12:8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem 4 led 5 Israel. 12:9 He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family, 6 and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons. 7 Ibzan 8 led 9 Israel for seven years;
1 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
2 tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
5 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
6 tn 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.
7 tn Heb “and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside.”
8 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.
9 tn Traditionally, “judged.”