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. 375 Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order 376 all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. 377 7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords 378 throughout 379 the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went 380 to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 7:23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites. 381
7:24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites. 382 Take control of the fords of the streams 383 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” 384 When all the Ephraimites had assembled, 385 they took control of the fords 386 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River. 7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. 387 They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb 388 in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites 389 and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. 390
8:1 The Ephraimites said to him, “Why have you done such a thing to us? You did not summon us 391 when you went to fight the Midianites!” They argued vehemently with him. 8:2 He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes 392 are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! 393 8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” 394 When he said this, they calmed down. 395
8:4 Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites. 396 8:5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Give 397 some loaves of bread to the men 398 who are following me, 399 because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 8:6 The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give 400 bread to your army?” 401 8:7 Gideon said, “Since you will not help, 402 after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh 403 your skin 404 with 405 desert thorns and briers.” 8:8 He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request. 406 The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had. 407 8:9 He also threatened 408 the men of Penuel, warning, 409 “When I return victoriously, 410 I will tear down this tower.”
8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies. There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed. 411 8:11 Gideon went up the road of the nomads 412 east of Nobah and Jogbehah and ambushed the surprised army. 413 8:12 When Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, Gideon 414 chased them and captured the two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. He had surprised 415 their entire army.
8:13 Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass 416 of Heres. 8:14 He captured a young man from Succoth 417 and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth’s officials and city leaders – seventy-seven men in all. 418 8:15 He approached the men of Succoth and said, “Look what I have! 419 Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” 420 8:16 He seized the leaders 421 of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then “threshed” the men of Succoth with them. 422 8:17 He also tore down the tower of Penuel and executed the city’s men.
8:18 He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me 423 the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.” 424 8:19 He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear, 425 as surely as the Lord is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” 8:20 He ordered Jether his firstborn son, “Come on! 426 Kill them!” But Jether was too afraid to draw his sword, 427 because he was still young. 8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, 428 “Come on, 429 you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” 430 So Gideon killed 431 Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.
8:22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.” 432 8:23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 8:24 Gideon continued, 433 “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.” 434 (The Midianites 435 had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.) 8:25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.” 436 So they 437 spread out a garment, and each one threw an earring from his plunder onto it. 8:26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. 438 This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, 439 purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. 440 8:27 Gideon used all this to make 441 an ephod, 442 which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites 443 prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it 444 there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
8:28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. 445 The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. 446 8:29 Then Jerub-Baal son of Joash went home and settled down. 447 8:30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives. 448 8:31 His concubine, 449 who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 450 8:32 Gideon son of Joash died at a very 451 old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
8:33 After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith 452 their god. 8:34 The Israelites did not remain true 453 to the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them. 8:35 They did not treat 454 the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.
9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives. 455 He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family, 456 9:2 “Tell 457 all the leaders of Shechem this: ‘Why would you want 458 to have seventy men, all Jerub-Baal’s sons, ruling over you, when you can have just one ruler? Recall that I am your own flesh and blood.’” 459 9:3 His mother’s relatives 460 spoke on his behalf to 461 all the leaders of Shechem and reported his proposal. 462 The leaders were drawn to Abimelech; 463 they said, “He is our close relative.” 464 9:4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous 465 men as his followers. 466 9:5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers, 467 the seventy legitimate 468 sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal’s youngest son, escaped, 469 because he hid. 9:6 All the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo assembled and then went and made Abimelech king by the oak near the pillar 470 in Shechem.
9:7 When Jotham heard the news, 471 he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below, 472 “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!
9:8 “The trees were determined to go out 473 and choose a king for themselves. 474 They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’ 475 9:9 But the olive tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and men, just to sway above the other trees!’ 476
9:10 “So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king!’ 477 9:11 But the fig tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my sweet figs, my excellent fruit, just to sway above the other trees!’ 478
9:12 “So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You come and be our king!’ 479 9:13 But the grapevine said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my wine, which makes gods and men so happy, just to sway above the other trees!’ 480
9:14 “So all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and be our king!’ 481 9:15 The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to choose 482 me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches! 483 Otherwise 484 may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
9:16 “Now, if you have shown loyalty and integrity when you made Abimelech king, if you have done right to Jerub-Baal and his family, 485 if you have properly repaid him 486 – 9:17 my father fought for you; he risked his life 487 and delivered you from Midian’s power. 488 9:18 But you have attacked 489 my father’s family 490 today. You murdered his seventy legitimate 491 sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative. 492 9:19 So if you have shown loyalty and integrity to Jerub-Baal and his family 493 today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness! 494 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!” 9:21 Then Jotham ran away 495 to Beer and lived there to escape from 496 Abimelech his half-brother. 497
9:22 Abimelech commanded 498 Israel for three years. 9:23 God sent a spirit to stir up hostility 499 between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal 500 to Abimelech. 9:24 He did this so the violent deaths of Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons might be avenged and Abimelech, their half-brother 501 who murdered them, might have to pay for their spilled blood, along with the leaders of Shechem who helped him murder them. 502 9:25 The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting 503 bandits in 504 the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it. 505
9:26 Gaal son of Ebed 506 came through Shechem with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem transferred their loyalty to him. 507 9:27 They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, 508 squeezed out the juice, 509 and celebrated. They came to the temple 510 of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech. 9:28 Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal, and is not Zebul the deputy he appointed? 511 Serve the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem! But why should we serve Abimelech? 512 9:29 If only these men 513 were under my command, 514 I would get rid of Abimelech!” He challenged Abimelech, 515 “Muster 516 your army and come out for battle!” 517
9:30 When Zebul, the city commissioner, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was furious. 518 9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, 519 reporting, “Beware! 520 Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming 521 to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. 522 9:32 Now, come up 523 at night with your men 524 and set an ambush in the field outside the city. 525 9:33 In the morning at sunrise quickly attack the city. When he and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to him.” 526
9:34 So Abimelech and all his men came up 527 at night and set an ambush outside Shechem – they divided into 528 four units. 9:35 When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places. 9:36 Gaal saw the men 529 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.” 530 9:37 Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center 531 of the land. A unit 532 is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.” 533 9:38 Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words, 534 ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men 535 you insulted? 536 Go out now and fight them!” 9:39 So Gaal led the leaders of Shechem out 537 and fought Abimelech. 9:40 Abimelech chased him, and Gaal 538 ran from him. Many Shechemites 539 fell wounded at the entrance of the gate. 9:41 Abimelech went back 540 to Arumah; Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem. 541
9:42 The next day the Shechemites 542 came out to the field. When Abimelech heard about it, 543 9:43 he took his men 544 and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city, 545 he attacked and struck them down. 546 9:44 Abimelech and his units 547 attacked and blocked 548 the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down. 9:45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled 549 the city and spread salt over it. 550
9:46 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem 551 heard the news, they went to the stronghold 552 of the temple of El-Berith. 553 9:47 Abimelech heard 554 that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were in one place. 555 9:48 He and all his men 556 went up on Mount Zalmon. He 557 took an ax 558 in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it 559 on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!” 560 9:49 So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches 561 against the stronghold and set fire to it. 562 All the people 563 of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.
9:50 Abimelech moved on 564 to Thebez; he besieged and captured it. 565 9:51 There was a fortified 566 tower 567 in the center of the city, so all the men and women, as well as the city’s leaders, ran into it and locked the entrance. Then they went up to the roof of the tower. 9:52 Abimelech came and attacked the tower. When he approached the entrance of the tower to set it on fire, 9:53 a woman threw an upper millstone 568 down on his 569 head and shattered his skull. 9:54 He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons, 570 “Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say, 571 ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died. 9:55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home. 572
9:56 God repaid Abimelech for the evil he did to his father by murdering his seventy half-brothers. 573 9:57 God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell 574 on them.
10:1 After Abimelech’s death, 575 Tola son of Puah, grandson 576 of Dodo, from the tribe of Issachar, 577 rose up to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the Ephraimite hill country. 10:2 He led 578 Israel for twenty-three years, then died and was buried in Shamir.
10:3 Jair the Gileadite rose up after him; he led Israel for twenty-two years. 10:4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and possessed thirty cities. To this day these towns are called Havvoth Jair 579 – they are in the land of Gilead. 580 10:5 Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
10:6 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. 581 They worshiped 582 the Baals and the Ashtars, 583 as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon, 584 Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. 585 They abandoned the Lord and did not worship 586 him. 10:7 The Lord was furious with Israel 587 and turned them over to 588 the Philistines and Ammonites. 10:8 They ruthlessly oppressed 589 the Israelites that eighteenth year 590 – that is, all the Israelites living east of the Jordan in Amorite country in Gilead. 10:9 The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. 591 Israel suffered greatly. 592
10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped 593 the Baals.” 10:11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 10:12 the Sidonians, Amalek, and Midian 594 when they oppressed you? 595 You cried out for help to me, and I delivered you from their power. 596 10:13 But since you abandoned me and worshiped 597 other gods, I will not deliver you again. 10:14 Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!” 598 10:15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, 599 but deliver us today!” 600 10:16 They threw away the foreign gods they owned 601 and worshiped 602 the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much. 603
10:17 The Ammonites assembled 604 and camped in Gilead; the Israelites gathered together and camped in Mizpah. 10:18 The leaders 605 of Gilead said to one another, “Who is willing to lead the charge 606 against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!”
