Hakim-hakim 1:6

1:6 When Adoni-Bezek ran away, they chased him and captured him. Then they cut off his thumbs and big toes.

Hakim-hakim 3:2

3:2 He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war. ¹ 

Hakim-hakim 11:15

11:15 and said to him, “This is what Jephthah says, ‘Israel did not steal ²  the land of Moab and the land of the Ammonites.

Hakim-hakim 14:11

14:11 When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 15:17

15:17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down ⁴  and named that place Ramath Lehi. ⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 20:41

20:41 When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked ⁶  because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 21:11

21:11 Do this: ⁸  exterminate every male, as well as every woman who has had sexual relations with a male. ⁹  But spare the lives of any virgins.” So they did as instructed. ¹⁰ 

¹ tn The Hebrew syntax of v. 2 is difficult. The Hebrew text reads literally, “only in order that the generations of the Israelites might know, to teach them war – only those who formerly did not know them.”

sn The stated purpose for leaving the nations (to teach the subsequent generations…how to conduct holy war) seems to contradict 2:22 and 3:4, which indicate the nations were left to test Israel’s loyalty to the Lord. However, the two stated purposes can be harmonized. The willingness of later generations to learn and engage in holy war would measure their allegiance to the Lord (see B. G. Webb, Judges [JSOTSup], 114-15).

² tn Or “take”; or “seize.”

³ tn Heb “When they saw him, they gave him thirty companions and they were with him.” Instead of כִּרְאוֹתָם (kir’otam, “when they saw”) some ancient witnesses (e.g., some mss of the LXX) assume the reading בְּיִרְאָתָם (bÿyir’atam, “because they feared”).

⁴ tn Heb “from his hand.”

⁵ sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”

⁶ tn Or “were terrified.”

⁷ tn Heb “disaster touched against them.”

⁸ tn Heb “And this is the thing that you will do.”

⁹ tn Heb “every woman who is familiar with the bed of a male.”

¹⁰ tc Some Greek witnesses (notably Codex Vaticanus [B]) add the words, “‘But the virgins you should keep alive.’ And they did so.” These additional words, which probably represent the original Hebrew text, can be retroverted: וְאֶת־הַבְּתוּלוֹת תְּחַיּוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן (ve’et-habbÿtulot tÿkhayyu vayya’asu khen). It is likely that a scribe’s eye jumped from the vav (ו) on וְאֶת (vÿ’et) to the initial vav of v. 11, accidentally leaving out the intervening letters. The present translation is based on this reconstruction.