Discovery BoxJudges 1:33 
Context1:33 The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath. 1 They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites 2 living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.
Judges 3:25
Context3:25 They waited so long they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. Finally they took the key and opened the doors. 3 Right before their eyes was their master, sprawled out dead on the floor! 4
Judges 8:21
Context8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, 5 “Come on, 6 you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” 7 So Gideon killed 8 Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.
Judges 15:6
Context15:6 The Philistines asked, 9 “Who did this?” They were told, 10 “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite 11 took Samson’s 12 bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. 13
Judges 16:2
Context16:2 The Gazites were told, 14 “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town 15 and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. 16 They relaxed 17 all night, thinking, 18 “He will not leave 19 until morning comes; 20 then we will kill him!”
Judges 16:17
Context16:17 Finally he told her his secret. 21 He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, 22 for I have been dedicated to God 23 from the time I was conceived. 24 If my head 25 were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”
Judges 17:2
Context17:2 He said to his mother, “You know 26 the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen 27 from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole 28 it, but now I am giving it back to you.” 29 His mother said, “May the Lord reward 30 you, my son!”
Judges 18:7
Context18:7 So the five men journeyed on 31 and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there 32 were living securely, like the Sidonians do, 33 undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. 34 They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 35
Judges 19:16
Context19:16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. 36 The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.) 37
Judges 19:22
Context19:22 They were having a good time, 38 when suddenly 39 some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, 40 surrounded the house and kept beating 41 on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.” 42
1 tn Heb “the people living in Beth Shemesh or the people living in Beth Anath.”
2 tn The term “Canaanites” is supplied here both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
3 tn The words “the doors” are supplied.
4 tn Heb “See, their master, fallen to the ground, dead.”
5 tn The words “to Gideon” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
6 tn Or “Arise.”
7 tn Heb “for as the man is his strength.”
8 tn Heb “arose and killed.”
9 tn Or “said.”
10 tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.
14 tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”
15 tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.
16 tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”
17 tn Heb “were silent.”
18 tn Heb “saying.”
19 tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
20 tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”
21 tn Heb “all his heart.”
22 tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”
23 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
24 tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”
25 tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).
26 tn The words “You know” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
27 tn Heb “taken.”
28 tn Heb “took.”
29 tn In the Hebrew text the statement, “but now I am giving it back to you,” appears at the end of v. 3 and is spoken by the mother. But v. 4 indicates that she did not give the money back to her son. Unless the statement is spoken by the woman to the LORD, it appears to be misplaced and fits much better in v. 2. It may have been accidentally omitted from a manuscript, written in the margin, and then later inserted in the wrong place in another manuscript.
30 tn Traditionally, “bless.”
31 tn Or “went.”
32 tn Heb “who were in its midst.”
33 tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”
34 tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”
35 tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’aram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’adam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.
36 tn Heb “And look, an old man was coming from his work, from the field in the evening.”
37 tn Heb “And the men of the place were Benjaminites.”
38 tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”
39 tn Heb “and look.”
40 tn Heb “the men of the city, men, the sons of wickedness.” The phrases are in apposition; the last phrase specifies what type of men they were. It is not certain if all the men of the city are in view, or just a group of troublemakers. In 20:5 the town leaders are implicated in the crime, suggesting that all the men of the city were involved. If so, the implication is that the entire male population of the town were good-for-nothings.
41 tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.
42 tn Heb “so we can know him.” On the surface one might think they simply wanted to meet the visitor and get to know him, but their hostile actions betray their double-talk. The old man, who has been living with them long enough to know what they are like, seems to have no doubts about the meaning of their words (see v. 23).
