Judges 6:27

6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants ¹  and did just as the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family ²  and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime. ³ 

Judges 9:18

9:18 But you have attacked ⁴  my father’s family ⁵  today. You murdered his seventy legitimate ⁶  sons on one stone and made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, just because he is your close relative. ⁷ 

Judges 12:9

12:9 He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family, ⁸  and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons. ⁹  Ibzan ¹⁰  led ¹¹  Israel for seven years;

Judges 14:15

14:15 On the fourth ¹²  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ¹³  If you refuse, ¹⁴  we will burn up ¹⁵  you and your father’s family. ¹⁶  Did you invite us here ¹⁷  to make us poor?” ¹⁸ 

Judges 18:19

18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser ¹⁹  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ²⁰ 

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¹ tn Heb “men from among his servants.”

² tn Heb “house.”

³ tn Heb “so he did it at night.”

⁴ tn Heb “have risen up against.”

⁵ tn Heb “house.”

⁶ tn The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁷ tn Heb “your brother.”

⁸ tn Heb “thirty daughters he sent off outside.” Another option is to translate, “He arranged for his thirty daughters…” It is not clear if he had more than the “thirty daughters” mentioned in the text.

⁹ tn Heb “and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.

¹¹ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

¹² tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.

¹³ tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “lest.”

¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁶ tn Heb “house.”

¹⁷ tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew mss and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable הֲלֹא (halo’), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.

¹⁸ tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.

¹⁹ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

²⁰ tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”