Judges 2:7

2:7 The people worshiped ¹  the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men ²  who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed ³  all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. ⁴ 

Judges 2:12

2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ⁵  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ⁶  them and made the Lord angry.

Judges 3:9-10

3:9 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he ⁷  raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued ⁸  them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ⁹  3:10 The Lord’s spirit empowered him ¹⁰  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. ¹¹ 

Judges 3:15

3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he ¹²  raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. ¹³  The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. ¹⁴ 

Judges 4:14

4:14 Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action, ¹⁵  for this is the day the Lord is handing Sisera over to you! ¹⁶  Has the Lord not taken the lead?” ¹⁷  Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

Judges 6:8

6:8 he ¹⁸  sent a prophet ¹⁹  to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt ²⁰  and took you out of that place of slavery. ²¹ 

Judges 6:21

6:21 The Lord’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. ²²  Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord’s messenger then disappeared. ²³ 

Judges 11:36

11:36 She said to him, “My father, since ²⁴  you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised. ²⁵  After all, the Lord vindicated you before ²⁶  your enemies, the Ammonites.”

Judges 13:16

13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, ²⁷  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.) ²⁸ 

Judges 16:28

16:28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord, ²⁹  remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge ³⁰  against the Philistines for my two eyes!”

Judges 20:23

20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we ³¹  again march out to fight ³²  the Benjaminites, our brothers?” ³³  The Lord said, “Attack them!” ³⁴ 

Judges 20:26

20:26 So all the Israelites, the whole army, ³⁵  went up to ³⁶  Bethel. ³⁷  They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything ³⁸  that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace ³⁹  to the Lord.

Judges 21:5

21:5 The Israelites asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes has not assembled before the Lord?” They had made a solemn oath that whoever did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah must certainly be executed. ⁴⁰ 

[2:7]  ¹ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[2:7]  ² tn Or perhaps “elders,” which could be interpreted to mean “leaders.”

[2:7]  ³ tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen.”

[2:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Or “fathers.”

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.”

[3:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “delivered.”

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb’s nephew).

[3:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “was on him.”

[3:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his hand was strong against Cushan-Rishathaim.”

[3:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord.” This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:15]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”

[4:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “Arise!”

[4:14]  ²² 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 Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

[4:14]  ²³ tn Heb “Has the Lord not gone out before you?”

[6:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the Lord”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.

[6:8]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

[6:21]  ²⁹ tn Heb “extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread.”

[6:21]  ³⁰ tn Heb “went from his eyes.”

[11:36]  ³³ tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ³⁴ tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”

[11:36]  ³⁵ tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”

[13:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “If you detain me.”

[13:16]  ³⁸ 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 Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the Lord’s messenger, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, yÿhvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s messenger” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ’adonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).

[16:28]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).

[16:28]  ⁴² tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”

[20:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

[20:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “approach for battle.”

[20:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

[20:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).

[20:26]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and all the people.”

[20:26]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “went up and came [to].”

[20:26]  ⁵¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[20:26]  ⁵² tn Traditionally, “fasted.”

[20:26]  ⁵³ tn Or “peace offerings.”

[21:5]  ⁵³ tn Heb “A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the Lord at Mizpah, saying, ‘He must surely be put to death.’”