1:33 The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath. 1 They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites 2 living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.
5:11 Hear 6 the sound of those who divide the sheep 7 among the watering places;
there they tell of 8 the Lord’s victorious deeds,
the victorious deeds of his warriors 9 in Israel.
Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates –
18:7 So the five men journeyed on 14 and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there 15 were living securely, like the Sidonians do, 16 undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. 17 They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 18
1 tn Heb “the people living in Beth Shemesh or the people living in Beth Anath.”
2 tn The term “Canaanites” is supplied here both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “the ones oppressing them and afflicting them.” The synonyms “oppressing” and “afflicting” are joined together in the translation as “harsh oppressors” to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.
6 tn The word “Hear” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
7 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. Some translate “those who distribute the water” (HALOT 344 s.v. חצץ pi). For other options see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 246-47.
8 tn Or perhaps “repeat.”
9 tn See the note on the term “warriors” in v. 7.
10 tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.
11 tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”
12 tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.
13 tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”
14 tn Or “went.”
15 tn Heb “who were in its midst.”
16 tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”
17 tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”
18 tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’aram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’adam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.