1:19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered 1 the hill country, but they could not 2 conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. 3
3:1 These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites. 4
3:12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. 5 The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel 6 because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight.
3:24 When Ehud had left, Eglon’s 7 servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself 8 in the well-ventilated inner room.” 9
4:17 Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor 17 and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty. 18
5:31 May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord!
But may those who love you shine
like the rising sun at its brightest!” 19
And the land had rest for forty years.
7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp 21 at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. 22
8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies. There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed. 23
11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out 30 to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. 31 She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.
13:21 The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger. 34
14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes 42 and gave them 43 to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. 44
18:27 Now the Danites 54 took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city. 55 18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city 56 was far from Sidon 57 and they had no dealings with anyone. 58 The city 59 was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites 60 rebuilt the city and occupied it.
19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite 61 living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine 62 from Bethlehem 63 in Judah.
1 tn Or “seized possession of”; or “occupied.”
2 tc Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.
3 tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.
4 tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”
5 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
6 tn Heb “strengthened Eglon…against Israel.”
7 tn Heb “his.”
8 tn Heb “covering his feet” (i.e., with his outer garments while he relieves himself).
9 tn The Hebrew expression translated “well-ventilated inner room” may refer to the upper room itself or to a bathroom attached to or within it.
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.
12 tn Heb “with strength.”
13 tn Or “separated.”
14 tn Heb “pitched his tent.”
15 tn Heb “Sisera.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
16 tn Or “summoned.”
17 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-D3; Map3-A2; Map4-C1.
18 tn Heb “for there was peace between.”
19 tn Heb “But may those who love him be like the going forth of the sun in its strength.”
20 tn Heb “He called him on that day Jerub-Baal.” The name means, at least by popular etymology, “Let Baal fight!”
21 tn Heb “Gideon went, along with the hundred men who were with him, to the edge of the camp.”
22 tn Heb “that were in their hands.”
23 tn Heb “About fifteen thousand [in number] were all the ones remaining from the army of the sons of the east. The fallen ones were a hundred and twenty thousand [in number], men drawing the sword.”
24 tn The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
25 tn Heb “said to them.”
26 tn Heb “Give to me, each one, an earring from his plunder.”
27 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Midianites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 sn The name Habboth Jair means “tent villages of Jair” in Hebrew.
29 tn Heb “they call them Havvoth Jair to this day – which are in the land of Gilead.”
30 tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”
31 tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”
32 tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.
33 tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”
34 tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the
35 tn Heb “rushed on.”
36 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
37 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
38 tn Heb “on him.”
39 tn Heb “the seven days [during] which they held the party.” This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.
40 tn Heb “because she forced him.”
41 tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”
42 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
43 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
44 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
45 tn Heb “are upon you.”
46 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
47 tn Heb “and said.”
48 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
49 tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”
50 tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”
51 tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”
52 tn Heb “and lifted him up and brought up.”
53 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
54 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
55 tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
56 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
57 map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
58 tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”
59 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
60 tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
61 tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”
62 sn See the note on the word “concubine” in 8:31.
63 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
64 tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”
65 tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”
66 tn Heb “and he arose and went.”
67 tn Heb “to the front of.”
68 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
69 tc Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”
70 tn Heb “turned in the battle.”
71 tn Heb “And Benjamin began to strike down wounded ones among the men of Israel.”
72 tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
73 tn Heb “A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the Lord at Mizpah, saying, ‘He must surely be put to death.’”
74 tn Heb “Look, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.”
75 tn Heb “And this is the thing that you will do.”
76 tn Heb “every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male.”
77 tc Some Greek witnesses (notably Codex Vaticanus [B]) add the words, “‘But the virgins you should keep alive.’ And they did so.” These additional words, which probably represent the original Hebrew text, can be retroverted: וְאֶת־הַבְּתוּלוֹת תְּחַיּוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן (ve’et-habbÿtulot tÿkhayyu vayya’asu khen). It is likely that a scribe’s eye jumped from the vav (ו) on וְאֶת (vÿ’et) to the initial vav of v. 11, accidentally leaving out the intervening letters. The present translation is based on this reconstruction.