Hakim-hakim 2:3

2:3 At that time I also warned you, ¹  ‘If you disobey, ²  I will not drive out the Canaanites ³  before you. They will ensnare you ⁴  and their gods will lure you away.’” ⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 2:15

2:15 Whenever they went out to fight, ⁶  the Lord did them harm, ⁷  just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. ⁸  They suffered greatly. ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 2:23

2:23 This is why ¹⁰  the Lord permitted these nations to remain and did not conquer them immediately; ¹¹  he did not hand them over to Joshua.

Hakim-hakim 3:4

3:4 They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. ¹² 

Hakim-hakim 3:12

Deceit, Assassination, and Deliverance

3:12 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹³  The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel ¹⁴  because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight.

Hakim-hakim 3:21-22

3:21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and drove it into Eglon’s ¹⁵  belly. 3:22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud ¹⁶  did not pull the sword out of his belly. ¹⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 4:13

4:13 he ¹⁸  ordered ¹⁹  all his chariotry – nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels – and all the troops he had with him to go from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the River Kishon.

Hakim-hakim 4:18

4:18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest, ²⁰  my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera ²¹  stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him.

Hakim-hakim 6:8

6:8 he ²²  sent a prophet ²³  to the Israelites. He said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought you up from Egypt ²⁴  and took you out of that place of slavery. ²⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 6:35

6:35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well. ²⁶  He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.

Hakim-hakim 7:17-18

7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! ²⁷  I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

Hakim-hakim 7:23

7:23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites. ²⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 8:5

8:5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Give ²⁹  some loaves of bread to the men ³⁰  who are following me, ³¹  because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

Hakim-hakim 8:25

8:25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.” ³²  So they ³³  spread out a garment, and each one threw an earring from his plunder onto it.

Hakim-hakim 8:28

Gideon’s Story Ends

8:28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. ³⁴  The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. ³⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 9:29

9:29 If only these men ³⁶  were under my command, ³⁷  I would get rid of Abimelech!” He challenged Abimelech, ³⁸  “Muster ³⁹  your army and come out for battle!” ⁴⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ⁴¹ 

Hakim-hakim 11:9

11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! ⁴²  If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, ⁴³  I will be your leader.” ⁴⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 11:23

11:23 Since ⁴⁵  the Lord God of Israel has driven out ⁴⁶  the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can just take it from them? ⁴⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 11:34

11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out ⁴⁸  to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. ⁴⁹  She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

Hakim-hakim 19:28

19:28 He said to her, “Get up, let’s leave!” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home. ⁵⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 20:8

20:8 All Israel rose up in unison ⁵¹  and said, “Not one of us will go home! ⁵²  Not one of us will return ⁵³  to his house!

Hakim-hakim 20:28

20:28 Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the Lord ⁵⁴  in those days), “Should we ⁵⁵  once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers, ⁵⁶  or should we ⁵⁷  quit?” The Lord said, “Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them ⁵⁸  over to you.”

Hakim-hakim 20:32

20:32 Then the Benjaminites said, “They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said, “Let’s retreat ⁵⁹  and lure them ⁶⁰  away from the city into the main roads.”

Hakim-hakim 20:39

20:39 the Israelites counterattacked. ⁶¹  Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; ⁶²  they struck down ⁶³  about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “And I also said.” The use of the perfect tense here suggests that the messenger is recalling an earlier statement (see Josh 23:12-13). However, some translate, “And I also say,” understanding the following words as an announcement of judgment upon those gathered at Bokim.

[2:3]  ² tn The words “If you disobey” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See Josh 23:12-13.

[2:3]  ³ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Canaanites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צִדִּים (tsiddim) is uncertain in this context. It may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “snare.” If so, a more literal translation would be “they will become snares to you.” Normally the term in question means “sides,” but this makes no sense here. On the basis of Num 33:55 some suggest the word for “thorns” has been accidentally omitted. If this word is added, the text would read, “they will become [thorns] in your sides” (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “their gods will become a snare to you.”

[2:15]  ⁶ tn The expression “to fight” is interpretive.

[2:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord’s hand was against them for harm.”

