¹ tn Heb “Judah should go up.”

² tn The Hebrew exclamation הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally, “Behold”), translated “Be sure of this,” draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (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 Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

³ tn Heb “lifted their voices and wept.”

⁴ tn Or more traditionally, “judges” (also in vv. 17, 18 [3x], 19). Since these figures carried out more than a judicial function, also serving as rulers and (in several instances) as military commanders, the translation uses the term “leaders.”

⁵ tn Heb “and they delivered them from the hand of the ones robbing them.”

⁶ tn Heb “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

⁷ 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).

⁸ tn The words “went out” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁹ 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).

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ sn The expression mighty ones probably refers to the leaders of the army.

¹² sn The speaker may be Deborah here.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ tn Or “certainly.”

¹⁵ 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.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “Peace to you.” For a similar use of this idiom to introduce a reassuring word, see Gen 43:23.

¹⁷ tn Or “the Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “passed over to.”

²⁰ tn Or “said to.”

²¹ 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.

²² tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”

²³ tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”

²⁴ tn Traditionally, “blessed.”

²⁵ tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”

²⁶ tn Heb “in peace.”

²⁷ tn Heb “In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going.”

²⁸ tn Or “felt sorry for.”

²⁹ tn Heb “had made a gaping hole in.” The narrator uses imagery that compares Israel to a wall that has been breached.