6:22 When Gideon realized 1 that it was the Lord’s messenger, he 2 said, “Oh no! 3 Master, Lord! 4 I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!”
8:22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.” 12
10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped 15 the Baals.”
1 tn Heb “saw.”
2 tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Or “Ah!”
4 tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15],
5 tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
6 tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
7 tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
8 tn Heb “gleanings.”
9 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.
10 tn Or perhaps, “sell.”
11 tn 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.
12 tn Heb “hand.”
13 tn Heb “house.”
14 tn Heb “then rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.”
15 tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
16 tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”
17 sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”
18 tn Heb “The
19 sn The
20 tn Or “sinned against you.”
21 tn Or “evil.”
22 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).
23 tn Heb “Look, you.”
24 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
25 tn Or “elders.”
26 tn Heb “What should we do for the remaining ones concerning wives?”