Judges 3:1

3:1 These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites.¹

Judges 4:13

4:13 he² ordered³ all his chariotry – nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels – and all the troops he had with him to go from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the River Kishon.

Judges 5:17

5:17 Gilead stayed put⁴ beyond the Jordan River.

As for Dan – why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards?⁵

Asher remained⁶ on the seacoast,

he stayed⁷ by his harbors.⁸

Judges 6:8

6:8 he⁹ sent a prophet¹⁰ to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt¹¹ and took you out of that place of slavery.¹²

Judges 6:35

6:35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well.¹³ He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.

Judges 7:15

Gideon Routs the Enemy

7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God.¹⁴ Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!”

Judges 9:5

9:5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers,¹⁵ the seventy legitimate¹⁶ sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal’s youngest son, escaped,¹⁷ because he hid.

Judges 9:7

Jotham’s Parable

9:7 When Jotham heard the news,¹⁸ he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below,¹⁹ “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!

Judges 9:45

9:45 Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed all the people in it. Then he leveled²⁰ the city and spread salt over it.²¹

Judges 9:54

9:54 He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons,²² “Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say,²³ ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man stabbed him and he died.

Judges 11:33

11:33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith – twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim! He wiped them out!²⁴ The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.²⁵

Judges 11:35

11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me!²⁶ You have brought me disaster!²⁷ I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”²⁸

Judges 11:39

11:39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin.²⁹ Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel.³⁰

Judges 15:5

15:5 He lit the torches³¹ and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.

Judges 15:18

15:18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant³² this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?”³³

Judges 16:20

16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here,³⁴ Samson!” He woke up³⁵ and thought,³⁶ “I will do as I did before³⁷ and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

Judges 16:25

16:25 When they really started celebrating,³⁸ they said, “Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them.³⁹ They made him stand between two pillars.

Judges 19:8

19:8 He woke up early in the morning on the fifth day so he could leave, but the girl’s father said, “Get some energy.⁴⁰ Wait until later in the day to leave!”⁴¹ So they ate a meal together.

Judges 19:10

19:10 But the man did not want to stay another night. He left⁴² and traveled as far as⁴³ Jebus (that is, Jerusalem).⁴⁴ He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.⁴⁵

¹tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”

²tn Heb “Sisera.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³tn Or “summoned.”

⁴tn 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.

⁵tn 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.

⁶tn Heb “lived.”

⁷tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

⁸tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִפְרָץ (mifrats) is uncertain, but the parallelism (note “seacoast”) suggests “harbors.”

⁹tn Heb “the Lord”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.

¹¹tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).

¹²tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

¹³tn Heb “and he also was summoned after him.”

¹⁴tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”

¹⁵tn Heb “his brothers.”

¹⁶tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁷tn Heb “remained.”

¹⁸tn Heb “And they reported to Jotham.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

¹⁹tn Heb “He lifted his voice and called and said to them.”

²⁰tn Or “destroyed.”

²¹tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”

sn The spreading of salt over the city was probably a symbolic act designed to place the site under a curse, deprive it of fertility, and prevent any future habitation. The practice is referred to outside the Bible as well. For example, one of the curses in the Aramaic Sefire treaty states concerning Arpad: “May Hadad sow in them salt and weeds, and may it not be mentioned again!” See J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire (BibOr), 15, 53. Deut 29:23, Jer 17:6, and Zeph 2:9 associate salt flats or salty regions with infertility and divine judgment.

²²tn The Hebrew text adds, “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²³tn The Hebrew text adds, “concerning me.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁴tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”

²⁵tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”

²⁶tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.

²⁷tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”

²⁸tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”

²⁹tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.

³⁰tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”

³¹tn Heb “He set fire to the torches.”

³²tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”

³³tn Heb “the uncircumcised,” which in context refers to the Philistines.

³⁴tn Heb “are upon you.”

³⁵tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³⁶tn Heb “and said.”

³⁷tn Heb “I will go out as before.”

³⁸tn Heb “When their heart was good.”

³⁹tn Heb “before them.”

⁴⁰tn Heb “Sustain your heart.” He is once more inviting him to stay for a meal.

⁴¹tn Heb “Wait until the declining of the day.”

⁴²tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

⁴³tn Heb “to the front of.”

⁴⁴map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴⁵tc Some ancient witnesses add “and his servant.”