Judges 6:11

Gideon Meets Some Visitors

6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger ¹  came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon ²  was threshing ³  wheat in a winepress ⁴  so he could hide it from the Midianites. ⁵ 

Judges 11:13

11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ⁶  my land when they ⁷  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ⁸  Now return it ⁹  peaceably!”

Judges 18:2

18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, ¹⁰  capable men ¹¹  from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house. ¹² 

Judges 19:3

19:3 her husband came ¹³  after her, hoping he could convince her to return. ¹⁴  He brought with him his servant ¹⁵  and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly. ¹⁶ 

Judges 19:22

19:22 They were having a good time, ¹⁷  when suddenly ¹⁸  some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, ¹⁹  surrounded the house and kept beating ²⁰  on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.” ²¹ 

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¹ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.

sn The Lord’s angelic messenger is also mentioned in Judg 2:1.

² tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.

³ tn Heb “beating out.”

⁴ sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.

⁵ tn Heb “Midian.”

⁶ tn Or “took”; or “seized.”

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

⁸ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

⁹ tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.

¹⁰ tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”

¹¹ tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

¹² tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”

¹³ tn Heb “arose and came.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”

¹⁵ tn Or “young man.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “and look.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “the men of the city, men, the sons of wickedness.” The phrases are in apposition; the last phrase specifies what type of men they were. It is not certain if all the men of the city are in view, or just a group of troublemakers. In 20:5 the town leaders are implicated in the crime, suggesting that all the men of the city were involved. If so, the implication is that the entire male population of the town were good-for-nothings.

²⁰ tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.

²¹ tn Heb “so we can know him.” On the surface one might think they simply wanted to meet the visitor and get to know him, but their hostile actions betray their double-talk. The old man, who has been living with them long enough to know what they are like, seems to have no doubts about the meaning of their words (see v. 23).