Judges 13:14

13:14 She should not drink ¹  anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. ²  She should obey everything I commanded her to do.”

Judges 16:7

16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh ³  bowstrings ⁴  that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Judges 16:11

16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, ⁵  I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Judges 21:11

21:11 Do this: ⁶  exterminate every male, as well as every woman who has had sexual relations with a male. ⁷  But spare the lives of any virgins.” So they did as instructed. ⁸ 

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¹ tn Heb “eat.”

² tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

³ tn Or “moist.”

⁴ tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.

⁵ tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”

⁶ tn Heb “And this is the thing that you will do.”

⁷ tn Heb “every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male.”

⁸ tc Some Greek witnesses (notably Codex Vaticanus [B]) add the words, “‘But the virgins you should keep alive.’ And they did so.” These additional words, which probably represent the original Hebrew text, can be retroverted: וְאֶת־הַבְּתוּלוֹת תְּחַיּוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן (ve’et-habbÿtulot tÿkhayyu vayya’asu khen). It is likely that a scribe’s eye jumped from the vav (ו) on וְאֶת (vÿ’et) to the initial vav of v. 11, accidentally leaving out the intervening letters. The present translation is based on this reconstruction.