Judges 8:31

8:31 His concubine, ¹  who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. ² 

Judges 9:41

9:41 Abimelech went back ³  to Arumah; Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem. ⁴ 

Judges 9:48

9:48 He and all his men ⁵  went up on Mount Zalmon. He ⁶  took an ax ⁷  in his hand and cut off a tree branch. He put it ⁸  on his shoulder and said to his men, “Quickly, do what you have just seen me do!” ⁹ 

Judges 13:22

13:22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!” ¹⁰ 

Judges 14:1

Samson’s Unconsummated Marriage

14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye. ¹¹ 

Judges 14:20

14:20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. ¹² 

Judges 16:22

16:22 His hair ¹³  began to grow back after it had been shaved off.

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¹ sn A concubine was a slave woman in ancient Near Eastern societies who was the legal property of her master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with her master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).

² sn The name Abimelech means “my father is king.”

³ tc Heb “stayed.” Some scholars revise the vowel pointing on this verb from that of the MT, resulting in the translation “and he returned to.” The Lucianic recension of the LXX understands the word in this way.

⁴ tn Heb “drove…out from dwelling in Shechem.”

⁵ tn Heb “his people.”

⁶ tn Heb “Abimelech.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”) due to considerations of English style.

⁷ tn The Hebrew text has the plural here.

⁸ tn Heb “he lifted it and put [it].”

⁹ tn Heb “What you have seen me do, quickly do like me.”

¹⁰ tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the Lord’s messenger, not God himself. Of course, he may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Another option, the one followed in the translation, understands Manoah to be referring to a lesser deity. The term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is sometimes used of an individual deity other than the Lord (see BDB 43 s.v. 2.a). One cannot assume that Manoah was a theologically sophisticated monotheist.

¹¹ tn Heb “and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”

¹² tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”

¹³ tn Heb “the hair of his head.”