Discovery BoxJudges 1:19 
Context1:19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered 1 the hill country, but they could not 2 conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. 3
Judges 2:14
Context2:14 The Lord was furious with Israel 4 and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. 5 He turned them over to 6 their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks. 7
Judges 2:22
Context2:22 Joshua left those nations 8 to test 9 Israel. I wanted to see 10 whether or not the people 11 would carefully walk in the path 12 marked out by 13 the Lord, as their ancestors 14 were careful to do.”
Judges 3:1
Context3:1 These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites. 15
Judges 3:8-9
Context3:8 The Lord was furious with Israel 16 and turned them over to 17 King Cushan-Rishathaim 18 of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects 19 for eight years. 3:9 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he 20 raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued 21 them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. 22
Judges 3:28
Context3:28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” 23 They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River 24 opposite Moab, 25 and did not let anyone cross.
Judges 4:3
Context4:3 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, because Sisera 26 had nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, 27 and he cruelly 28 oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
Judges 4:9
Context4:9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame 29 on the expedition you are undertaking, 30 for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman.” 31 Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Judges 4:18
Context4:18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest, 32 my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera 33 stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him.
Judges 5:31
Context5:31 May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord!
But may those who love you shine
like the rising sun at its brightest!” 34
And the land had rest for forty years.
Judges 6:8
Context6:8 he 35 sent a prophet 36 to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt 37 and took you out of that place of slavery. 38
Judges 6:10
Context6:10 I said to you, “I am the Lord your God! Do not worship 39 the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living!” But you have disobeyed me.’” 40
Judges 7:5
Context7:5 So he brought the men 41 down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” 42
Judges 7:7
Context7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army 43 and I will hand Midian over to you. 44 The rest of the men should go home.” 45
Judges 7:15
Context7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. 46 Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!”
Judges 7:20
Context7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. 47 Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
Judges 8:19
Context8:19 He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear, 48 as surely as the Lord is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
Judges 11:9
Context11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! 49 If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, 50 I will be your leader.” 51
Judges 11:21
Context11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took 52 all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.
Judges 11:24
Context11:24 You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us. 53
Judges 11:31
Context11:31 then whoever is the first to come through 54 the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he 55 will belong to the Lord and 56 I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”
Judges 11:35
Context11:35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me! 57 You have brought me disaster! 58 I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.” 59
Judges 12:3
Context12:3 When I saw that you were not going to help, 60 I risked my life 61 and advanced against 62 the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up 63 to fight with me today?”
Judges 13:20
Context13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it 64 while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown 65 to the ground.
Judges 14:4
Context14:4 Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, 66 because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines 67 (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).
Judges 14:6
Context14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered 68 him and he tore the lion 69 in two with his bare hands 70 as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
Judges 14:19
Context14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes 71 and gave them 72 to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. 73
Judges 15:14
Context15:14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered 74 him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in 75 fire, and they 76 melted away from his hands.
Judges 15:18
Context15:18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant 77 this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” 78
Judges 16:20
Context16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here, 79 Samson!” He woke up 80 and thought, 81 “I will do as I did before 82 and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.
Judges 21:7-8
Context21:7 How can we find wives for those who are left? 83 After all, we took an oath in the Lord’s name not to give them our daughters as wives.” 21:8 So they asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?” Now it just so happened no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the gathering. 84
Judges 21:19
Context21:19 However, there is an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel 85 (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah.”
1 tn Or “seized possession of”; or “occupied.”
2 tc Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.
3 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.
4 tn Or “The
5 tn Heb “robbers who robbed them.” (The verb שָׁסָה [shasah] appears twice in the verse.)
sn The expression robbers who plundered them is a derogatory reference to the enemy nations, as the next line indicates.
6 tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
7 tn The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
8 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
9 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.
10 tn The words “I [i.e., the
11 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Or “way [of life].”
13 tn “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.
14 tn Or “fathers.”
15 tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”
16 tn Or “The
17 tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
18 tn Or “Cushan the Doubly Wicked.”
19 tn Or “they served Cushan-Rishathaim.”
20 tn Heb “the
21 tn Or “delivered.”
22 tn “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel is Caleb’s nephew).
23 tn Heb “for the Lord has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand.” The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the
24 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.
25 tn Or “against Moab,” that is, so as to prevent the Moabites from crossing.
26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 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.
28 tn Heb “with strength.”
29 tn Or “honor.”
30 tn Heb “on [account of (?)] the way which you are walking.” Another option is to translate, “due to the way you are going about this.” In this case direct reference is made to Barak’s hesitancy as the reason for his loss of glory.
31 tn Heb “for into the hands of a woman the
32 tn Heb “Turn aside” (also a second time later in this verse).
33 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
34 tn Heb “But may those who love him be like the going forth of the sun in its strength.”
35 tn Heb “the
36 tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.
37 tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).
38 tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”
39 tn Heb “Do not fear.”
40 tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”
41 tn Heb “the people.”
42 tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”
43 tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.
44 tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.
45 tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”
46 tn Heb “he bowed down” or “worshiped.”
47 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in order to blow [them].” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
48 tn The words “I swear” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
49 tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
50 tn Heb “places them before me.”
51 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.
52 tn That is, took as its own possession.
53 tn Heb “Is it not so that what Chemosh your god causes you to possess, you possess, and all whom the
54 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.
55 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.
56 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
57 tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.
58 tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”
59 tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the
60 tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”
61 tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”
62 tn Heb “crossed over to.”
63 tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
64 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
65 tn Heb “on their faces.”
66 tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”
67 tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”
68 tn Heb “rushed on.”
69 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
70 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
71 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
72 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
73 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
74 tn Heb “rushed on.”
75 tn Heb “burned with.”
76 tn Heb “his bonds.”
77 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
78 tn Heb “the uncircumcised,” which in context refers to the Philistines.
79 tn Heb “are upon you.”
80 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
81 tn Heb “and said.”
82 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
83 tn Heb “What should we do for them, for the remaining ones, concerning wives?”
84 tn Heb “Look, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.”
85 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
