1
tn (1:1) The Hebrew verb translated "asked" (la^v*, v*a^l) refers here to consulting the LORD through a prophetic oracle.
2tn (1:1) Heb "Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?"
3tn (1:2) Heb "Judah should go up."
4tn (1:2) The Hebrew exclamation hN}h! (h!N}h, traditionally, "Behold"), translated "Be sure of this," draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the LORD speaks of it as a "done deal."
5tn (1:3) Heb "Judah said to Simeon, his brother."
6tn (1:3) Heb "Come up with me into our allotted land and let us attack the Canaanites."
7tn (1:3) Heb "I." The Hebrew pronoun is singular, agreeing with the collective singular "Judah" earlier in the verse. English style requires a plural pronoun here, however.
8tn (1:4) Heb "Judah went up."
9tn (1:5) Or "found."
10tn (1:7) Elsewhere this verb usually carries the sense of "to gather; to pick up; to glean," but "lick up" seems best here in light of the peculiar circumstances described by Adoni-Bezek.
11tn (1:7) The words "food scraps" are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
12tn (1:7) Heb "Just as I did, so God has repaid me." Note that the phrase "to them" has been supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.
13tn (1:9) Or "foothills"; Heb "the Shephelah."
14tn (1:11) Heb "they went from there against the inhabitants of Debir." The LXX reads the verb as "they went up," which suggests that the Hebrew text translated by the LXX read lu^Y~w~ (w~Y~u^l) rather than the MT's El#Y}w~ (w~Y}l#E). It is possible that this is the text to be preferred in v. 11. Cf. Josh 15:15.
15tn (1:13) "Caleb's younger brother" may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel was Caleb's nephew).
16tn (1:13) Heb "he"; the referent (Caleb) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17tn (1:14) Heb "she"; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18tn (1:14) Heb "him." The pronoun could refer to Othniel, in which case one would translate, "she incited him [Othniel] to ask her father for a field." This is problematic, however, for Acsah, not Othniel, makes the request in v. 15. The LXX has "he [Othniel] urged her to ask her father for a field." This appears to be an attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency and probably does not reflect the original text. If Caleb is understood as the referent of the pronoun, the problem disappears. For a fuller discussion of the issue, see P. G. Mosca, "Who Seduced Whom? A Note on Joshua 15:18 // Judges 1:14," CBQ 46 (1984): 18-22. The translation takes Caleb to be the referent, specified as "her father."
19tn (1:15) Elsewhere the Hebrew word hk*r*b= (b=r*k*h) is often translated "blessing," but here it refers to a gift (as in Gen 33:11; 1 Sam 25:27; 30:26; and 2 Kgs 5:15).
20tn (1:15) Some translations regard the expressions "springs of water" (Heb "G%lOt m*y]<") and "springs" (Heb "G%lOt") as place names here (cf. NRSV).
21tc (1:16) Part of the Greek MS tradition lacks the words "of Judah."
22tn (1:16) Heb "[to] the Desert of Judah in the Negev, Arad."
23tn (1:16) The phrase "of Judah" is supplied here in the translation. Some ancient textual witnesses read, "They went and lived with the Amalekites." This reading, however, is probably influenced by 1 Sam 15:6 (see also Num 24:20-21).
24tn (1:17) Heb "Judah went with Simeon, his brother."
25tn (1:17) Heb "it"; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26sn (1:17) The name Hormah (hm*r=j*, h*rm*h) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated "wipe out" (<r^j*, j*r^<).
27tn (1:18) Heb "The men of Judah captured Gaza and its surrounding territory, Ashkelon and its surrounding territory, and Ekron and its surrounding territory."
28tn (1:19) Or "seized possession of"; or "occupied."
29tc (1:19) Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.
30tn (1:19) Regarding the translation "chariots with iron-rimmed wheels" see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands in the Light of Archaeological Study, 255 and the article by R. Drews, "The `Chariots of Iron' of Joshua and Judges," JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.
31tn (1:20) Heb "they gave to Caleb."
32sn (1:21) The statement to this very day reflects the perspective of the author, who must have written prior to David's conquest of the Jebusites (see 2 Sam 5:6-7).
33tn (1:22) Heb "house." This is a metonymy for the warriors from the tribe.
34tn (1:22) Heb "went up."
35tn (1:24) Heb "saw."
36tn (1:26) Heb "the man."
37tn (1:27) Heb "The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shan and its surrounding towns, Taanach and its surrounding towns, the people living in Dor and its surrounding towns, the people living in Ibleam and its surrounding towns, or the people living in Megiddo and its surrounding towns."
38tn (1:27) Or "were determined."
39tn (1:27) Heb "in this land."
40tn (1:30) Heb "the people living in Kitron and the people living in Nahalol."
41tn (1:31) Heb "The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco, the people living in Sidon, Ahlab, Acco, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob."
42tn (1:33) Heb "the people living in Beth Shemesh or the people living in Beth Anath."
43tn (1:33) The term "Canaanites" is supplied here both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
44tn (1:34) Heb "come down into."
45tn (1:35) Or "were determined."
46tn (1:35) Or "Mount Heres"; the term rh^ (h^r) means "mount" or "mountain" in Hebrew.
47tn (1:35) Heb "Whenever the hand of the tribe of Joseph was heavy."
48tn (1:36) Or "the Pass of Akrabbim."
49tn (1:36) Or "Amorite territory started at the Pass of the Scorpions at Sela and then went on up."
1sn (2:1) See Exod 14:19; 23:20.
2tn (2:1) Heb "the land that I had sworn to your fathers."
3tn (2:1) Or "covenant" (also in the following verse).
4tn (2:2) Heb "their altars."
5tn (2:2) Heb "you have not listened to my voice."
6tn (2:2) Heb "What is this you have done?"
7tn (2:3) Heb "And I also said." The use of the perfect tense here suggests that the messenger is recalling an earlier statement (see Josh 23:12-13). However, some translate, "And I also say," understanding the following words as an announcement of judgment upon those gathered at Bokim.
8tn (2:3) The words "If you disobey" are supplied in the translation for clarity. See Josh 23:12-13.
9tn (2:3) Heb "them"; the referent (the Canaanites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10tn (2:3) The meaning of the Hebrew word <yD!x! (x!D!<) is uncertain in this context. It may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning "snare." If so, a more literal translation would be "they will become snares to you." Normally the term in question means "sides," but this makes no sense here. On the basis of Num 33:55 some suggest the word for "thorns" has been accidentally omitted. If this word is added, the text would read, "they will become [thorns] in your sides" (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).
11tn (2:3) Heb "their gods will become a snare to you."
12tn (2:4) Heb "lifted their voices and wept."
13sn (2:5) Bokim means "weeping ones" and is derived from the Hebrew verb B*k*h ("to weep").
14tn (2:6) Or "sent away."
15tn (2:6) Heb "the Israelites went each to his inheritance."
16tn (2:7) Or "served"; or "followed."
17tn (2:7) Or perhaps "elders," which could be interpreted to mean "leaders."
18tn (2:7) Heb "all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen..."
19tn (2:7) Heb "the great work of the LORD which he had done for Israel."
20tn (2:9) Heb "they"; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21tn (2:9) Heb "in the territory of his inheritance."
22tn (2:10) Heb "All that generation were gathered to their fathers."
23tn (2:10) Heb "arose after them."
24tn (2:10) Heb "that did not know the LORD or the work which he had done for Israel." The expressions "personally experienced" and "seen" are interpretive.
25tn (2:11) Heb "in the eyes of."
26tn (2:11) Or "serving"; or "following."
27tn (2:12) Or "fathers."
28tn (2:12) Or "bowed before" (the same expression occurs in the following verse).
29tn (2:13) Some English translations simply transliterate the plural Hebrew term ("Ashtaroth," cf. NAB, NASB), pluralize the transliterated Hebrew singular form ("Ashtoreths," cf. NIV), or use a variation of the name ("Astartes," cf. NRSV).
sn (2:13) The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Ashtar (i.e., Astarte).
30tn (2:14) Or "The LORD's anger burned [or, "raged"] against Israel."
31tn (2:14) Heb "robbers who robbed them." (The verb hs*v* [v*s*h] appears twice in the verse.)
sn (2:14) The expression robbers who plundered them is a derogatory reference to the enemy nations, as the next line indicates.
32tn (2:14) Heb "sold them into the hands of."
33tn (2:14) The word "attacks" is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
34tn (2:15) The expression "to fight" is interpretive.
35tn (2:15) Heb "the LORD's hand was against them for harm."
36tn (2:15) Heb "just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them."
37tn (2:15) Or "they experienced great distress."
38tn (2:16) Or more traditionally, "judges" (also in vv. 17, 18 [3x], 19). Since these figures carried out more than a judicial function, also serving as rulers and (in several instances) as military commanders, the translation uses the term "leaders."
39tn (2:16) Heb "and they delivered them from the hand of the ones robbing them."
40tn (2:17) Or "did not listen to."
41tn (2:17) Or "bowed before."
42tn (2:17) Or "way [of life]."
43tn (2:17) Or "fathers."
44tn (2:17) Heb "...walked, obeying the LORD's commands. They did not do this."
45tn (2:18) Heb "them"; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46tn (2:18) The phrase "for them" is supplied in the translation for clarity.
47tn (2:18) Heb "the ones oppressing them and afflicting them." The synonyms "oppressing" and "afflicting" are joined together in the translation as "harsh oppressors" to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.
48tn (2:19) Heb "they"; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
49tn (2:19) The verb bWv (vWb, "to return; to turn") is sometimes translated "turn back" here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action ("act wickedly") is being repeated.
50tn (2:19) Heb "their fathers."
sn (2:19) The statement the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one must refer to the successive sinful generations after Joshua, not Joshua's godly generation (cf. vv. 7, 17).
51tn (2:19) Or "serving [them]"; or "following [them]."
52tn (2:19) Or "drop."
53tn (2:20) Or "The LORD's anger burned [or, "raged"] against Israel."
54tn (2:20) Heb "Because this nation."
55tn (2:20) Heb "my covenant which I commanded their fathers."
56tn (2:20) Heb "and has not listened to my voice." The expression "to not listen to [God's] voice" is idiomatic here for disobeying him.
57tn (2:22) The words "Joshua left those nations" are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with "to test." Some subordinate this phrase to "I will no longer remove" (v. 21). In this case the LORD announces that he has now decided to leave these nations as a test for Israel. Another possibility is to subordinate "to test" to "He said" (v. 20). (See B. Lindars, Judges, 111.) In this case the statement recorded in vv. 20b-21 is the test in that it forces Israel to respond either positively (through repentance) or negatively to the LORD's declaration. A third possibility (the one reflected in the present translation) is to subordinate "to test" to "left unconquered" (v. 21). In this case the LORD recalls that Joshua left these nations as a test. Israel has failed the test (v. 20), so the LORD announces that the punishment threatened earlier (Josh 23:12-13; see also Judg 2:3) will now be implemented. As B. Webb (Judges, 115) observes, "The nations which were originally left as a test are now left as a punishment." This view best harmonizes v. 23, which explains that the LORD did not give all the nations to Joshua, with v. 22. (For a grammatical parallel, where the infinitive construct of hs*n´ [n´s*h] is subordinated to the perfect of bz~u* [u*z~b], see 2 Chr 32:31.)
58tn (2:22) The Hebrew text includes the phrase "by them," but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
59tn (2:22) The words "I [i.e., the LORD] wanted to see" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
60tn (2:22) Heb "they"; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
61tn (2:22) Or "way [of life]."
62tn (2:22) "The words "marked out by" are interpretive.
63tn (2:22) Or "fathers."
64tn (2:23) The words "this is why" are interpretive.
65tn (2:23) Or "quickly."
1tn (3:1) Heb "did not know the wars of Canaan."
2tn (3:2) The Hebrew syntax of v. 2 is difficult. The Hebrew text reads literally, "only in order that the generations of the Israelites might know, to teach them war--only those who formerly did not know them."
sn (3:2) The stated purpose for leaving the nations (to teach the subsequent generations...how to conduct holy war) seems to contradict 2:22 and 3:4, which indicate the nations were left to test Israel's loyalty to the LORD. However, the two stated purposes can be harmonized. The willingness of later generations to learn and engage in holy war would measure their allegiance to the LORD (see B. Webb, Judges, 114-15).
3tn (3:3) The words "These were the nations," though not present in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarity.
4tn (3:3) Or "the entrance to Hamath."
5tn (3:4) Heb "to know if they would hear the commands of the LORD which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses."
6tn (3:6) Heb "to their sons."
7tn (3:6) Or "served"; or "followed" (this term occurs in the following verse as well).
8tn (3:7) Heb "in the eyes of the LORD."
9sn (3:7) The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.
10tn (3:8) Or "The LORD's anger burned (or raged) against Israel."
11tn (3:8) Heb "sold them into the hands of."
12tn (3:8) Or "Cushan the Doubly Wicked."
13tn (3:8) Or "they served Cushan-Rishathaim."
14tn (3:9) Heb "the LORD."
15tn (3:9) Or "delivered."
16tn (3:9) "Caleb's younger brother" may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb's nephew).
17tn (3:10) Heb "was on him."
18tn (3:10) Heb "his hand was strong against Cushan-Rishathaim."
