Hakim-hakim 1:14

1:14 One time Acsah ¹  came and charmed her father ²  so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

Hakim-hakim 1:24

1:24 the spies spotted ³  a man leaving the city. They said to him, “If you show us a secret entrance into the city, we will reward you.”

Hakim-hakim 2:20

A Divine Decision

2:20 The Lord was furious with Israel. ⁴  He said, “This nation ⁵  has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors ⁶  by disobeying me. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 3:17

3:17 He brought the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab. (Now Eglon was a very fat man.)

Hakim-hakim 4:18

4:18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest, ⁸  my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera ⁹  stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him.

Hakim-hakim 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ¹⁰  reporting, “Beware! ¹¹  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ¹²  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ¹³ 

Hakim-hakim 18:25

18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men ¹⁴  will attack you, and you and your family will die.” ¹⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 19:4-6

19:4 His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay with him for three days, and they ate and drank together, and spent the night there. 19:5 On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave. ¹⁶  But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, ¹⁷  then you can go.” 19:6 So the two of them sat down and had a meal together. ¹⁸  Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!” ¹⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 21:7

21:7 How can we find wives for those who are left? ²⁰  After all, we took an oath in the Lord’s name not to give them our daughters as wives.”

[1:14]  ¹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ² tn Heb “him.” The pronoun could refer to Othniel, in which case one would translate, “she incited him [Othniel] to ask her father for a field.” This is problematic, however, for Acsah, not Othniel, makes the request in v. 15. The LXX has “he [Othniel] urged her to ask her father for a field.” This appears to be an attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency and probably does not reflect the original text. If Caleb is understood as the referent of the pronoun, the problem disappears. For a fuller discussion of the issue, see P. G. Mosca, “Who Seduced Whom? A Note on Joshua 15:18 // Judges 1:14,” CBQ 46 (1984): 18-22. The translation takes Caleb to be the referent, specified as “her father.”

[1:24]  ³ tn Heb “saw.”

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”

[2:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “Because this nation.”

[2:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “my covenant which I commanded their fathers.”

[2:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “and has not listened to my voice.” The expression “to not listen to [God’s] voice” is idiomatic here for disobeying him.

[4:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “Turn aside” (also a second time later in this verse).

[4:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:31]  ¹⁰ tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה (ramah, “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.

[9:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ¹² tn The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.

[9:31]  ¹³ tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).

[18:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.

[18:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

[19:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he arose to go.”

[19:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Sustain your heart [with] a bit of food.”

[19:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and they drank.”

[19:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Be willing and spend the night so that your heart might be good.”

[21:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “What should we do for them, for the remaining ones, concerning wives?”