Judges 6:30

6:30 The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him! ¹  He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.”

Judges 9:38

9:38 Zebul said to him, “Where now are your bragging words, ²  ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the men ³  you insulted? ⁴  Go out now and fight them!”

Judges 11:8

11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ⁵  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ⁶  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ⁷  of all who live in Gilead.” ⁸ 

Judges 11:24

11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us. ⁹ 

Judges 12:1

Civil Strife Mars the Victory

12:1 The Ephraimites assembled ¹⁰  and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight ¹¹  with the Ammonites without asking ¹²  us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” ¹³ 

Judges 13:8

13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, ¹⁴  “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God ¹⁵  to visit ¹⁶  us again, so he can teach ¹⁷  us how we should raise ¹⁸  the child who will be born.”

Judges 18:9

18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, ¹⁹  for ²⁰  we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, ²¹  but don’t hesitate ²²  to invade and conquer ²³  the land.

Judges 20:13

20:13 Now, hand over the good-for-nothings ²⁴  in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.” ²⁵  But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.

Judges 20:23

20:23 The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. They asked the Lord, “Should we ²⁶  again march out to fight ²⁷  the Benjaminites, our brothers?” ²⁸  The Lord said, “Attack them!” ²⁹ 

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¹ tn Heb “and let him die.” The jussive form with vav after the imperative is best translated as a purpose clause.

² tn Heb “is your mouth that says.”

³ tn Heb “the people.”

⁴ tn Or “despised.”

⁵ tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).

⁶ tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.

⁷ sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.

⁸ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”

⁹ tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the Lord our God dispossesses before us we will possess?” Jephthah speaks of Chemosh as if he is on a par with the Lord God of Israel. This does not necessarily mean that Jephthah is polytheistic or that he recognizes the Lord as only a local deity. He may simply be assuming the Ammonite king’s perspective for the sake of argument. Other texts, as well as the extrabiblical Mesha inscription, associate Chemosh with Moab, while Milcom is identified as the god of the Ammonites. Why then does Jephthah refer to Chemosh as the Ammonite god? Ammon had likely conquered Moab and the Ammonite king probably regarded himself as heir of all territory formerly held by Moab. Originally Moab had owned the disputed territory (cf. Num 21:26-29), meaning that Chemosh was regarded as the god of the region (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 203-4). Jephthah argues that Chemosh had long ago relinquished claim to the area (by allowing Sihon to conquer it), while the Lord had long ago established jurisdiction over it (by taking it from Sihon and giving it to Israel). Both sides should abide by the decisions of the gods which had stood firm for three hundred years.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”

¹¹ tn Heb “cross over to fight.”

¹² tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”

¹³ tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”

¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁵ tn Heb “the man of God.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “come to.”

¹⁷ tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (vi’irenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (vÿyorenu, “to teach”).

¹⁸ tn Heb “what we should do for.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

²⁰ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”

²¹ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

²² tn Or “be lazy.”

²³ tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

²⁴ tn Heb “the men, sons of wickedness.”

²⁵ tn Heb “and burn away wickedness from Israel.”

²⁶ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

²⁷ tn Heb “approach for battle.”

²⁸ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

²⁹ tn Heb “Go up against him” (collective singular).