19tn (3:12) Heb "in the eyes of the LORD" (also later in this verse).
20tn (3:12) Heb "strengthened Eglon...against Israel."
21tn (3:13) Heb "and he gathered to him."
22tn (3:14) Or "the Israelites served Eglon."
23tn (3:15) Heb "the LORD." This has been replaced by the pronoun ("he") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
24tn (3:15) The phrase, which refers to Ehud, literally reads "bound/restricted in the right hand," apparently a Hebrew idiom for a left-handed person. See Judg 20:16, where 700 Benjaminites are described in this way. Perhaps the Benjaminites purposely trained several of their young men to be left-handed warriors by restricting the use of the right hand from an early age so the left hand would become dominant. Left-handed men would have a distinct military advantage, especially when attacking city gates. See B. Halpern, "The Assassination of Eglon," BibRev (December, 1988): 35.
25tn (3:15) Heb "The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab."
26tn (3:16) The Hebrew term dm#G{ (G{m#d) denotes a unit of linear measure, perhaps a cubit (the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger--approximately 18 inches [45 cm]). Some suggest it is equivalent to the short cubit (the distance between the elbow and the knuckles of the clenched fist--approximately 13 inches [33 cm]) or to the span (the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the little finger in a spread hand--approximately 9 inches [23 cm]). See BDB 167; HALOT 196; B. Lindars, Judges, 142.
27tn (3:18) Heb "the tribute payment."
28tn (3:19) Or "returned" (i.e., to Eglon's palace).
29tn (3:19) The words "when he reached" are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text simply reads "from."
30tn (3:19) Or "idols."
31tn (3:19) The words "to Eglon" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
32tn (3:19) Heb "he"; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33tn (3:19) Or "Hush!"
34tn (3:20) Or "cool." This probably refers to a room with latticed windows which allowed the breeze to pass through. See B. Lindars, Judges, 144.
35tn (3:20) Heb "word of [i.e., from] God."
36tn (3:20) Or "throne."
37tn (3:21) Heb "his"; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38tn (3:22) Heb "he"; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39tn (3:22) The Hebrew text has "and he went out to the [?]." The meaning of the Hebrew word hn´d{v=r=P^ (P^rv=d{n´h) which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. The noun has the article prefixed and directive suffix. The word may be a technical architectural term, indicating the area into which Ehud moved as he left the king and began his escape. In this case Ehud is the subject of the verb "went out." The present translation omits the clause, understanding it as an ancient variant of the first clause in v. 23. Some take the noun as "back," understand "sword" (from the preceding clause) as the subject, and translate "the sword came out his [i.e., Eglon's] back." But this rendering is unlikely since the Hebrew word for "sword" (br#j#, j#r#b) is feminine and the verb form translated "came out" (ax@Y}w~, w~Y}x@a) is masculine. (One expects agreement in gender when the subject is supplied from the preceding clause. See Ezek 33:4, 6.) See B. Lindars, Judges, 146-48, for discussion of the options.
40tn (3:23) Again the precise meaning of the Hebrew word, used only here in the OT, is uncertain. Since it is preceded by the verb "went out" and the next clause refers to Ehud closing doors, the noun is probably an architectural term referring to the room (perhaps a vestibule, see HALOT 604) immediately outside the king's upper chamber. As v. 24 indicates, this vestibule separated the upper room from an outer room where the king's servants were waiting.
41tn (3:24) Heb "his."
42tn (3:24) Heb "covering his feet" (i.e., with his outer garments while he relieves himself).
43tn (3:24) The Hebrew expression translated "well-ventilated inner room" may refer to the upper room itself or to a bathroom attached to or within it.
44tn (3:25) The words "the doors" are supplied.
45tn (3:25) Heb "See, their master, fallen to the ground, dead."
46tn (3:27) Heb "When he arrived."
47tn (3:27) That is, "mustered an army."
48tn (3:27) Heb "now he was before them."
49tn (3:28) Heb "for the Lord has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand." The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the LORD speaks of it as a "done deal."
50tn (3:28) The word "River" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.
51tn (3:28) Or "against Moab," that is, so as to prevent the Moabites from crossing.
52tn (3:29) Heb "They struck Moab that day--about ten thousand men."
53tn (3:31) Heb "him"; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
54tn (3:31) Heb "was."
55tn (3:31) Heb "also he"; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1tn (4:1) Heb "did evil in the eyes of the LORD."
2tn (4:2) Heb "the LORD sold them into the hands of."
3tn (4:2) Or "King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite ruler."
4tn (4:2) Or "Harosheth of the Pagan Nations."
5tn (4:3) Heb "he"; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6tn (4:3) Regarding the translation "chariots with iron-rimmed wheels" see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands in the Light of Archaeological Study, 255, and the article by R. Drews, "The `Chariots of Iron' of Joshua and Judges," JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.
7tn (4:3) Heb "with strength."
8tn (4:4) Heb " a woman, a prophetess." In Hebrew idiom the generic "woman" sometimes precedes the more specific designation. See GKC §135.b.
9tn (4:4) Heb "she was." The pronoun refers back to the nominative absolute "Deborah." Hebrew style sometimes employs such resumptive pronouns when lengthy qualifiers separate the subject from the verb.
10tn (4:4) Or "judging."
11tn (4:5) That is, "consider legal disputes."
12tn (4:5) Heb "for judgment."
13tn (4:6) Heb "sent and summoned."
14tn (4:7) Heb "horde"; "multitude."
15tn (4:9) Or "honor."
16tn (4:9) Heb "on [account of (?)] the way which you are walking." Another option is to translate, "due to the way you are going about this." In this case direct reference is made to Barak's hesitancy as the reason for his loss of glory.
17tn (4:9) Heb "for into the hands of a woman the LORD will sell Sisera."
18tn (4:10) Heb "went up at his feet."
19tn (4:11) Or "separated."
20tn (4:11) Heb "pitched his tent."
21tn (4:12) Heb "and they told Sisera."
22tn (4:13) Heb "Sisera." The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun ("he") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
23tn (4:13) Or "summoned."
24tn (4:14) Heb "Arise!"
25tn (4:14) The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the LORD speaks of it as a "done deal."
26tn (4:14) Heb "Has the LORD not gone out before you?"
27tn (4:15) Or "caused to panic."
28tn (4:15) The Hebrew text also includes the phrase "before Barak." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
29tn (4:15) Heb "got down from."
30tn (4:16) Heb "fell."
31tn (4:16) Heb "was left."
32tn (4:17) Heb "for there was peace between."
33tn (4:18) Heb "Turn aside" (also a second time later in this verse).
34tn (4:18) Heb "he"; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35tn (4:21) Heb "took a tent peg and put a hammer in her hand."
36tn (4:21) Heb "and it went into the ground."
37tn (4:21) Heb "and exhausted." Another option is to understand this as a reference to the result of the fatal blow. In this case, the phrase could be translated, "and he breathed his last."
38tn (4:22) Heb "he went to her."
39tn (4:22) Heb "fallen, dead."
40tn (4:24) Heb "The hand of the Israelites became more and more severe against."
41tn (4:24) Heb "cut off."
42tn (4:24) Heb "Jabin king of Canaan." The proper name and title have been replaced by the pronoun ("he") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
1tn (5:1) The words "this victory song" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
2tn (5:2) The meaning of the Hebrew expression tour*P= u^r{p=B! (B!pr{u^ P=r*uot) is uncertain. Numerous proposals are offered by commentators. (For a survey of opinions, see B. Lindars, Judges, 223-27.) The next line refers to the people who responded to Barak's summons to war, so a reference to the leaders who issued the summons would provide a natural poetic parallel. In v. 9 the leaders (yq@q=oj, joq=q@y) of the people and these same volunteers stand in poetic parallelism, so it is reasonable to assume that the difficult Hebrew term tour*P= (P=r*uot, v. 2a) is synonymous with yq@q=oj (joq=q@y) of v. 9 (see Lindars, 227).
3tn (5:3) Heb "I, to the LORD, I, I will sing!" The first singular personal pronoun is used twice, even though a first person finite verbal form is employed.
4tn (5:3) Or "make music."
5tn (5:4) Or "went out."
6tn (5:4) Heb "water."
7tn (5:5) Or "quaked." The translation assumes the form WLz)n´ (n´z{LW) from the root ll^z´ (z´l^l, "to quake"; see HALOT 272). The LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum also understood the word this way. (See Isa 63:19 and 64:2 for other occurrences of this form.) Some understand here the verb lz~n´ (n´z~l, "to flow [with torrents of rain water]").
8tn (5:5) Heb "this one of Sinai." The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the LORD rules from Sinai.
9tc (5:6) The translation assumes the form tojr+a( (a(r=jot, "caravans") rather than tojr´a( (a(r*jot, "roadways") because it makes a tighter parallel with "travelers" in the next line.
10tn (5:6) Or "ceased."
11tn (5:6) Heb "Ones walking on paths."
12tn (5:7) The meaning of the Hebrew noun /ozr*p= (p=r*zo/) is uncertain. Some understand the meaning as "leaders" or "those living in rural areas." The singular noun appears to be collective (note the accompanying plural verb). For various options see B. Lindars, Judges, 237-38.
13tn (5:7) Or "ceased."
14tn (5:7) The translation assumes that the verb is an archaic second feminine singular form. Though Deborah is named as one of the composers of the song (v. 1), she is also addressed within it (v. 12). Many take the verb as first person singular, "I arose" (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV).
15tn (5:7) Heb "mother." The translation assumes that the image portrays Deborah as a protector of the people. It is possible that the metaphor points to her prophetic role. Just as a male prophet could be called "father," so Deborah, a prophetess, is called "mother" (B. Lindars, Judges, 239).
16tn (5:8) 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, 239-40.
17tn (5:8) The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, <j#l* (l*j#<), 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, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle <j@O (Oj@<, from the verbal root <j^l* [l*j^<], "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 <j^l*, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)
18tn (5:8) Heb "A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear." The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle <a! (a!<) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC §149.e).
19tn (5:8) Traditionally "forty thousand," but this may be an instance where Hebrew term [l#a# (a#l#[) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation ("forty military units").
20tn (5:9) The words "went out" are supplied in the translation for clarity.
21tn (5:10) The meaning of the Hebrew word /yD!m! (m!D!/, "saddle cloths") is uncertain.
22tn (5:11) The word "Hear" is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
23tn (5:11) The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. Some translate "those who distribute the water" (HALOT 344). For other options see B. Lindars, Judges, 246-47.
24tn (5:11) Or perhaps "repeat."
25tn (5:11) See the note on the term "warriors" in v. 7.
26tn (5:12) Heb "take captive your captives." (The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative here.)
27tn (5:13) This probably refers to those who responded to the call for war. They were "survivors" of the Canaanite oppression (see B. Lindars, Judges, 250).
28tn (5:13) The translation assumes a repointing of the verb as a perfect or imperfect/preterite form of dr^y´ (y´r^d, "to go down"). The form as pointed in the MT appears to be from hd*r* (r*d*h, "to rule"). See GKC §69.g). The same form, translated "came down," occurs in the next line as well.
29sn (5:13) The expression mighty ones probably refers to the leaders of the army.
30sn (5:13) The speaker may be Deborah here.
31tn (5:13) The translation assumes the preposition b (beth) prefixed to "warriors" has the force of "in the capacity of." For this use of the preposition, see GKC §119.i.
32tn (5:14) Heb "From Ephraim their root in Amalek" (the words "they came" are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons). Because of the difficulty of the MT, many prefer to follow one of the ancient versions or emend the text. For various proposals see B. Lindars, Judges, 252-53. The present translation repoints <v*r=v* (v*rv*<, traditionally translated "their root") as a Piel verb form with enclitic mem. The preposition b (beth) on ql@m*u& (u&m*l@q) introduces the object (see Job 31:12 for an example of the construction). Ephraim's territory encompassed the hill country of the Amalekites (Judg 12:15).
33tn (5:14) The words "They follow" are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
34tn (5:14) The word "came" is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
35tn (5:14) Or possibly "who carry."
36tn (5:15) Heb "Issachar." The words "the men of" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
37tn (5:15) Or "was true to."
38tn (5:15) Heb "at his feet."
39tn (5:15) Heb "great was."
40tc (5:15) The great majority of Hebrew MSS have "resolves of heart," but a few MSS read "searchings of heart," which is preferable in light of v. 16.
41tn (5:16) The meaning of the Hebrew word <y]t^P=v=m! (m!vP=t^y]<) is uncertain. Some understand the word to mean "campfires."
42tn (5:16) Or "whistling."
43tn (5:16) Heb "listening to the pipe playing for the flocks."
44tn (5:17) Heb "lived" or "settled down."
sn (5:17) Apparently the people of Gilead remained on the other side of the river and did not participate in the battle.
45tn (5:17) Heb "Dan, why did he live as a resident alien, ships." The verb rWG (GWr) usually refers to taking up residence outside one's native land. Perhaps the Danites, rather than rallying to Barak, were content to move to the Mediterranean coast and work in the shipyards. For further discussion, see B. Lindars, Judges, 262.
46tn (5:17) Heb "lived."
47tn (5:17) Heb "lived" or "settled down."
48tn (5:17) The meaning of the Hebrew word Jr*p=m! (m!pr*J) is uncertain, but the parallelism (note "seacoast") suggests "harbors."
