Judges 1:2-4

1:2 The Lord said, “The men of Judah should take the lead. ¹  Be sure of this! I am handing the land over to them.” ²  1:3 The men of Judah said to their relatives, the men of Simeon, ³  “Invade our allotted land with us and help us attack the Canaanites. ⁴  Then we ⁵  will go with you into your allotted land.” So the men of Simeon went with them.

1:4 The men of Judah attacked, ⁶  and the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They killed ten thousand men at Bezek.

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¹ tn Heb “Judah should go up.”

² tn The Hebrew exclamation הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally, “Behold”), translated “Be sure of this,” draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

³ tn Heb “Judah said to Simeon, his brother.”

⁴ tn Heb “Come up with me into our allotted land and let us attack the Canaanites.”

⁵ tn Heb “I.” The Hebrew pronoun is singular, agreeing with the collective singular “Judah” earlier in the verse. English style requires a plural pronoun here, however.

⁶ tn Heb “Judah went up.”