Judges 2:18

2:18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people ¹  from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them ²  when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. ³ 

Judges 16:3

16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. ⁴  He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. ⁵  He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron. ⁶ 

Judges 21:22

21:22 When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us, ⁷  we’ll say to them, “Do us a favor and let them be, ⁸  for we could not get each one a wife through battle. ⁹  Don’t worry about breaking your oath! ¹⁰  You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’” ¹¹ 

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¹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “the ones oppressing them and afflicting them.” The synonyms “oppressing” and “afflicting” are joined together in the translation as “harsh oppressors” to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.

⁴ tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”

⁵ tn Heb “with the bar.”

⁶ tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”

⁷ tc The (original) LXX and Vulgate read “to you.”

⁸ tn The words “and let them be” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁹ tn 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.

¹⁰ tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the logic of the statement.

¹¹ tc 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.