Hakim-hakim 1:1

Judah Takes the Lead

1:1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked ¹  the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?” ² 

Hakim-hakim 1:4

1:4 The men of Judah attacked, ³  and the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They killed ten thousand men at Bezek.

Hakim-hakim 2:3

2:3 At that time I also warned you, ⁴  ‘If you disobey, ⁵  I will not drive out the Canaanites ⁶  before you. They will ensnare you ⁷  and their gods will lure you away.’” ⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 2:14

2:14 The Lord was furious with Israel ⁹  and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. ¹⁰  He turned them over to ¹¹  their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks. ¹² 

Hakim-hakim 2:20

A Divine Decision

2:20 The Lord was furious with Israel. ¹³  He said, “This nation ¹⁴  has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors ¹⁵  by disobeying me. ¹⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 2:22-23

2:22 Joshua left those nations ¹⁷  to test ¹⁸  Israel. I wanted to see ¹⁹  whether or not the people ²⁰  would carefully walk in the path ²¹  marked out by ²²  the Lord, as their ancestors ²³  were careful to do.” 2:23 This is why ²⁴  the Lord permitted these nations to remain and did not conquer them immediately; ²⁵  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. ²⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 3:8

3:8 The Lord was furious with Israel ²⁷  and turned them over to ²⁸  King Cushan-Rishathaim ²⁹  of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects ³⁰  for eight years.

Hakim-hakim 4:2

4:2 The Lord turned them over to ³¹  King Jabin of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. ³²  The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. ³³ 

Hakim-hakim 4:15

4:15 The Lord routed ³⁴  Sisera, all his chariotry, and all his army with the edge of the sword. ³⁵  Sisera jumped out of ³⁶  his chariot and ran away on foot.

Hakim-hakim 5:15

5:15 Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah,

the men of Issachar ³⁷  supported ³⁸  Barak;

into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command. ³⁹ 

Among the clans of Reuben there was intense ⁴⁰  heart searching. ⁴¹ 

Hakim-hakim 5:31

5:31 May all your enemies perish like this, O Lord!

But may those who love you shine

like the rising sun at its brightest!” ⁴² 

And the land had rest for forty years.

Hakim-hakim 6:14

6:14 Then the Lord himself ⁴³  turned to him and said, “You have the strength. ⁴⁴  Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! ⁴⁵  Have I not sent you?”

Hakim-hakim 6:24

6:24 Gideon built an altar for the Lord there, and named it “The Lord is on friendly terms with me.” ⁴⁶  To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Hakim-hakim 7:7

7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army ⁴⁷  and I will hand Midian over to you. ⁴⁸  The rest of the men should go home.” ⁴⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 7:18

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 8:7

8:7 Gideon said, “Since you will not help, ⁵⁰  after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh ⁵¹  your skin ⁵²  with ⁵³  desert thorns and briers.”

Hakim-hakim 8:23

8:23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”

Hakim-hakim 9:27

9:27 They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, ⁵⁴  squeezed out the juice, ⁵⁵  and celebrated. They came to the temple ⁵⁶  of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

Hakim-hakim 10:11

10:11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,

Hakim-hakim 10:15

10:15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, ⁵⁷  but deliver us today!” ⁵⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 11:9

11:9 Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! ⁵⁹  If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, ⁶⁰  I will be your leader.” ⁶¹ 

Hakim-hakim 11:11

11:11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement ⁶²  before the Lord in Mizpah.

Hakim-hakim 11:27

11:27 I have not done you wrong, ⁶³  but you are doing wrong ⁶⁴  by attacking me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!’”

Hakim-hakim 11:29

A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter

11:29 The Lord’s spirit empowered ⁶⁵  Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went ⁶⁶  to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites. ⁶⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 11:31

11:31 then whoever is the first to come through ⁶⁸  the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites – he ⁶⁹  will belong to the Lord and ⁷⁰  I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.”

Hakim-hakim 13:3

13:3 The Lord’s angelic ⁷¹  messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You ⁷²  are infertile and childless, ⁷³  but you will conceive and have a son.

Hakim-hakim 13:13

13:13 The Lord’s messenger told ⁷⁴  Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. ⁷⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 13:19

13:19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. ⁷⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 14:4

14:4 Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, ⁷⁷  because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines ⁷⁸  (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).

Hakim-hakim 16:16

16:16 She nagged him ⁷⁹  every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it. ⁸⁰ 

Hakim-hakim 20:1

Civil War Breaks Out

20:1 All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba ⁸¹  and from the land of Gilead ⁸²  left their homes ⁸³  and assembled together ⁸⁴  before the Lord at Mizpah.

Hakim-hakim 21:7

21:7 How can we find wives for those who are left? ⁸⁵  After all, we took an oath in the Lord’s name not to give them our daughters as wives.”

Hakim-hakim 21:18

21:18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them, ⁸⁶  for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’ ⁸⁷ 

[1:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “Judah went up.”

[2:3]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The words “If you disobey” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See Josh 23:12-13.

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Canaanites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “their gods will become a snare to you.”

[2:14]  ⁹ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”

[2:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “robbers who robbed them.” (The verb שָׁסָה [shasah] appears twice in the verse.)

[2:14]  sn The expression robbers who plundered them is a derogatory reference to the enemy nations, as the next line indicates.

[2:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”

[2:14]  ¹² tn The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[2:20]  ¹³ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”

[2:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Because this nation.”

[2:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my covenant which I commanded their fathers.”

[2:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and has not listened to my voice.” The expression “to not listen to [God’s] voice” is idiomatic here for disobeying him.

