Judges 7:6

7:6 Three hundred men lapped; ¹  the rest of the men ²  kneeled to drink water.

Judges 16:19

16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap ³  and then called a man in to shave off ⁴  the seven braids of his hair. ⁵  She made him vulnerable ⁶  and his strength left him.

Judges 7:5

7:5 So he brought the men ⁷  down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” ⁸ 

[7:6]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text adds, “with their hands to their mouths,” This makes no sense in light of v. 5, which distinguishes between dog-like lappers (who would not use their hands to drink) and those who kneel (who would use their hands). It seems likely that the words “with their hands to their mouths” have been misplaced from v. 6. They fit better at the end of v. 5 or v. 6. Perhaps these words were originally a marginal scribal note which was later accidentally inserted into the text in the wrong place.

[7:6]  ² tn Heb “the people.”

[16:19]  ³ tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.

[16:19]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.

[16:19]  ⁶ 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.

[7:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the people.”

[7:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”