Judges 5:3

5:3 Hear, O kings!

Pay attention, O rulers!

I will sing to the Lord! ¹ 

I will sing ²  to the Lord God of Israel!

Judges 17:9

17:9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.” ³ 

Judges 6:15

6:15 Gideon ⁴  said to him, “But Lord, ⁵  how ⁶  can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.” ⁷ 

Judges 6:18

6:18 Do not leave this place until I come back ⁸  with a gift ⁹  and present it to you.” The Lord said, “I will stay here until you come back.”

Judges 7:17-18

7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! ¹⁰  I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

Judges 6:8

6:8 he ¹¹  sent a prophet ¹²  to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt ¹³  and took you out of that place of slavery. ¹⁴ 

Judges 6:37

6:37 Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it ¹⁵  is dry, then I will be sure ¹⁶  that you will use me to deliver Israel, ¹⁷  as you promised.”

Judges 8:5

8:5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Give ¹⁸  some loaves of bread to the men ¹⁹  who are following me, ²⁰  because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

Judges 11:9

11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! ²¹  If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, ²²  I will be your leader.” ²³ 

Judges 11:27

11:27 I have not done you wrong, ²⁴  but you are doing wrong ²⁵  by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”

Judges 11:35

11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! ²⁶  You have brought me disaster! ²⁷  I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” ²⁸ 

Judges 11:37

11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish. ²⁹  For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.” ³⁰ 

Judges 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ³¹  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ³² 

Judges 19:18

19:18 The Levite ³³  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ³⁴  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ³⁵  But no one has invited me into their home.

[5:3]  ¹ tn Heb “I, to the Lord, I, I will sing!” The first singular personal pronoun is used twice, even though a first person finite verbal form is employed.

[5:3]  ² tn Or “make music.”

[17:9]  ³ tn Heb “And I am going to reside in a place I can find.”

[6:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:15]  ⁶ tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.

[6:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “with what.”

[6:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “in my father’s house.”

[6:18]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.

[7:17]  ⁹ tn Or “look.”

[6:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:8]  ¹² tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.

[6:8]  ¹³ tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).

[6:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

[6:37]  ¹³ tn Heb “all the ground.”

[6:37]  ¹⁴ tn Or “know.”

[6:37]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you will deliver Israel by my hand.”

[8:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

[8:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because these were warriors and in ancient Israelite culture would have been exclusively males.

[8:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “who are at my feet.”

[11:9]  ¹⁷ tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “places them before me.”

[11:9]  ¹⁹ tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.

[11:27]  ¹⁹ tn Or “sinned against you.”

[11:27]  ²⁰ tn Or “evil.”

[11:35]  ²¹ tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.

[11:35]  ²² tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”

[11:35]  ²³ tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”

[11:37]  ²³ tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”

[11:37]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity – I and my friends.”

[17:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).

[17:10]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.

[19:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:18]  ²⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[19:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [to] the house of the LORD I am going.” The Hebrew text has “house of the LORD,” which might refer to the shrine at Shiloh. The LXX reads “to my house.”