[2:22]  ¹⁷ tn The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21). In this case the Lord announces that he has now decided to leave these nations as a test for Israel. Another possibility is to subordinate “to test” to “He said” (v. 20; see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 111). In this case the statement recorded in vv. 20b-21 is the test in that it forces Israel to respond either positively (through repentance) or negatively to the Lord’s declaration. A third possibility (the one reflected in the present translation) is to subordinate “to test” to “left unconquered” (v. 21). In this case the Lord recalls that Joshua left these nations as a test. Israel has failed the test (v. 20), so the Lord announces that the punishment threatened earlier (Josh 23:12-13; see also Judg 2:3) will now be implemented. As B. G. Webb (Judges [JSOTSup], 115) observes, “The nations which were originally left as a test are now left as a punishment.” This view best harmonizes v. 23, which explains that the Lord did not give all the nations to Joshua, with v. 22. (For a grammatical parallel, where the infinitive construct of נָסָה [nasah] is subordinated to the perfect of עָזַב [’azav], see 2 Chr 32:31.)

[2:22]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:22]  ¹⁹ tn The words “I [i.e., the Lord] wanted to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ²¹ tn Or “way [of life].”

[2:22]  ²² tn “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.

[2:22]  ²³ tn Or “fathers.”

[2:23]  ²⁴ tn The words “this is why” are interpretive.

[2:23]  ²⁵ tn Or “quickly.”

[3:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”

[3:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned (or raged) against Israel.”

[3:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”

[3:8]  ²⁹ tn Or “Cushan the Doubly Wicked.”

[3:8]  ³⁰ tn Or “they served Cushan-Rishathaim.”

[4:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “the Lord sold them into the hands of.”

[4:2]  ³² tn Or “King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite ruler.”

[4:2]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[4:2]  ³³ tn Or “Harosheth of the Pagan Nations”; cf. KJV “Harosheth of the Gentiles.”

[4:15]  ³⁴ tn Or “caused to panic.”

[4:15]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “before Barak.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “got down from.”

[5:15]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Issachar.” The words “the men of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:15]  ³⁸ tn Or “was true to.”

[5:15]  ³⁹ tn Heb “at his feet.”

[5:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “great was.”

[5:15]  ⁴¹ tc The great majority of Hebrew mss have “resolves of heart,” but a few mss read “searchings of heart,” which is preferable in light of v. 16.

[5:31]  ⁴² tn Heb “But may those who love him be like the going forth of the sun in its strength.”

[6:14]  ⁴³ sn Some interpreters equate the Lord and the messenger in this story, but they are more likely distinct. In vv. 22-23 the Lord and Gideon continue to carry on a conversation after the messenger has vanished (v. 21).

[6:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”

[6:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”

[6:24]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “The Lord is peace.” Gideon’s name for the altar plays on the Lord’s reassuring words to him, “Peace to you.”

[7:7]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “you.” The Hebrew pronoun is masculine plural, probably referring to the entire army.

[7:7]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew pronoun here is singular.

[7:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “All the people should go, each to his place.”

[8:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[8:7]  ⁵¹ sn I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.

[8:7]  ⁵² tn Or “flesh.”

[8:7]  ⁵³ tn This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229-30.

[9:27]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “vineyards.”

[9:27]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “stomped” or “trampled.” This refers to the way in which the juice was squeezed out in the wine vats by stepping on the grapes with one’s bare feet. For a discussion of grape harvesting in ancient Israel, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-14.

[9:27]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[10:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”

[10:15]  ⁵⁸ sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”

[11:9]  ⁵⁹ tn “All right” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:9]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “places them before me.”

[11:9]  ⁶¹ 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.

[11:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “spoke all his words.” This probably refers to the “words” recorded in v. 9. Jephthah repeats the terms of the agreement at the Lord’s sanctuary, perhaps to ratify the contract or to emphasize the Gileadites’ obligation to keep their part of the bargain. Another option is to translate, “Jephthah conducted business before the Lord in Mizpah.” In this case, the statement is a general reference to the way Jephthah ruled. He recognized the Lord’s authority and made his decisions before the Lord.

[11:27]  ⁶³ tn Or “sinned against you.”

[11:27]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “evil.”

[11:29]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “was on.”

[11:29]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “passed through.”

[11:29]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”

[11:31]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotse’, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.

[11:31]  ⁶⁹ tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.

[11:31]  ⁷⁰ tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the Lord’s service, but if an animal comes through the doors, he will offer it up as a sacrifice. However, it is far more likely that the Hebrew construction (vav [ו] + perfect) specifies how the subject will become the Lord’s, that is, by being offered up as a sacrifice. For similar constructions, where the apodosis of a conditional sentence has at least two perfects (each with vav) in sequence, see Gen 34:15-16; Exod 18:16.

[13:3]  ⁷¹ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).

[13:3]  ⁷² tn Heb “Look, you.”

[13:3]  ⁷³ tn Heb “and have not given birth.”

[13:13]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “said to.”

[13:13]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.

[13:19]  ⁷⁶ tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the Lord’s messenger” was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read לַיהוָה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (layhavah mal’akh yÿhvah), the scribe’s eye could have jumped from the first יְהוָה to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction וּ (shureq) would have been added to the following מַפְלִא (mafli’) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject (הוּא, hu’) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.

[14:4]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”

[14:4]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”

[16:16]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “forced him with her words.”

[16:16]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”

[20:1]  ⁸¹ sn Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beer Sheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites.

[20:1]  ⁸² sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

[20:1]  ⁸³ tn Heb “went out.”

[20:1]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.”

[21:7]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “What should we do for them, for the remaining ones, concerning wives?”

[21:18]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”

[21:18]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “is cursed.”