49tn (5:18) Heb "Zebulun was a people which despised its life even unto death."
50tn (5:18) Heb "Naphtali was on the heights of the field."
51tn (5:19) The contrastive conjunction "but" is interpretive.
52tn (5:20) Or "from heaven." The same Hebrew term, <y]m^v* (v*m^y]<), may be translated "heaven(s)" or "sky" depending on the context.
53tn (5:20) The MT takes "the stars" with what follows rather than with the first colon of v. 20. But for metrical reasons it seems better to move the athnach and read the colon as indicated in the translation.
54tn (5:20) The words "in the heavens" are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
55tn (5:21) Possibly "the ancient river," but it seems preferable in light of the parallel line (which has a verb) to emend the word (attested only here) to a verb (<d^q*, q*d^<) with pronominal object suffix.
56tn (5:21) This line is traditionally taken as the poet-warrior's self-exhortation, "March on, my soul, in strength!" The present translation (a) takes the verb (a second feminine singular form) as addressed to Deborah (cf. v. 12), (b) understands vp#n\ (n\p#v) in its well-attested sense of "throat; neck" (cf. Jonah 2:6), (c) takes the final yod on yv!p=n~ (n~pv!y) as an archaic construct indicator (rather than a suffix), and (d) interprets zu{ (u{z, "strength") as an attributive genitive (literally, "necks of strength," i.e., "strong necks"). For fuller discussion and various proposals, see B. Lindars, Judges, 270-71.
57tc (5:22) The MT as it stands has a singular noun, but if one moves the prefixed mem from the beginning of the next word to the end of sWs (sWs), the expected plural form is achieved. Another possibility is to understand an error of scribal haplography here, in which case the letter mem should appear in both places.
58tn (5:22) The words "the ground" are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
59tn (5:22) Heb "galloped, galloped." The repetition is for emphasis and is more appropriately indicated in English with an adverb.
60tn (5:23) Heb "Curse Meroz."
61tn (5:23) The adjective "angelic" is interpretive.
62tn (5:23) Heb "Curse, cursing." The Hebrew construction is emphatic.
63tn (5:23) Heb "[to] curse."
64tn (5:23) Heb "to the help of the LORD" (the same Hebrew phrase occurs in the following line). Another option is to read "to aid the LORD's cause."
65tn (5:23) Or "along with the other warriors."
66tn (5:24) Or "blessed."
67tn (5:25) Or "mighty ones."
68tn (5:26) The adjective "left" is interpretive, based on the context. Note that the next line pictures Jael holding the hammer with her right hand.
69tn (5:26) The verb used here is from the same root as the noun "hammer" in the preceding line.
70tn (5:26) Or "head."
71tn (5:26) The phrase "his head" (an implied direct object) is supplied in the translation for clarification.
72tn (5:26) Heb "she pierced his temple."
73tn (5:27) Heb "he fell." The same Hebrew expression occurs two more times in this verse.
74tn (5:27) Heb "and he lay.
75tn (5:27) Or "dead, murdered."
76tn (5:28) Heb "chariots."
77tn (5:29) Or "princesses."
78tn (5:30) Heb "Are they not finding, dividing the plunder?"
79tn (5:30) Heb "a womb or two for each man." The words "to rape" are interpretive. The Hebrew noun translated "girl" means literally "womb" (BDB 933 s.v. I. <j^r^), but in this context may refer by extension to the female genitalia. In this case the obscene language of Sisera's mother alludes to the sexual brutality which typified the aftermath of battle.
80tn (5:30) Heb "the plunder of dyed cloth is for Sisera."
81tn (5:30) Heb "the plunder of embroidered cloth."
82tn (5:30) The translation assumes an emendation of the noun ("plunder") to a participle, "plunderer."
83tn (5:31) Heb "But may those who love him be like the going forth of the sun in its strength."
1tn (6:1) Heb "in the eyes of."
2tn (6:1) Heb "gave them into the hand of."
3tn (6:2) Heb "the hand of Midian."
4tn (6:2) Heb "The hand of Midian was strong against Israel."
5tn (6:2) Or possibly "secret storage places." The Hebrew word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.
6tn (6:3) Heb "Whenever Israel sowed seed."
7tn (6:3) Heb "Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east would go up, they would go up against him." The translation assumes that Wlu*w+ (w+u*lW) is dittographic (note the following wyl*u* [u*l*yw]).
8tn (6:4) Heb "They encamped against them."
9tn (6:4) Heb "destroyed."
10tn (6:4) Heb "the crops of the land."
11tn (6:4) Heb "They left no sustenance in Israel."
12tn (6:4) The words "they took away" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
13tn (6:5) Heb "came up."
14tn (6:5) Heb "numerous."
15tn (6:5) Heb "To them and to their camels there was no number."
16tn (6:5) Heb "destroy." The translation "devour" carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.
17tn (6:8) Heb "the LORD"; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun ("he") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
18tn (6:8) Heb "a man, a prophet." Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.
19tc (6:8) Some ancient witnesses read "from the land of Egypt." Jr#a#m@ (m@a#r@J, "from the land [of]") could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following <y]r^x=M!m! [m!M!xr^y]<, "from Egypt"]).
20tn (6:8) Heb "of the house of slavery."
21tn (6:9) Heb "hand" (also a second time later in this verse).
22tn (6:10) Heb "Do not fear."
23tn (6:10) Heb "you have not listened to my voice."
24tn (6:11) The adjective "angelic" is interpretive.
sn (6:11) The LORD's angelic messenger is also mentioned in Judg 2:1.
25tn (6:11) Heb "Now Gideon his son..." The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel's arrival coincided with Gideon's threshing.
26tn (6:11) Heb "beating out."
27sn (6:11) Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.
28tn (6:11) Heb "Midian."
29tn (6:13) Heb "But my lord."
30tn (6:13) Heb "all this."
31tn (6:13) Heb "saying."
32sn (6:14) Some interpreters equate the LORD and the messenger in this story, but they are more likely distinct. In vv. 22-23 the LORD and Gideon continue to carry on a conversation after the messenger has vanished (v. 21).
33tn (6:14) Heb "Go in this strength of yours."
34tn (6:14) Heb "the hand of Midian."
35tn (6:15) Heb "he"; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
36tn (6:15) Note the switch to yn´d{a& (a&d{n´y, "Lord"). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as yn]d{a& (a&d{n]y, "my lord") in v. 13.
37tn (6:15) Heb "with what."
38tn (6:15) Heb "in my father's house."
39tn (6:16) Or "certainly."
40tn (6:16) Heb "You will strike down Midian as one man." The idiom "as one man" emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, "as if they were just one man."
41tn (6:17) Heb "he"; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42tn (6:17) Heb "If I have found favor in your eyes."
43tn (6:17) Heb "perform for me."
44tn (6:18) The Hebrew text adds "to you," but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
45tn (6:18) Heb "and I will bring out my gift." The precise nuance of the Hebrew word hj*n+m! (m!nj*h, "gift") is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.
46tn (6:19) Heb "a kid from among the goats."
47tn (6:19) The words "the food" are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
48tn (6:20) Heb "Take the meat...and put [it] on this rock."
49tn (6:20) Heb "and he did so."
50tn (6:21) Heb "extended the tip of the staff which was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread."
51tn (6:21) Heb "went from his eyes."
52tn (6:22) Heb "saw."
53tn (6:22) Heb "Gideon." The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun ("he") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
54tn (6:22) Or "Ah!"
55tn (6:22) The Hebrew text reads hw]hy+ yn´d{a& (a&d{n´y y+hw]h, "Lord [the same title used in v. 15], LORD").
56tn (6:23) Heb "Peace to you." For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.
57tn (6:24) Heb "The LORD is peace." Gideon's name for the altar plays on the LORD's reassuring words to him, "Peace to you."
58tn (6:25) Or "Take a bull from your father's herd, the second one, the one seven years old." Apparently Gideon would need the bulls to pull down the altar.
59tn (6:26) Possibly "in a row" or "in a layer," perhaps referring to the arrangement of the stones used in the altar's construction.
60tn (6:27) Heb "men from among his servants."
61tn (6:27) Heb "house."
62tn (6:27) Heb "so he did it at night."
63tn (6:28) Heb "look!" The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.
64tn (6:29) Heb "each one to his neighbor."
65tn (6:29) Heb "this thing."
66tn (6:29) Heb "they inquired and searched." The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.
67tn (6:29) Heb "and said." Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, "they were told."
68tn (6:30) Heb "and let him die." The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.
69tn (6:31) Heb "to all who stood against him."
70tn (6:31) Heb "Do you fight for Baal?"
71tn (6:31) Heb "fights for him."
72sn (6:31) Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal's apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal's cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god's altar.
73tn (6:31) Heb "fight for himself."
74tn (6:31) Heb "for he pulled down his altar." The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).
75tn (6:32) Heb "He called him on that day Jerub-Baal." The name means, at least by popular etymology, "Let Baal fight!"
76tn (6:33) Heb "Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east."
77tn (6:33) The words "the Jordan River" are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
78tn (6:34) Heb "clothed."
79tn (6:34) That is, "mustered an army."
80tn (6:34) Heb "Abiezer was summoned after him."
81tn (6:35) Heb "and he also was summoned after him."
82tn (6:36) More literally, "you are about to deliver Israel by my hand."
83tn (6:36) The words "then give me a sign as proof" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
84tn (6:37) Heb "all the ground."
85tn (6:37) Or "know."
86tn (6:37) Heb "you will deliver Israel by my hand."
87tn (6:38) Heb "And it was so."
88tn (6:38) Heb "dew dripped from the fleece--a bowl full of water."
89tn (6:39) Heb "Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once."
90tn (6:39) Heb "let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground."
91tn (6:40) Heb "God did so that night."
1tn (7:1) Heb "and all the people who were with him."
2sn (7:1) The name Harod means, ironically, "trembling."
3tn (7:1) Heb "Midian." The LXX reads "and Amalek" (cf. v. 12; 6:33).
4tn (7:2) Heb "the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand."
5tn (7:2) Heb "might glorify itself against me."
6tn (7:2) Heb "my hand has delivered me."
7tn (7:3) Heb "call into the ears of the people."
8tn (7:3) Heb "afraid and shaking."
9tc (7:3) Many interpreters reject the MT reading "and leave Mount Gilead" for geographical reasons. A possible alternative, involving rather radical emendation of the Hebrew text, would be, "So Gideon tested them" (i.e., thinned the ranks in this manner).
10tn (7:3) Heb "people." The translation uses "men" because warriors are in view, and in ancient Israelite culture these would be only males. (This is also the case in vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)
11tn (7:3) Or "turned around, back."
12tn (7:4) Heb "too many people."
13tn (7:4) Heb "test them for you there."
14tn (7:4) Heb "he should go with you."
15tn (7:4) Heb also has "to you."
16tn (7:4) Heb "he should not go."
17tn (7:5) Heb "the people."
18tn (7:5) Heb "Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink."
19tn (7:6) The Hebrew text adds, "with their hands to the their mouths," This makes no sense in light of v. 5, which distinguishes between dog-like lappers (who would not use their hands to drink) and those who kneel (who would use their hands). It seems likely that the words "with their hands to their mouths" have been misplaced from v. 6. They fit better at the end of v. 5 or v. 6. Perhaps these words were originally a marginal scribal note which was later accidentally inserted into the text in the wrong place.
20tn (7:6) Heb "the people."
21tn (7:7) Heb "you." The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
22tn (7:7) The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
23tn (7:7) Heb "All the people should go, each to his place."
24tn (7:8) Heb "The people."
25tn (7:8) The words "who were chosen" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
26tn (7:8) The Hebrew text has "in their hands."
27tn (7:8) Heb "he"; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28tn (7:8) Heb "tents."
29tn (7:8) Heb "Midian."
30tn (7:8) The Hebrew text adds "him" (i.e., Gideon).
31tn (7:9) Heb "him"; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32tn (7:9) Heb "Go down against."
33tn (7:9) The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
34tn (7:11) Heb "your hands will be strengthened."
35tn (7:11) Heb "to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp."
36tn (7:12) Heb "Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number."
37tn (7:13) Heb "And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream."
38tn (7:13) Heb "he"; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39tn (7:13) Heb "Look!" The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
40tn (7:13) Heb "It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell."
41tn (7:14) Heb "answered and said."
42tn (7:14) Heb "This can be nothing but."
43tn (7:15) Heb "he bowed down" or "worshiped."
44tn (7:16) Heb "heads."
45tn (7:16) Heb "the jars." The noun has been replaced by the pronoun ("them") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
sn (7:16) They hid the torches inside the earthenware jars to disguise their approach and to keep the torches from being extinguished by the breeze.
46tn (7:17) Or "look."
47tn (7:19) Heb "Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp."
48tn (7:19) Heb "that were in their hands."
49tn (7:20) The Hebrew text adds, "in order to blow [them]." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
50tn (7:21) Heb "each in his place."
51tn (7:21) Or "fled."
52tn (7:22) Heb "the LORD set the sword of each one against his friend."
53tc (7:22) MT has "and throughout the camp," but the conjunction ("and") is due to dittography and should be dropped. Compare the ancient versions, which lack the conjunction here.
54tn (7:22) The words "they went" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
55tn (7:23) Heb "Midian."
56tn (7:24) Heb "to meet Midian."
