5:9 My heart went out 10 to Israel’s leaders,
to the people who answered the call to war.
Praise the Lord!
9:8 “The trees were determined to go out 17 and choose a king for themselves. 18 They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’ 19
10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped 24 the Baals.”
1 tn The expression “to fight” is interpretive.
2 tn Heb “the
3 tn Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”
4 tn Or “they experienced great distress.”
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The Hebrew text has “and he went out to the [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew word פַּרְשְׁדֹנָה (parshÿdonah) which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. The noun has the article prefixed and directive suffix. The word may be a technical architectural term, indicating the area into which Ehud moved as he left the king and began his escape. In this case Ehud is the subject of the verb “went out.” The present translation omits the clause, understanding it as an ancient variant of the first clause in v. 23. Some take the noun as “back,” understand “sword” (from the preceding clause) as the subject, and translate “the sword came out his [i.e., Eglon’s] back.” But this rendering is unlikely since the Hebrew word for “sword” (חֶרֶב, kherev) is feminine and the verb form translated “came out” (וַיֵּצֵא, vayyetse’) is masculine. (One expects agreement in gender when the subject is supplied from the preceding clause. See Ezek 33:4, 6.) See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 146-48, for discussion of the options.
7 tn Or “caused to panic.”
8 tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “before Barak.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 tn Heb “got down from.”
10 tn The words “went out” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”
12 tn Heb “and he did so.”
13 tn Heb “We will indeed give.”
14 tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.
15 tn Heb “empty and reckless.”
16 tn Heb “and they followed him.”
17 tn Heb “Going they went, the trees.” The precise emphatic force of the infinitive absolute (“Going”) is not entirely clear. Perhaps here it indicates determination, as in Gen 31:30, where one might translate, “You have insisted on going away.”
18 tn Heb “to anoint [with oil] over them a king.”
19 tn Or “Rule over us!”
20 tn Heb “set against him bandits.”
sn Putting bandits in the hills. This piracy certainly interrupted or discouraged trade, and probably deprived Abimelech of tariffs or tribute. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 277; G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 253.
21 tn Heb “on the tops of.”
22 tn Heb “It was told to Abimelech.”
23 tn Heb “Look! He and the people who are with him will come out to you, and you will do to him what your hand finds [to do].”
24 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
25 tc The translation follows the LXX which reads “Midian”; the Hebrew text has “Maon.”
26 tn The words “Did I not deliver you” are interpretive. The Hebrew text simply reads, “Is it not from Egypt…when they oppressed you?” Perhaps the incomplete sentence reflects the
27 tn Heb “hand.”
28 tn Heb “Now.”
29 tn Or “dispossessed.”
30 tn Heb “will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly “it,” i.e., the territory]?” There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.
31 tn The Hebrew term here translated “master,” is plural. The plural indicates degree here and emphasizes the Levite’s absolute sovereignty over the woman.
32 tn Heb “The woman came at the turning of the morning and fell at the door of the house of the man where her master was until the light.”
33 tn Or “elders.”
34 tn Heb “What should we do for the remaining ones concerning wives?”