11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. 607 11:2 Gilead’s wife also gave 608 him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, 609 because you are another woman’s son.” 11:3 So Jephthah left 610 his half-brothers 611 and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. 612
11:4 It was some time after this when the Ammonites fought with Israel. 11:5 When the Ammonites attacked, 613 the leaders 614 of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back 615 from the land of Tob. 11:6 They said, 616 “Come, be our commander, so we can fight with the Ammonites.” 11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave 617 my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?” 11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, 618 but now we pledge to you our loyalty. 619 Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader 620 of all who live in Gilead.” 621 11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! 622 If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, 623 I will be your leader.” 624 11:10 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, 625 if we do not do as you say.” 626 11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement 627 before the Lord in Mizpah.
11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have 628 you come against me to attack my land?” 11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole 629 my land when they 630 came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. 631 Now return it 632 peaceably!”
11:14 Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king 11:15 and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal 633 the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites. 11:16 When they left 634 Egypt, Israel traveled 635 through the desert as far as the Red Sea and then came to Kadesh. 11:17 Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please allow us 636 to pass through your land.” But the king of Edom rejected the request. 637 Israel sent the same request to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling to cooperate. 638 So Israel stayed at Kadesh. 11:18 Then Israel 639 went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; 640 they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border). 11:19 Israel sent messengers to King Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, “Please allow us to pass through your land to our land.” 641 11:20 But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He 642 assembled his whole army, 643 camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. 11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took 644 all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land. 11:22 They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west. 645 11:23 Since 646 the Lord God of Israel has driven out 647 the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? 648 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. 649 11:25 Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them? 650 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? 11:27 I have not done you wrong, 651 but you are doing wrong 652 by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’” 11:28 But the Ammonite king disregarded 653 the message sent by Jephthah. 654
11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered 655 Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went 656 to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. 657 11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 11:31 then whoever is the first to come through 658 the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he 659 will belong to the Lord and 660 I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.” 11:32 Jephthah approached 661 the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. 11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out! 662 The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. 663
11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out 664 to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. 665 She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. 11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! 666 You have brought me disaster! 667 I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” 668 11:36 She said to him, “My father, since 669 you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. 670 After all, the Lord vindicated you before 671 your enemies, the Ammonites.” 11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. 672 For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” 673 11:38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave 674 for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills. 675 11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. 676 Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. 677 11:40 Every year 678 Israelite women commemorate 679 the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days. 680
12:1 The Ephraimites assembled 681 and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight 682 with the Ammonites without asking 683 us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” 684
12:2 Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. 685 I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power. 686 12:3 When I saw that you were not going to help, 687 I risked my life 688 and advanced against 689 the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up 690 to fight with me today?” 12:4 Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and they fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because the Ephraimites insulted them, saying, 691 “You Gileadites are refugees in Ephraim, living within Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s territory.” 692 12:5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River 693 opposite Ephraim. 694 Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive 695 said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked 696 him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” 697 If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word 698 correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead. 12:7 Jephthah led 699 Israel for six years; then he 700 died and was buried in his city in Gilead. 701
12:8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem 702 led 703 Israel. 12:9 He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family, 704 and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons. 705 Ibzan 706 led 707 Israel for seven years; 12:10 then he 708 died and was buried in Bethlehem.
12:11 After him Elon the Zebulunite led 709 Israel for ten years. 710 12:12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
12:13 After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite led 711 Israel. 12:14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years. 12:15 Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
13:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, 712 so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.
13:2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. 713 13:3 The Lord’s angelic 714 messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You 715 are infertile and childless, 716 but you will conceive and have a son. 13:4 Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. 717 13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. 718 You must never cut his hair, 719 for the child will be dedicated to God 720 from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power 721 of the Philistines.”
13:6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God 722 came to me! He looked like God’s angelic messenger – he was very awesome. 723 I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. 724 So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. 725 For the child will be dedicated 726 to God from birth till the day he dies.’”
13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, 727 “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God 728 to visit 729 us again, so he can teach 730 us how we should raise 731 the child who will be born.” 13:9 God answered Manoah’s prayer. 732 God’s angelic messenger visited 733 the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 13:10 The woman ran at once and told her husband, 734 “Come quickly, 735 the man who visited 736 me the other day has appeared to me!” 13:11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met 737 the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” 738 He said, “Yes.” 739 13:12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true, 740 how should the child be raised and what should he do?” 741 13:13 The Lord’s messenger told 742 Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. 743 13:14 She should not drink 744 anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. 745 She should obey everything I commanded her to do.” 13:15 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Please stay here awhile, 746 so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.” 747 13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, 748 I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.) 749 13:17 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.” 750 13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” 751 13:19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. 752 13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it 753 while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown 754 to the ground.
13:21 The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger. 755 13:22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!” 756 13:23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. 757 He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”
13:24 Manoah’s wife 758 gave birth to a son and named him Samson. 759 The child grew and the Lord empowered 760 him. 13:25 The Lord’s spirit began to control him 761 in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye. 762 14:2 When he got home, 763 he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. 764 Now get her for my wife.” 14:3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our 765 people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” 766 But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, 767 because she is the right one for me.” 768 14:4 Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, 769 because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines 770 (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).
14:5 Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached 771 the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. 772 14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered 773 him and he tore the lion 774 in two with his bare hands 775 as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
14:7 Samson continued on down to Timnah 776 and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one. 777 14:8 Some time later, when he went back to marry 778 her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw 779 a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. 14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned 780 to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. 781
14:10 Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. 782 Samson hosted a party 783 there, for this was customary for bridegrooms 784 to do. 14:11 When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company. 785 14:12 Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, 786 I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets 787 of clothes. 14:13 But if you cannot solve it, 788 you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.” 789 14:14 He said to them,
“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong one came something sweet.”
They could not solve the riddle for three days.
14:15 On the fourth 790 day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. 791 If you refuse, 792 we will burn up 793 you and your father’s family. 794 Did you invite us here 795 to make us poor?” 796 14:16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder 797 and said, “You must 798 hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men 799 a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” 800 14:17 She cried on his shoulder 801 until the party was almost over. 802 Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. 803 Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle. 804 14:18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
He said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer, 805
you would not have solved my riddle!”
14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes 806 and gave them 807 to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. 808 14:20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. 809
15:1 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, 810 Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. 811 He said to her father, 812 “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” 813 But her father would not let him enter. 15:2 Her father said, “I really thought 814 you absolutely despised 815 her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!” 816 15:3 Samson said to them, 817 “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” 818 15:4 Samson went and captured three hundred jackals 819 and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair. 820 15:5 He lit the torches 821 and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 15:6 The Philistines asked, 822 “Who did this?” They were told, 823 “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite 824 took Samson’s 825 bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. 826 15:7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this, 827 I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.” 828 15:8 He struck them down and defeated them. 829 Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.
15:9 The Philistines went up and invaded 830 Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle 831 in Lehi. 15:10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking 832 us?” The Philistines 833 said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” 15:11 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” 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 834 you will not kill 835 me.” 15:13 They said to him, “We promise! 836 We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. 15:14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered 837 him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in 838 fire, and they 839 melted away from his hands. 15:15 He happened to see 840 a solid 841 jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it 842 and struck down 843 a thousand men. 15:16 Samson then said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps; 844
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”
15:17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down 845 and named that place Ramath Lehi. 846
15:18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant 847 this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” 848 15:19 So God split open the basin 849 at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength 850 was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring 851 En Hakkore. 852 It remains in Lehi to this very day. 15:20 Samson led 853 Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence. 854
16:1 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex with her. 855 16:2 The Gazites were told, 856 “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town 857 and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. 858 They relaxed 859 all night, thinking, 860 “He will not leave 861 until morning comes; 862 then we will kill him!” 16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. 863 He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. 864 He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron. 865
16:4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 16:5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate 866 him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”
16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.” 867 16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh 868 bowstrings 869 that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and they tied him up with them. 16:9 They hid 870 in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, 871 Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. 872 The secret of his strength was not discovered. 873
16:10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived 874 me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.” 16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, 875 I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, 876 Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) 877 But he tore the ropes 878 from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.
16:13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair 879 into the fabric on the loom 880 and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.” 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here, 881 Samson!” 882 He woke up 883 and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.