57tn (7:24) Heb "capture before them the waters."
58tn (7:24) The word "River" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).
59tn (7:24) Heb "And all the men of Ephraim were summoned."
60tn (7:24) Heb "they captured the waters."
61sn (7:25) The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean "Raven" and "Wolf" respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.
62tn (7:25) The Hebrew text repeats the verb "executed." This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
63tn (7:25) Heb "Midian."
64tn (7:25) Heb "beyond the Jordan." The word "River" is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).
1tn (8:1) Heb "by not summoning us."
2tn (8:2) Heb "gleanings."
3sn (8:2) Ephraim's leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer's harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim's mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon's family.
4tn (8:3) Heb "What was I able to do compared to you?"
5tn (8:3) Heb "Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word."
6tn (8:4) Heb "And Gideon arrived at the Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted and chasing." The English past perfect ("had crossed") is used because this verse flashes back chronologically to an event that preceded the hostile encounter described in vv. 1-3. (Note that 7:25 assumes Gideon had already crossed the Jordan.)
7tn (8:5) Or perhaps, "sell."
8tn (8:5) Heb "people." The translation uses "men" because these were warriors and in ancient Israelite culture would have been exclusively males.
9tn (8:5) Heb "who are at my feet."
10tn (8:6) Or perhaps, "sell."
11tn (8:6) Heb "Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?" Perhaps the reference to the kings' "palms" should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges, 155).
sn (8:6) The officials of Succoth are hesitant to give (or sell) food to Gideon's forces because they are not sure of the outcome of the battle. Perhaps they had made an alliance with the Midianites which demanded their loyalty.
12tn (8:7) Heb "Therefore."
13sn (8:7) I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.
14tn (8:7) Or "flesh."
15tn (8:7) This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition ta@ (a@t, note the use of b [beth] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that ta@ more naturally indicates accompaniment ("together with"). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See Burney, Judges, 229-30.
16tn (8:8) Heb "and spoke to them in the same way."
17tn (8:8) Heb "The men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered."
18tn (8:9) Heb "said to." The translation "threatened" is interpretive, but is clearly indicated by the context.
19tn (8:9) Heb "saying."
20tn (8:9) Or "safely." Heb "in peace."
21tn (8:10) Heb "About fifteen thousand [in number] were all the ones remaining from the army of the sons of the east. The fallen ones were a hundred and twenty thousand [in number], men drawing the sword."
22tn (8:11) Heb "the ones living in tents."
23tn (8:11) Heb "and attacked the army, while the army was secure." The Hebrew term jf^b# (b#f^j, "secure") probably means the army was undefended (see R. G. Boling, Judges, 156), not suspecting an attack at that time and place.
24tn (8:12) Heb "he"; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25mn/ Or "routed"; Heb "caused to panic."
26tn (8:13) Or "ascent."
27tn (8:14) Heb "from the men of Succoth."
28tn (8:14) Heb "wrote down for him the officials of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men."
29tn (8:15) Heb "Look!" The words "what I have" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
30tn (8:15) Heb "Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your exhausted men bread?"
sn (8:15) Gideon changes their actual statement (see v. 6) by saying exhausted men rather than "army." In this way he emphasizes the crisis his men were facing and highlights the insensitivity of the men of Succoth.
31tn (8:16) Heb "elders."
32tc (8:16) The translation follows the reading of several ancient versions (LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vg) in assuming the form vd*Y´w~ (w~Y´d*v) from the verb voD (Dov, "thresh") as in v. 7. The MT reads instead the form ud^Y{w~ (w~Y{d^u, "make known"), a Hiphil form of ud^y´ (y´d^u). In this case one could translate, "he used them [i.e., the thorns and briers] to teach the men of Succoth a lesson."
33tn (8:18) Heb "Where are?"
34tn (8:18) Heb "each one like the appearance of sons of the king."
35tn (8:19) The words "I swear" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
36tn (8:20) Or "Arise!"
37tn (8:20) Heb "did not draw his sword for he was afraid."
38tn (8:21) The words "to Gideon" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
39tn (8:21) Or "Arise."
40tn (8:21) Heb "for as the man is his strength."
41tn (8:21) Heb "arose and killed."
42tn (8:22) Heb "hand."
43tn (8:24) Heb "said to them."
44tn (8:24) Heb "Give to me, each one, an earring from his plunder."
45tn (8:24) Heb "they"; the referent (the Midianites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46tn (8:25) Heb "We will indeed give."
47tc (8:25) In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.
48sn (8:26) Seventeen hundred gold shekels would be about 42.7 pounds (19.4 kilograms) of gold.
49tn (8:26) Or "pendants."
50tn (8:26) Heb "the ornaments which were on the necks of their camels."
51tn (8:27) Heb "made it into."
52sn (8:27) In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 2.349-52.
53tn (8:27) Heb "Israel" (a collective singular).
54tn (8:28) Heb "Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads."
55tn (8:28) Heb "in the days of Gideon."
56tn (8:29) Heb "went and lived in his house."
57tn (8:30) Heb "Gideon had seventy sons who went out from his thigh, for he had many wives." The Hebrew word Er@y´ (y´r@e, "thigh") is a euphemism here for the penis.
58sn (8:31) A concubine was a slave woman in ancient Near Eastern societies who was the legal property of her master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with her master. A concubine's status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).
59sn (8:31) The name Abimelech means "my father is king."
60tn (8:32) Heb "good."
61sn (8:33) Baal-Berith was a local manifestation of the Canaanite storm god. The name means, ironically, "Baal of the covenant." Israel's covenant allegiance had indeed shifted.
62tn (8:34) Heb "remember."
63tn (8:35) Heb "did not do loyalty with," or "did not act faithfully towards."
1tn (9:1) Heb "brothers."
2tn (9:1) Heb "to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother."
3tn (9:2) Heb "Speak into the ears of."
4tn (9:2) Heb "What good is it to you?"
5tn (9:2) Heb "your bone and your flesh."
6tn (9:3) Heb "brothers."
7tn (9:3) Heb "into the ears of."
8tn (9:3) Heb "and all these words."
9tn (9:3) Heb "Their heart was inclined after Abimelech."
10tn (9:3) Heb "our brother."
11tn (9:4) Heb "empty and reckless."
12tn (9:4) Heb "and they followed him."
13tn (9:5) Heb "his brothers."
14tn (9:5) The word "legitimate" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
15tn (9:5) Heb "remained."
16tc (9:6) The translation assumes that the form in the Hebrew text (bX*m%, m%X*b) is a corruption of an original hb*X@m^ (m^X@b*h, "pillar"). The reference is probably to a pagan object of worship (cf. LXX).
17tn (9:7) Heb "And they reported to Jotham." The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
18tn (9:7) Heb "He lifted his voice and called and said to them."
19tn (9:8) 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."
20tn (9:8) Heb "to anoint [with oil] over them a king."
21tn (9:8) Or "Rule over us!"
22tn (9:9) Heb "Should I stop my abundance, with which they honor gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?" The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
23tn (9:10) Or "and rule over us!"
24tn (9:11) Heb "Should I stop my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over the trees? The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
25tn (9:12) Or "and rule over us!"
26tn (9:13) Heb "Should I stop my wine, which makes happy gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?" The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
27tn (9:14) Or "and rule over us!"
28tn (9:15) Heb "are about to anoint [with oil]."
29tn (9:15) Heb "in my shade."
30tn (9:15) Heb "If not."
31tn (9:16) Heb "house."
32tn (9:16) Heb "if according to the deeds of his hands you have done to him."
33tc (9:17) Heb "threw his life out in front," that is, "exposed himself to danger." The MT form dg\N\m! (m!N\g\d, "from before") should probably be read as oDg+N\m! (m!N\gDo, "from before him"); haplography of vav has likely occurred here in the MT.
34tn (9:17) Heb "hand."
35tn (9:18) Heb "have risen up against."
36tn (9:18) Heb "house."
37tn (9:18) The word "legitimate" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
38tn (9:18) Heb "your brother."
39tn (9:19) Heb "house."
40tn (9:19) Heb "then rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you."
41tn (9:21) Heb "fled and ran away and went."
42tn (9:21) Heb "from before."
43tn (9:21) Heb "his brother."
44tn (9:22) The Hebrew verb translated "commanded" (rr^c*, c*r^r), which appears only here in Judges, differs from the ones employed earlier in this chapter (lv^m* [m*v^l] and El^m* [m*l^E]).
sn (9:22) Abimelech commanded Israel. Perhaps while ruling as king over the city-state of Shechem, Abimelech also became a leader of the Israelite tribal alliance (see R. G. Boling, Judges, 175).
45tn (9:23) Heb "an evil spirit." A non-physical, spirit being is in view, like the one who volunteered to deceive Ahab (1 Kgs 22:21). The traditional translation, "evil spirit," implies the being is inherently wicked, perhaps even demonic, but this is not necessarily the case. The Hebrew adjective hu*r* (r*u*h) can have a non-ethical/moral sense, "harmful; dangerous; calamitous." When modifying j^Wr (rW^j, "spirit") it may simply indicate that the being in view causes harm to the object of God's judgment. Moore (Judges, 253) here refers to a "mischief-making spirit."
46tn (9:23) Heb "The leaders of Shechem were disloyal." The words "he made" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
47tn (9:24) Heb "their brother."
48tn (9:24) Heb "so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal might come, and their blood might be placed on Abimelech, their brother, who murdered them, and upon the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to murder his brothers."
49tn (9:25) Heb "set against him bandits."
sn (9:25) Putting bandits in the hills. This piracy certainly interrupted or discouraged trade, and probably deprived Abimelech of tariffs or tribute. See Burney, Judges, 277; Moore, Judges, 253.
50tn (9:25) Heb "on the tops of."
51tn (9:25) Heb "It was told to Abimelech."
52sn (9:26) The name Gaal derives from, or at least sounds like, a Hebrew verb meaning "to abhor, loathe." His father's name, Ebed, means "servant." Perhaps then this could be translated, "loathsome one, son of a servant." This individual's very name (which may be the narrator's nickname for him, not his actual name) seems to hint at his immoral character and lowly social status.
53tn (9:26) Heb "trusted in him." Here the verb probably describes more than a mental attitude. It is likely that the Shechemites made an alliance with Gaal and were now trusting him for protection in return for their loyalty (and probably tribute).
54tn (9:27) Heb "vineyards."
55tn (9:27) Heb "stomped" or "trampled." This refers to the way in which the juice was squeezed out in the wine vats by stepping on the grapes with one's bare feet. For a discussion of grape harvesting in ancient Israel, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-14.
56tn (9:27) Heb "house."
57tn (9:28) Heb "and Zebul his appointee."
58tn (9:28) Heb "him"; the referent (Abimelech) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
59tn (9:29) Heb "people."
60tn (9:29) Heb "in my hand."
sn (9:29) If only these men were under my command. One might assume from v. 26b that the men were already at his disposal, but perhaps that was not one of the terms of the agreement. Another possibility is that v. 26 is a general summary statement, with vv. 27-29 then detailing how the alliance with Gaal came about.
61tn (9:29) Heb "said to Abimelech." On the other hand, the preposition l (lamed) prefixed to the proper name may be vocative (see R. G. Boling, Judges, 178). If so, one could translate, "He boasted, `Abimelech...'"
62tn (9:29) Heb "Make numerous."
63tn (9:29) The words "for battle" are interpretive.
64tn (9:30) Heb "his anger burned."
65tn (9:31) The form hm*r=t*B= (B=t*rm*h) 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. hm*r* (r*m*h, "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" (hm*WraB*, B*arWm*h), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of aleph and taw in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.
66tn (9:31) Heb "Look!"
67tn (9:31) 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.
68tn (9:31) The words "to rebel" are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb rWx (xWr) 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, 178).
69tn (9:32) Heb "arise."
70tn (9:32) Heb "you and the people who are with you."
71tn (9:32) The words "outside the city" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
72tn (9:33) Heb "Look! He and the people who are with him will come out to you, and you will do to him what your hand finds [to do]."
73tn (9:34) Heb "and all the people who were with him arose."
74tn (9:34) Heb "four heads." The words "they divided into" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
75tn (9:36) Heb "the people" (also in vv. 38, 43, 48). These were warriors, so "men" has been used in the translation, since in ancient Israelite culture soldiers would have been exclusively males.
76tn (9:36) Heb "the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men."
77tn (9:37) Heb "navel." On the background of the Hebrew expression "the navel of the land," see R. G. Boling, Judges, 178-79.
78tn (9:37) Heb "head."
79tn (9:37) Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name (Heb "Elon-meonenim"); cf. NAB, NRSV.
80tn (9:38) Heb "is your mouth that says."
81tn (9:38) Heb "the people."
82tn (9:38) Or "despised."
83tn (9:39) Heb "So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem."
84tn (9:40) Heb "he"; the referent (Gaal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
85tn (9:40) The word "Shechemites" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarification.
86tc (9:41) Heb "stayed." Some scholars revise the vowel pointing on this verb from that of the MT, resulting in the translation "and he returned to." The Lucianic recension of the LXX understands the word in this way.
87tn (9:41) Heb "drove...out from dwelling in Shechem."
88tn (9:42) Heb "the people"; the referent (the Shechemites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
89tn (9:42) Heb "And they told Abimelech."
