18:7 So the five men journeyed on 1 and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there 2 were living securely, like the Sidonians do, 3 undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. 4 They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 5
19:16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. 6 The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.) 7
1 tn Or “went.”
2 tn Heb “who were in its midst.”
3 tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”
4 tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”
5 tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’aram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’adam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.
6 tn Heb “And look, an old man was coming from his work, from the field in the evening.”
7 tn Heb “And the men of the place were Benjaminites.”