16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me? 884 Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16:16 She nagged him 885 every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it. 886 16:17 Finally he told her his secret. 887 He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, 888 for I have been dedicated to God 889 from the time I was conceived. 890 If my head 891 were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.” 16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, 892 she sent for 893 the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me 894 his secret.” 895 So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. 16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap 896 and then called a man in to shave off 897 the seven braids of his hair. 898 She made him vulnerable 899 and his strength left him. 16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here, 900 Samson!” He woke up 901 and thought, 902 “I will do as I did before 903 and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. 16:21 The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. 16:22 His hair 904 began to grow back after it had been shaved off.
16:23 The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.” 16:24 When the people saw him, 905 they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” 906
16:25 When they really started celebrating, 907 they said, “Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them. 908 They made him stand between two pillars. 16:26 Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple. 909 Then I can lean on them.” 16:27 Now the temple 910 was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain. 16:28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord, 911 remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge 912 against the Philistines for my two eyes!” 16:29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple 913 and he leaned against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. 16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard 914 and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life. 915 16:31 His brothers and all his family 916 went down and brought him back. 917 They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led 918 Israel for twenty years.
[2:6] 2 tn Heb “the Israelites went each to his inheritance.”
[2:7] 3 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
[2:7] 4 tn Or perhaps “elders,” which could be interpreted to mean “leaders.”
[2:7] 5 tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen.”
[2:7] 6 tn Heb “the great work of the
[2:9] 5 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:9] 6 tn Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”
[2:10] 7 tn Heb “All that generation were gathered to their fathers.”
[2:10] 8 tn Heb “arose after them.”
[2:10] 9 tn Heb “that did not know the
[2:11] 9 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[2:11] 10 tn Or “serving”; or “following.”
[2:12] 12 tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).
[2:13] 13 tn Some English translations simply transliterate the plural Hebrew term (“Ashtaroth,” cf. NAB, NASB), pluralize the transliterated Hebrew singular form (“Ashtoreths,” cf. NIV), or use a variation of the name (“Astartes,” cf. NRSV).
[2:14] 15 tn Or “The
[2:14] 16 tn Heb “robbers who robbed them.” (The verb שָׁסָה [shasah] appears twice in the verse.)
[2:14] 17 tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
[2:14] 18 tn The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[2:15] 17 tn The expression “to fight” is interpretive.
[2:15] 18 tn Heb “the
[2:15] 19 tn Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”
[2:15] 20 tn Or “they experienced great distress.”
[2:16] 19 tn Or more traditionally, “judges” (also in vv. 17, 18 [3x], 19). Since these figures carried out more than a judicial function, also serving as rulers and (in several instances) as military commanders, the translation uses the term “leaders.”
[2:16] 20 tn Heb “and they delivered them from the hand of the ones robbing them.”
[2:17] 21 tn Or “did not listen to.”
[2:17] 22 tn Or “bowed before.”
[2:17] 23 tn Or “way [of life].”
[2:17] 25 tn Heb “…walked, obeying the
[2:18] 23 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:18] 24 tn The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[2:18] 25 tn Heb “the ones oppressing them and afflicting them.” The synonyms “oppressing” and “afflicting” are joined together in the translation as “harsh oppressors” to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.
[2:19] 25 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:19] 26 tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.
[2:19] 27 tn Heb “their fathers.”
[2:19] 28 tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”
[2:20] 27 tn Or “The
[2:20] 28 tn Heb “Because this nation.”
[2:20] 29 tn Heb “my covenant which I commanded their fathers.”
[2:20] 30 tn Heb “and has not listened to my voice.” The expression “to not listen to [God’s] voice” is idiomatic here for disobeying him.
[2:22] 29 tn The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21). In this case the
[2:22] 30 tn The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
[2:22] 31 tn The words “I [i.e., the
[2:22] 32 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:22] 33 tn Or “way [of life].”
[2:22] 34 tn “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.
[2:23] 31 tn The words “this is why” are interpretive.
[3:1] 33 tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”
[3:2] 35 tn The Hebrew syntax of v. 2 is difficult. The Hebrew text reads literally, “only in order that the generations of the Israelites might know, to teach them war – only those who formerly did not know them.”
[3:3] 37 tn The words “These were the nations,” though not present in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[3:3] 38 tn Or “the entrance to Hamath.”
[3:4] 39 tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the
[3:6] 41 tn Heb “to their sons.”
[3:6] 42 tn Or “served”; or “followed” (this term occurs in the following verse as well).
[3:7] 43 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[3:7] 44 sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.
[3:8] 45 tn Or “The
[3:8] 46 tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
[3:8] 47 tn Or “Cushan the Doubly Wicked.”
[3:8] 48 tn Or “they served Cushan-Rishathaim.”
[3:9] 49 tn “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb’s nephew).
[3:10] 49 tn Heb “was on him.”
[3:10] 50 tn Heb “his hand was strong against Cushan-Rishathaim.”
[3:12] 51 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[3:12] 52 tn Heb “strengthened Eglon…against Israel.”
[3:13] 53 tn Heb “and he gathered to him.”
[3:14] 55 tn Or “the Israelites served Eglon.”
[3:15] 57 tn Heb “the
[3:15] 58 tn The phrase, which refers to Ehud, literally reads “bound/restricted in the right hand,” apparently a Hebrew idiom for a left-handed person. See Judg 20:16, where 700 Benjaminites are described in this way. Perhaps the Benjaminites purposely trained several of their young men to be left-handed warriors by restricting the use of the right hand from an early age so the left hand would become dominant. Left-handed men would have a distinct military advantage, especially when attacking city gates. See B. Halpern, “The Assassination of Eglon: The First Locked-Room Murder Mystery,” BRev 4 (1988): 35.
[3:15] 59 tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”
[3:16] 59 tn The Hebrew term גֹּמֶד (gomed) denotes a unit of linear measure, perhaps a cubit (the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger – approximately 18 inches [45 cm]). Some suggest it is equivalent to the short cubit (the distance between the elbow and the knuckles of the clenched fist – approximately 13 inches [33 cm]) or to the span (the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the little finger in a spread hand – approximately 9 inches [23 cm]). See BDB 167 s.v.; HALOT 196 s.v.; B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 142.
[3:18] 61 tn Heb “the tribute payment.”
[3:19] 63 tn Or “returned” (i.e., to Eglon’s palace).
[3:19] 64 tn The words “when he reached” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text simply reads “from.”
[3:19] 66 tn The words “to Eglon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[3:19] 67 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:20] 65 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] 66 tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”
[3:21] 67 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:22] 69 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:22] 70 tn The Hebrew text has “and he went out to the [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew word פַּרְשְׁדֹנָה (parshÿdonah) which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. The noun has the article prefixed and directive suffix. The word may be a technical architectural term, indicating the area into which Ehud moved as he left the king and began his escape. In this case Ehud is the subject of the verb “went out.” The present translation omits the clause, understanding it as an ancient variant of the first clause in v. 23. Some take the noun as “back,” understand “sword” (from the preceding clause) as the subject, and translate “the sword came out his [i.e., Eglon’s] back.” But this rendering is unlikely since the Hebrew word for “sword” (חֶרֶב, kherev) is feminine and the verb form translated “came out” (וַיֵּצֵא, vayyetse’) is masculine. (One expects agreement in gender when the subject is supplied from the preceding clause. See Ezek 33:4, 6.) See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 146-48, for discussion of the options.
[3:23] 71 tn Again the precise meaning of the Hebrew word, used only here in the OT, is uncertain. Since it is preceded by the verb “went out” and the next clause refers to Ehud closing doors, the noun is probably an architectural term referring to the room (perhaps a vestibule; see HALOT 604 s.v. מִסְדְּרוֹן) immediately outside the king’s upper chamber. As v. 24 indicates, this vestibule separated the upper room from an outer room where the king's servants were waiting.
[3:24] 74 tn Heb “covering his feet” (i.e., with his outer garments while he relieves himself).
[3:24] 75 tn The Hebrew expression translated “well-ventilated inner room” may refer to the upper room itself or to a bathroom attached to or within it.
[3:25] 75 tn The words “the doors” are supplied.
[3:25] 76 tn Heb “See, their master, fallen to the ground, dead.”
[3:27] 77 tn Heb “When he arrived.”
[3:27] 78 tn That is, “mustered an army.”
[3:27] 79 tn Heb “now he was before them.”
[3:28] 79 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
[3:28] 80 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.
[3:28] 81 tn Or “against Moab,” that is, so as to prevent the Moabites from crossing.
[3:29] 81 tn Heb “They struck Moab that day – about ten thousand men.”
[3:31] 83 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:31] 85 tn Heb “also he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:1] 85 tn Heb “did evil in the eyes of the
[4:2] 87 tn Heb “the
[4:2] 88 tn Or “King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite ruler.”
[4:2] 89 tn Or “Harosheth of the Pagan Nations”; cf. KJV “Harosheth of the Gentiles.”