90tn (9:43) Heb "his people."
91tn (9:43) Heb "And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city."
92tn (9:43) Heb "he arose against them and struck them."
93tn (9:44) Or possibly, "the unit that was with him."
94tn (9:44) Heb "stood [at]."
95tn (9:45) Or "destroyed."
96tn (9:45) Heb "sowed it with salt."
sn (9:45) The spreading of salt over the city was probably a symbolic act designed to place the site under a curse, deprive it of fertility, and prevent any future habitation. The practice is referred to outside the Bible as well. For example, one of the curses in the Aramaic Sefire treaty states concerning Arpad: "May Hadad sow in them salt and weeds, and may it not be mentioned again!" See J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire, 15, 53. Deut 29:23, Jer 17:6, and Zeph 2:9 associate salt flats or salty regions with infertility and divine judgment.
97sn (9:46) Perhaps the Tower of Shechem was a nearby town, distinct from Shechem proper, or a tower within the city.
98tn (9:46) Apparently this rare word refers here to the most inaccessible area of the temple, perhaps the inner sanctuary or an underground chamber. It appears only here and in 1 Sam 13:6, where it is paired with "cisterns" and refers to subterranean or cave-like hiding places.
99sn (9:46) The name El-Berith means "God of the Covenant." It is probably a reference to the Canaanite high god El.
100tn (9:47) Heb "and it was told to Abimelech."
101tn (9:47) Heb "were assembled."
102tn (9:48) Heb "his people."
103tn (9:48) Heb "Abimelech." The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun ("he") due to considerations of English style.
104tn (9:48) The Hebrew text has the plural here.
105tn (9:48) Heb "he lifted it and put [it]."
106tn (9:48) Heb "What you have seen me do, quickly do like me."
107tn (9:49) The words "the branches" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
108tn (9:49) Heb "they kindled over them the stronghold with fire."
109tn (9:49) Or "men," but the word seems to have a more general sense here, as the conclusion to the sentence suggests.
110tn (9:50) Or "went."
111tn (9:50) Heb "he camped near Thebez and captured it."
112tn (9:51) Or "strong."
113tn (9:51) Or "fortress." The same Hebrew term occurs once more in this verse and twice in v. 52.
114sn (9:53) A handmill consisted of an upper stone and larger lower stone. One would turn the upper stone with a handle to grind the grain, which was placed between the stones. An upper millstone, which was typically about two inches thick and a foot or so in diameter, probably weighed 25-30 pounds (11.4-13.6 kg). See Moore, Judges, 268; Burney, Judges, 288.
115tn (9:53) Heb "Abimelech's." The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun "his" in the translation in keeping with conventions of English narrative style.
116tn (9:54) The Hebrew text adds, "and said to him." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
117tn (9:54) The Hebrew text adds, "concerning me." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
118tn (9:55) Heb "each to his own place."
119tn (9:56) Heb "seventy brothers."
120tn (9:57) Heb "came."
1tn (10:1) The word "death" has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
2tn (10:1) Heb "son."
3tn (10:1) Heb "a man of Issachar."
4tn (10:2) Traditionally, "judged."
5sn (10:4) The name Habboth Jair means "tent villages of Jair" in Hebrew.
6tn (10:4) Heb "they call them Havvoth Jair to this day--which are in the land of Gilead."
7tn (10:6) Heb "in the eyes of the LORD."
8tn (10:6) Or "served;" or "followed."
9sn (10:6) The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Ashtar (i.e., Astarte).
10tn (10:6) Heb "the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines."
11tn (10:6) Or "serve"; or "follow."
12tn (10:7) Or "the LORD's anger burned [or, "raged"] against Israel."
13tn (10:7) Heb "sold them into the hands of."
14tn (10:8) Heb "shattered and crushed." The repetition of similar sounding synonyms (Ju^r* [r*u^J] and Jx^r* [r*x^J]) is for emphasis; Jx^r* appears in the Polel, adding further emphasis to the affirmation.
15tn (10:8) The phrase hn´v* hr@c=u# hn\m)v= (v=m{n\h u#cr@h v*n´h) could be translated "eighteen years," but this would be difficult after the reference to "that year." It is possible that v. 8b is parenthetical, referring to an eighteen year long period of oppression east of the Jordan which culminated in hostilities against all Israel (including Judah, see v. 9) in the eighteenth year. It is simpler to translate the phrase as an ordinal number, though the context does not provide the point of reference. (See Gen 14:4-5 and R. G. Boling, Judges, 191-92.) In this case, the following statement specifies which "Israelites" are in view.
16tn (10:9) Heb "the house of Ephraim."
17tn (10:9) Or "Israel experienced great distress." Perhaps here the verb has the nuance "hemmed in."
18tn (10:10) Or "served"; or "followed."
19tc (10:12) The translation follows the LXX which reads "Midian"; the Hebrew text has "Maon."
20tn (10:12) The words "Did I not deliver you" are interpretive. The Hebrew text simply reads, "Is it not from Egypt...when they oppressed you?" Perhaps the incomplete sentence reflects the LORD's frustration.
21tn (10:12) Heb "hand."
22tn (10:13) Or "served"; or "followed."
23tn (10:14) Heb "in your time of trouble."
24tn (10:15) Heb "according to all whatever is good in your eyes."
25sn (10:15) You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God's hand. Or they may mean, "In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we're suffering right now."
26tn (10:16) Heb "from their midst."
27tn (10:16) Or "served"; or "followed."
28tn (10:16) Heb "And his spirit grew short [i.e., impatient] with the suffering of Israel." The Hebrew noun vp#n\ (n\p#v) also appears as the subject of the verb rx^q* (q*x^r) in Num 21:4 (the Israelites grow impatient wandering in the wilderness), Judg 16:16 (Samson grows impatient with Delilah's constant nagging), and Zech 11:8 (Zechariah grows impatient with the three negligent "shepherds").
29tn (10:17) Or "were summoned;" or "were mustered."
30tn (10:18) Heb "the people, the officers."
31tn (10:18) Heb "Who is the man who will begin fighting."
1tn (11:1) Heb "Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah."
2tn (11:2) Heb "bore."
3tn (11:2) Heb "in the house of our father."
4tn (11:3) Or "fled from."
5tn (11:3) Heb "brothers."
6tn (11:3) Heb "Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him."
7tn (11:5) Heb "When the Ammonites fought with Israel."
8tn (11:5) Or "elders."
9tn (11:5) Heb "went to take Jephthah."
10tn (11:6) Heb "to Jephthah."
11tn (11:7) Heb "Did you not hate me and make me leave?"
12tn (11:8) Heb "therefore"; "even so." For MT /k@l* (l*k@/, "therefore") the LXX has an opposite reading, "not so," which seems to be based on the Hebrew words /k@ aO (Oa k@/).
13tn (11:8) Heb "we have returned to you." For another example of la# bWv (vWb a#l) in the sense of "give allegiance to," see 1 Kgs 12:27b.
14sn (11:8) Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word r{av ("head"; "leader"), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their q*x!/, "commander" (v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward--rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges, 198.
15tn (11:8) Heb "leader of us and all who live in Gilead."
16tn (11:9) "All right" is supplied in the translation for clarification.
17tn (11:9) Heb "places them before me."
18tn (11:9) Some translate the final statement as a question, "will I really be your leader?" An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.
19tn (11:10) Heb "The LORD will be the one who hears between us." For the idiom /y]B^ um^v* (v*m^u B^y]/, "to hear between"), see Deut 1:16.
20sn (11:10) The LORD will judge...if we do not do as you say. The statement by the leaders of Gilead takes the form of a legally binding oath, which obligates them to the terms of the agreement.
21tn (11:11) Heb "spoke all his words." This probably refers to the "words" recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the LORD's sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites' obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, "Jephthah conducted business before the LORD in Mizpah." In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the LORD's authority and made his decisions before the LORD.
22tn (11:12) Heb "What to me and to you that...?"
23tn (11:13) Or "took"; or "seized."
24tn (11:13) Heb "he" (a collective singular).
25tn (11:13) Heb "from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan." The word "River" has been supplied in the translation with "Arnon" and "Jabbok," because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.
26tc (11:13) The translation assumes a singular suffix ("[return] it"); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix ("[return] them"), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.
27tn (11:15) Or "take"; or "seize."
28tn (11:16) Heb "For when they went up from."
29tn (11:16) Or "went."
30tn (11:17) Heb "me." (Collective Israel is the speaker.)
31tn (11:17) Heb "did not listen."
32tn (11:17) Heb "Also to the king of Moab he sent, but he was unwilling."
33tn (11:18) Heb "he"; the referent (Israel; the pronoun in the Hebrew text represents a collective singular) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
34tn (11:18) The word "River" is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
35tn (11:19) Heb "to my place."
36tn (11:20) Heb "Sihon." The proper name ("Sihon") has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun ("he") because of English style; a repetition of the proper name here would be redundant in English.
37tn (11:20) Heb "all his people" (also in the following verse).
38tn (11:21) That is, took as its own possession.
39tn (11:22) Heb "from the Arnon to the Jabbok, and from the desert to the Jordan." The word "River" has been supplied in the translation with "Arnon" and "Jabbok," because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.
40tn (11:23) Heb "Now."
41tn (11:23) Or "dispossessed."
42tn (11:23) Heb "will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly "it," i.e., the territory]?" There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.
43tn (11:24) 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 Milkom 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, 203-204). 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.
44tn (11:25) The Hebrew grammatical constructions of all three rhetorical questions indicate emphasis, which "really" and "dare to" are intended to express in the translation.
sn (11:25) Jephthah argues that the Ammonite king should follow the example of Balak, who, once thwarted in his attempt to bring a curse on Israel, refused to attack Israel and returned home (Num 22-24).
45tn (11:27) Or "sinned against you."
46tn (11:27) Or "evil."
47tn (11:28) Heb "did not listen to."
48tn (11:28) Heb "Jephthah's words which he sent to him."
49tn (11:29) Heb "was on."
50tn (11:29) Heb "passed through."
51tn (11:29) Heb "From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites."
52tn (11:31) Heb "the one coming out, who comes out from." The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle ax@oYh^ (h^Yox@a, "the one coming out") is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges, 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.
53tn (11:31) The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.
54tn (11:31) Some translate "or," suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the LORD's service, but if an animal comes through the doors, he will offer it up as a sacrifice. However, it is far more likely that the Hebrew construction (vav + perfect) specifies how the the subject will become the LORD's, that is, by being offered up as a sacrifice. For similar constructions, where the apodosis of a conditional sentence has at least two perfects (each with vav) in sequence, see Gen 34:15-16; Exod 18:16.
55tn (11:32) Heb "passed over to."
56tn (11:33) Heb "with a very great slaughter."
57tn (11:33) Heb "The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites."
58tn (11:34) Heb "Look! His daughter was coming out."
59tn (11:34) Heb "with tambourines and dancing."
60tn (11:35) Heb "you have brought me very low," or "you have knocked me to my knees." The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.
61tn (11:35) Heb "You are among [or, "like"] those who trouble me."
62tn (11:35) Heb "I opened my mouth to the LORD and I am not able to return."
63tn (11:36) The conjunction "since" is supplied in the translation for clarification.
64tn (11:36) Heb "you opened your mouth to the LORD, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth."
65tn (11:36) Or "has given you vengeance against."
66tn (11:37) Heb "Let this thing be done for me."
67tn (11:37) Heb "Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity--I and my friends."
68tn (11:38) Heb "he sent her."
69tn (11:38) Heb "on the hills." The words "as she walked" are supplied.
70tn (11:39) Heb "She had never known a man." Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See Moore, Judges, 302-303; Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.
71tn (11:39) Heb "There was a custom in Israel."
72tn (11:40) Heb "From days to days," a Hebrew idiom for "annually."
73tn (11:40) Heb "go to commemorate." The rare Hebrew verb hn´T* (T*n´h, "to tell; to repeat; to recount") occurs only here and in 5:11.
74tn (11:40) The Hebrew text adds, "in the year." This is redundant (note "every year" at the beginning of the verse) and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
1tn (12:1) Heb "the men of Ephraim were summoned [or, "were mustered"]."
2tn (12:1) Heb "cross over to fight."
3tn (12:1) Or "calling"; or "summoning."
4tn (12:1) Heb "Your house we will burn over you with fire."
5tn (12:2) Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites."
6tn (12:2) Heb "hand."
7tn (12:3) Heb "you were no deliverer." Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has "no one was helping."
8tn (12:3) Heb "I put my life in my hand."
9tn (12:3) Heb "crossed over to."
10tn (12:3) The Hebrew adds "against me" here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
11tn (12:4) Heb "because they said."
12tc (12:4) Heb "Refugees of Ephraim are you, O Gilead, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh." The LXX omits the entire second half of the verse (beginning with "because"). The words <y]r^p=a# yf@yl!P= Wrm=a* yK! (K! a*mrW P=l!f@y a#pr^y]<, "because they said, `Refugees of Ephraim'") may have been accidentally copied from the next verse (cf. <y]r^p=a# yf@yl!P= Wrm=ay{ yK!, K! y{amrW P=l!f@y a#pr^y]<) and the following words ("you, O Gilead...Manasseh") then added in an attempt to make sense of the verse. See Moore, Judges, 307-308, and Burney, Judges, 327. If the Hebrew text is retained, then the Ephraimites appear to be insulting the Gileadites by describing them as refugees who are squatting on Ephraim's and Manasseh's land. The present translation assumes that "Ephraim" is a genitive of location after "refugees."
