Judges 3:7

Othniel: A Model Leader

3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ² 

Judges 5:3

5:3 Hear, O kings!

Pay attention, O rulers!

I will sing to the Lord! ³ 

I will sing ⁴  to the Lord God of Israel!

Judges 5:8

5:8 God chose new leaders, ⁵ 

then fighters appeared in the city gates; ⁶ 

but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, ⁷ 

among forty military units ⁸  in Israel.

Judges 6:20

6:20 God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, ⁹  and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed. ¹⁰ 

Judges 6:36

6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, ¹¹  as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. ¹² 

Judges 6:40

6:40 That night God did as he asked. ¹³  Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.

Judges 8:3

8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” ¹⁴  When he said this, they calmed down. ¹⁵ 

Judges 8:34

8:34 The Israelites did not remain true ¹⁶  to the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them.

Judges 9:23

9:23 God sent a spirit to stir up hostility ¹⁷  between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal ¹⁸  to Abimelech.

Judges 9:57

9:57 God also repaid the men of Shechem for their evil deeds. The curse spoken by Jotham son of Jerub-Baal fell ¹⁹  on them.

Judges 10:10

10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ²⁰  the Baals.”

Judges 11:23

11:23 Since ²¹  the Lord God of Israel has driven out ²²  the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? ²³ 

Judges 18:10

18:10 When you invade, ²⁴  you will encounter ²⁵  unsuspecting people. The land is wide! ²⁶  God is handing it over to you – a place that lacks nothing on earth!” ²⁷ 

Judges 20:18

20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel ²⁸  and asked God, ²⁹  “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” ³⁰  The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”

Judges 21:3

21:3 They said, “Why, O Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?” An entire ³¹  tribe has disappeared from Israel today!”

---

¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

² sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.

³ tn Heb “I, to the Lord, I, I will sing!” The first singular personal pronoun is used twice, even though a first person finite verbal form is employed.

⁴ tn Or “make music.”

⁵ tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.

⁶ tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)

⁷ tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).

⁸ tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (’elef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).

⁹ tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he did so.”

¹¹ tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”

¹² tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹³ tn Heb “God did so that night.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”

¹⁵ tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “remember.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “an evil spirit.” A nonphysical, spirit being is in view, like the one who volunteered to deceive Ahab (1 Kgs 22:21). The traditional translation, “evil spirit,” implies the being is inherently wicked, perhaps even demonic, but this is not necessarily the case. The Hebrew adjective רָעַה (ra’ah) can have a nonethical sense, “harmful; dangerous; calamitous.” When modifying רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) it may simply indicate that the being in view causes harm to the object of God’s judgment. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 253) here refers to a “mischief-making spirit.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “The leaders of Shechem were disloyal.” The words “he made” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁹ tn Heb “came.”

²⁰ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

²¹ tn Heb “Now.”

²² tn Or “dispossessed.”

²³ tn Heb “will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly “it,” i.e., the territory]?” There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.

²⁴ tn Heb “When you enter.”

²⁵ tn Heb “you will come to.”

²⁶ tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”

²⁷ tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

²⁸ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

²⁹ tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

³⁰ tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

³¹ tn Heb “one.”