[4:3] 89 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:3] 90 tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.
[4:3] 91 tn Heb “with strength.”
[4:4] 91 tn Heb “ a woman, a prophetess.” In Hebrew idiom the generic “woman” sometimes precedes the more specific designation. See GKC 437-38 §135.b.
[4:4] 92 tn Heb “she was.” The pronoun refers back to the nominative absolute “Deborah.” Hebrew style sometimes employs such resumptive pronouns when lengthy qualifiers separate the subject from the verb.
[4:5] 93 tn That is, “consider legal disputes.”
[4:5] 94 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[4:5] 95 tn Heb “for judgment.”
[4:6] 95 tn Heb “sent and summoned.”
[4:7] 97 tn Heb “horde”; “multitude.”
[4:9] 100 tn Heb “on [account of (?)] the way which you are walking.” Another option is to translate, “due to the way you are going about this.” In this case direct reference is made to Barak’s hesitancy as the reason for his loss of glory.
[4:9] 101 tn Heb “for into the hands of a woman the
[4:10] 101 tn Heb “went up at his feet.”
[4:11] 104 tn Heb “pitched his tent.”
[4:12] 105 tn Heb “and they told Sisera.”
[4:13] 107 tn Heb “Sisera.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[4:14] 110 tn 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
[4:14] 111 tn Heb “Has the
[4:15] 111 tn Or “caused to panic.”
[4:15] 112 tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “before Barak.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[4:15] 113 tn Heb “got down from.”
[4:17] 115 map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.
[4:17] 116 tn Heb “for there was peace between.”
[4:18] 117 tn Heb “Turn aside” (also a second time later in this verse).
[4:18] 118 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:21] 119 tn Heb “took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand.”
[4:21] 120 tn Heb “and it went into the ground.”
[4:21] 121 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.”
[4:22] 121 tn Heb “he went to her.”
[4:22] 122 tn Heb “fallen, dead.”
[4:24] 123 tn Heb “The hand of the Israelites became more and more severe against.”
[4:24] 125 tn Heb “Jabin king of Canaan.” The proper name and title have been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[5:1] 125 tn The words “this victory song” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:2] 127 tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression בִּפְרֹעַ פְּרָעוֹת (bifroa’ pÿra’ot) is uncertain. Numerous proposals are offered by commentators. (For a survey of opinions, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 223-27.) The next line refers to the people who responded to Barak’s summons to war, so a reference to the leaders who issued the summons would provide a natural poetic parallel. In v. 9 the leaders (חוֹקְקֵי, khoqÿqey) of the people and these same volunteers stand in poetic parallelism, so it is reasonable to assume that the difficult Hebrew term פְּרַעוֹת (pÿra’ot, v. 2a) is synonymous with חוֹקְקֵי (khoqÿqey) of v. 9 (see Lindars, 227).
[5:3] 129 tn Heb “I, to the
[5:5] 133 tn Or “quaked.” The translation assumes the form נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) from the root זָלַל (zalal, “to quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). The LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum also understood the word this way. (See Isa 63:19 and 64:2 for other occurrences of this form.) Some understand here the verb נָזַל (nazul, “to flow [with torrents of rain water]”).
[5:5] 134 tn Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the
[5:6] 135 tc The translation assumes the form אֳרְחוֹת (’orÿkhot, “caravans”) rather than אֳרָחוֹת (’orakhot, “roadways”) because it makes a tighter parallel with “travelers” in the next line.
[5:6] 137 tn Heb “Ones walking on paths.”
[5:7] 137 tn The meaning of the Hebrew noun פְרָזוֹן (fÿrazon) is uncertain. Some understand the meaning as “leaders” or “those living in rural areas.” The singular noun appears to be collective (note the accompanying plural verb). For various options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 237-38.
[5:7] 139 tn The translation assumes that the verb is an archaic second feminine singular form. Though Deborah is named as one of the composers of the song (v. 1), she is also addressed within it (v. 12). Many take the verb as first person singular, “I arose” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV).
[5:7] 140 tn Heb “mother.” The translation assumes that the image portrays Deborah as a protector of the people. It is possible that the metaphor points to her prophetic role. Just as a male prophet could be called “father,” so Deborah, a prophetess, is called “mother” (B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239).
[5:8] 139 tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.
[5:8] 140 tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)
[5:8] 141 tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).
[5:8] 142 tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (’elef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).
[5:9] 141 tn The words “went out” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[5:10] 143 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִדִּין (middin, “saddle blankets”) in this context is uncertain.
[5:11] 145 tn The word “Hear” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[5:11] 146 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. Some translate “those who distribute the water” (HALOT 344 s.v. חצץ pi). For other options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 246-47.
[5:11] 147 tn Or perhaps “repeat.”
[5:11] 148 tn See the note on the term “warriors” in v. 7.
[5:12] 147 tn Heb “take captive your captives.” (The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative here.)
[5:13] 149 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] 150 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] 151 sn The expression mighty ones probably refers to the leaders of the army.
[5:13] 152 sn The speaker may be Deborah here.
[5:13] 153 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.
[5:14] 151 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] 152 tn The words “They follow” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[5:14] 153 tn The word “came” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[5:14] 154 tn Or possibly “who carry.”
[5:15] 153 tn Heb “Issachar.” The words “the men of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:15] 154 tn Or “was true to.”
[5:15] 155 tn Heb “at his feet.”
[5:15] 156 tn Heb “great was.”
[5:15] 157 tc The great majority of Hebrew
[5:16] 155 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִשְׁפְּתַיִם (mishpÿtayim) is uncertain. Some understand the word to mean “campfires.”
[5:16] 157 tn Heb “listening to the pipe playing for the flocks.”
[5:17] 157 tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”
[5:17] 158 tn Heb “Dan, why did he live as a resident alien, ships.” The verb גּוּר (gur) usually refers to taking up residence outside one’s native land. Perhaps the Danites, rather than rallying to Barak, were content to move to the Mediterranean coast and work in the shipyards. For further discussion, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 262.
[5:17] 160 tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”
[5:17] 161 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִפְרָץ (mifrats) is uncertain, but the parallelism (note “seacoast”) suggests “harbors.”
[5:18] 159 tn Heb “Zebulun was a people which despised its life even unto death.”
[5:18] 160 tn Heb “Naphtali was on the heights of the field.”
[5:19] 161 map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.
[5:19] 162 tn The contrastive conjunction “but” is interpretive.
[5:20] 163 tn Or “from heaven.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[5:20] 164 tn The MT takes “the stars” with what follows rather than with the first colon of v. 20. But for metrical reasons it seems better to move the atnach and read the colon as indicated in the translation.
[5:20] 165 tn The words “in the heavens” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[5:21] 165 tn Possibly “the ancient river,” but it seems preferable in light of the parallel line (which has a verb) to emend the word (attested only here) to a verb (קָדַם, qadam) with pronominal object suffix.
[5:21] 166 tn This line is traditionally taken as the poet-warrior’s self-exhortation, “March on, my soul, in strength!” The present translation (a) takes the verb (a second feminine singular form) as addressed to Deborah (cf. v. 12), (b) understands נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in its well-attested sense of “throat; neck” (cf. Jonah 2:6), (c) takes the final yod (י) on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy) as an archaic construct indicator (rather than a suffix), and (d) interprets עֹז (’oz, “strength”) as an attributive genitive (literally, “necks of strength,” i.e., “strong necks”). For fuller discussion and various proposals, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 270-71.
[5:22] 167 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] 168 tn The words “the ground” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:22] 169 tn Heb “galloped, galloped.” The repetition is for emphasis and is more appropriately indicated in English with an adverb.
[5:23] 169 tn Heb “Curse Meroz.”
[5:23] 170 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
[5:23] 171 tn Heb “Curse, cursing.” The Hebrew construction is emphatic.
[5:23] 172 tn Heb “[to] curse.”
[5:23] 173 tn Heb “to the help of the
[5:23] 174 tn Or “along with the other warriors.”
[5:25] 173 tn Or “for mighty ones.”
[5:26] 175 tn The adjective “left” is interpretive, based on the context. Note that the next line pictures Jael holding the hammer with her right hand.
[5:26] 176 tn The verb used here is from the same root as the noun “hammer” in the preceding line.
[5:26] 178 tn The phrase “his head” (an implied direct object) is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:26] 179 tn Heb “she pierced his temple.”
[5:27] 177 tn Heb “he fell.” The same Hebrew expression occurs two more times in this verse.
[5:27] 178 tn Heb “and he lay.
[5:27] 179 tn Or “dead, murdered.”
[5:29] 181 tn Or “princesses.”
[5:30] 183 tn Heb “Are they not finding, dividing the plunder?”
[5:30] 184 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] 185 tn Heb “the plunder of dyed cloth is for Sisera.”
