Discovery BoxJudges 10:6 
Context10:6 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. 1 They worshiped 2 the Baals and the Ashtars, 3 as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon, 4 Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. 5 They abandoned the Lord and did not worship 6 him.
Judges 11:18
Context11:18 Then Israel 7 went through the desert and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab. They traveled east of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon River; 8 they did not go through Moabite territory (the Arnon was Moab’s border).
Judges 12:6
Context12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” 9 If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word 10 correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead.
Judges 16:2
Context16:2 The Gazites were told, 11 “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town 12 and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. 13 They relaxed 14 all night, thinking, 15 “He will not leave 16 until morning comes; 17 then we will kill him!”
Judges 18:2
Context18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, 18 capable men 19 from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house. 20
Judges 18:7
Context18:7 So the five men journeyed on 21 and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there 22 were living securely, like the Sidonians do, 23 undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. 24 They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 25
Judges 19:22
Context19:22 They were having a good time, 26 when suddenly 27 some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, 28 surrounded the house and kept beating 29 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.” 30
1 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
2 tn Or “served;” or “followed.”
3 sn The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Ashtar (i.e., Astarte).
4 map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
5 tn Heb “the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines.”
6 tn Or “serve”; or “follow.”
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel; the pronoun in the Hebrew text represents a collective singular) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
9 sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.
10 tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew
11 tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”
12 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.
13 tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”
14 tn Heb “were silent.”
15 tn Heb “saying.”
16 tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
17 tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”
18 tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”
19 tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”
20 tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”
21 tn Or “went.”
22 tn Heb “who were in its midst.”
23 tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”
24 tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”
25 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.
26 tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”
27 tn Heb “and look.”
28 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.
29 tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.
30 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).
