Judges 4:20

4:20 He said to her, “Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say ‘No.’”

Judges 7:14

7:14 The other man said, ¹  “Without a doubt this symbolizes ²  the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

Judges 8:2

8:2 He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes ³  are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! ⁴ 

Judges 8:25

8:25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.” ⁵  So they ⁶  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 family ⁷  today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness! ⁸ 

Judges 12:2

12:2 Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. ⁹  I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power. ¹⁰ 

Judges 15:7

15:7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this, ¹¹  I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.” ¹² 

Judges 18:18

18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole ¹³  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

Judges 21:10-11

21:10 So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors ¹⁴  against Jabesh Gilead. ¹⁵  They commanded them, “Go and kill with your swords ¹⁶  the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children. 21:11 Do this: ¹⁷  exterminate every male, as well as every woman who has had sexual relations with a male. ¹⁸  But spare the lives of any virgins.” So they did as instructed. ¹⁹ 

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¹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

² tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”

³ tn Heb “gleanings.”

⁴ sn Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim’s mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon’s family.

⁵ tn Heb “We will indeed give.”

⁶ tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.

⁷ tn Heb “house.”

⁸ tn Heb “then rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.”

⁹ tn Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “hand.”

¹¹ tn The Niphal of נָקָם (naqam, “to avenge, to take vengeance”) followed by the preposition ב (bet) has the force “to get revenge against.” See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.

¹² tn Heb “and afterward I will stop.”

¹³ tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “there.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “the edge of the sword.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “And this is the thing that you will do.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male.”

¹⁹ tc Some Greek witnesses (notably Codex Vaticanus [B]) add the words, “‘But the virgins you should keep alive.’ And they did so.” These additional words, which probably represent the original Hebrew text, can be retroverted: וְאֶת־הַבְּתוּלוֹת תְּחַיּוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן (ve’et-habbÿtulot tÿkhayyu vayya’asu khen). It is likely that a scribe’s eye jumped from the vav (ו) on וְאֶת (vÿ’et) to the initial vav of v. 11, accidentally leaving out the intervening letters. The present translation is based on this reconstruction.