[5:30] 186 tn Heb “the plunder of embroidered cloth.”
[5:30] 187 tn The translation assumes an emendation of the noun (“plunder”) to a participle, “plunderer.”
[5:31] 185 tn Heb “But may those who love him be like the going forth of the sun in its strength.”
[6:1] 187 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[6:1] 188 tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”
[6:2] 189 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
[6:2] 190 tn Heb “The hand of Midian was strong against Israel.”
[6:2] 191 tn Or possibly “secret storage places.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.
[6:3] 191 tn Heb “Whenever Israel sowed seed.”
[6:3] 192 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east would go up, they would go up against him.” The translation assumes that וְעָלוּ (vÿ’alu) is dittographic (note the following עָלָיו, ’alayv).
[6:4] 193 tn Heb “They encamped against them.”
[6:4] 195 tn Heb “the crops of the land.”
[6:4] 196 tn Heb “They left no sustenance in Israel.”
[6:4] 197 tn The words “they took away” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:5] 197 tn Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”
[6:5] 198 tn Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.
[6:8] 197 tn Heb “the
[6:8] 198 tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.
[6:8] 199 tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).
[6:8] 200 tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”
[6:9] 199 tn Heb “hand” (also a second time later in this verse).
[6:10] 201 tn Heb “Do not fear.”
[6:10] 202 tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”
[6:11] 203 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
[6:11] 204 tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.
[6:11] 205 tn Heb “beating out.”
[6:11] 206 sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.
[6:13] 205 tn Heb “But my lord.”
[6:14] 207 sn Some interpreters equate the
[6:14] 208 tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”
[6:14] 209 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
[6:15] 209 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:15] 210 tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.
[6:15] 211 tn Heb “with what.”
[6:15] 212 tn Heb “in my father’s house.”
[6:16] 212 tn Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”
[6:17] 213 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:17] 214 tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”
[6:17] 215 tn Heb “perform for me.”
[6:18] 215 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:18] 216 tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.
[6:19] 217 tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”
[6:19] 218 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.
[6:20] 219 tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”
[6:20] 220 tn Heb “and he did so.”
[6:21] 221 tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”
[6:21] 222 tn Heb “went from his eyes.”
[6:22] 224 tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:22] 226 tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15],
[6:23] 225 tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.
[6:24] 227 tn Heb “The
[6:25] 229 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.
[6:26] 231 tn Possibly “in a row” or “in a layer,” perhaps referring to the arrangement of the stones used in the altar’s construction.
[6:27] 233 tn Heb “men from among his servants.”
[6:27] 235 tn Heb “so he did it at night.”
[6:28] 235 tn Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.
[6:29] 237 tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”
[6:29] 238 tn Heb “this thing.”
[6:29] 239 tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.
[6:29] 240 tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”
[6:30] 239 tn Heb “and let him die.” The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.
[6:31] 241 tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”
[6:31] 242 tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”
[6:31] 243 tn Heb “fights for him.”
[6:31] 244 sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.
[6:31] 245 tn Heb “fight for himself.”
[6:31] 246 tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).
[6:32] 243 tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”
[6:33] 245 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east.”
[6:33] 246 tn The words “the Jordan River” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:34] 248 tn That is, “mustered an army.”
[6:34] 249 tn Heb “Abiezer was summoned after him.”
[6:35] 249 tn Heb “and he also was summoned after him.”
[6:36] 251 tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”
[6:36] 252 tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:37] 253 tn Heb “all the ground.”
[6:37] 255 tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”
[6:38] 255 tn Heb “And it was so.”
[6:38] 256 tn Heb “dew dripped from the fleece – a bowl full of water.”
[6:39] 257 tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”
[6:39] 258 tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”
[6:40] 259 tn Heb “God did so that night.”
[7:1] 261 tn Heb “and all the people who were with him.”
[7:1] 262 sn The name Harod means, ironically, “trembling.”
[7:1] 263 tn Heb “Midian.” The LXX reads “and Amalek” (cf. v. 12; 6:33).
[7:2] 263 tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
[7:2] 264 tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
[7:2] 265 tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
[7:3] 265 tn Heb “call into the ears of the people.”
[7:3] 266 tn Heb “afraid and shaking.”
[7:3] 267 tc Many interpreters reject the MT reading “and leave Mount Gilead” for geographical reasons. A possible alternative, involving rather radical emendation of the Hebrew text, would be, “So Gideon tested them” (i.e., thinned the ranks in this manner).
[7:3] 268 tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because warriors are in view, and in ancient Israelite culture these would be only males. (This is also the case in vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)
[7:3] 269 tn Or “turned around, back.”
[7:4] 267 tn Heb “too many people.”
[7:4] 268 tn Heb “test them for you there.”
[7:4] 269 tn Heb “he should go with you.”
[7:4] 270 tn Heb also has “to you.”
[7:4] 271 tn Heb “he should not go.”
[7:5] 269 tn Heb “the people.”
[7:5] 270 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.”
[7:6] 271 tc The Hebrew text adds, “with their hands to their mouths,” This makes no sense in light of v. 5, which distinguishes between dog-like lappers (who would not use their hands to drink) and those who kneel (who would use their hands). It seems likely that the words “with their hands to their mouths” have been misplaced from v. 6. They fit better at the end of v. 5 or v. 6. Perhaps these words were originally a marginal scribal note which was later accidentally inserted into the text in the wrong place.
[7:6] 272 tn Heb “the people.”
[7:7] 273 tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
[7:7] 274 tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
[7:7] 275 tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”
[7:8] 275 tn Heb “The people.”
[7:8] 276 tn The words “who were chosen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[7:8] 277 tn The Hebrew text has “in their hands.”
[7:8] 278 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:8] 281 tn The Hebrew text adds “him” (i.e., Gideon).
[7:9] 277 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:9] 278 tn Heb “Go down against.”
[7:9] 279 tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
[7:11] 279 tn Heb “your hands will be strengthened.”
[7:11] 280 tn Heb “to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp.”
[7:12] 281 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”
[7:13] 283 tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”
[7:13] 284 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:13] 285 tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
[7:13] 286 tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”
[7:14] 285 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[7:14] 286 tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”
[7:15] 287 tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”
[7:16] 290 tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:19] 293 tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”
[7:19] 294 tn Heb “that were in their hands.”
[7:20] 295 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:21] 297 tn Heb “each in his place.”
[7:22] 299 tn Heb “the
[7:22] 300 tc MT has “and throughout the camp,” but the conjunction (“and”) is due to dittography and should be dropped. Compare the ancient versions, which lack the conjunction here.
[7:22] 301 tn The words “they went” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[7:24] 303 tn Heb “to meet Midian.”
[7:24] 304 tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”
[7:24] 305 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).
[7:24] 306 tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”
[7:24] 307 tn Heb “they captured the waters.”
[7:25] 305 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] 306 tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:25] 308 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).
[8:1] 307 tn Heb “by not summoning us.”
[8:2] 310 sn Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim’s mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon’s family.
[8:3] 311 tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”
[8:3] 312 tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”
[8:4] 313 tn Heb “And Gideon arrived at the Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted and chasing.” The English past perfect (“had crossed”) is used because this verse flashes back chronologically to an event that preceded the hostile encounter described in vv. 1-3. (Note that 7:25 assumes Gideon had already crossed the Jordan.)
[8:5] 315 tn Or perhaps, “sell.”
[8:5] 316 tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because these were warriors and in ancient Israelite culture would have been exclusively males.
[8:5] 317 tn Heb “who are at my feet.”
[8:6] 317 tn Or perhaps, “sell.”
[8:6] 318 tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 155).
[8:7] 320 sn I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.
[8:7] 322 tn This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229-30.
[8:8] 321 tn Heb “and spoke to them in the same way.”
[8:8] 322 tn Heb “The men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered.”
[8:9] 323 tn Heb “said to.” The translation “threatened” is interpretive, but is clearly indicated by the context.
[8:9] 325 tn Or “safely.” Heb “in peace.”
[8:10] 325 tn Heb “About fifteen thousand [in number] were all the ones remaining from the army of the sons of the east. The fallen ones were a hundred and twenty thousand [in number], men drawing the sword.”
[8:11] 327 tn Heb “the ones living in tents.”
[8:11] 328 tn Heb “and attacked the army, while the army was secure.” The Hebrew term בֶטַח (vetakh, “secure”) probably means the army was undefended (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 156), not suspecting an attack at that time and place.
[8:12] 329 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:12] 330 tn Or “routed”; Heb “caused to panic.”
[8:14] 333 tn Heb “from the men of Succoth.”
[8:14] 334 tn Heb “wrote down for him the officials of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.”
[8:15] 335 tn Heb “Look!” The words “what I have” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[8:15] 336 tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your exhausted men bread?”
