Judges 5:16

5:16 Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, ¹ 

listening to the shepherds playing their pipes ²  for their flocks? ³ 

As for the clans of Reuben – there was intense searching of heart.

Judges 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ⁴  reporting, “Beware! ⁵  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ⁶  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ⁷ 

Judges 11:25

11:25 Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them? ⁸ 

Judges 13:11

13:11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met ⁹  the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” ¹⁰  He said, “Yes.” ¹¹ 

Judges 13:17

13:17 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.” ¹² 

Judges 18:18

18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole ¹³  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

[5:16]  ¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִשְׁפְּתַיִם (mishpÿtayim) is uncertain. Some understand the word to mean “campfires.”

[5:16]  ² tn Or “whistling.”

[5:16]  ³ tn Heb “listening to the pipe playing for the flocks.”

[9:31]  ⁴ tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה (ramah, “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.

[9:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ⁶ tn The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.

[9:31]  ⁷ tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).

[11:25]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew grammatical constructions of all three rhetorical questions indicate emphasis, which “really” and “dare to” are intended to express in the translation.

[13:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “came to.”

[13:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the woman.”

[13:11]  ¹² tn Heb “I [am].”

[13:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.

[18:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”