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 9:44

9:44 Abimelech and his units ³  attacked and blocked ⁴  the entrance to the city’s gate. Two units then attacked all the people in the field and struck them down.

Hakim-hakim 11:3

11:3 So Jephthah left ⁵  his half-brothers ⁶  and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him. ⁷ 

Hakim-hakim 11:21

11:21 The Lord God of Israel handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel and they defeated them. Israel took ⁸  all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land.

Hakim-hakim 11:25

11:25 Are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he dare to quarrel with Israel? Did he dare to fight with them? ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 21:18

21:18 But we can’t allow our daughters to marry them, ¹⁰  for the Israelites took an oath, saying, ‘Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!’ ¹¹ 

[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?”

[9:44]  ³ tn Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”

[9:44]  ⁴ tn Heb “stood [at].”

[11:3]  ⁵ tn Or “fled from.”

[11:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “brothers.”

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “Empty men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”

[11:21]  ⁸ tn That is, took as its own possession.

[11:25]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew grammatical constructions of all three rhetorical questions indicate emphasis, which “really” and “dare to” are intended to express in the translation.

[11:25]  sn Jephthah argues that the Ammonite king should follow the example of Balak, who, once thwarted in his attempt to bring a curse on Israel, refused to attack Israel and returned home (Num 22-24).

[21:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “But we are not able to give to them wives from our daughters.”

[21:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “is cursed.”