Judges 3:20

3:20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated¹ upper room all by himself. Ehud said, “I have a message from God² for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat,³

Judges 5:28

5:28 Through the window she looked;

Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:

‘Why is his chariot so slow to return?

Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses⁴ delayed?’

Judges 8:27

8:27 Gideon used all this to make⁵ an ephod,⁶ which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites⁷ prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it⁸ there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Judges 9:1

Abimelech Murders His Brothers

9:1 Now Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives.⁹ He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family,¹⁰

Judges 9:5

9:5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half-brothers,¹¹ the seventy legitimate¹² sons of Jerub-Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub-Baal’s youngest son, escaped,¹³ because he hid.

Judges 11:34

11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out¹⁴ to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines.¹⁵ She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

Judges 14:6

14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered¹⁶ him and he tore the lion¹⁷ in two with his bare hands¹⁸ as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

Judges 15:14

15:14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered¹⁹ him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in²⁰ fire, and they²¹ melted away from his hands.

Judges 16:19

16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap²² and then called a man in to shave off²³ the seven braids of his hair.²⁴ She made him vulnerable²⁵ and his strength left him.

Judges 16:29-30

16:29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple²⁶ and he leaned against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. 16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard²⁷ and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life.²⁸

¹tn Or “cool.” This probably refers to a room with latticed windows which allowed the breeze to pass through. See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 144.

²tn Heb “word of [i.e., from] God.”

³tn Or “throne.”

⁴tn Heb “chariots.”

⁵tn Heb “made it into.”

⁶sn In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 349-52.

⁷tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).

⁸tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁹tn Heb “brothers.”

¹⁰tn Heb “to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother.”

¹¹tn Heb “his brothers.”

¹²tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹³tn Heb “remained.”

¹⁴tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”

¹⁵tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”

¹⁶tn Heb “rushed on.”

¹⁷tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”

¹⁹tn Heb “rushed on.”

²⁰tn Heb “burned with.”

²¹tn Heb “his bonds.”

²²tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.

²³tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.

²⁴tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.

²⁵tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.

²⁶tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house was founded.”

²⁷tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”

²⁸tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”