[8:16] 338 tc The translation follows the reading of several ancient versions (LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) in assuming the form וַיָּדָשׁ (vayyadash) from the verb דּוֹשׁ (dosh, “thresh”) as in v. 7. The MT reads instead the form וַיֹּדַע (vayyoda’, “make known”), a Hiphil form of יָדַע (yadah). In this case one could translate, “he used them [i.e., the thorns and briers] to teach the men of Succoth a lesson.”
[8:18] 339 tn Heb “Where are?”
[8:18] 340 tn Heb “each one like the appearance of sons of the king.”
[8:19] 341 tn The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[8:20] 344 tn Heb “did not draw his sword for he was afraid.”
[8:21] 345 tn The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[8:21] 347 tn Heb “for as the man is his strength.”
[8:21] 348 tn Heb “arose and killed.”
[8:24] 349 tn Heb “said to them.”
[8:24] 350 tn Heb “Give to me, each one, an earring from his plunder.”
[8:24] 351 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Midianites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:25] 351 tn Heb “We will indeed give.”
[8:25] 352 tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.
[8:26] 353 sn Seventeen hundred gold shekels would be about 42.7 pounds (19.4 kilograms) of gold.
[8:26] 355 tn Heb “the ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.”
[8:27] 355 tn Heb “made it into.”
[8:27] 356 sn In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 349-52.
[8:27] 357 tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).
[8:27] 358 tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:28] 357 tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”
[8:28] 358 tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”
[8:29] 359 tn Heb “went and lived in his house.”
[8:30] 361 tn Heb “Gideon had seventy sons who went out from his thigh, for he had many wives.” The Hebrew word יָרֵךְ (yarekh, “thigh”) is a euphemism here for the penis.
[8:31] 363 sn A concubine was a slave woman in ancient Near Eastern societies who was the legal property of her master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with her master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).
[8:31] 364 sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”
[8:33] 367 sn Baal-Berith was a local manifestation of the Canaanite storm god. The name means, ironically, “Baal of the covenant.” Israel’s covenant allegiance had indeed shifted.
[8:35] 371 tn Heb “did not do loyalty with,” or “did not act faithfully toward.”
[9:1] 374 tn Heb “to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother.”
[9:2] 375 tn Heb “Speak into the ears of.”
[9:2] 376 tn Heb “What good is it to you?”
[9:2] 377 tn Heb “your bone and your flesh.”
[9:3] 378 tn Heb “into the ears of.”
[9:3] 379 tn Heb “and all these words.”
[9:3] 380 tn Heb “Their heart was inclined after Abimelech.”
[9:3] 381 tn Heb “our brother.”
[9:4] 379 tn Heb “empty and reckless.”
[9:4] 380 tn Heb “and they followed him.”
[9:5] 381 tn Heb “his brothers.”
[9:5] 382 tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:6] 383 tc The translation assumes that the form in the Hebrew text (מֻצָּב, mutsav) is a corruption of an original מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “pillar”). The reference is probably to a pagan object of worship (cf. LXX).
[9:7] 385 tn Heb “And they reported to Jotham.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
[9:7] 386 tn Heb “He lifted his voice and called and said to them.”
[9:8] 387 tn Heb “Going they went, the trees.” The precise emphatic force of the infinitive absolute (“Going”) is not entirely clear. Perhaps here it indicates determination, as in Gen 31:30, where one might translate, “You have insisted on going away.”
[9:8] 388 tn Heb “to anoint [with oil] over them a king.”
[9:8] 389 tn Or “Rule over us!”
[9:9] 389 tn Heb “Should I stop my abundance, with which they honor gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
[9:10] 391 tn Or “and rule over us!”
[9:11] 393 tn Heb “Should I stop my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over the trees? The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
[9:12] 395 tn Or “and rule over us!”
[9:13] 397 tn Heb “Should I stop my wine, which makes happy gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
[9:14] 399 tn Or “and rule over us!”
[9:15] 401 tn Heb “are about to anoint [with oil].”
[9:15] 402 tn Heb “in my shade.”
[9:16] 404 tn Heb “if according to the deeds of his hands you have done to him.”
[9:17] 405 tc Heb “threw his life out in front,” that is, “exposed himself to danger.” The MT form מִנֶּגֶד (minneged, “from before”) should probably be read as מִנֶּגְדּוֹ (minnegdo, “from before him”); haplography of vav has likely occurred here in the MT.
[9:18] 407 tn Heb “have risen up against.”
[9:18] 409 tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:18] 410 tn Heb “your brother.”
[9:19] 410 tn Heb “then rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.”
[9:21] 411 tn Heb “fled and ran away and went.”
[9:21] 412 tn Heb “from before.”
[9:21] 413 tn Heb “his brother.”
[9:22] 413 tn The Hebrew verb translated “commanded” (שָׂרַר, sarar), which appears only here in Judges, differs from the ones employed earlier in this chapter (מָשַׁל [mashal] and מָלַךְ [malakh]).
[9:23] 415 tn Heb “an evil spirit.” A nonphysical, spirit being is in view, like the one who volunteered to deceive Ahab (1 Kgs 22:21). The traditional translation, “evil spirit,” implies the being is inherently wicked, perhaps even demonic, but this is not necessarily the case. The Hebrew adjective רָעַה (ra’ah) can have a nonethical sense, “harmful; dangerous; calamitous.” When modifying רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) it may simply indicate that the being in view causes harm to the object of God’s judgment. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 253) here refers to a “mischief-making spirit.”
[9:23] 416 tn Heb “The leaders of Shechem were disloyal.” The words “he made” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:24] 417 tn Heb “their brother.”
[9:24] 418 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.”
[9:25] 419 tn Heb “set against him bandits.”
[9:25] 420 tn Heb “on the tops of.”
[9:25] 421 tn Heb “It was told to Abimelech.”
[9:26] 421 sn The name Gaal derives from, or at least sounds like, a Hebrew verb meaning “to abhor, loathe.” His father’s name, Ebed, means “servant.” Perhaps then this could be translated, “loathsome one, son of a servant.” This individual’s very name (which may be the narrator’s nickname for him, not his actual name) seems to hint at his immoral character and lowly social status.
[9:26] 422 tn Heb “trusted in him.” Here the verb probably describes more than a mental attitude. It is likely that the Shechemites made an alliance with Gaal and were now trusting him for protection in return for their loyalty (and probably tribute).
[9:27] 423 tn Heb “vineyards.”
[9:27] 424 tn Heb “stomped” or “trampled.” This refers to the way in which the juice was squeezed out in the wine vats by stepping on the grapes with one’s bare feet. For a discussion of grape harvesting in ancient Israel, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-14.
[9:28] 425 tn Heb “and Zebul his appointee.”
[9:28] 426 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abimelech) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:29] 428 tn Heb “in my hand.”
[9:29] 429 tn Heb “said to Abimelech.” On the other hand, the preposition ל (lamed) prefixed to the proper name may be vocative (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178). If so, one could translate, “He boasted, ‘Abimelech…’”
[9:29] 430 tn Heb “Make numerous.”
[9:29] 431 tn The words “for battle” are interpretive.
[9:30] 429 tn Heb “his anger burned.”
[9:31] 431 tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה (ramah, “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.
[9:31] 433 tn The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.
[9:31] 434 tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).
[9:32] 434 tn Heb “you and the people who are with you.”
[9:32] 435 tn The words “outside the city” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:33] 435 tn Heb “Look! He and the people who are with him will come out to you, and you will do to him what your hand finds [to do].”
[9:34] 437 tn Heb “and all the people who were with him arose.”
[9:34] 438 tn Heb “four heads.” The words “they divided into” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:36] 439 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] 440 tn Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”
[9:37] 441 tn Heb “navel.” On the background of the Hebrew expression “the navel of the land,” see R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 178-79.
[9:37] 443 tn Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name (Heb “Elon-meonenim”); cf. NAB, NRSV.
[9:38] 443 tn Heb “is your mouth that says.”
[9:38] 444 tn Heb “the people.”
[9:39] 445 tn Heb “So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem.”
[9:40] 447 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gaal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:40] 448 tn The word “Shechemites” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarification.
[9:41] 449 tc Heb “stayed.” Some scholars revise the vowel pointing on this verb from that of the MT, resulting in the translation “and he returned to.” The Lucianic recension of the LXX understands the word in this way.
[9:41] 450 tn Heb “drove…out from dwelling in Shechem.”
[9:42] 451 tn Heb “the people”; the referent (the Shechemites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:42] 452 tn Heb “And they told Abimelech.”
[9:43] 453 tn Heb “his people.”
[9:43] 454 tn Heb “And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city.”
[9:43] 455 tn Heb “he arose against them and struck them.”
[9:44] 455 tn Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”
[9:44] 456 tn Heb “stood [at].”
[9:45] 458 tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”
[9:46] 459 sn Perhaps the Tower of Shechem was a nearby town, distinct from Shechem proper, or a tower within the city.
