1 Samuel 12:10-11

12:10 Then they cried out to the Lord and admitted, ¹  ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the images of Ashtoreth. ²  Now deliver us from the hand of our enemies so that we may serve you.’ ³  12:11 So the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, ⁴  Barak, ⁵  Jephthah, and Samuel, ⁶  and he delivered you from the hand of the enemies all around you, and you were able to live securely.

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¹ tn Heb “and said.”

² tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural). The words “images of” are supplied in both vv. 3 and 4 for clarity.

sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. See the note on the same term in 7:3.

³ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

⁴ sn Jerub-Baal (יְרֻבַּעַל) is also known as Gideon (see Judg 6:32). The Book of Judges uses both names for him.

⁵ tc The MT has “Bedan” (בְּדָן) here (cf. KJV, NASB, CEV). But a deliverer by this name is not elsewhere mentioned in the OT. The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta in reading “Barak.”

⁶ tc In the ancient versions there is some confusion with regard to these names, both with regard to the particular names selected for mention and with regard to the order in which they are listed. For example, the LXX has “Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel.” But the Targum has “Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, and Samuel,” while the Syriac Peshitta has “Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.”