Judges 9:8

9:8 “The trees were determined to go out ¹  and choose a king for themselves. ²  They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’ ³ 

Judges 9:12

9:12 “So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You come and be our king!’ ⁴ 

[9:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Going they went, the trees.” The precise emphatic force of the infinitive absolute (“Going”) is not entirely clear. Perhaps here it indicates determination, as in Gen 31:30, where one might translate, “You have insisted on going away.”

[9:8]  ² tn Heb “to anoint [with oil] over them a king.”

[9:8]  ³ tn Or “Rule over us!”

[9:12]  ⁴ tn Or “and rule over us!”