Judges 9:17

9:17 my father fought for you; he risked his life ¹  and delivered you from Midian’s power. ² 

Judges 9:21

9:21 Then Jotham ran away ³  to Beer and lived there to escape from ⁴  Abimelech his half-brother. ⁵ 

Judges 9:26

9:26 Gaal son of Ebed ⁶  came through Shechem with his brothers. The leaders of Shechem transferred their loyalty to him. ⁷ 

Judges 12:7

12:7 Jephthah led ⁸  Israel for six years; then he ⁹  died and was buried in his city in Gilead. ¹⁰ 

Judges 13:2

13:2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. ¹¹ 

Judges 14:7

14:7 Samson continued on down to Timnah ¹²  and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one. ¹³ 

Judges 17:12

17:12 Micah paid ¹⁴  the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.

Judges 18:4

18:4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying, ¹⁵  “He hired me and I became his priest.”

Judges 19:7

19:7 When the man got ready to leave, ¹⁶  his father-in-law convinced him to stay another night. ¹⁷ 

Judges 19:21

19:21 So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet and had a meal. ¹⁸ 

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¹ tc Heb “threw his life out in front,” that is, “exposed himself to danger.” The MT form מִנֶּגֶד (minneged, “from before”) should probably be read as מִנֶּגְדּוֹ (minnegdo, “from before him”); haplography of vav has likely occurred here in the MT.

² tn Heb “hand.”

³ tn Heb “fled and ran away and went.”

⁴ tn Heb “from before.”

⁵ tn Heb “his brother.”

⁶ sn The name Gaal derives from, or at least sounds like, a Hebrew verb meaning “to abhor, loathe.” His father’s name, Ebed, means “servant.” Perhaps then this could be translated, “loathsome one, son of a servant.” This individual’s very name (which may be the narrator’s nickname for him, not his actual name) seems to hint at his immoral character and lowly social status.

⁷ tn Heb “trusted in him.” Here the verb probably describes more than a mental attitude. It is likely that the Shechemites made an alliance with Gaal and were now trusting him for protection in return for their loyalty (and probably tribute).

⁸ tn Traditionally, “judged.”

⁹ tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.

¹¹ tn Heb “and had not given birth.”

¹² tn Heb “He went down.”

¹³ tn Heb “She was the right one in the eyes of Samson.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “filled the hand of.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “He said to them, ‘Such and such Micah has done for me.’” Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially “for me”), the phrase “such and such” appears to be the narrator’s condensed version of what the Levite really said.

¹⁶ tn Heb “and the man arose to go.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “his father-in-law persuaded him and he again spent the night there.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “ate and drank.”