Judges 2:2

2:2 but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’¹ But you have disobeyed me.² Why would you do such a thing?³

Judges 5:16-17

5:16 Why do you remain among the sheepfolds,⁴

listening to the shepherds playing their pipes⁵ for their flocks?⁶

As for the clans of Reuben – there was intense searching of heart.

5:17 Gilead stayed put⁷ beyond the Jordan River.

As for Dan – why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards?⁸

Asher remained⁹ on the seacoast,

he stayed¹⁰ by his harbors.¹¹

Judges 8:1

8:1 The Ephraimites said to him, “Why have you done such a thing to us? You did not summon us¹² when you went to fight the Midianites!” They argued vehemently with him.

Judges 9:2

9:2 “Tell¹³ all the leaders of Shechem this: ‘Why would you want¹⁴ to have seventy men, all Jerub-Baal’s sons, ruling over you, when you can have just one ruler? Recall that I am your own flesh and blood.’”¹⁵

Judges 11:7

11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave¹⁶ my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?”

Judges 11:26

11:26 Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time?

Judges 12:1

Civil Strife Mars the Victory

12:1 The Ephraimites assembled¹⁷ and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight¹⁸ with the Ammonites without asking¹⁹ us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!”²⁰

Judges 12:3

12:3 When I saw that you were not going to help,²¹ I risked my life²² and advanced against²³ the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up²⁴ to fight with me today?”

Judges 15:10

15:10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking²⁵ us?” The Philistines²⁶ said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.”

Judges 19:6

19:6 So the two of them sat down and had a meal together.²⁷ Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!”²⁸

¹tn Heb “their altars.”

²tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”

³tn Heb “What is this you have done?”

⁴tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִשְׁפְּתַיִם (mishpÿtayim) is uncertain. Some understand the word to mean “campfires.”

⁵tn Or “whistling.”

⁶tn Heb “listening to the pipe playing for the flocks.”

⁷tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

sn Apparently the people of Gilead remained on the other side of the river and did not participate in the battle.

⁸tn Heb “Dan, why did he live as a resident alien, ships.” The verb גּוּר (gur) usually refers to taking up residence outside one’s native land. Perhaps the Danites, rather than rallying to Barak, were content to move to the Mediterranean coast and work in the shipyards. For further discussion, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 262.

⁹tn Heb “lived.”

¹⁰tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

¹¹tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִפְרָץ (mifrats) is uncertain, but the parallelism (note “seacoast”) suggests “harbors.”

¹²tn Heb “by not summoning us.”

¹³tn Heb “Speak into the ears of.”

¹⁴tn Heb “What good is it to you?”

¹⁵tn Heb “your bone and your flesh.”

¹⁶tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”

¹⁷tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”

¹⁸tn Heb “cross over to fight.”

¹⁹tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”

²⁰tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”

²¹tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”

²²tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”

²³tn Heb “crossed over to.”

²⁴tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁵tn Or “come up against.”

²⁶tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁷tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”

²⁸tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”