Discovery BoxJudges 1:1 
Context1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked 1 the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” 2
Judges 2:4
Context2:4 When the Lord’s messenger finished speaking these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. 3
Judges 2:8
Context2:8 Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten.
Judges 5:2
Context5:2 “When the leaders took the lead 4 in Israel,
When the people answered the call to war –
Praise the Lord!
Judges 5:13
Context5:13 Then the survivors 5 came down 6 to the mighty ones; 7
the Lord’s people came down to me 8 as 9 warriors.
Judges 6:6
Context6:6 Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
Judges 6:16
Context6:16 The Lord said to him, “Ah, but 10 I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” 11
Judges 6:23
Context6:23 The Lord said to him, “You are safe! 12 Do not be afraid! You are not going to die!”
Judges 6:34
Context6:34 The Lord’s spirit took control of 13 Gideon. He blew a trumpet, 14 summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 15
Judges 7:9
Context7:9 That night the Lord said to Gideon, 16 “Get up! Attack 17 the camp, for I am handing it over to you. 18
Judges 10:11
Context10:11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,
Judges 11:30
Context11:30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me,
Judges 13:13
Context13:13 The Lord’s messenger told 19 Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. 20
Judges 13:18
Context13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” 21
Judges 18:6
Context18:6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence. 22 The Lord will be with you on your mission.” 23
Judges 20:27
Context20:27 The Israelites asked the Lord (for the ark of God’s covenant was there in those days;
Judges 20:35
Context20:35 The Lord annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites. 24
1 tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the
2 tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”
3 tn Heb “lifted their voices and wept.”
4 tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression בִּפְרֹעַ פְּרָעוֹת (bifroa’ pÿra’ot) is uncertain. Numerous proposals are offered by commentators. (For a survey of opinions, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 223-27.) The next line refers to the people who responded to Barak’s summons to war, so a reference to the leaders who issued the summons would provide a natural poetic parallel. In v. 9 the leaders (חוֹקְקֵי, khoqÿqey) of the people and these same volunteers stand in poetic parallelism, so it is reasonable to assume that the difficult Hebrew term פְּרַעוֹת (pÿra’ot, v. 2a) is synonymous with חוֹקְקֵי (khoqÿqey) of v. 9 (see Lindars, 227).
5 tn This probably refers to those who responded to the call for war. They were “survivors” of the Canaanite oppression (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 250).
6 tn The translation assumes a repointing of the verb as a perfect or imperfect/preterite form of יָרַד (yarad, “to go down”). The form as pointed in the MT appears to be from רָדָה (radah, “to rule”). See GKC 188 §69.g. The same form, translated “came down,” occurs in the next line as well.
7 sn The expression mighty ones probably refers to the leaders of the army.
8 sn The speaker may be Deborah here.
9 tn The translation assumes the preposition ב (bet) prefixed to “warriors” has the force of “in the capacity of.” For this use of the preposition, see GKC 379 §119.i.
10 tn Or “certainly.”
11 tn Heb “You will strike down Midian as one man.” The idiom “as one man” emphasizes the collective unity of a group (see Judg 20:8, 11). Here it may carry the force, “as if they were just one man.”
12 tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.
13 tn Heb “clothed.”
14 tn That is, “mustered an army.”
15 tn Heb “Abiezer was summoned after him.”
16 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “Go down against.”
18 tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
19 tn Or “said to.”
20 tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.
21 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.
22 tn Heb “in peace.”
23 tn Heb “In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going.”
24 tn Heb “And the sons of Israel struck down in Benjamin that day 25,100 men, all of these wielding the sword.”
