Hakim-hakim 6:35

6:35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well. ¹  He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.

Hakim-hakim 8:27

8:27 Gideon used all this to make ²  an ephod, ³  which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites ⁴  prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it ⁵  there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Hakim-hakim 9:4

9:4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous ⁶  men as his followers. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 20:40

20:40 But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky. ⁸ 

[6:35]  ¹ tn Heb “and he also was summoned after him.”

[8:27]  ² tn Heb “made it into.”

[8:27]  ³ sn In Exod 28:4-6 and several other texts an ephod is described as a priestly or cultic garment. In some cases an ephod is used to obtain a divine oracle (1 Sam 23:9; 30:7). Here the ephod is made of gold and is described as being quite heavy (70-75 lbs?). Some identify it as an idol, but it was more likely a cultic object fashioned in the form of a garment which was used for oracular purposes. For discussion of the ephod in the OT, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 236-43, and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 349-52.

[8:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).

[8:27]  ⁵ tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “empty and reckless.”

[9:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they followed him.”

[20:40]  ⁸ tn Heb “Benjamin turned after him and, look, the whole city went up toward the sky.”