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 5:23
5:23 ‘Call judgment down on 4 Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic 5 messenger;
‘Be sure 6 to call judgment down on 7 those who live there,
because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, 8
to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’ 9
Judges 6:13
6:13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, 10 but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster 11 overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, 12 ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
Judges 13:16
13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, 13 I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.) 14
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 “Curse Meroz.”
5 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.
6 tn Heb “Curse, cursing.” The Hebrew construction is emphatic.
7 tn Heb “[to] curse.”
8 tn Heb “to the help of the Lord” (the same Hebrew phrase occurs in the following line). Another option is to read “to aid the Lord’s cause.”
9 tn Or “along with the other warriors.”
10 tn Heb “But my lord.”
11 tn Heb “all this.”
12 tn Heb “saying.”
13 tn Heb “If you detain me.”
14 tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the messenger represented the Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the Lord’s messenger, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, yÿhvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s messenger” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ’adonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).