Judges 9:13
9:13 But the grapevine said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my wine, which makes gods and men so happy, just to sway above the other trees!’ 1
Judges 13:14
13:14 She should not drink 2 anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. 3 She should obey everything I commanded her to do.”
Judges 19:19
19:19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant, 4 and the young man who is with your servants. 5 We lack nothing.”
1 tn Heb “Should I stop my wine, which makes happy gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
2 tn Heb “eat.”
3 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
4 tn By calling his concubine the old man’s “female servant,” the Levite emphasizes their dependence on him for shelter.
5 tc Some Hebrew mss and ancient witnesses read the singular, “your servant,” which would refer to the Levite. If one retains the plural, then both the Levite and his wife are in view. In either case the pronominal suffix emphasizes their dependence on the old man for shelter.