Judges 8:21

8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, ¹  “Come on, ²  you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” ³  So Gideon killed ⁴  Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.

Judges 15:19

15:19 So God split open the basin ⁵  at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength ⁶  was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring ⁷  En Hakkore. ⁸  It remains in Lehi to this very day.

Judges 16:9

16:9 They hid ⁹  in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, ¹⁰  Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. ¹¹  The secret of his strength was not discovered. ¹² 

Judges 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ¹³  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ¹⁴  for I have been dedicated to God ¹⁵  from the time I was conceived. ¹⁶  If my head ¹⁷  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

---

¹ tn The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

² tn Or “Arise.”

³ tn Heb “for as the man is his strength.”

⁴ tn Heb “arose and killed.”

⁵ tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.

⁶ tn Heb “spirit.”

⁷ tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”

⁹ tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vÿha’orev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).

¹⁰ tn Heb “are upon you.”

¹¹ tn Heb “when it smells fire.”

¹² tn Heb “His strength was not known.”

¹³ tn Heb “all his heart.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

¹⁵ 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”).

¹⁶ tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).