Judges 5:13

5:13 Then the survivors ¹  came down ²  to the mighty ones; ³ 

the Lord’s people came down to me ⁴  as ⁵  warriors.

Judges 14:9

14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned ⁶  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. ⁷ 

[5:13]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ sn The expression mighty ones probably refers to the leaders of the army.

[5:13]  ⁴ sn The speaker may be Deborah here.

[5:13]  ⁵ 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.

[14:9]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.