(0.25) | (1Sa 1:21) | 2 sn The only vow that has been mentioned so far is Hannah’s. This either implies an additional vow not made known to us, or implies Elkanah’s affirmation of her vow. According to Num 30:6-8 a husband could nullify his wife’s vow, or allow it to stand. |
(0.25) | (Rut 4:6) | 1 sn I would ruin my own inheritance. It is not entirely clear how acquiring Ruth and raising up an heir for the deceased Elimelech would ruin this individual’s inheritance. Perhaps this means that the inheritance of his other children would be diminished. See R. L. Hubbard, Jr., Ruth (NICOT), 245-46. |
(0.25) | (Rut 3:2) | 1 tn Heb “Is not Boaz our close relative, with whose female servants you were?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see Ruth 2:8-9; 3:1) and has thus been translated in the affirmative (so also NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). |
(0.25) | (Rut 3:1) | 2 tn Heb “My daughter, should I not seek for you a resting place so that it may go well for you [or which will be good for you]?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see 2:8-9) and has thus been translated in the affirmative (so also NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). |
(0.25) | (Rut 2:16) | 1 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis. Here שָׁלַל (shalal, “pull out”) is a homonym of the more common Hebrew verb meaning “to plunder.” An Arabic cognate is used of drawing a sword out of a scabbard (see BDB 1021 s.v.). |
(0.25) | (Rut 1:8) | 3 tn Heb “do with you”; NRSV “deal kindly with you”; NLT “reward you for your kindness.” The pronominal suffix “you” appears to be a masculine form, but this is likely a preservation of an archaic dual form (see E. F. Campbell, Ruth [AB], 65; F. W. Bush, Ruth, Esther [WBC], 75-76). |
(0.25) | (Jdg 20:48) | 2 tc The translation is based on the reading מֵעִיר מְתִים (meʿir metim, “from a city of men,” i.e., “an inhabited city”), rather than the reading מֵעִיר מְתֹם (meʿir metom, “from a city of soundness”) found in the Leningrad Codex (L). |
(0.25) | (Jdg 16:24) | 1 tn Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see C. F. Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon. |
(0.25) | (Jdg 12:6) | 1 sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning. |
(0.25) | (Jdg 9:46) | 2 tn Apparently this rare word refers here to the most inaccessible area of the temple, perhaps the inner sanctuary or an underground chamber. It appears only here and in 1 Sam 13:6, where it is paired with “cisterns” and refers to subterranean or cave-like hiding places. |
(0.25) | (Jdg 8:4) | 1 tn Heb “And Gideon arrived at the Jordan, crossing over, he and the 300 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.) |
(0.25) | (Jdg 8:2) | 2 sn Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim’s mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon’s family. |
(0.25) | (Jdg 5:22) | 1 tc The MT as it stands has a singular noun, but if one moves the prefixed mem (מ) from the beginning of the next word to the end of סוּס (sus), the expected plural form is achieved. Another possibility is to understand an error of scribal haplography here, in which case the letter mem should appear in both places. |
(0.25) | (Jdg 5:7) | 3 tn The translation assumes that the verb is an archaic second feminine singular form. Though Deborah is named as one of the composers of the song (v. 1), she is also addressed within it (v. 12). Many take the verb as first person singular, “I arose” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). |
(0.25) | (Jos 23:7) | 2 tn Heb “and in the name of their gods you must not invoke and you must not make solemn declarations.” The words “and you must not make solemn declarations” are omitted in the LXX and may represent a later scribal addition to elucidate the immediately preceding command. The Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shavaʿ) without an object occurs only here and in Josh 6:26. |
(0.25) | (Jos 19:9) | 1 tn Heb “from the portion of the sons of Judah was the inheritance of the sons of Simeon for the portion of the sons of Judah was too large for them, and the sons of Simeon received an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.” |
(0.25) | (Jos 12:8) | 2 sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) is a geographic feature extending from Galilee to the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here it probably refers to the Jordan valley and an area extending south of the Dead Sea by the Negev. |
(0.25) | (Jos 10:40) | 1 sn The Negev is an area of central southern Judah, south of the hill country and west of the rift valley. As a geographic feature it is a depression extending south to the Gulf of Aqabah, but the biblical reference is probably to the northern portion of the region. |
(0.25) | (Jos 8:31) | 1 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones on which no one had wielded iron.” The expression “whole stones” refers to stones in their natural condition, i.e., not carved or shaped artificially with tools (“wielded iron”). |
(0.25) | (Jos 8:14) | 1 sn This probably refers to the hill country at the edge of the rift valley between Ai and Jericho. This part of the battle was probably engaged where Israel would have come up to the hill country out of the rift valley from Jericho, an ascent of about 4000 feet (with ups and downs) over ten miles. |