Judges 10:1

Stability Restored

10:1 After Abimelech’s death, ¹  Tola son of Puah, grandson ²  of Dodo, from the tribe of Issachar, ³  rose up to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the Ephraimite hill country.

Judges 11:39

11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin. ⁴  Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel. ⁵ 

Judges 16:30

16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard ⁶  and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life. ⁷ 

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¹ tn The word “death” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

² tn Heb “son.”

³ tn Heb “a man of Issachar.”

⁴ tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.

⁵ tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”

⁶ tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”

⁷ tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”