Judges 9:16

9:16 “Now, if you have shown loyalty and integrity when you made Abimelech king, if you have done right to Jerub-Baal and his family, ¹  if you have properly repaid him ²  –

Judges 11:8

11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, ³  but now we pledge to you our loyalty. ⁴  Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader ⁵  of all who live in Gilead.” ⁶ 

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¹ tn Heb “house.”

² tn Heb “if according to the deeds of his hands you have done to him.”

³ tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).

⁴ tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.

⁵ sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.

⁶ tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”