Judges 2:1

Confrontation and Repentance at Bokim

2:1 The Lord’s angelic messenger¹ went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors.² I said, ‘I will never break my agreement³ with you,

Judges 6:27

6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants⁴ and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family⁵ and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime.⁶

Judges 7:24

Gideon Appeases the Ephraimites

7:24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites.⁷ Take control of the fords of the streams⁸ all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.”⁹ When all the Ephraimites had assembled,¹⁰ they took control of the fords¹¹ all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.

Judges 12:9

12:9 He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family,¹² and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons.¹³ Ibzan¹⁴ led¹⁵ Israel for seven years;

Judges 14:9

14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned¹⁶ to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass.¹⁷

Judges 14:18

14:18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?”

He said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,¹⁸

you would not have solved my riddle!”

Judges 16:18

16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret,¹⁹ she sent for²⁰ the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me²¹ his secret.”²² So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.

Judges 18:1

The Tribe of Dan Finds an Inheritance

18:1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place²³ to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.²⁴

Judges 18:7

18:7 So the five men journeyed on²⁵ and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there²⁶ were living securely, like the Sidonians do,²⁷ undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way.²⁸ They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.²⁹

Judges 18:14

18:14 The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish³⁰ said to their kinsmen,³¹ “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.”

Judges 18:17

18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole³² the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men.³³

Judges 19:18

19:18 The Levite³⁴ said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem³⁵ in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home.³⁶ But no one has invited me into their home.

Judges 20:31

20:31 The Benjaminites attacked³⁷ the army, leaving the city unguarded.³⁸ They began to strike down their enemy³⁹ just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel,⁴⁰ the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down⁴¹ about thirty Israelites.

Judges 21:22

21:22 When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us,⁴² we’ll say to them, “Do us a favor and let them be,⁴³ for we could not get each one a wife through battle.⁴⁴ Don’t worry about breaking your oath!⁴⁵ You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’”⁴⁶

¹sn See Exod 14:19; 23:20.

²tn Heb “the land that I had sworn to your fathers.”

³tn Or “covenant” (also in the following verse).

⁴tn Heb “men from among his servants.”

⁵tn Heb “house.”

⁶tn Heb “so he did it at night.”

⁷tn Heb “to meet Midian.”

⁸tn Heb “capture before them the waters.”

⁹tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (also later in this verse).

¹⁰tn Heb “And all the men of Ephraim were summoned.”

¹¹tn Heb “they captured the waters.”

¹²tn Heb “thirty daughters he sent off outside.” Another option is to translate, “He arranged for his thirty daughters…” It is not clear if he had more than the “thirty daughters” mentioned in the text.

¹³tn Heb “and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside.”

¹⁴tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.

¹⁵tn Traditionally, “judged.”

¹⁶tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.

¹⁷sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.

¹⁸sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.

¹⁹tn Heb “all his heart.”

²⁰tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”

²¹tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).

²²tn Heb “all his heart.”

²³tn Heb “an inheritance.”

²⁴tn Heb “because there had not fallen to them by that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel an inheritance.”

²⁵tn Or “went.”

²⁶tn Heb “who were in its midst.”

²⁷tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”

²⁸tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”

²⁹tc 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.

³⁰tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”

³¹tn Heb “brothers.”

³²tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

³³tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”

³⁴tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁵map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

³⁶tn Heb “I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [to] the house of the LORD I am going.” The Hebrew text has “house of the LORD,” which might refer to the shrine at Shiloh. The LXX reads “to my house.”

³⁷tn Heb “went out to meet.”

³⁸tn Heb “and they were drawn away from the city.”

³⁹tn Heb “from the army wounded ones.”

⁴⁰map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁴¹tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁴²tc The (original) LXX and Vulgate read “to you.”

⁴³tn The words “and let them be” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁴⁴tn Heb “for we did not take each his wife in battle.”

sn Through battle. This probably refers to the battle against Jabesh Gilead, which only produced four hundred of the six hundred wives needed.

⁴⁵tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the logic of the statement.

⁴⁶tc Heb “You did not give to them, now you are guilty.” The MT as it stands makes little sense. It is preferable to emend לֹא (lo’, “not”) to לוּא (lu’, “if”). This particle introduces a purely hypothetical condition, “If you had given to them [but you didn’t].” See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 453-54.