Judges 3:7

Othniel: A Model Leader

3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ² 

Judges 5:11

5:11 Hear ³  the sound of those who divide the sheep ⁴  among the watering places;

there they tell of ⁵  the Lord’s victorious deeds,

the victorious deeds of his warriors ⁶  in Israel.

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

Judges 13:1

Samson’s Birth

13:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, ⁷  so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

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. ⁸ 

[3:7]  ¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[3:7]  ² sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.

[5:11]  ³ tn The word “Hear” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:11]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “repeat.”

[5:11]  ⁶ tn See the note on the term “warriors” in v. 7.

[13:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[13:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the Lord’s messenger.”