Judges 7:4

7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. ¹  Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. ²  When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; ³  when I say, ⁴  ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” ⁵ 

Judges 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ⁶  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ⁷  for I have been dedicated to God ⁸  from the time I was conceived. ⁹  If my head ¹⁰  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

Judges 19:18

19:18 The Levite ¹¹  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ¹²  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ¹³  But no one has invited me into their home.

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¹ tn Heb “too many people.”

² tn Heb “test them for you there.”

³ tn Heb “he should go with you.”

⁴ tn Heb also has “to you.”

⁵ tn Heb “he should not go.”

⁶ tn Heb “all his heart.”

⁷ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

⁸ tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).

⁹ tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).

¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Levite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

¹³ tn Heb “I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but [to] the house of the LORD I am going.” The Hebrew text has “house of the LORD,” which might refer to the shrine at Shiloh. The LXX reads “to my house.”