Judges 8:28

Gideon’s Story Ends

8:28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. ¹  The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. ² 

Judges 9:23

9:23 God sent a spirit to stir up hostility ³  between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. He made the leaders of Shechem disloyal ⁴  to Abimelech.

Judges 11:29

A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter

11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered ⁵  Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went ⁶  to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. ⁷ 

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¹ tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”

² tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”

³ tn Heb “an evil spirit.” A nonphysical, spirit being is in view, like the one who volunteered to deceive Ahab (1 Kgs 22:21). The traditional translation, “evil spirit,” implies the being is inherently wicked, perhaps even demonic, but this is not necessarily the case. The Hebrew adjective רָעַה (ra’ah) can have a nonethical sense, “harmful; dangerous; calamitous.” When modifying רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) it may simply indicate that the being in view causes harm to the object of God’s judgment. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 253) here refers to a “mischief-making spirit.”

⁴ tn Heb “The leaders of Shechem were disloyal.” The words “he made” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁵ tn Heb “was on.”

⁶ tn Heb “passed through.”

⁷ tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”