3:24 When Ehud had left, Eglon’s 4 servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said, “He must be relieving himself 5 in the well-ventilated inner room.” 6
15:18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant 11 this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” 12
1 tn Heb “their altars.”
2 tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”
3 tn Heb “What is this you have done?”
4 tn Heb “his.”
5 tn Heb “covering his feet” (i.e., with his outer garments while he relieves himself).
6 tn The Hebrew expression translated “well-ventilated inner room” may refer to the upper room itself or to a bathroom attached to or within it.
7 tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.
8 tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”
9 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
10 tn Heb “hand.”
11 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
12 tn Heb “the uncircumcised,” which in context refers to the Philistines.
13 tn Heb “A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the Lord at Mizpah, saying, ‘He must surely be put to death.’”