13tn (12:5) The word "River" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
14tn (12:5) Or "against Ephraim," that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.
15tn (12:5) The Hebrew text has a plural form here.
16tn (12:5) Heb "say to."
17sn (12:6) The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means "stream" or "flood," and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.
18tn (12:6) Heb "and could not prepare to speak." The precise meaning of /yk!y´ (y´k!/) is unclear. Some understand it to mean "was not careful [to say it correctly]"; others emend to lk{y´ (y´k{l, "was not able [to say it correctly]") or /yb!y´ (y´b!/, "did not understand [that he should say it correctly]"), which is read by a few Hebrew MSS.
19tn (12:7) Traditionally, "judged."
20tn (12:7) Heb "Jephthah the Gileadite." The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun ("he") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
21tc (12:7) The Hebrew text has "in the cities of Gilead." The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.
22tn (12:8) Traditionally, "judged."
23tn (12:9) Heb "thirty daughters he sent off outside." Another option is to translate, "He arranged for his thirty daughters..." It is not clear if he had more than the "thirty daughters" mentioned in the text.
24tn (12:9) Heb "and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside."
25tn (12:9) Heb "He"; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.
26tn (12:9) Traditionally, "judged."
27tn (12:10) Heb "Ibzan." The pronoun "he" is used in the translation in keeping with English style, which tends to use a proper name first in a sentence followed by a pronoun rather than vice versa.
28tn (12:11) Traditionally, "judged."
29tn (12:11) Heb "...led Israel. He led Israel for ten years."
30tn (12:13) Traditionally, "judged."
1tn (13:1) Heb "in the eyes of."
2tn (13:2) Heb "and had not given birth."
3tn (13:3) The adjective "angelic" is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).
4tn (13:3) The angel actually introduces his statement with "look."
5tn (13:3) Heb "and have not given birth."
6tn (13:4) Heb "eat anything unclean." Certain foods were regarded as ritually "unclean" (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually "contaminated."
7tn (13:5) Another option is to translate, "you are already pregnant and will have a son." The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her--actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant. (See the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges, 217.) Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective hr*h* (h*r*h, "[be/become] pregnant") elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel's speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.
8tn (13:5) Heb "a razor should not go up on his head."
9tn (13:5) Or "set apart to God." Traditionally the Hebrew term ryz]n´ (n´z]r) has been translated "Nazirite." The word is derived from the verb rz~n´ (n´z~r, "to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart").
10tn (13:5) Heb "hand."
11tn (13:6) Heb "The man of God."
12tn (13:6) Heb "His appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome."
13tn (13:7) See the note on the word "son" in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.
14tn (13:7) Heb "eat anything unclean." Certain foods were regarded as ritually "unclean" (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually "contaminated."
15tn (13:7) Traditionally "a nazirite."
16tn (13:8) The Hebrew text adds "and said." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
17tn (13:8) Heb "the man of God."
18tn (13:8) Heb "come to."
19tc (13:8) The LXX has "enlighten," understanding the Hebrew to read Wnr@ya!yw] (w]a!r@nW, "to give light") rather than the reading of the MT, Wnr@oyw+ (w+yor@nW, "to teach").
20tn (13:8) Heb "what we should do for."
21tn (13:9) Heb "God listened to the voice of Manoah."
22tn (13:9) Heb "came to."
23tn (13:10) Heb "and said to him." This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
24tn (13:10) Heb "Look."
25tn (13:10) Heb "came to."
26tn (13:11) Heb "came to."
27tn (13:11) Or "my wife."
28tn (13:11) Heb "I [am]."
29tn (13:12) Heb "Now, [when] your word comes [to pass]."
30tn (13:12) Heb "what will be the the child's rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?"
31tn (13:13) Or "said to."
32tn (13:13) Heb "To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention." The Hebrew word order emphasizes "to everything," probably because Manoah's wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child's mission.
33tn (13:14) Heb "eat."
34tn (13:14) Heb "eat anything unclean." Certain foods were regarded as ritually "unclean" (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually "contaminated."
35tn (13:15) Heb "Please allow us to detain you."
36tn (13:15) Heb "so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats."
37tn (13:16) Heb "If you detain me."
38tn (13:16) The words "he said this" are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the messenger represented the LORD. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the LORD's messenger, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to "God" (<yh!Oa$, a$Oh!<), not the LORD (hwhy, Yahweh). Manoah's wife calls the visitor "a man sent from God" and "God's messenger" (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the "Lord" (yn´oda&, a&don´y) and calls the visitor "a man sent from God" (v. 8).
39tn (13:17) Heb "Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you." Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun ("who" instead of "what"). He starts to say, "Who are you?" But then he switches to "your name" as if he began the sentence with "what." See R. G. Boling, Judges, 222.
40tn (13:18) Heb "Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?" The Hebrew adjective ya!l=P! (P!la!y, "wonderful"; "incomprehensible") refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God's knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
41tc (13:19) Heb "Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching." The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase "the LORD's messenger" was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read hw´hy+ Ea^l=m^ hw´hyl^ (l^yhw´h m^la^E y+hw´h), the scribe's eye could have jumped from the first hw´hy+ to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction W (W) would have been added to the following al!p=m^ (m^pl!a) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject (aWh, hWa) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.
42tn (13:20) Heb "in the flame from the altar."
43tn (13:20) Heb "on their faces."
44tn (13:21) Heb "Then Manoah knew that he was the LORD's messenger."
45tn (13:22) Or "God." Some take the Hebrew term <yh!Oa$ (a$Oh!<) as the divine name ("God") here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the LORD's messenger, not God himself. Of course, he may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Another option, the one followed in the translation, understands Manoah to be referring to a lesser deity. The term <yh!Oa$ (a$Oh!<) is sometimes used of an individual deity other than the LORD (see BDB 43 [2.a]). One cannot assume that Manoah was a theologically sophisticated monotheist.
46tn (13:23) Heb "our hand."
47tn (13:24) Heb "the woman." For clarity this has been specified in the translation as "Manoah's wife."
48tn (13:24) The name appears to mean "sun-like" or "solar."
49tn (13:24) Traditionally, "blessed."
50Or "move him to action"; or "stir him."
1tn (14:1) Heb "and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines."
2tn (14:2) Heb "and he went up."
3tn (14:2) Heb "I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines."
4tn (14:3) Heb "my." The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson's father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here ("you"), and this may represent the original reading.
5tn (14:3) Heb "Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?"
6tn (14:3) "Her" is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See Burney, Judges, 357.
7tn (14:3) Heb "because she is right in my eyes."
8tn (14:4) Heb "this was from the LORD."
9tn (14:4) Heb "for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines."
10tc (14:5) The MT reads, "Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When they approached..." Verse 6b states that Samson did not tell his parents about his encounter with the lion (vv. 5b-6a), but v. 5a gives the impression they would have seen the entire episode. One could assume that Samson separated from his parents prior to the lion's attack, but the Hebrew text does not indicate this. It seems more likely that the words "with his father and his mother" were accidentally copied into the text, perhaps under the influence of v. 4a, where the same phrase appears. An original singular verb ("he approached") may have been changed to the plural form ("they approached") after the words "his father and his mother" were accidentally added to the text.
11tn (14:5) Heb "and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him."
12tn (14:6) Heb "rushed on."
13tn (14:6) Heb "him" or "it"; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14tn (14:6) Heb "and there was nothing in his hand."
15tn (14:7) Heb "He went down."
16tn (14:7) Heb "She was the right one in the eyes of Samson."
17tn (14:8) Heb "get."
18tn (14:8) Heb "and look, a swarm of bees..."
19tn (14:9) 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.
20sn (14:9) Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson's Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.
21tn (14:10) Heb "And his father went down to the woman."
22tn (14:10) Or "[wedding] feast."
23tn (14:10) Heb "the young men."
24tn (14:11) Heb "When they saw him, they gave him thirty companions and they were with him." Instead of <t*oar=K! (K!raot*<, "when they saw") some ancient witnesses (e.g., some MSS of the LXX) assume the reading <t*a*r=y]B= (B=y]ra*t*<, "because they feared").
25tn (14:12) Heb "If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer]."
26tn (14:12) Heb "changes."
27tn (14:13) Heb "you are unable to tell me."
28tn (14:13) Heb "Give your riddle so we can hear it."
29tc (14:15) The MT reads "seventh." In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words yu!yb!r= (r=b!yu!y, "fourth") and yu!yb!v= (v=b!yu!y, "seventh"). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read "fourth," here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. "for three days") and with v. 17. Another option is to change tv#Ov= (v=Ov#t, "three") at the end of v. 14 to tv#v@ (v@v#t, "six"), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.
30tn (14:15) Heb "Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle."
31tn (14:15) Heb "lest."
32tn (14:15) The Hebrew text expands the statement: "burn up with fire." The words "with fire" are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
33tn (14:15) Heb "house."
34tc (14:15) The translation assumes the Hebrew form <Oh& (h&O<, "here," attested in five Hebrew MSS and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable aOh& (h&Oa), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.
35tn (14:15) For discussion of this difficult form, see Burney, Judges, 364.
36tn (14:16) Heb "on him."
37tn (14:16) Heb "only"; or "simply."
38tn (14:16) Heb "the sons of my people."
39tn (14:16) Heb "Should I tell you?"
40tn (14:17) Heb "on him."
41tn (14:17) Heb "the seven days [during] which they held the party." This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.
42tn (14:17) Heb "because she forced him."
43tn (14:17) Heb "she told the riddle to the sons of her people."
44sn (14:18) Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one's own farm animals, not another man's.
45tn (14:19) Heb "equipment"; or "gear."
46tn (14:19) Heb "changes [of clothes]."
47tn (14:19) Heb "he went up to his father's house."
48tn (14:20) Heb "to his companion who had been his attendant."
1sn (15:1) The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.
2tn (15:1) Heb "Samson visited his wife with a young goat."
3tn (15:1) The words "to her father" are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).
4tn (15:1) Heb "I will go to my wife in the bedroom." The Hebrew idiom la# aoB (Boa a#l, "to go to") often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve ("I want to go") or request ("let me go").
5tn (15:2) Heb "saying, I said." The first person form of rm^a* (a*m^r, "to say") sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl's father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
6tn (15:2) Heb "hating, you hated." Once again the girl's father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
7tn (15:2) Heb "Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson's `bride'])."
8tc (15:3) Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular "to him."
9tn (15:3) Heb "I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm."
10tn (15:4) Traditionally, "foxes."
11tn (15:4) Heb "He turned tail to tail and placed one torch between the two tails in the middle."
12tn (15:5) Heb "He set fire to the torches."
13tn (15:6) Or "said."
14tn (15:6) Heb "and they said." The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
15tn (15:6) Heb "he"; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16tn (15:6) Heb "his"; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17tn (15:6) The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase "burned with fire." The words "with fire" are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read "burned...her father's house," perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.
18tn (15:7) The Niphal of <q*n´ (n´q*<, "to avenge"; to take vengeance") followed by the preposition b (beth) has the force "to get revenge against." See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.
19tn (15:7) Heb "and afterward I will stop."
20tn (15:8) Heb "He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter." The precise meaning of the phrase "calf on thigh" is uncertain.
21tn (15:9) Or "camped in."
22tn (15:9) Or "spread out." The Niphal of vf*n´ (n´f*v) has this same sense in 2 Sam 5:18, 22.
23tn (15:10) Or "come up against."
24tn (15:10) Heb "they"; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25tn (15:12) Or "swear to me."
26tn (15:12) Heb "meet [with hostility]"; "harm." In light of v. 13, "kill" is an appropriate translation.
27tn (15:13) Heb "No," meaning that they will not harm him.
28tn (15:14) Heb "rushed on."
29tn (15:14) Heb "burned with."
30tn (15:14) Heb "his bonds."
31tn (15:15) Heb "he found."
32tn (15:15) Heb "fresh," i.e., not decayed and brittle.
33tn (15:15) Heb "he reached out his hand and took it."
34tn (15:15) The Hebrew text adds "with it." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
35tn (15:16) The precise meaning of the second half of the line (<y]t*r*m{j& romj&, j&mor j&m{r*t*y]<) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, "a heap, two heaps" and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) "I have made donkeys of them" (cf. NIV; see Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun "donkey"); (b) "I have thoroughly skinned them" (see HALOT 330, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) "I have stormed mightily against them," which assumes the verb rm^j* (j*m^r, "to ferment; to foam; to boil up").
36tn (15:17) Heb "from his hand."
37sn (15:17) The name Ramath Lehi means "Height of the Jawbone."
38tn (15:18) Heb "you have placed into the hand of your servant."
39tn (15:18) Heb "the uncircumcised," which in context refers to the Philistines.
40tn (15:19) The word translated "basin" refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land's surface.
41tn (15:19) Heb "spirit."
42tn (15:19) Heb "named it"; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
43sn (15:19) The name En Hakkore means "Spring of the one who cries out."
44tn (15:20) Traditionally, "judged."
45tn (15:20) Heb "in the days of the Philistines."
