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 4:24

4:24 Israel’s power continued to overwhelm ⁴  King Jabin of Canaan until they did away with ⁵  him. ⁶ 

Judges 14:9

14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned ⁷  to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. ⁸ 

[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!”

[4:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “The hand of the Israelites became more and more severe against.”

[4:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “cut off.”

[4:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “Jabin king of Canaan.” The proper name and title have been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.

[14:9]  ⁸ sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.