Judges 5:6

5:6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,

in the days of Jael caravans ¹  disappeared; ² 

travelers ³  had to go on winding side roads.

Judges 6:29

6:29 They said to one another, ⁴  “Who did this?” ⁵  They investigated the matter thoroughly ⁶  and concluded ⁷  that Gideon son of Joash had done it.

Judges 9:1

Abimelech Murders His Brothers

9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives. ⁸  He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family, ⁹ 

Judges 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ¹⁰  reporting, “Beware! ¹¹  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ¹²  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ¹³ 

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 ¹⁴  on them.

Judges 10:4

10:4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and possessed thirty cities. To this day these towns are called Havvoth Jair ¹⁵  – they are in the land of Gilead. ¹⁶ 

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? ¹⁷ 

Judges 13:3

13:3 The Lord’s angelic ¹⁸  messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You ¹⁹  are infertile and childless, ²⁰  but you will conceive and have a son.

Judges 17:5

17:5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine. ²¹  He made an ephod ²²  and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest. ²³ 

[5:6]  ¹ tc The translation assumes the form אֳרְחוֹת (’orÿkhot, “caravans”) rather than אֳרָחוֹת (’orakhot, “roadways”) because it makes a tighter parallel with “travelers” in the next line.

[5:6]  ² tn Or “ceased.”

[5:6]  ³ tn Heb “Ones walking on paths.”

[6:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”

[6:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “this thing.”

[6:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.

[6:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “brothers.”

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother.”

[9:31]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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).

[9:57]  ¹³ tn Heb “came.”

[10:4]  ¹⁶ sn The name Habboth Jair means “tent villages of Jair” in Hebrew.

[10:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they call them Havvoth Jair to this day – which are in the land of Gilead.”

[11:25]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew grammatical constructions of all three rhetorical questions indicate emphasis, which “really” and “dare to” are intended to express in the translation.

[13:3]  ²² tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).

[13:3]  ²³ tn Heb “Look, you.”

[13:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and have not given birth.”

[17:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “house of God.”

[17:5]  ²⁶ sn Here an ephod probably refers to a priestly garment (cf. Exod 28:4-6).

[17:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and he filled the hand of one of his sons and he became his priest.”