Judges 5:26

5:26 Her left ¹  hand reached for the tent peg,

her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.

She “hammered” ²  Sisera,

she shattered his skull, ³ 

she smashed his head, ⁴ 

she drove the tent peg through his temple. ⁵ 

Judges 5:30

5:30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder ⁶  –

a girl or two for each man to rape! ⁷ 

Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, ⁸ 

he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, ⁹ 

two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth,

for the neck of the plunderer!’ ¹⁰ 

Judges 7:16

7:16 He divided the three hundred men into three units. ¹¹  He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. ¹² 

Judges 7:20

7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. ¹³  Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

Judges 8:28

Gideon’s Story Ends

8:28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. ¹⁴  The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. ¹⁵ 

Judges 9:25

9:25 The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting ¹⁶  bandits in ¹⁷  the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it. ¹⁸ 

Judges 9:37

9:37 Gaal again said, “Look, men are coming down from the very center ¹⁹  of the land. A unit ²⁰  is coming by way of the Oak Tree of the Diviners.” ²¹ 

Judges 9:43

9:43 he took his men ²²  and divided them into three units and set an ambush in the field. When he saw the people coming out of the city, ²³  he attacked and struck them down. ²⁴ 

Judges 9:57

9:57 God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell ²⁵  on them.

Judges 16:19

16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap ²⁶  and then called a man in to shave off ²⁷  the seven braids of his hair. ²⁸  She made him vulnerable ²⁹  and his strength left him.

[5:26]  ¹ tn The adjective “left” is interpretive, based on the context. Note that the next line pictures Jael holding the hammer with her right hand.

[5:26]  ² tn The verb used here is from the same root as the noun “hammer” in the preceding line.

[5:26]  ³ tn Or “head.”

[5:26]  ⁴ tn The phrase “his head” (an implied direct object) is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “she pierced his temple.”

[5:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “Are they not finding, dividing the plunder?”

[5:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “a womb or two for each man.” The words “to rape” are interpretive. The Hebrew noun translated “girl” means literally “womb” (BDB 933 s.v. I. רַחַם), but in this context may refer by extension to the female genitalia. In this case the obscene language of Sisera’s mother alludes to the sexual brutality which typified the aftermath of battle.

[5:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “the plunder of dyed cloth is for Sisera.”

[5:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “the plunder of embroidered cloth.”

[5:30]  ¹⁰ tn The translation assumes an emendation of the noun (“plunder”) to a participle, “plunderer.”

[7:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “heads.”

[7:16]  ¹² tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:20]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”

[8:28]  ²² tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”

[9:25]  ²⁶ tn Heb “set against him bandits.”

[9:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “on the tops of.”

[9:25]  ²⁸ tn Heb “It was told to Abimelech.”

[9:37]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Heb “head.”

[9:37]  ³³ tn Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name (Heb “Elon-meonenim”); cf. NAB, NRSV.

[9:43]  ³⁶ tn Heb “his people.”

[9:43]  ³⁷ tn Heb “And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city.”

[9:43]  ³⁸ tn Heb “he arose against them and struck them.”

[9:57]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “came.”

[16:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.

[16:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.

[16:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.

[16:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.