1:14 One time Acsah 1 came and charmed her father 2 so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”
1 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn 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.”
3 tn 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.
4 tn The words “If you disobey” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See Josh 23:12-13.
5 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Canaanites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צִדִּים (tsiddim) 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).
7 tn Heb “their gods will become a snare to you.”
8 tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”
9 tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”
10 tn Heb “get.”
11 tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees…”
12 tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).
13 tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”
14 tn Heb “erected for themselves.”
15 tn Heb “son.”
16 tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX
17 tn Heb “sons.”
18 tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”
19 tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”
20 tn The words “the sight” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
21 tn Heb “from the day.”
22 tc 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.”’”