8:4 Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites. 3
1 tn Heb “heads.”
2 tn Heb “the jars.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
sn They hid the torches inside the earthenware jars to disguise their approach and to keep the torches from being extinguished by the breeze.
3 tn Heb “And Gideon arrived at the Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted and chasing.” The English past perfect (“had crossed”) is used because this verse flashes back chronologically to an event that preceded the hostile encounter described in vv. 1-3. (Note that 7:25 assumes Gideon had already crossed the Jordan.)
4 tn Traditionally, “foxes.”
5 tn Heb “He turned tail to tail and placed one torch between the two tails in the middle.”
6 tn Heb “besides from the ones living in Gibeah they mustered seven hundred choice men.”
7 tn Heb “And from all this people.”
8 tn Heb “seven hundred choice men, bound/restricted in the right hand.” On the significance of the idiom, “bound/restricted in the right hand,” see the translator’s note on 3:15.
9 tn “at a single hair and not miss.”
10 tn Heb “a man of war.”