Judges 5:7

5:7 Warriors ¹  were scarce, ² 

they were scarce in Israel,

until you ³  arose, Deborah,

until you arose as a motherly protector ⁴  in Israel.

Judges 17:4

17:4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she ⁵  took two hundred pieces of silver ⁶  to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah’s house. ⁷ 

Judges 17:2

17:2 He said to his mother, “You know ⁸  the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen ⁹  from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole ¹⁰  it, but now I am giving it back to you.” ¹¹  His mother said, “May the Lord reward ¹²  you, my son!”

Judges 9:1

Abimelech Murders His Brothers

9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives. ¹³  He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family, ¹⁴ 

Judges 14:2

14:2 When he got home, ¹⁵  he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. ¹⁶  Now get her for my wife.”

Judges 17:3

17:3 When he gave back to his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate ¹⁷  this silver to the Lord. It will be for my son’s benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image.” ¹⁸ 

Judges 8:19

8:19 He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear, ¹⁹  as surely as the Lord is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

Judges 14:5

14:5 Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached ²⁰  the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. ²¹ 

Judges 5:28

5:28 Through the window she looked;

Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:

‘Why is his chariot so slow to return?

Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses ²²  delayed?’

Judges 14:6

14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered ²³  him and he tore the lion ²⁴  in two with his bare hands ²⁵  as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

Judges 14:4

14:4 Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, ²⁶  because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines ²⁷  (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).

Judges 14:3

14:3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our ²⁸  people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” ²⁹  But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, ³⁰  because she is the right one for me.” ³¹ 

Judges 14:16

14:16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder ³²  and said, “You must ³³  hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men ³⁴  a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” ³⁵ 

Judges 14:9

14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned ³⁶  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. ³⁷ 

Judges 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ³⁸ 

Judges 9:3

9:3 His mother’s relatives ³⁹  spoke on his behalf to ⁴⁰  all the leaders of Shechem and reported his proposal. ⁴¹  The leaders were drawn to Abimelech; ⁴²  they said, “He is our close relative.” ⁴³ 

Judges 13:13

13:13 The Lord’s messenger told ⁴⁴  Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. ⁴⁵ 

Judges 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ⁴⁶  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ⁴⁷  for I have been dedicated to God ⁴⁸  from the time I was conceived. ⁴⁹  If my head ⁵⁰  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

Judges 14:19

14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes ⁵¹  and gave them ⁵²  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ⁵³ 

[5:7]  ¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew noun פְרָזוֹן (fÿrazon) is uncertain. Some understand the meaning as “leaders” or “those living in rural areas.” The singular noun appears to be collective (note the accompanying plural verb). For various options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 237-38.

[5:7]  ² tn Or “ceased.”

[5:7]  ³ tn The translation assumes that the verb is an archaic second feminine singular form. Though Deborah is named as one of the composers of the song (v. 1), she is also addressed within it (v. 12). Many take the verb as first person singular, “I arose” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV).

[5:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “mother.” The translation assumes that the image portrays Deborah as a protector of the people. It is possible that the metaphor points to her prophetic role. Just as a male prophet could be called “father,” so Deborah, a prophetess, is called “mother” (B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239).

[17:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “his mother.” The pronoun (“she”) has been substituted for the noun (“mother”) in the translation because of English style.

[17:4]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “and gave it.” The referent (the pieces of silver) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it was in Micah’s house.”

[17:2]  ⁹ tn The words “You know” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[17:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “taken.”

[17:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “took.”

[17:2]  ¹² tn In the Hebrew text the statement, “but now I am giving it back to you,” appears at the end of v. 3 and is spoken by the mother. But v. 4 indicates that she did not give the money back to her son. Unless the statement is spoken by the woman to the LORD, it appears to be misplaced and fits much better in v. 2. It may have been accidentally omitted from a manuscript, written in the margin, and then later inserted in the wrong place in another manuscript.

[17:2]  ¹³ tn Traditionally, “bless.”

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “brothers.”

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother.”

[14:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he went up.”

[14:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”

[17:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “dedicating, I dedicate.” In this case the emphatic infinitive absolute lends a mood of solemnity to the statement.

[17:3]  ²² tn Heb “to the LORD from my hand for my son to make a carved image and cast metal image.” She cannot mean that she is now taking the money from her hand and giving it back to her son so he can make an image. Verses 4-6 indicate she took back the money and used a portion of it to hire a silversmith to make an idol for her son to use. The phrase “a carved image and cast metal image” is best taken as referring to two idols (see 18:17-18), even though the verb at the end of v. 4, וַיְהִי (vayÿhi, “and it was [in the house of Micah]”), is singular.

[8:19]  ²⁵ tn The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:5]  ²⁹ tc The MT reads, “Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When they approached…” Verse 6b states that Samson did not tell his parents about his encounter with the lion (vv. 5b-6a), but v. 5a gives the impression they would have seen the entire episode. One could assume that Samson separated from his parents prior to the lion’s attack, but the Hebrew text does not indicate this. It seems more likely that the words “with his father and his mother” were accidentally copied into the text, perhaps under the influence of v. 4a, where the same phrase appears. An original singular verb (“he approached”) may have been changed to the plural form (“they approached”) after the words “his father and his mother” were accidentally added to the text.

[14:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”

[5:28]  ³³ tn Heb “chariots.”

[14:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “rushed on.”

[14:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”

[14:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”

[14:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”

[14:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.

[14:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”

[14:3]  ⁴⁷ tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.

[14:3]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”

[14:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “on him.”

[14:16]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”

[14:16]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the sons of my people.”

[14:16]  ⁵² tn Heb “Should I tell you?”

[14:9]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.

[11:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[9:3]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[9:3]  ⁶² tn Heb “into the ears of.”

[9:3]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and all these words.”

[9:3]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “Their heart was inclined after Abimelech.”

[9:3]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “our brother.”

[13:13]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “said to.”

[13:13]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.

[16:17]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:17]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

[16:17]  ⁷¹ tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

[16:17]  ⁷² tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

[16:17]  ⁷³ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).

[14:19]  ⁷³ tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”

[14:19]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”

[14:19]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”