[2:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”

[2:15]  ⁹ tn Or “they experienced great distress.”

[2:23]  ¹⁰ tn The words “this is why” are interpretive.

[2:23]  ¹¹ tn Or “quickly.”

[3:4]  ¹² tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”

[3:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord” (also later in this verse).

[3:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “strengthened Eglon…against Israel.”

[3:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Eglon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ehud) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:22]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text has “and he went out to the [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew word פַּרְשְׁדֹנָה (parshÿdonah) which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. The noun has the article prefixed and directive suffix. The word may be a technical architectural term, indicating the area into which Ehud moved as he left the king and began his escape. In this case Ehud is the subject of the verb “went out.” The present translation omits the clause, understanding it as an ancient variant of the first clause in v. 23. Some take the noun as “back,” understand “sword” (from the preceding clause) as the subject, and translate “the sword came out his [i.e., Eglon’s] back.” But this rendering is unlikely since the Hebrew word for “sword” (חֶרֶב, kherev) is feminine and the verb form translated “came out” (וַיֵּצֵא, vayyetse’) is masculine. (One expects agreement in gender when the subject is supplied from the preceding clause. See Ezek 33:4, 6.) See B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 146-48, for discussion of the options.

[4:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Sisera.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:13]  ¹⁹ tn Or “summoned.”

[4:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Turn aside” (also a second time later in this verse).

[4:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sisera) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:8]  ²² tn Heb “the Lord”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:8]  ²³ tn Heb “a man, a prophet.” Hebrew idiom sometimes puts a generic term before a more specific designation.

[6:8]  ²⁴ tc Some ancient witnesses read “from the land of Egypt.” מֵאֶרֶץ (me’erets, “from the land [of]”) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton (note the following מִמִּצְרַיִם [mimmitsrayim, “from Egypt”]).

[6:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

[6:35]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and he also was summoned after him.”

[7:17]  ²⁷ tn Or “look.”

[7:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Midian.”

[8:5]  ²⁹ tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

[8:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because these were warriors and in ancient Israelite culture would have been exclusively males.

[8:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “who are at my feet.”

[8:25]  ³² tn Heb “We will indeed give.”

[8:25]  ³³ tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.

[8:28]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Midian was humbled before the Israelites, and they no longer lifted their heads.”

[8:28]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the days of Gideon.”

[9:29]  ³⁶ tn Heb “people.”

[9:29]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in my hand.”

[9:29]  sn If only these men were under my command. One might assume from v. 26b that the men were already at his disposal, but perhaps that was not one of the terms of the agreement. Another possibility is that v. 26 is a general summary statement, with vv. 27-29 then detailing how the alliance with Gaal came about.

[9:29]  ³⁸ tn Heb “said to Abimelech.” On the other hand, the preposition ל (lamed) prefixed to the proper name may be vocative (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178). If so, one could translate, “He boasted, ‘Abimelech…’”

[9:29]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Make numerous.”

[9:29]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “for battle” are interpretive.

[11:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[11:9]  ⁴² tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “places them before me.”

[11:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Some translate the final statement as a question, “will I really be your leader?” An affirmative sentence is preferable. Jephthah is repeating the terms of the agreement in an official manner. In v. 10 the leaders legally agree to these terms.

[11:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Now.”

[11:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “dispossessed.”

[11:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “will you dispossess him [i.e., Israel; or possibly “it,” i.e., the territory]?” There is no interrogative marker in the Hebrew text.

[11:34]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”

[11:34]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”

[19:28]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “And the man took her on the donkey and arose and went to his place.”

[20:8]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “as one man.”

[20:8]  ⁵² tn Heb “to his tent.”

[20:8]  ⁵³ tn Or “turn aside.”

[20:28]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “standing before him.”

[20:28]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “my brother” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “I” (collective singular).

[20:28]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

[20:32]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “run away.”

[20:32]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “him” (collective singular).

[20:39]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “turned in the battle.”

[20:39]  ⁶² tn Heb “And Benjamin began to strike down wounded ones among the men of Israel.”

[20:39]  ⁶³ tn The words “they struck down” are supplied in the translation for clarification.