Judges 1:33

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 Canaanites² living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.

Judges 6:27

6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants³ and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family⁴ and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime.⁵

Judges 6:39

6:39 Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign.⁶ Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.”⁷

Judges 7:4

7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men.⁸ Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more.⁹ When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go;¹⁰ when I say,¹¹ ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.”¹²

Judges 15:11

15:11 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.”

Judges 18:7

18:7 So the five men journeyed on¹³ and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there¹⁴ were living securely, like the Sidonians do,¹⁵ undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way.¹⁶ They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.¹⁷

Judges 21:22

21:22 When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us,¹⁸ we’ll say to them, “Do us a favor and let them be,¹⁹ for we could not get each one a wife through battle.²⁰ Don’t worry about breaking your oath!²¹ You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’”²²

¹tn Heb “the people living in Beth Shemesh or the people living in Beth Anath.”

²tn The term “Canaanites” is supplied here both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

³tn Heb “men from among his servants.”

⁴tn Heb “house.”

⁵tn Heb “so he did it at night.”

⁶tn Heb “Let your anger not rage at me, so that I might speak only this once.”

⁷tn Heb “let the fleece alone be dry, while dew is on all the ground.”

⁸tn Heb “too many people.”

⁹tn Heb “test them for you there.”

¹⁰tn Heb “he should go with you.”

¹¹tn Heb also has “to you.”

¹²tn Heb “he should not go.”

¹³tn Or “went.”

¹⁴tn Heb “who were in its midst.”

¹⁵tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”

¹⁷tc 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.

¹⁸tc The (original) LXX and Vulgate read “to you.”

¹⁹tn The words “and let them be” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

²⁰tn Heb “for we did not take each his wife in battle.”

sn Through battle. This probably refers to the battle against Jabesh Gilead, which only produced four hundred of the six hundred wives needed.

²¹tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the logic of the statement.

²²tc Heb “You did not give to them, now you are guilty.” The MT as it stands makes little sense. It is preferable to emend לֹא (lo’, “not”) to לוּא (lu’, “if”). This particle introduces a purely hypothetical condition, “If you had given to them [but you didn’t].” See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 453-54.