¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

² tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”

³ tn Heb “Judah went up.”

⁴ tn Or “seized possession of”; or “occupied.”

⁵ tc Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.

⁶ tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.

⁷ tn Heb “All that generation were gathered to their fathers.”

⁸ tn Heb “arose after them.”

⁹ tn Heb “that did not know the Lord or the work which he had done for Israel.” The expressions “personally experienced” and “seen” are interpretive.

¹⁰ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”

¹¹ tn Heb “Because this nation.”

¹² tn Heb “my covenant which I commanded their fathers.”

¹³ tn Heb “and has not listened to my voice.” The expression “to not listen to [God’s] voice” is idiomatic here for disobeying him.

¹⁴ tn The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21). In this case the Lord announces that he has now decided to leave these nations as a test for Israel. Another possibility is to subordinate “to test” to “He said” (v. 20; see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 111). In this case the statement recorded in vv. 20b-21 is the test in that it forces Israel to respond either positively (through repentance) or negatively to the Lord’s declaration. A third possibility (the one reflected in the present translation) is to subordinate “to test” to “left unconquered” (v. 21). In this case the Lord recalls that Joshua left these nations as a test. Israel has failed the test (v. 20), so the Lord announces that the punishment threatened earlier (Josh 23:12-13; see also Judg 2:3) will now be implemented. As B. G. Webb (Judges [JSOTSup], 115) observes, “The nations which were originally left as a test are now left as a punishment.” This view best harmonizes v. 23, which explains that the Lord did not give all the nations to Joshua, with v. 22. (For a grammatical parallel, where the infinitive construct of נָסָה [nasah] is subordinated to the perfect of עָזַב [’azav], see 2 Chr 32:31.)

¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁶ tn The words “I [i.e., the Lord] wanted to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸ tn Or “way [of life].”

¹⁹ tn “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.

²⁰ tn Or “fathers.”

²¹ tn The words “this is why” are interpretive.

²² tn Or “quickly.”

²³ tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”

²⁴ tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”

²⁵ tn Heb “the Lord sold them into the hands of.”

²⁶ tn Or “King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite ruler.”

map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

²⁷ tn Or “Harosheth of the Pagan Nations”; cf. KJV “Harosheth of the Gentiles.”

²⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁹ tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.

³⁰ tn Heb “with strength.”

³¹ tn Or “went out.”

³² tn Heb “water.”

³³ tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

sn Apparently the people of Gilead remained on the other side of the river and did not participate in the battle.

³⁴ tn Heb “Dan, why did he live as a resident alien, ships.” The verb גּוּר (gur) usually refers to taking up residence outside one’s native land. Perhaps the Danites, rather than rallying to Barak, were content to move to the Mediterranean coast and work in the shipyards. For further discussion, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 262.

³⁵ tn Heb “lived.”

³⁶ tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

³⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִפְרָץ (mifrats) is uncertain, but the parallelism (note “seacoast”) suggests “harbors.”

³⁸ sn Some interpreters equate the Lord and the messenger in this story, but they are more likely distinct. In vv. 22-23 the Lord and Gideon continue to carry on a conversation after the messenger has vanished (v. 21).

³⁹ tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”

⁴¹ tn Heb “clothed.”

⁴² tn That is, “mustered an army.”

⁴³ tn Heb “Abiezer was summoned after him.”

⁴⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴⁵ tn Heb “Go down against.”

⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.

⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴⁸ tn Heb “Therefore.”

⁴⁹ sn I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.

⁵⁰ tn Or “flesh.”

⁵¹ tn This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229-30.

⁵² tn The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁵³ tn Heb “people.”

⁵⁴ tn Heb “in my hand.”

sn If only these men were under my command. One might assume from v. 26b that the men were already at his disposal, but perhaps that was not one of the terms of the agreement. Another possibility is that v. 26 is a general summary statement, with vv. 27-29 then detailing how the alliance with Gaal came about.

⁵⁵ tn Heb “said to Abimelech.” On the other hand, the preposition ל (lamed) prefixed to the proper name may be vocative (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178). If so, one could translate, “He boasted, ‘Abimelech…’”

⁵⁶ tn Heb “Make numerous.”

⁵⁷ tn The words “for battle” are interpretive.

⁵⁸ tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”

⁵⁹ sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”

⁶⁰ tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁶¹ tn Heb “places them before me.”

⁶² tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.

⁶³ tn Heb “The Lord will be the one who hears between us.” For the idiom שָׁמַע בַּיִן (shama’ bayin, “to hear between”), see Deut 1:16.

⁶⁴ sn The Lord will judge…if we do not do as you say. The statement by the leaders of Gilead takes the form of a legally binding oath, which obligates them to the terms of the agreement.

⁶⁵ tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.

⁶⁶ tn Or “sinned against you.”

⁶⁷ tn Or “evil.”

⁶⁸ tn Heb “was on.”

⁶⁹ tn Heb “passed through.”

⁷⁰ tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”

⁷¹ tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotse’, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.

⁷² tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.

⁷³ tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the Lord’s service, but if an animal comes through the doors, he will offer it up as a sacrifice. However, it is far more likely that the Hebrew construction (vav [ו] + perfect) specifies how the subject will become the Lord’s, that is, by being offered up as a sacrifice. For similar constructions, where the apodosis of a conditional sentence has at least two perfects (each with vav) in sequence, see Gen 34:15-16; Exod 18:16.

⁷⁴ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).

⁷⁵ tn Heb “Look, you.”

⁷⁶ tn Heb “and have not given birth.”

⁷⁷ tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”

⁷⁸ tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”

⁷⁹ tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.

⁸⁰ tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective פִּלְאִי (pile’iy, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.

⁸¹ tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the Lord’s messenger” was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read לַיהוָה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (layhavah mal’akh yÿhvah), the scribe’s eye could have jumped from the first יְהוָה to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction וּ (shureq) would have been added to the following מַפְלִא (mafli’) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject (הוּא, hu’) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.

⁸² tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”

⁸³ tn Heb “on their faces.”

⁸⁴ tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”

⁸⁵ tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”

⁸⁶ tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

⁸⁷ tn Heb “son.”

⁸⁸ tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.

⁸⁹ tn Heb “sons.”

⁹⁰ sn Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beer Sheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites.

⁹¹ sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

⁹² tn Heb “went out.”

⁹³ tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.”

⁹⁴ tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”

⁹⁵ tn Heb “What should we do for them, for the remaining ones, concerning wives?”

⁹⁶ tn Heb “Look, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.”