Judges 8:4

Gideon Tracks Down the Midianite Kings

8:4 Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites. ¹ 

Judges 11:22

11:22 They took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River on the south to the Jabbok River on the north, from the desert in the east to the Jordan in the west. ² 

Judges 5:17

5:17 Gilead stayed put ³  beyond the Jordan River.

As for Dan – why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? ⁴ 

Asher remained ⁵  on the seacoast,

he stayed ⁶  by his harbors. ⁷ 

Judges 10:9

10:9 The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. ⁸  Israel suffered greatly. ⁹ 

Judges 7:24

Gideon Appeases the Ephraimites

7:24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites. ¹⁰  Take control of the fords of the streams ¹¹  all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” ¹²  When all the Ephraimites had assembled, ¹³  they took control of the fords ¹⁴  all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.

Judges 3:28

3:28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” ¹⁵  They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River ¹⁶  opposite Moab, ¹⁷  and did not let anyone cross.

Judges 7:25

7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. ¹⁸  They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb ¹⁹  in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites ²⁰  and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. ²¹ 

Judges 10:8

10:8 They ruthlessly oppressed ²²  the Israelites that eighteenth year ²³  – that is, all the Israelites living east of the Jordan in Amorite country in Gilead.

Judges 11:13

11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ²⁴  my land when they ²⁵  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ²⁶  Now return it ²⁷  peaceably!”

Judges 12:5-6

12:5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River ²⁸  opposite Ephraim. ²⁹  Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive ³⁰  said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked ³¹  him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” ³²  If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word ³³  correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.

[8:4]  ¹ tn Heb “And Gideon arrived at the Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted and chasing.” The English past perfect (“had crossed”) is used because this verse flashes back chronologically to an event that preceded the hostile encounter described in vv. 1-3. (Note that 7:25 assumes Gideon had already crossed the Jordan.)

[11:22]  ² tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the desert to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

[5:17]  ³ tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

[5:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “Dan, why did he live as a resident alien, ships.” The verb גּוּר (gur) usually refers to taking up residence outside one’s native land. Perhaps the Danites, rather than rallying to Barak, were content to move to the Mediterranean coast and work in the shipyards. For further discussion, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 262.

[5:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “lived.”

[5:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

[5:17]  ⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִפְרָץ (mifrats) is uncertain, but the parallelism (note “seacoast”) suggests “harbors.”

[10:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the house of Ephraim.”

[10:9]  ⁵ tn Or “Israel experienced great distress.” Perhaps here the verb has the nuance “hemmed in.”

[7:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “to meet Midian.”

[7:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”

[7:24]  ⁷ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).

[7:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”

[7:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “they captured the waters.”

[3:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “for the Lord has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand.” The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

[3:28]  ⁷ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

[3:28]  ⁸ tn Or “against Moab,” that is, so as to prevent the Moabites from crossing.

[7:25]  ⁷ sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.

[7:25]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “Midian.”

[7:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).

[10:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “shattered and crushed.” The repetition of similar sounding synonyms (רָעַץ [ra’ats] and רָצַץ [ratsats]) is for emphasis; רָצַץ appears in the Polel, adding further emphasis to the affirmation.

[10:8]  ⁹ tn The phrase שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה (shemoneh ’esreh shanah) could be translated “eighteen years,” but this would be difficult after the reference to “that year.” It is possible that v. 8b is parenthetical, referring to an eighteen year long period of oppression east of the Jordan which culminated in hostilities against all Israel (including Judah, see v. 9) in the eighteenth year. It is simpler to translate the phrase as an ordinal number, though the context does not provide the point of reference. (See Gen 14:4-5 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 191-92.) In this case, the following statement specifies which “Israelites” are in view.

[11:13]  ⁹ tn Or “took”; or “seized.”

[11:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he” (a collective singular).

[11:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

[11:13]  ¹² tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.

[12:5]  ¹⁰ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “against Ephraim,” that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.

[12:5]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text has a plural form here.

[12:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “say to.”

[12:6]  ¹¹ sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.

[12:6]  ¹² tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew mss.