Discovery BoxJudges 6:33 
Context6:33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east 1 assembled. They crossed the Jordan River 2 and camped in the Jezreel Valley.
Judges 8:4
Context8:4 Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites. 3
Judges 10:8
Context10:8 They ruthlessly oppressed 4 the Israelites that eighteenth year 5 – that is, all the Israelites living east of the Jordan in Amorite country in Gilead.
1 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east.”
2 tn The words “the Jordan River” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
3 tn Heb “And Gideon arrived at the Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted and chasing.” The English past perfect (“had crossed”) is used because this verse flashes back chronologically to an event that preceded the hostile encounter described in vv. 1-3. (Note that 7:25 assumes Gideon had already crossed the Jordan.)
4 tn Heb “shattered and crushed.” The repetition of similar sounding synonyms (רָעַץ [ra’ats] and רָצַץ [ratsats]) is for emphasis; רָצַץ appears in the Polel, adding further emphasis to the affirmation.
5 tn The phrase שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה (shemoneh ’esreh shanah) could be translated “eighteen years,” but this would be difficult after the reference to “that year.” It is possible that v. 8b is parenthetical, referring to an eighteen year long period of oppression east of the Jordan which culminated in hostilities against all Israel (including Judah, see v. 9) in the eighteenth year. It is simpler to translate the phrase as an ordinal number, though the context does not provide the point of reference. (See Gen 14:4-5 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 191-92.) In this case, the following statement specifies which “Israelites” are in view.
