Hakim-hakim 1:7

1:7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick up ¹  food scraps ²  under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them.” ³  They brought him to Jerusalem, ⁴  where he died.

Hakim-hakim 2:7

2:7 The people worshiped ⁵  the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men ⁶  who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed ⁷  all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 5:20

5:20 From the sky ⁹  the stars ¹⁰  fought,

from their paths in the heavens ¹¹  they fought against Sisera.

Hakim-hakim 8:2

8:2 He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes ¹²  are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! ¹³ 

Hakim-hakim 20:29

20:29 So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah.

[1:7]  ¹ tn Elsewhere this verb usually carries the sense of “to gather; to pick up; to glean,” but “lick up” seems best here in light of the peculiar circumstances described by Adoni-Bezek.

[1:7]  ² tn The words “food scraps” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “Just as I did, so God has repaid me.” Note that the phrase “to them” has been supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.

[1:7]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[2:7]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “elders,” which could be interpreted to mean “leaders.”

[2:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen.”

[2:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”

[5:20]  ⁹ tn Or “from heaven.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[5:20]  ¹⁰ tn The MT takes “the stars” with what follows rather than with the first colon of v. 20. But for metrical reasons it seems better to move the atnach and read the colon as indicated in the translation.

[5:20]  ¹¹ tn The words “in the heavens” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ¹² tn Heb “gleanings.”

[8:2]  ¹³ 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.