Judges 1:7

1:7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick up 1  food scraps 2  under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them.” 3  They brought him to Jerusalem, 4  where he died.

Judges 6:28

6:28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw 5  the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.

Judges 6:30

6:30 The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him! 6  He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.”

Judges 9:49

9:49 So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches 7  against the stronghold and set fire to it. 8  All the people 9  of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.

Judges 13:5

13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. 10  You must never cut his hair, 11  for the child will be dedicated to God 12  from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power 13  of the Philistines.”

1 tn 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.

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

3 tn 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.

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

5 tn Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.

6 tn Heb “and let him die.” The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.

7 tn The words “the branches” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

8 tn Heb “they kindled over them the stronghold with fire.”

9 tn Or “men,” but the word seems to have a more general sense here, as the conclusion to the sentence suggests.

10 tn 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.

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

12 tn 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”).

13 tn Heb “hand.”