Judges 1:17

1:17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon¹ and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath.² So people now call the city Hormah.³

Judges 8:19

8:19 He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear,⁴ as surely as the Lord is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

Judges 9:5

9:5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers,⁵ the seventy legitimate⁶ sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal’s youngest son, escaped,⁷ because he hid.

Judges 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah,⁸ reporting, “Beware!⁹ Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming¹⁰ to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you.¹¹

Judges 16:31

16:31 His brothers and all his family¹² went down and brought him back.¹³ They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led¹⁴ Israel for twenty years.

Judges 19:23

19:23 The man who owned the house went outside and said to them, “No, my brothers! Don’t do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Don’t do such a disgraceful thing!

Judges 20:13

20:13 Now, hand over the good-for-nothings¹⁵ in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.”¹⁶ But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

Judges 20:23

20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we¹⁷ again march out to fight¹⁸ the Benjaminites, our brothers?”¹⁹ The Lord said, “Attack them!”²⁰

¹tn Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”

²tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³sn The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).

⁴tn The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁵tn Heb “his brothers.”

⁶tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁷tn Heb “remained.”

⁸tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) 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 רָמָה (ramah, “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” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.

⁹tn Heb “Look!”

¹⁰tn 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.

¹¹tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) 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 [AB], 178).

¹²tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”

¹³tn Heb “and lifted him up and brought up.”

¹⁴tn Traditionally, “judged.”

¹⁵tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”

¹⁷tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

¹⁸tn Heb “approach for battle.”

¹⁹tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

²⁰tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).