¹ 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.

² tn Or “make music.”

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.

⁵ tn Heb “with what.”

⁶ tn Heb “in my father’s house.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.

⁹ tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).

¹⁰ tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house is founded.”

¹¹ tn Heb “And I am going to reside in a place I can find.”