Judges 3:27

3:27 When he reached Seirah, ¹  he blew a trumpet ²  in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites went down with him from the hill country, with Ehud in the lead. ³ 

Judges 5:11

5:11 Hear ⁴  the sound of those who divide the sheep ⁵  among the watering places;

there they tell of ⁶  the Lord’s victorious deeds,

the victorious deeds of his warriors ⁷  in Israel.

Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates –

Judges 5:14

5:14 They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, ⁸ 

they follow ⁹  after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers.

From Makir leaders came down,

from Zebulun came ¹⁰  the ones who march carrying ¹¹  an officer’s staff.

Judges 9:37

9:37 Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center ¹²  of the land. A unit ¹³  is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.” ¹⁴ 

Judges 14:5

14:5 Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached ¹⁵  the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. ¹⁶ 

Judges 15:12

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 ¹⁷  you will not kill ¹⁸  me.”

Judges 16:21

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.

[3:27]  ¹ tn Heb “When he arrived.”

[3:27]  ² tn That is, “mustered an army.”

[3:27]  ³ tn Heb “now he was before them.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tn The word “Hear” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:11]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “repeat.”

[5:11]  ⁷ tn See the note on the term “warriors” in v. 7.

[5:14]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn The words “They follow” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:14]  ⁹ tn The word “came” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or possibly “who carry.”

[9:37]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “head.”

[9:37]  ¹² tn Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name (Heb “Elon-meonenim”); cf. NAB, NRSV.

[14:5]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”

[15:12]  ¹⁶ tn Or “swear to me.”

[15:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.