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
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!” 13
And the land had rest for forty years.
12:2 Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. 26 I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power. 27
15:18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant 36 this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” 37
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 Or “returned” (i.e., to Eglon’s palace).
5 tn The words “when he reached” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text simply reads “from.”
6 tn Or “idols.”
7 tn The words “to Eglon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Or “Hush!”
10 tn Or “honor.”
11 tn Heb “on [account of (?)] the way which you are walking.” Another option is to translate, “due to the way you are going about this.” In this case direct reference is made to Barak’s hesitancy as the reason for his loss of glory.
12 tn Heb “for into the hands of a woman the
13 tn Heb “But may those who love him be like the going forth of the sun in its strength.”
14 tn Heb “Do not fear.”
15 tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”
16 tn Heb “Should I stop my abundance, with which they honor gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
17 tn Heb “Should I stop my wine, which makes happy gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
18 tn 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.
19 tn Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”
20 tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”
21 tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).
22 tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.
23 sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.
24 tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”
25 tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the
26 tn Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites.”
27 tn Heb “hand.”
28 tn Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”
29 tn Heb “came to.”
30 tn Heb “rushed on.”
31 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
33 tn Heb “rushed on.”
34 tn Heb “burned with.”
35 tn Heb “his bonds.”
36 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
37 tn Heb “the uncircumcised,” which in context refers to the Philistines.
38 tn Heb “are upon you.”
39 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
40 tn Heb “and said.”
41 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
42 tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”
43 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”
44 tn Heb “But you are inactive.”
45 tn Or “be lazy.”
46 tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”
47 tn Heb “and he arose to go.”
48 tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”
49 tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.
50 tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”
51 tn Heb “and he arose and went.”
52 tn Heb “to the front of.”
53 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
54 tc Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”
55 tn Heb “they turned aside there to enter to spend the night.”
56 tn Heb “and he entered and sat down, and there was no one receiving them into the house to spend the night.”
57 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the visiting Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
58 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
59 tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”
60 tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”
61 tn Or “run away.”
62 tn Heb “him” (collective singular).
63 tn Heb “heavy”; or “severe.”
64 tn Heb “And they did not know that touching against them was disaster.”
65 tn Heb “Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky.”
66 tn Heb “And this is the thing that you will do.”
67 tn Heb “every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male.”
68 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.