Judges 1:14

1:14 One time Acsah¹ came and charmed her father² so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

Judges 7:12

7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts.³ Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

Judges 8:24

8:24 Gideon continued,⁴ “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.”⁵ (The Midianites⁶ had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

Judges 9:36

9:36 Gaal saw the men⁷ and said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the tops of the hills.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadows on the hills – it just looks like men.”⁸

Judges 15:14

15:14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered⁹ him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in¹⁰ fire, and they¹¹ melted away from his hands.

Judges 16:7

16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh¹² bowstrings¹³ that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Judges 16:11

16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used,¹⁴ I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Judges 19:24

19:24 Here are my virgin daughter and my guest’s¹⁵ concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like.¹⁶ But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!”

Judges 19:30

19:30 Everyone who saw the sight¹⁷ said, “Nothing like this has happened or been witnessed during the entire time since¹⁸ the Israelites left the land of Egypt!¹⁹ Take careful note of it! Discuss it and speak!”

¹tn Heb “she”; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²tn 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.”

³tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”

⁴tn Heb “said to them.”

⁵tn Heb “Give to me, each one, an earring from his plunder.”

⁶tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Midianites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷tn 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.

⁸tn Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”

⁹tn Heb “rushed on.”

¹⁰tn Heb “burned with.”

¹¹tn Heb “his bonds.”

¹²tn Or “moist.”

¹³tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.

¹⁴tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”

¹⁵tn Heb “his”; the referent (the visiting Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”

¹⁷tn The words “the sight” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁸tn Heb “from the day.”

¹⁹tc 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.”’”