Judges 9:40

9:40 Abimelech chased him, and Gaal ¹  ran from him. Many Shechemites ²  fell wounded at the entrance of the gate.

Judges 18:16

18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate. ³ 

Judges 5:8

5:8 God chose new leaders, ⁴ 

then fighters appeared in the city gates; ⁵ 

but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, ⁶ 

among forty military units ⁷  in Israel.

Judges 5:11

5:11 Hear ⁸  the sound of those who divide the sheep ⁹  among the watering places;

there they tell of ¹⁰  the Lord’s victorious deeds,

the victorious deeds of his warriors ¹¹  in Israel.

Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates –

Judges 9:35

9:35 When Gaal son of Ebed came out and stood at the entrance to the city’s gate, Abimelech and his men got up from their hiding places.

Judges 9:44

9:44 Abimelech and his units ¹²  attacked and blocked ¹³  the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down.

Judges 16:2-3

16:2 The Gazites were told, ¹⁴  “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town ¹⁵  and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. ¹⁶  They relaxed ¹⁷  all night, thinking, ¹⁸  “He will not leave ¹⁹  until morning comes; ²⁰  then we will kill him!” 16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. ²¹  He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. ²²  He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron. ²³ 

Judges 18:17

18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole ²⁴  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men. ²⁵ 

[9:40]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gaal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:40]  ² tn The word “Shechemites” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarification.

[18:16]  ³ tn Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.

[5:8]  ⁶ tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)

[5:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).

[5:8]  ⁸ tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (’elef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).

[5:11]  ⁷ tn The word “Hear” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[5:11]  ⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. Some translate “those who distribute the water” (HALOT 344 s.v. חצץ pi). For other options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 246-47.

[5:11]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “repeat.”

[5:11]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on the term “warriors” in v. 7.

[9:44]  ⁹ tn Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”

[9:44]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “stood [at].”

[16:2]  ¹¹ tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”

[16:2]  ¹² tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.

[16:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”

[16:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “were silent.”

[16:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “saying.”

[16:2]  ¹⁶ tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[16:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”

[16:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”

[16:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with the bar.”

[16:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”

[18:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

[18:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”