Judges 3:22

3:22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud ¹  did not pull the sword out of his belly. ² 

Judges 4:19

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.

Judges 5:23

5:23 ‘Call judgment down on ³  Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic ⁴  messenger;

‘Be sure ⁵  to call judgment down on ⁶  those who live there,

because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, ⁷ 

to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ ⁸ 

Judges 6:5

6:5 When they invaded ⁹  with their cattle and tents, they were as thick ¹⁰  as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. ¹¹  They came to devour ¹²  the land.

Judges 6:32

6:32 That very day Gideon’s father named him Jerub-Baal, ¹³  because he had said, “Let Baal fight with him, for it was his altar that was pulled down.”

Judges 8:22

Gideon Rejects a Crown but Makes an Ephod

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.” ¹⁴ 

Judges 11:12

Jephthah Gives a History Lesson

11:12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, saying, “Why have ¹⁵  you come against me to attack my land?”

Judges 13:21

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. ¹⁶ 

Judges 15:2

15:2 Her father said, “I really thought ¹⁷  you absolutely despised ¹⁸  her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!” ¹⁹ 

Judges 16:20

16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here, ²⁰  Samson!” He woke up ²¹  and thought, ²²  “I will do as I did before ²³  and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

Judges 18:26

18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized ²⁴  they were too strong to resist, ²⁵  he turned around and went home.

Judges 20:3

20:3 The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said, “Explain how this wicked thing happened!”

Judges 20:6

20:6 I grabbed hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces ²⁶  throughout the territory occupied by Israel, ²⁷  because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity ²⁸  in Israel.

Judges 20:34

20:34 Ten thousand men, well-trained soldiers from all Israel, then made a frontal assault against Gibeah – the battle was fierce. ²⁹  But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was at their doorstep. ³⁰ 

Judges 21:18

21:18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them, ³¹  for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’ ³² 

[3:22]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:22]  ² 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.

[5:23]  ³ tn Heb “Curse Meroz.”

[5:23]  ⁴ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.

[5:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “Curse, cursing.” The Hebrew construction is emphatic.

[5:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “[to] curse.”

[5:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the help of the Lord” (the same Hebrew phrase occurs in the following line). Another option is to read “to aid the Lord’s cause.”

[5:23]  ⁸ tn Or “along with the other warriors.”

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “came up.”

[6:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “numerous.”

[6:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”

[6:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.

[6:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”

[8:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “hand.”

[11:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “What to me and to you that…?”

[13:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the Lord’s messenger.”

[15:2]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.

[15:2]  ¹⁷ 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’]).”

[16:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:20]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and said.”

[16:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will go out as before.”

[18:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “saw.”

[18:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”

[20:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent is more naturally stated in English as “the pieces.”

[20:6]  ²² tn Heb “throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel.”

[20:6]  ²³ tn Heb “a wicked and disgraceful [thing].”

[20:34]  ²³ tn Heb “heavy”; or “severe.”

[20:34]  ²⁴ tn Heb “And they did not know that touching against them was disaster.”

[21:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”

[21:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “is cursed.”