1 sn The names Oreb and Zeeb, which mean “Raven” and “Wolf” respectively, are appropriate because the Midianites had been like scavengers and predators to Israel.
2 tn The Hebrew text repeats the verb “executed.” This has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “Midian.”
4 tn Heb “beyond the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in 8:4).
5 sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.
6 tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew
7 tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”
8 tn Heb “with the bar.”
9 tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”
10 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the rest [of the Benjaminites]) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “and they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “gleaned.” The word is an agricultural term which pictures Israelites picking off the Benjaminites as easily as one picks grapes from the vine.
13 tn Heb “stuck close after them.”