Discovery BoxJudges 4:5 
Context4:5 She would sit 1 under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel 2 in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled. 3
Judges 9:15
Context9:15 The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to choose 4 me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches! 5 Otherwise 6 may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
Judges 11:7-8
Context11:7 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “But you hated me and made me leave 7 my father’s house. Why do you come to me now, when you are in trouble?” 11:8 The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That may be true, 8 but now we pledge to you our loyalty. 9 Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader 10 of all who live in Gilead.” 11
Judges 11:31
Context11:31 then whoever is the first to come through 12 the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he 13 will belong to the Lord and 14 I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”
Judges 12:3
Context12:3 When I saw that you were not going to help, 15 I risked my life 16 and advanced against 17 the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up 18 to fight with me today?”
Judges 15:10
Context15:10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking 19 us?” The Philistines 20 said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.”
Judges 15:12
Context15:12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me 21 you will not kill 22 me.”
Judges 18:9
Context18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, 23 for 24 we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, 25 but don’t hesitate 26 to invade and conquer 27 the land.
Judges 19:11
Context19:11 When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late 28 and the servant 29 said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at 30 this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”
Judges 21:8
Context21:8 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. 31
1 tn That is, “consider legal disputes.”
2 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
3 tn Heb “for judgment.”
4 tn Heb “are about to anoint [with oil].”
5 tn Heb “in my shade.”
6 tn Heb “If not.”
7 tn Heb “Did you not hate me and make me leave?”
8 tn Heb “therefore”; “even so.” For MT לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) the LXX has an opposite reading, “not so,” which seems to be based on the Hebrew words לֹא כֵן (lo’ khen).
9 tn Heb “we have returned to you.” For another example of שׁוּב אֶל (shuv ’el) in the sense of “give allegiance to,” see 1 Kgs 12:27b.
10 sn Then you will become the leader. The leaders of Gilead now use the word רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head, leader”), the same term that appeared in their original, general offer (see 10:18). In their initial offer to Jephthah they had simply invited him to be their קָצִין (qatsin, “commander”; v. 6). When he resists they must offer him a more attractive reward – rulership over the region. See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 198.
11 tn Heb “leader of us and all who live in Gilead.”
12 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.
13 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.
14 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
15 tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”
16 tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”
17 tn Heb “crossed over to.”
18 tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
19 tn Or “come up against.”
20 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn Or “swear to me.”
22 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
23 tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”
24 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”
25 tn Heb “But you are inactive.”
26 tn Or “be lazy.”
27 tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”
28 tn Heb “and the day was descending greatly.”
29 tn Or “young man.”
30 tn Heb “turn aside” (also in the following verse).
31 tn Heb “Look, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.”
