Judges 9:22

God Fulfills Jotham’s Curse

9:22 Abimelech commanded ¹  Israel for three years.

Judges 11:24

11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us. ² 

Judges 18:15

18:15 They stopped ³  there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah), ⁴  and asked him how he was doing. ⁵ 

Judges 20:6

20:6 I grabbed hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces ⁶  throughout the territory occupied by Israel, ⁷  because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity ⁸  in Israel.

[9:22]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “commanded” (שָׂרַר, sarar), which appears only here in Judges, differs from the ones employed earlier in this chapter (מָשַׁל [mashal] and מָלַךְ [malakh]).

[11:24]  ² tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the Lord our God dispossesses before us we will possess?” Jephthah speaks of Chemosh as if he is on a par with the Lord God of Israel. This does not necessarily mean that Jephthah is polytheistic or that he recognizes the Lord as only a local deity. He may simply be assuming the Ammonite king’s perspective for the sake of argument. Other texts, as well as the extrabiblical Mesha inscription, associate Chemosh with Moab, while Milcom is identified as the god of the Ammonites. Why then does Jephthah refer to Chemosh as the Ammonite god? Ammon had likely conquered Moab and the Ammonite king probably regarded himself as heir of all territory formerly held by Moab. Originally Moab had owned the disputed territory (cf. Num 21:26-29), meaning that Chemosh was regarded as the god of the region (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 203-4). Jephthah argues that Chemosh had long ago relinquished claim to the area (by allowing Sihon to conquer it), while the Lord had long ago established jurisdiction over it (by taking it from Sihon and giving it to Israel). Both sides should abide by the decisions of the gods which had stood firm for three hundred years.

[18:15]  ³ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[18:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “Micah’s house.”

[18:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”

[20:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “her”; the referent is more naturally stated in English as “the pieces.”

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel.”

[20:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “a wicked and disgraceful [thing].”