1tn (16:1) Heb "and he went in to her." The idiom la# aoB (Boa a#l, "to go to") often has sexual connotations.
2tc (16:2) Heb "To the Gazites, saying." A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add "it was reported."
3tn (16:2) 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.
4tn (16:2) Heb "and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate."
5tn (16:2) Heb "were silent."
6tn (16:2) Heb "saying."
7tn (16:2) The words "He will not leave" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
8tn (16:2) Heb "until the light of the morning."
9tn (16:3) Heb "And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night."
10tn (16:3) Heb "with the bar."
11tn (16:3) Heb "which is upon the face of Hebron."
12tn (16:5) Heb "subdue him in order to humiliate him."
13tn (16:6) Heb "how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated."
14tn (16:7) Or "moist."
15tn (16:7) The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.
16tn (16:9) Heb "And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her." The grammatically singular form br@a{h*w+ (w+h*a{r@b) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).
17tn (16:9) Heb "are upon you."
18tn (16:9) Heb "when it smells fire."
19tn (16:9) Heb "His strength was not known."
20tn (16:10) See Gen 31:7; Exod 8:29 [8:25 HT]; Job 13:9; Isa 44:20; Jer 9:4 for other uses of this Hebrew word (II. ll^T*, T*l^l), which also occurs in v. 13.
21tn (16:11) Heb "with which no work has been done."
22tn (16:12) Heb "are upon you."
23tn (16:12) Heb "And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom."
24tn (16:12) Heb "them"; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25tn (16:13) Heb "head" (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.
26tn (16:13) Heb "with the web." For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see Burney, Judges, 381, and Moore, Judges, 353-54.
27tn (16:14) Heb "are upon you."
28tc (16:14) 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 Moore, Judges, 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.
29tn (16:14) The Hebrew adds, "from his sleep." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30tn (16:15) Heb "when your heart is not with me."
31tn (16:16) Heb "forced him with her words."
32tn (16:16) Heb "and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death."
33tn (16:17) Heb "all his heart."
34tn (16:17) Heb "a razor has not come upon my head."
35tn (16:17) Or "set apart to God." Traditionally the Hebrew term ryz]n´ (n´z]r) has been translated "nazirite." The word is derived from the verb rz~n´ (n´z~r, "to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart").
36tn (16:17) Heb "from the womb of my mother."
37tn (16:17) Heb "I." The referent has been made more specific in the translation ("my head").
38tn (16:18) Heb "all his heart."
39tn (16:18) Heb "she sent and summoned."
40tc (16:18) The translation follows the Qere, yl! (l!, "to me") rather than the Kethib, Hl* (l*H, "to her").
41tn (16:18) Heb "all his heart."
42tn (16:19) Heb "on her knees." The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 161.
43tn (16:19) Heb "she called for a man and she shaved off." The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See Soggin, Judges, 254.
44tn (16:19) Heb "head." By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.
45tn (16:19) Heb "She began to humiliate him." Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah's part after Samson's hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson's humiliation which culminates in the following verses.
46tn (16:20) Heb "are upon you."
47tn (16:20) The Hebrew adds, "from his sleep." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
48tn (16:20) Heb "and said."
49tn (16:20) Heb "I will go out as before."
50tn (16:22) Heb "the hair of his head."
51tn (16:24) Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon.
52tn (16:24) Heb "multiplied our dead."
53tn (16:25) Heb "When their heart was good."
54tn (16:25) Heb "before them."
55tn (16:26) Heb "the pillars upon which the house is founded."
56tn (16:27) Heb "house."
57tn (16:28) The Hebrew has hw]h)y$ yn´d{a& (a&d{n´y y$h)w]h, "Lord Yahweh").
58tn (16:28) Heb "so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance."
59tn (16:29) Heb "the pillars upon which the house was founded."
60tn (16:30) Heb "he stretched out with strength."
61tn (16:30) Heb "And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life."
62tn (16:31) Heb "and all the house of his father."
63tn (16:31) Heb "and lifted him up and brought up."
64tn (16:31) Traditionally, "judged."
1tn (17:2) The words "You know" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
2tn (17:2) Heb "taken."
3tn (17:2) Heb "took."
4tn (17:2) In the Hebrew text the statement, "but now I am giving it back to you," appears at the end of v. 3 and is spoken by the mother. But v. 4 indicates that she did not give the money back to her son. Unless the statement is spoken by the woman to the LORD, it appears to be misplaced and fits much better in v. 2. It may have been accidentally omitted from a manuscript, written in the margin, and then later inserted in the wrong place in another manuscript.
5tn (17:2) Traditionally, "bless."
6tn (17:3) Heb "dedicating, I dedicate." In this case the emphatic infinitive absolute lends a mood of solemnity to the statement.
7tn (17:3) Heb "to the LORD from my hand for my son to make a carved image and cast metal image." She cannot mean that she is now taking the money from her hand and giving it back to her son so he can make an image. Vv. 4-6 indicate she took back the money and used a portion of it to hire a silversmith to make an idol for her son to use. The phrase "a carved image and cast metal image" is best taken as referring to two idols (see 18:17-18), even though the verb at the end of v. 4, yh!y+w~ (w~y+h!, "and it was [in the house of Micah]"), is singular.
8tn (17:4) Heb "his mother." The pronoun ("she") has been substituted for the noun ("mother") in the translation because of English style.
9tn (17:4) The Hebrew text has "and gave it." The referent (the pieces of silver) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10tn (17:4) Heb "and it was in Micah's house."
11tn (17:5) Heb "house of God."
12sn (17:5) Here an ephod probably refers to a priestly garment (cf. Exod 28:4-6).
13tn (17:5) Heb "and he filled the hand of one of his sons and he became his priest."
14tn (17:6) Heb "Each was doing what was right in his [own] eyes."
15tn (17:7) Heb "There was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, from the tribe of Judah, and he was a Levite, and he was temporarily residing there."
16tn (17:8) Heb "He came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah's house, making his way."
17tn (17:9) Heb "And I am going to reside in a place I can find."
18tn (17:10) Heb "father." "Father" is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God's will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges, 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh's "father," and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a "father." Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet's "son." One of a prophet's main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).
19tn (17:10) The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: "and the Levite went." This only makes sense if taken with "to live" in the next verse. Apparently "the Levite went" and "the Levite agreed" are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.
20tn (17:11) Heb "the young man became like one of his sons."
21tn (17:12) Heb "filled the hand of."
22tn (17:13) Heb "do good for me."
1tn (18:1) Heb "an inheritance."
2tn (18:1) Heb "because there had not fallen to them by that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel an inheritance."
3tn (18:2) Heb "The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders."
4tn (18:2) Heb "men, sons of strength."
5tn (18:2) Heb "They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah's house, and spent the night there."
6tn (18:3) Or "When they were near."
7tn (18:3) Heb "voice." This probably means that "his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]" (R. G. Boling, Judges, 263).
8tn (18:3) Heb "turned aside."
9tn (18:3) Heb "What [is there] to you here?"
10tn (18:4) Heb "He said to them, `Such and such Micah has done for me.'" Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially "for me"), the phrase "such and such" appears to be the narrator's condensed version of what the Levite really said.
11tn (18:5) Heb "Ask God."
12tn (18:5) Heb "so we can know if our way on which we are going will be successful."
13tn (18:6) Heb "in peace."
14tn (18:6) Heb "In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going."
15tn (18:7) Or "went."
16tn (18:7) Heb "who were in its midst."
17tn (18:7) Heb "according to the custom of the Sidonians."
18tn (18:7) Heb "and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force."
19tc (18:7) Heb "and a thing there was not to them with men." Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read "Syria" here rather than the MT's "men." This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage <r*a& (a&r*<, "Aram," i.e. Arameans) rather than the MT reading <d*a* (a*d*<). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.
20tn (18:8) Heb "They came to their brothers."
21tn (18:8) Heb "brothers."
22tn (18:8) Heb "What you?"
23tn (18:9) Heb "Arise, and let us go up against them."
24tc (18:9) Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds "we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and."
25tn (18:9) Heb "But you are inactive."
26tn (18:9) Or "be lazy."
27tn (18:9) Heb "to go"; "to enter"; "to possess."
28tn (18:10) Heb "When you enter."
29tn (18:10) Heb "you will come to."
30tn (18:10) Heb "broad of hands," an idiom meaning "wide on both sides."
31tn (18:10) Heb "a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth."
32tn (18:11) Heb "They journeyed from there, from the tribe of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men, equipped with weapons of war."
33tn (18:12) Or "Mahaneh Dan." "Mahaneh" means "camp [of]."
34tn (18:12) Heb "behind."
35tc (18:14) Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase "of Laish."
36tn (18:14) Heb "brothers."
37tn (18:15) Heb "turned aside."
38tn (18:15) Heb "Micah's house."
39tn (18:15) Heb "they asked him concerning peace."
40tn (18:16) Heb "And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war...from the sons of Dan."
41tn (18:17) Heb "went up, went in there, took."
42tn (18:17) Heb "six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war."
43tn (18:18) Heb "These went into Micah's house and took."
44tn (18:19) See the note on the word "adviser" in 17:10.
45tn (18:19) Heb "Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?"
46tn (18:20) Heb "and went into the midst of the people."
47tn (18:21) Heb "They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them."
48tn (18:22) Heb "the men who were in the houses near Micah's house."
49tn (18:23) Heb "they"; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
50tn (18:24) Heb "What is this you say to me, `What to you?'"
51tn (18:25) Heb "bitter in spirit." This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.
52tn (18:25) Heb "and you will gather up your life and the life of your house."
53tn (18:26) Heb "saw."
54tn (18:26) Heb "they were stronger than he."
55tn (18:27) Heb "they"; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
56tn (18:27) The Hebrew adds "with fire." This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
57tn (18:28) Heb "it." The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the "city" (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
58tn (18:28) Heb "and a thing there was not to them with men."
59tn (18:28) Heb "it." The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the "city" (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
60tn (18:28) Heb "They"; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
61tn (18:29) Heb "They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel."
62tn (18:30) Heb "erected for themselves."
63tn (18:30) Heb "son."
64tc (18:30) Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX MSS and the Vulgate, support the reading "Moses" (hv#m{, m{v#h) here. Many Hebrew MSS have a nun suspended above the name between the first two letters (hvnm), suggesting the name Manasseh (hV#n~m=, m=n~V#h). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses' reputation. For discussion, see Moore, Judges, 401-402.
65tn (18:30) Heb "sons."
66tn (18:31) Heb "they set up for themselves."
67tn (18:31) Heb "the carved image that Micah had made."
68tn (18:31) Heb "the house of God."
1tn (19:1) Heb "a man, a Levite."
2sn (19:1) See the note on the word "concubine" in 8:31.
3tn (19:2) Heb "and his concubine." The pronoun ("she") has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4tn (19:2) Or "was unfaithful to him." Many have understood the Hebrew verb hn\z+T!w~ (w~T!zn\h) as being from hn´z´ (z´n´h, "to be a prostitute"), but it may be derived from a root meaning "to be angry; to hate" attested in Akkadian (see HALOT 275).
5tn (19:2) Heb "went from him."
6tn (19:3) Heb "arose and came."
7tn (19:3) Heb "to speak to her heart to bring her back."
8tn (19:3) Or "young man."
9tn (19:3) Heb "he was happy to meet him."
10tn (19:4) Heb "they ate and they drank and they spent the night there."
11tn (19:5) Heb "and he arose to go."
12tn (19:5) Heb "Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food."
13tn (19:6) Heb "And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank."
14tn (19:6) Heb "Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good."
15tn (19:7) Heb "and the man arose to go."
16tn (19:7) Heb "his father-in-law persuaded him and he again spent the night there."
17tn (19:8) Heb "Sustain your heart." He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.
18tn (19:8) Heb "Wait until the declining of the day."
19tn (19:9) Heb "the man arose to go."
20tn (19:9) Or "young man."
21tn (19:9) Heb "the day is sinking to become evening."
22tn (19:9) Or "declining."
23tn (19:9) Heb "for your way and go to your tent."
24tn (19:10) Heb "and he arose and went."
25tn (19:10) Heb "to the front of."
26tc (19:10) Some ancient witnesses add "and his servant."
27tn (19:11) Heb "and the day was descending greatly."
28tn (19:11) Or "young man."
29tn (19:11) Heb "turn aside" (also in the following verse).
30tn (19:12) Heb "who are not from the sons of Israel."
31tn (19:13) Or "young man."
32tn (19:13) Heb "we will enter one of the places."
33tn (19:14) Heb "and they passed by and went."
34tn (19:14) Heb "which belongs to."
35tn (19:15) Heb "they turned aside there to enter to spend the night."
36tn (19:15) Heb "and he entered and sat down, and there was no one receiving them into the house to spend the night."
37tn (19:16) Heb "And look, an old man was coming from his work, from the field in the evening."
38tn (19:16) Heb "And the men of the place were Benjaminites."
39tn (19:17) Heb "the man, the traveler."
40tn (19:18) Heb "he"; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41tn (19:18) Heb "I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [to] the house of the LORD I am going." The Hebrew text has "house of the LORD," which might refer to the shrine at Shiloh. The LXX reads "to my house."
42tn (19:19) By calling his concubine the old man's "female servant," the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.
