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 9:49

9:49 So each of his men also cut off a branch and followed Abimelech. They put the branches ⁵  against the stronghold and set fire to it. ⁶  All the people ⁷  of the Tower of Shechem died – about a thousand men and women.

Judges 16:19

16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap ⁸  and then called a man in to shave off ⁹  the seven braids of his hair. ¹⁰  She made him vulnerable ¹¹  and his strength left him.

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

⁶ tn Heb “they kindled over them the stronghold with fire.”

⁷ tn Or “men,” but the word seems to have a more general sense here, as the conclusion to the sentence suggests.

⁸ tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.

⁹ tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.

¹⁰ tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.

¹¹ tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.