[9:46] 460 tn Apparently this rare word refers here to the most inaccessible area of the temple, perhaps the inner sanctuary or an underground chamber. It appears only here and in 1 Sam 13:6, where it is paired with “cisterns” and refers to subterranean or cave-like hiding places.
[9:46] 461 sn The name El-Berith means “God of the Covenant.” It is probably a reference to the Canaanite high god El.
[9:47] 461 tn Heb “and it was told to Abimelech.”
[9:47] 462 tn Heb “were assembled.”
[9:48] 463 tn Heb “his people.”
[9:48] 464 tn Heb “Abimelech.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”) due to considerations of English style.
[9:48] 465 tn The Hebrew text has the plural here.
[9:48] 466 tn Heb “he lifted it and put [it].”
[9:48] 467 tn Heb “What you have seen me do, quickly do like me.”
[9:49] 465 tn The words “the branches” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:49] 466 tn Heb “they kindled over them the stronghold with fire.”
[9:49] 467 tn Or “men,” but the word seems to have a more general sense here, as the conclusion to the sentence suggests.
[9:50] 468 tn Heb “he camped near Thebez and captured it.”
[9:51] 470 tn Or “fortress.” The same Hebrew term occurs once more in this verse and twice in v. 52.
[9:53] 471 sn A hand mill consisted of an upper stone and larger lower stone. One would turn the upper stone with a handle to grind the grain, which was placed between the stones. An upper millstone, which was typically about two inches thick and a foot or so in diameter, probably weighed 25-30 pounds (11.4-13.6 kg). See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 268; C. F. Burney, Judges, 288.
[9:53] 472 tn Heb “Abimelech’s.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun “his” in the translation in keeping with conventions of English narrative style.
[9:54] 473 tn The Hebrew text adds, “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:54] 474 tn The Hebrew text adds, “concerning me.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:55] 475 tn Heb “each to his own place.”
[9:56] 477 tn Heb “seventy brothers.”
[10:1] 481 tn The word “death” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[10:1] 483 tn Heb “a man of Issachar.”
[10:2] 483 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[10:4] 485 sn The name Habboth Jair means “tent villages of Jair” in Hebrew.
[10:4] 486 tn Heb “they call them Havvoth Jair to this day – which are in the land of Gilead.”
[10:6] 487 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[10:6] 488 tn Or “served;” or “followed.”
[10:6] 489 sn The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Ashtar (i.e., Astarte).
[10:6] 490 map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[10:6] 491 tn Heb “the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines.”
[10:6] 492 tn Or “serve”; or “follow.”
[10:7] 489 tn Or “the
[10:7] 490 tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
[10:8] 491 tn Heb “shattered and crushed.” The repetition of similar sounding synonyms (רָעַץ [ra’ats] and רָצַץ [ratsats]) is for emphasis; רָצַץ appears in the Polel, adding further emphasis to the affirmation.
[10:8] 492 tn The phrase שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה (shemoneh ’esreh shanah) could be translated “eighteen years,” but this would be difficult after the reference to “that year.” It is possible that v. 8b is parenthetical, referring to an eighteen year long period of oppression east of the Jordan which culminated in hostilities against all Israel (including Judah, see v. 9) in the eighteenth year. It is simpler to translate the phrase as an ordinal number, though the context does not provide the point of reference. (See Gen 14:4-5 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 191-92.) In this case, the following statement specifies which “Israelites” are in view.
[10:9] 493 tn Heb “the house of Ephraim.”
[10:9] 494 tn Or “Israel experienced great distress.” Perhaps here the verb has the nuance “hemmed in.”
[10:10] 495 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
[10:12] 497 tc The translation follows the LXX which reads “Midian”; the Hebrew text has “Maon.”
[10:12] 498 tn The words “Did I not deliver you” are interpretive. The Hebrew text simply reads, “Is it not from Egypt…when they oppressed you?” Perhaps the incomplete sentence reflects the
[10:13] 499 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
[10:14] 501 tn Heb “in your time of trouble.”
[10:15] 503 tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”
[10:15] 504 sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”
[10:16] 505 tn Heb “from their midst.”
[10:16] 506 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
[10:16] 507 tn Heb “And his spirit grew short [i.e., impatient] with the suffering of Israel.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) also appears as the subject of the verb קָצַר (qatsar) in Num 21:4 (the Israelites grow impatient wandering in the wilderness), Judg 16:16 (Samson grows impatient with Delilah’s constant nagging), and Zech 11:8 (Zechariah grows impatient with the three negligent “shepherds”).
[10:17] 507 tn Or “were summoned;” or “were mustered.”
[10:18] 509 tn Heb “the people, the officers.”
[10:18] 510 tn Heb “Who is the man who will begin fighting.”
[11:1] 511 tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”
[11:2] 514 tn Heb “in the house of our father.”
[11:3] 517 tn Heb “Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”
[11:5] 517 tn Heb “When the Ammonites fought with Israel.”
[11:5] 519 tn Heb “went to take Jephthah.”
[11:6] 519 tn Heb “to Jephthah.”
[11:7] 521 tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”
[11:8] 523 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] 524 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] 525 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] 526 tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”
[11:9] 525 tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[11:9] 526 tn Heb “places them before me.”
[11:9] 527 tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.
[11:10] 527 tn Heb “The
[11:10] 528 sn The
[11:11] 529 tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the
[11:12] 531 tn Heb “What to me and to you that…?”
[11:13] 533 tn Or “took”; or “seized.”
[11:13] 534 tn Heb “he” (a collective singular).
[11:13] 535 tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.
[11:13] 536 tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.
[11:15] 535 tn Or “take”; or “seize.”
[11:16] 537 tn Heb “For when they went up from.”
[11:17] 539 tn Heb “me.” (Collective Israel is the speaker.)
[11:17] 540 tn Heb “did not listen.”
[11:17] 541 tn Heb “Also to the king of Moab he sent, but he was unwilling.”
[11:18] 541 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel; the pronoun in the Hebrew text represents a collective singular) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:18] 542 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[11:19] 543 tn Heb “to my place.”
[11:20] 545 tn Heb “Sihon.” The proper name (“Sihon”) has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) because of English style; a repetition of the proper name here would be redundant in English.
[11:20] 546 tn Heb “all his people” (also in the following verse).
[11:21] 547 tn That is, took as its own possession.
[11:22] 549 tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the desert to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.
[11:23] 552 tn Or “dispossessed.”
[11:23] 553 tn Heb “will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly “it,” i.e., the territory]?” There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.
[11:24] 553 tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the
[11:25] 555 tn The Hebrew grammatical constructions of all three rhetorical questions indicate emphasis, which “really” and “dare to” are intended to express in the translation.
[11:27] 557 tn Or “sinned against you.”
[11:28] 559 tn Heb “did not listen to.”
[11:28] 560 tn Heb “Jephthah’s words which he sent to him.”
[11:29] 562 tn Heb “passed through.”
[11:29] 563 tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”
[11:31] 563 tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotse’, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.
[11:31] 564 tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.
[11:31] 565 tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the
[11:32] 565 tn Heb “passed over to.”
[11:33] 567 tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”
[11:33] 568 tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”
[11:34] 569 tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”
[11:34] 570 tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”
[11:35] 571 tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.
[11:35] 572 tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”
[11:35] 573 tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the
[11:36] 573 tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[11:36] 574 tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the
[11:36] 575 tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”
[11:37] 575 tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”
[11:37] 576 tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity – I and my friends.”
[11:38] 577 tn Heb “he sent her.”
[11:38] 578 tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.
[11:39] 579 tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.
[11:39] 580 tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”
[11:40] 581 tn Heb “From days to days,” a Hebrew idiom for “annually.”
[11:40] 582 tn Heb “go to commemorate.” The rare Hebrew verb תָּנָה (tanah, “to tell; to repeat; to recount”) occurs only here and in 5:11.
[11:40] 583 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in the year.” This is redundant (note “every year” at the beginning of the verse) and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:1] 583 tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”
[12:1] 584 tn Heb “cross over to fight.”
[12:1] 585 tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”
[12:1] 586 tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”
[12:2] 585 tn Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites.”
[12:3] 587 tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”
[12:3] 588 tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”
[12:3] 589 tn Heb “crossed over to.”
[12:3] 590 tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:4] 589 tn Heb “because they said.”
[12:4] 590 tc Heb “Refugees of Ephraim are you, O Gilead, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” The LXX omits the entire second half of the verse (beginning with “because”). The words כִּי אָמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם (ki ’amru pÿlitey ’efrayim, “because they said, ‘Refugees of Ephraim’”) may have been accidentally copied from the next verse (cf. כִּי יֹאמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם, ki yo’mÿru pelitey ’efrayim) and the following words (“you, O Gilead…Manasseh”) then added in an attempt to make sense of the verse. See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 307-8, and C. F. Burney, Judges, 327. If the Hebrew text is retained, then the Ephraimites appear to be insulting the Gileadites by describing them as refugees who are squatting on Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s land. The present translation assumes that “Ephraim” is a genitive of location after “refugees.”
