Judges 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, ¹  “Must you fight Baal’s battles? ²  Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause ³  will die by morning! ⁴  If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! ⁵  After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” ⁶ 

Judges 19:3

19:3 her husband came ⁷  after her, hoping he could convince her to return. ⁸  He brought with him his servant ⁹  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. ¹⁰ 

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¹ tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

² tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

³ tn Heb “fights for him.”

⁴ sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.

⁵ tn Heb “fight for himself.”

⁶ tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).

⁷ tn Heb “arose and came.”

⁸ tn Heb “to speak to her heart to bring her back.”

⁹ tn Or “young man.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “he was happy to meet him.”