Judges 3:4

3:4 They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses.¹

Judges 6:1

Oppression and Confrontation

6:1 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight,² so the Lord turned them over to³ Midian for seven years.

Judges 8:6

8:6 The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give⁴ bread to your army?”⁵

Judges 8:25

8:25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.”⁶ So they⁷ spread out a garment, and each one threw an earring from his plunder onto it.

Judges 9:19

9:19 So if you have shown loyalty and integrity to Jerub-Baal and his family⁸ today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness!⁹

Judges 9:34

9:34 So Abimelech and all his men came up¹⁰ at night and set an ambush outside Shechem – they divided into¹¹ four units.

Judges 10:16

10:16 They threw away the foreign gods they owned¹² and worshiped¹³ the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much.¹⁴

Judges 11:3

11:3 So Jephthah left¹⁵ his half-brothers¹⁶ and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him.¹⁷

Judges 11:11

11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement¹⁸ before the Lord in Mizpah.

Judges 13:1

Samson’s Birth

13:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight,¹⁹ so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

Judges 13:15

13:15 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Please stay here awhile,²⁰ so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”²¹

Judges 13:17

13:17 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.”²²

Judges 16:8

16:8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and they tied him up with them.

Judges 16:26

16:26 Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple.²³ Then I can lean on them.”

Judges 18:5

18:5 They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us,²⁴ so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.”²⁵

¹tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”

²tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

³tn Heb “gave them into the hand of.”

⁴tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

⁵tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 155).

sn The officials of Succoth are hesitant to give (or sell) food to Gideon’s forces because they are not sure of the outcome of the battle. Perhaps they had made an alliance with the Midianites which demanded their loyalty.

⁶tn Heb “We will indeed give.”

⁷tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.

⁸tn Heb “house.”

⁹tn Heb “then rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.”

¹⁰tn Heb “and all the people who were with him arose.”

¹¹tn Heb “four heads.” The words “they divided into” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹²tn Heb “from their midst.”

¹³tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

¹⁴tn Heb “And his spirit grew short [i.e., impatient] with the suffering of Israel.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) also appears as the subject of the verb קָצַר (qatsar) in Num 21:4 (the Israelites grow impatient wandering in the wilderness), Judg 16:16 (Samson grows impatient with Delilah’s constant nagging), and Zech 11:8 (Zechariah grows impatient with the three negligent “shepherds”).

¹⁵tn Or “fled from.”

¹⁶tn Heb “brothers.”

¹⁷tn Heb “Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”

¹⁸tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.

¹⁹tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

²⁰tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”

²¹tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”

²²tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.

²³tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house is founded.”

²⁴tn Heb “Ask God.”

²⁵tn Heb “so we can know if our way on which we are going will be successful.”