Judges 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ¹  reporting, “Beware! ²  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ³  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ⁴ 

Judges 16:12

16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ⁵  Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) ⁶  But he tore the ropes ⁷  from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

Judges 16:14

16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ⁸  Samson!” ⁹  He woke up ¹⁰  and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

Judges 16:20

16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here, ¹¹  Samson!” He woke up ¹²  and thought, ¹³  “I will do as I did before ¹⁴  and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

[9:31]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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).

[16:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”

[16:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:14]  ¹⁰ tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.

[16:14]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:20]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and said.”

[16:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will go out as before.”