Judges 11:9

11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right!¹ If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me,² I will be your leader.”³

Judges 11:35

11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me!⁴ You have brought me disaster!⁵ I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”⁶

Judges 11:37

11:37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish.⁷ For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.”⁸

Judges 12:3

12:3 When I saw that you were not going to help,⁹ I risked my life¹⁰ and advanced against¹¹ the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up¹² to fight with me today?”

Judges 15:12

15:12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me¹³ you will not kill¹⁴ me.”

Judges 16:28

16:28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord,¹⁵ remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge¹⁶ against the Philistines for my two eyes!”

Judges 20:5

20:5 The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying.¹⁷ They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.

¹tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

²tn Heb “places them before me.”

³tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.

⁴tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.

⁵tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”

⁶tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”

⁷tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”

⁸tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity – I and my friends.”

⁹tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”

¹⁰tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”

¹¹tn Heb “crossed over to.”

¹²tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹³tn Or “swear to me.”

¹⁴tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.

¹⁵tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).

¹⁶tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”

¹⁷tn Heb “arose against me and surrounded against me the house at night.”