43tc (19:19) Some Hebrew MSS and ancient witnesses read the singular, "your servant," which would refer to the Levite. If one retains the plural, then both the Levite and his wife are in view. In either case the pronominal suffix emphasizes their dependence on the old man for shelter.
44tn (19:20) Heb "Peace to you."
45tn (19:21) Heb "ate and drank."
46tn (19:22) Heb "they were making their heart good."
47tn (19:22) Heb "and look."
48tn (19:22) Heb "the men of the city, men, the sons of wickedness." The phrases are in apposition; the last phrase specifies what type of men they were. It is not certain if all the men of the city are in view, or just a group of troublemakers. In 20:5 the town leaders are implicated in the crime, suggesting that all the men of the city were involved. If so, the implication is that the entire male population of the town were good-for-nothings.
49tn (19:22) The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.
50tn (19:22) Heb "so we can know him." On the surface one might think they simply wanted to meet the visitor and get to know him, but their hostile actions betray their double-talk. The old man, who has been living with them long enough to know what they are like, seems to have no doubts about the meaning of their words (see v. 23).
51tn (19:24) Heb "his"; the referent (the visiting Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
52tn (19:24) Heb "what is good in your eyes."
53tn (19:25) Heb "he"; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
54tn (19:25) Heb "and he caused [her] to go outside to them."
55tn (19:25) Heb "knew," in the sexual sense.
56tn (19:26) The Hebrew term here translated "master," is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite's absolute sovereignty over the woman.
57tn (19:26) Heb "The woman came at the turning of the morning and fell at the door of the house of the man where her master was until the light."
58tn (19:27) The Hebrew term here translated "master," is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite's absolute sovereignty over the woman.
59tn (19:28) Heb "And the man took her on the donkey and arose and went to his place."
60tn (19:29) Heb "he carved her up by her bones into twelve pieces."
61tn (19:29) Heb "and he sent her through all the territory of Israel."
62tn (19:30) The words "the sight" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
63tn (19:30) Heb "from the day."
64tc (19:30) Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the following additional words: "And he instructed the men whom he sent out, `Thus you will say to every male Israelite: "There has never been anything like this from the day the Israelites left Egypt till the present day."'"
1sn (20:1) Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beersheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites.
2sn (20:1) The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
3tn (20:1) Heb "went out."
4tn (20:1) Heb "and the assembly was convened as one man."
5tn (20:2) Heb "the cornerstones"; or "the supports." The word is used of leaders in only three other texts--1 Sam 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zech 10:4.
6tn (20:2) The words "which numbered" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
7tn (20:4) Heb "The man, the Levite."
8tn (20:4) Heb "came to."
9tn (20:5) Heb "arose against me and surrounded against me the house at night."
10tn (20:6) Heb "her"; the referent is more naturally stated in English as "the pieces."
11tn (20:6) Heb "throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel."
12tn (20:6) Heb "a wicked and disgraceful [thing]."
13tn (20:7) Heb "Look, all of you sons of Israel."
14tn (20:7) Heb "give for yourselves a word and advice here."
15tn (20:8) Heb "as one man."
16tn (20:8) Heb "to his tent."
17tn (20:8) Or "turn aside."
18tn (20:9) Heb "against her by lot." The verb "we will go up" (hl#u&n~, n~u&l#h) has probably been accidentally omitted before "against her" (h*yl#u*, u*l#y´h).
sn (20:9) As the lot dictates. The Israelite soldiers intended to cast lots to determine which tribe would lead the battle charge (see v. 18).
19tn (20:10) Or "people."
20tn (20:10) Heb "to do at their arrival in Geba of Benjamin according to all the disgraceful [thing] which he [collective = "Benjamin"] did in Israel." Here "Geba" must be an error for "Gibeah."
21tn (20:11) Heb "gathered at the city as one man, united."
22tc (20:12) The MT reads the plural, but surely the singular (which is supported by the LXX and Vg) is preferable here.
23tn (20:12) Heb "What is this wicked thing which happened among you?"
24tn (20:13) Heb "the men, sons of wickedness."
25tn (20:13) Heb "and burn away wickedness from Israel."
26tn (20:14) Heb "assembled from the cities at Gibeah."
27tn (20:15) Heb "besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men."
28tn (20:16) Heb "And from all this people."
29tn (20:16) Heb "seven hundred choice men, bound/restricted in the right hand." On the significance of the idiom, "bound/restricted in the right hand," see the translator's note on 3:15.
30tn (20:16) "at a single hair and not miss."
31tn (20:17) Heb "a man of war."
32tn (20:18) Heb "They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said."
33tn (20:18) Heb "Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?"
34tn (20:19) Heb "encamped."
35tn (20:20) Heb "the men of Israel." The noun phrase has been replaced by the pronoun ("they") in the translation for stylistic reasons.
36tn (20:21) Heb "The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and they struck down in Israel that day twenty-two thousand men to the ground."
37tn (20:22) Heb "The people, the men of Israel."
38tn (20:22) Or "encouraged one another."
39tn (20:23) Heb "I" (collective singular).
40tn (20:23) Heb "approach for battle."
41tn (20:23) Heb "my brother" (collective singular).
42tn (20:23) Heb "Go up against him" (collective singular).
43tn (20:24) Heb "drew near to."
44tn (20:25) Heb "And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day, and they struck down among the sons of Israel eighteen thousand men to the ground, all of these were wielding the sword."
45tn (20:26) Heb "and all the people."
46tn (20:26) Heb "went up and came [to]."
47tn (20:26) Traditionally, "fasted."
48tn (20:26) Or "peace offerings."
49tn (20:28) Heb "standing before him."
50tn (20:28) Heb "I" (collective singular).
51tn (20:28) Heb "my brother" (collective singular).
52tn (20:28) Heb "I" (collective singular).
53tn (20:28) Heb "him" (collective singular).
54tn (20:30) Heb "the third day."
55tn (20:31) Heb "went out to meet."
56tn (20:31) Heb "and they were drawn away from the city."
57tn (20:31) Heb "from the army wounded ones."
58tn (20:31) The words "they struck down" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
59tn (20:32) Or "run away."
60tn (20:32) Heb "him" (collective singular).
61sn (20:33) Verses 33-36a give a condensed account of the battle from this point on, while vv. 36b-48 offer a more detailed version of how the ambush contributed to Gibeah's defeat.
62tn (20:34) Heb "heavy"; or "severe."
63tn (20:34) Heb "And they did not know that touching against them was disaster."
64tn (20:35) Heb "And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword."
65tn (20:36) Heb "gave place to."
66tn (20:37) Heb "hurried and put off [their hiding place]."
67tn (20:37) Heb "the men hiding in ambush."
68tn (20:37) Or "deployed." The verb normally means "to lead" or "to draw."
69tn (20:38) Heb "they"; the referent (the men hiding in ambush) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
70tn (20:39) Heb "turned in the battle."
71tn (20:39) Heb "And Benjamin began to strike down wounded ones among the men of Israel."
72tn (20:39) The words "they struck down" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
73tn (20:40) Heb "Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky."
74tn (20:41) Or "were terrified."
75tn (20:41) Heb "disaster touched against them."
76tn (20:42) Heb "clung to"; or "stuck close."
77tn (20:42) Heb "and those from the cities were striking them down in their midst."
78tc (20:43) The translation assumes the reading hj*oNm! (m]Noj*h, "from Nohah"; cf. 1 Chr 8:2) rather than the MT's hj*Wnm= (m=nWj*h, "resting place").
79tn (20:43) Heb "tread down, walk on."
80tn (20:43) Heb "unto the opposite of Gibeah toward the east." Gibeah cannot be correct here, since the Benjaminites retreated from there toward the desert and Rimmon (see v. 44). A slight emendation yields the reading "Geba."
81tn (20:45) Heb "they"; the referent (the rest [of the Benjaminites]) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
82tn (20:45) Heb "and they"; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
83tn (20:45) Heb "gleaned." The word is an agricultural term which pictures Israelites picking off the Benjaminites as easily as one picks grapes from the vine.
84tn (20:45) Heb "stuck close after them."
85sn (20:46) The number given here (twenty-five thousand sword-wielding Benjaminites) is an approximate figure; v. 35 gives the more exact number (25,100). According to v. 15, the Benjaminite army numbered 26,700 (26,000 + 700). The figures in vv. 35 (rounded in vv. 44-46) and 47 add up to 25,700. What happened to the other 1,000 men? The most reasonable explanation is that they were killed during the first two days of fighting. Moore (Judges, 429) and Burney (Judges, 475) reject this proposal, arguing that the narrator is too precise and concerned about details to omit such a fact. However, the account of the first two days' fighting emphasizes Israel's humiliating defeat. To speak of Benjaminite casualties would diminish the literary effect. In vv. 35, 44-47 the narrator's emphasis is the devastating defeat that Benjamin experienced on this final day of battle. To mention the earlier days' casualties at this point is irrelevant to his literary purpose. He allows readers who happen to be concerned with such details to draw conclusions for themselves.
86tn (20:46) Heb "So all the ones who fell from Benjamin were twenty-five thousand men, wielding the sword, in that day, all of these men of strength.
87tn (20:48) Heb "to the sons of Benjamin."
88tc (20:48) The translation is based on the reading <yt!m= ryu!m@ (m@u!r m=t!<, "from a city of men," i.e., "an inhabited city"), rather than the reading <t{m= ryu!m@ (m@u!r m=t{<, "from a city of soundness") found in the Leningrad Codex (L).
89tn (20:48) Heb "Also all the cities that were found they set on fire."
1tn (21:2) Heb "and they lifted up their voice[s] and wept with great weeping." Both the cognate accusative (yk!B= [B=k!], "weeping") and the attributive adjective (lodg´ [g´dol], "great") emphasize their degree of sorrow.
2tn (21:3) Heb "one."
3tn (21:4) Or "peace offerings."
4tn (21:5) Heb "A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the LORD at Mizpah, saying, `He must surely be put to death.'"
5tn (21:6) Or "felt sorry for."
6tn (21:6) Heb "cut off one."
7tn (21:7) Heb "What should we do for them, for the remaining ones, concerning wives?"
8tn (21:8) Heb "Look, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly."
9tn (21:9) Or "when the people were mustered."
10tn (21:9) Heb "and look."
11tn (21:10) Heb "men, sons of strength."
12tn (21:10) Heb "there."
13tn (21:10) Heb "the edge of the sword."
14tn (21:11) Heb "And this is the thing that you will do."
15tn (21:11) Heb "every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male."
16tc (21:11) Some Greek witnesses (notably Codex Vaticanus [B]) add the words, "`But the virgins you should keep alive.' And they did so." These additional words, which probably represent the original Hebrew text, can be retroverted: /k@ Wcu&Y~w~ WYj^T= tolWtB=h^-ta#w+ (w+a#t-h^B=tWlot T=j^YW w~Y~u&cW k@/). It is likely that a scribe's eye jumped from the vav on ta#w+ to the initial vav of v. 11, accidentally leaving out the intervening letters. The present translation is based on this reconstruction.
17tn (21:12) Heb "who had not known a man with respect to the bed of a male."
18tn (21:13) Heb "And all the assembly sent and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the cliff of Rimmon and they proclaimed to them peace."
19tn (21:14) Heb "they"; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20tn (21:14) Heb "but they did not find for them enough."
21tn (21:15) Or "felt sorry for."
22tn (21:15) Heb "had made a gaping hole in." The narrator uses imagery that compares Israel to a wall that has been breached.
23tn (21:16) Or "elders."
24tn (21:16) Heb "What should we do for the remaining ones concerning wives?"
25tn (21:17) The Hebrew text has "and they said" at the beginning of the verse. For stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 17 as a continuation of the remarks of the leaders in v. 16.
26tn (21:17) Heb "An inheritance for the remnant belonging to Benjamin, and a tribe from Israel will not be wiped away." The first statement lacks a verb. Some prefer to emend the text to read, "How can an inheritance remain for the remnant of Benjamin?"
27tn (21:18) Heb "But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters."
28tn (21:18) Heb "is cursed."
29tn (21:21) Heb "and look."
30tn (21:21) Heb "and look, when."
31tn (21:21) Heb "in the dances."
32tc (21:22) The (original) LXX and Vg read "to you."
33tn (21:22) The words "and let them be" are supplied in the translation for clarification.
34tn (21:22) Heb "for we did not take each his wife in battle."
sn (21:22) Through battle. This probably refers to the battle against Jabesh Gilead, which only produced four hundred of the six hundred wives needed.
35tn (21:22) This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the logic of the statement.
36tc (21:22) Heb "You did not give to them, now you are guilty." The MT as it stands makes little sense. It is preferable to emend aO (Oa, "not") to aWl (lWa, "if"). This particle introduces a purely hypothetical condition, "If you had given to them [but you didn't]." See Moore, Judges, 453-54.
37tn (21:23) Heb "did so."
38tn (21:23) Heb "And they took wives according to their number from the dancing girls whom they abducted."
39tn (21:23) Heb "went and returned."
40tn (21:23) Heb "inheritance."
41tn (21:23) Heb "and lived in them."
42tn (21:24) Heb "his inheritance."
43tn (21:25) Heb "Each was doing what was right in his [own] eyes."
sn (21:25) Each man did what he considered to be right. The Book of Judges closes with this note, which summarizes the situation of the Israelite tribes during this period.