Judges 1:7

1:7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick up¹ food scraps² under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them.”³ They brought him to Jerusalem,⁴ where he died.

Judges 2:12

2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors⁵ who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped⁶ them and made the Lord angry.

Judges 3:20

3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated⁷ upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God⁸ for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat,⁹

Judges 6:8

6:8 he¹⁰ sent a prophet¹¹ to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt¹² and took you out of that place of slavery.¹³

Judges 6:10

6:10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God! Do not worship¹⁴ the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living!” But you have disobeyed me.’”¹⁵

Judges 7:14-15

7:14 The other man said,¹⁶ “Without a doubt this symbolizes¹⁷ the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

Gideon Routs the Enemy

7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God.¹⁸ Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!”

Judges 9:7

Jotham’s Parable

9:7 When Jotham heard the news,¹⁹ he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below,²⁰ “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!

Judges 9:27

9:27 They went out to the field, harvested their grapes,²¹ squeezed out the juice,²² and celebrated. They came to the temple²³ of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

Judges 11:21

11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took²⁴ all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.

Judges 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son.²⁵ You must never cut his hair,²⁶ for the child will be dedicated to God²⁷ from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power²⁸ of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:8

13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord,²⁹ “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God³⁰ to visit³¹ us again, so he can teach³² us how we should raise³³ the child who will be born.”

Judges 16:28

16:28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord,³⁴ remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge³⁵ against the Philistines for my two eyes!”

Judges 20:2

20:2 The leaders³⁶ of all the people from all the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, which numbered³⁷ four hundred thousand sword-wielding foot soldiers.

¹tn Elsewhere this verb usually carries the sense of “to gather; to pick up; to glean,” but “lick up” seems best here in light of the peculiar circumstances described by Adoni-Bezek.

²tn The words “food scraps” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

³tn Heb “Just as I did, so God has repaid me.” Note that the phrase “to them” has been supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.

⁴map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁵tn Or “fathers.”

⁶tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).

⁷tn Or “cool.” This probably refers to a room with latticed windows which allowed the breeze to pass through. See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 144.

⁸tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”

⁹tn Or “throne.”

¹⁰tn Heb “the Lord”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹¹tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.

¹²tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).

¹³tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

¹⁴tn Heb “Do not fear.”

¹⁵tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”

¹⁶tn Heb “answered and said.”

¹⁷tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”

¹⁸tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”

¹⁹tn Heb “And they reported to Jotham.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

²⁰tn Heb “He lifted his voice and called and said to them.”

²¹tn Heb “vineyards.”

²²tn Heb “stomped” or “trampled.” This refers to the way in which the juice was squeezed out in the wine vats by stepping on the grapes with one’s bare feet. For a discussion of grape harvesting in ancient Israel, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-14.

²³tn Heb “house.”

²⁴tn That is, took as its own possession.

²⁵tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.

²⁶tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”

²⁷tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

²⁸tn Heb “hand.”

²⁹tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³⁰tn Heb “the man of God.”

³¹tn Heb “come to.”

³²tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (vi’irenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (vÿyorenu, “to teach”).

³³tn Heb “what we should do for.”

³⁴tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).

³⁵tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”

³⁶tn Heb “the cornerstones”; or “the supports.” The word is used of leaders in only three other texts – 1 Sam 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zech 10:4.

³⁷tn The words “which numbered” are supplied in the translation for clarification.