1 tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 tn Heb “places them before me.”
3 tn 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.
4 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
5 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
6 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
7 tn Or “come up against.”
8 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Or “swear to me.”
10 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
11 tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.
12 tn The words “the sight” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
13 tn Heb “from the day.”
14 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the following additional words: “And he instructed the men whom he sent out, ‘Thus you will say to every male Israelite: “There has never been anything like this from the day the Israelites left Egypt till the present day.”’”