¹ tn Heb “And the 600 men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”

² tn Heb “to Makir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, for he was a man of war.”

¹ tn Heb “All the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came opposite the city.”

¹ sn Heb “you will not fall by the sword.” In the context this would include death in battle and execution as a prisoner of war.

⁴ sn It is not that he did not know about the war, but he did not attribute this to God’s wrath.

⁵ tn Heb “to the Canaanites.” These are the Phoenician traders that survived the wars and continued to do business down to the exile.

¹ tn Heb “and Abijah bound [i.e., began] the battle with a force of men of war, 400,000 chosen men.”

² tn The Hebrew text is abrupt here: “And all the men of war by the night.” The translation attempts to capture the sense.

¹ tn Heb “he summoned all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men, accomplished in war.”

¹ sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. See the note on the same term in 7:3.

² sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. See the note on the same term in 7:3.

¹ tn Heb “They journeyed from there, from the tribe of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, 600 men, equipped with weapons of war.”

¹ tn This probably refers to those who responded to the call for war. They were “survivors” of the Canaanite oppression (see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 250).

¹ tn Heb “Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them at the Waters of Merom suddenly and fell upon them.”

¹ tn Heb “And Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the brave warriors.”

¹ tn Heb “all the nation, the men of war who went out from Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord, came to an end.”

¹ tn Heb “and it was when they were eliminated, all the men of war, to die from the midst of the people.”

¹ sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.

¹ sn Here we have a short section (10:1-10) dealing with the regulations for blowing trumpets in times of war or in times of peace.

⁴ tn Heb “no sword”; the words “of war” are supplied in the translation to indicate what the metaphor of the sword represents.