¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

² sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.

³ tn Heb “I, to the Lord, I, I will sing!” The first singular personal pronoun is used twice, even though a first person finite verbal form is employed.

⁴ tn Or “make music.”

⁵ tn Or “warriors.” The Hebrew text reads literally, “He chose God/gods new.” Some take “Israel” as the subject of the verb, “gods” as object, and “new” as an adjective modifying “gods.” This yields the translation, “(Israel) chose new gods.” In this case idolatry is the cause of the trouble alluded to in the context. The present translation takes “God” as subject of the verb and “new” as substantival, referring to the new leaders raised up by God (see v. 9a). For a survey of opinions and a defense of the present translation, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40.

⁶ tn The translation of this difficult line is speculative because the second word, לָחֶם (lakhem), appears only here. The line in the Hebrew text literally reads, “Then [?] gates.” Interpretations and emendations of the Hebrew text abound (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 239-40). The translation assumes a repointing of the form as a Qal participle לֹחֵם (lokhem) from the verbal root לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) and understands a substantival use (“fighter”). “Fighter” is a collective reference to the military leaders or warriors mentioned in the preceding line and in v. 9. (For other occurrences of the Qal of לָחַם, see Pss 35:1; 56:2-3.)

⁷ tn Heb “A shield, it could not be seen, nor a spear.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) introduces an oath of denial (see GKC 472 §149.e).

⁸ tn Traditionally “forty thousand,” but this may be an instance where Hebrew term אֶלֶף (’elef) refers to a military unit. This is the view assumed by the translation (“forty military units”).

⁹ tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he did so.”

¹¹ tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”

¹² tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹³ tn Heb “God did so that night.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”

¹⁵ tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “remember.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “an evil spirit.” A nonphysical, spirit being is in view, like the one who volunteered to deceive Ahab (1 Kgs 22:21). The traditional translation, “evil spirit,” implies the being is inherently wicked, perhaps even demonic, but this is not necessarily the case. The Hebrew adjective רָעַה (ra’ah) can have a nonethical sense, “harmful; dangerous; calamitous.” When modifying רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) it may simply indicate that the being in view causes harm to the object of God’s judgment. G. F. Moore (Judges [ICC], 253) here refers to a “mischief-making spirit.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “The leaders of Shechem were disloyal.” The words “he made” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁹ tn Heb “came.”

²⁰ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

²¹ tn Heb “Now.”

²² tn Or “dispossessed.”

²³ tn Heb “will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly “it,” i.e., the territory]?” There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.

²⁴ tn Heb “When you enter.”

²⁵ tn Heb “you will come to.”

²⁶ tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”

²⁷ tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

²⁸ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

²⁹ tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”

³⁰ tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”

³¹ tn Heb “one.”