[12:5] 591 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:5] 592 tn Or “against Ephraim,” that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.
[12:5] 593 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form here.
[12:6] 593 sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.
[12:6] 594 tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew
[12:7] 595 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:7] 596 tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:7] 597 tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.
[12:8] 597 map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
[12:8] 598 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:9] 599 tn Heb “thirty daughters he sent off outside.” Another option is to translate, “He arranged for his thirty daughters…” It is not clear if he had more than the “thirty daughters” mentioned in the text.
[12:9] 600 tn Heb “and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside.”
[12:9] 601 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.
[12:9] 602 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:10] 601 tn Heb “Ibzan.” The pronoun “he” is used in the translation in keeping with English style, which tends to use a proper name first in a sentence followed by a pronoun rather than vice versa.
[12:11] 603 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:11] 604 tn Heb “…led Israel. He led Israel for ten years.”
[12:13] 605 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[13:1] 607 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[13:2] 609 tn Heb “and had not given birth.”
[13:3] 611 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).
[13:3] 612 tn Heb “Look, you.”
[13:3] 613 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
[13:4] 613 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:5] 615 tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.
[13:5] 616 tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”
[13:5] 617 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
[13:6] 617 tn Heb “The man of God.”
[13:6] 618 tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome.”
[13:7] 619 tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.
[13:7] 620 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:7] 621 tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”
[13:8] 621 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:8] 622 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:8] 624 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] 625 tn Heb “what we should do for.”
[13:9] 623 tn Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”
[13:10] 625 tn Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[13:11] 628 tn Heb “the woman.”
[13:12] 629 tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”
[13:12] 630 tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”
[13:13] 632 tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.
[13:14] 634 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:15] 635 tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”
[13:15] 636 tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”
[13:16] 637 tn Heb “If you detain me.”
[13:16] 638 tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the messenger represented the
[13:17] 639 tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.
[13:18] 641 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective פִּלְאִי (pile’iy, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
[13:19] 643 tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the
[13:20] 645 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
[13:20] 646 tn Heb “on their faces.”
[13:21] 647 tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the
[13:22] 649 tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the
[13:23] 651 tn Heb “our hand.”
[13:24] 653 tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”
[13:24] 654 tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”
[13:24] 655 tn Traditionally, “blessed.”
[13:25] 655 tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”
[14:1] 657 tn Heb “and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
[14:2] 659 tn Heb “and he went up.”
[14:2] 660 tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
[14:3] 661 tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.
[14:3] 662 tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”
[14:3] 663 tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.
[14:3] 664 tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”
[14:4] 663 tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”
[14:4] 664 tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”
[14:5] 665 tc The MT reads, “Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When they approached…” Verse 6b states that Samson did not tell his parents about his encounter with the lion (vv. 5b-6a), but v. 5a gives the impression they would have seen the entire episode. One could assume that Samson separated from his parents prior to the lion’s attack, but the Hebrew text does not indicate this. It seems more likely that the words “with his father and his mother” were accidentally copied into the text, perhaps under the influence of v. 4a, where the same phrase appears. An original singular verb (“he approached”) may have been changed to the plural form (“they approached”) after the words “his father and his mother” were accidentally added to the text.
[14:5] 666 tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”
[14:6] 667 tn Heb “rushed on.”
[14:6] 668 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:6] 669 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
[14:7] 669 tn Heb “He went down.”
[14:7] 670 tn Heb “She was the right one in the eyes of Samson.”
[14:8] 672 tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees…”
[14:9] 673 tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.
[14:9] 674 sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.
[14:10] 675 tn Heb “And his father went down to the woman.”
[14:10] 676 tn Or “[wedding] feast.”
[14:10] 677 tn Heb “the young men.”
[14:11] 677 tn Heb “When they saw him, they gave him thirty companions and they were with him.” Instead of כִּרְאוֹתָם (kir’otam, “when they saw”) some ancient witnesses (e.g., some
[14:12] 679 tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”
[14:13] 681 tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”
[14:13] 682 tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”
[14:15] 683 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] 684 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
[14:15] 686 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] 688 tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew
[14:15] 689 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
[14:16] 686 tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”
[14:16] 687 tn Heb “the sons of my people.”
[14:16] 688 tn Heb “Should I tell you?”
[14:17] 688 tn Heb “the seven days [during] which they held the party.” This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.
[14:17] 689 tn Heb “because she forced him.”
[14:17] 690 tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”
[14:18] 689 sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.
[14:19] 691 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
[14:19] 692 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
[14:19] 693 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
[14:20] 693 tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”
[15:1] 695 sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.
[15:1] 696 tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”
[15:1] 697 tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).
[15:1] 698 tn Heb “I will go to my wife in the bedroom.” The Hebrew idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve (“I want to go”) or request (“let me go”).
[15:2] 697 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
[15:2] 698 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
[15:2] 699 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
[15:3] 699 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular “to him.”
[15:3] 700 tn Heb “I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm.”
[15:4] 701 tn Traditionally, “foxes.”
[15:4] 702 tn Heb “He turned tail to tail and placed one torch between the two tails in the middle.”
[15:5] 703 tn Heb “He set fire to the torches.”
[15:6] 706 tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
[15:6] 707 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:6] 708 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:6] 709 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.
[15:7] 707 tn The Niphal of נָקָם (naqam, “to avenge, to take vengeance”) followed by the preposition ב (bet) has the force “to get revenge against.” See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.
[15:7] 708 tn Heb “and afterward I will stop.”
[15:8] 709 tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.
[15:9] 712 tn Or “spread out.” The Niphal of נָטָשׁ (natash) has this same sense in 2 Sam 5:18, 22.
[15:10] 713 tn Or “come up against.”
[15:10] 714 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:12] 715 tn Or “swear to me.”
[15:12] 716 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
[15:13] 717 tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.
[15:14] 719 tn Heb “rushed on.”
[15:14] 720 tn Heb “burned with.”
[15:14] 721 tn Heb “his bonds.”
[15:15] 721 tn Heb “he found.”
[15:15] 722 tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.
[15:15] 723 tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”
[15:15] 724 tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:16] 723 tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).
[15:17] 725 tn Heb “from his hand.”
[15:17] 726 sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”
[15:18] 727 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
[15:18] 728 tn Heb “the uncircumcised,” which in context refers to the Philistines.
[15:19] 729 tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.
[15:19] 731 tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:19] 732 sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”
[15:20] 731 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[15:20] 732 tn Heb “in the days of the Philistines.”
[16:1] 733 tn Heb “and he went in to her.” The idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations.
[16:2] 735 tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”
[16:2] 736 tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.
[16:2] 737 tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”
[16:2] 738 tn Heb “were silent.”
[16:2] 740 tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[16:2] 741 tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”
[16:3] 737 tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”
[16:3] 738 tn Heb “with the bar.”
[16:3] 739 tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”
[16:5] 739 tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”
[16:6] 741 tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”
[16:7] 744 tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.
[16:9] 745 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vÿha’orev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).
[16:9] 746 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:9] 747 tn Heb “when it smells fire.”
[16:9] 748 tn Heb “His strength was not known.”
[16:10] 747 tn See Gen 31:7; Exod 8:29 [8:25 HT]; Job 13:9; Isa 44:20; Jer 9:4 for other uses of this Hebrew word (II תָּלַל, talal), which also occurs in v. 13.
[16:11] 749 tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”
[16:12] 751 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:12] 752 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”
[16:12] 753 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:13] 753 tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.
[16:13] 754 tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.
[16:14] 755 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:14] 756 tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.
[16:14] 757 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:15] 757 tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”
[16:16] 759 tn Heb “forced him with her words.”
[16:16] 760 tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”
[16:17] 761 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:17] 762 tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”
[16:17] 763 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
[16:17] 764 tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”
[16:17] 765 tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).
[16:18] 763 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:18] 764 tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”
[16:18] 765 tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).
[16:18] 766 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:19] 765 tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.
[16:19] 766 tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.
[16:19] 767 tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.
[16:19] 768 tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.
[16:20] 767 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:20] 768 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:20] 769 tn Heb “and said.”
[16:20] 770 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
[16:22] 769 tn Heb “the hair of his head.”
[16:24] 771 tn Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see C. F. Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon.
[16:24] 772 tn Heb “multiplied our dead.”
[16:25] 773 tn Heb “When their heart was good.”
[16:25] 774 tn Heb “before them.”
[16:26] 775 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house is founded.”
[16:28] 779 tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).
[16:28] 780 tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”
[16:29] 781 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house was founded.”
[16:30] 783 tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”
[16:30] 784 tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”
[16:31] 785 tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”
