Hakim-hakim 1:16-17

1:16 Now the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the City of Date Palm Trees to Arad in the desert of Judah, ¹  located in the Negev. ²  They went and lived with the people of Judah. ³ 

1:17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon ⁴  and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath. ⁵  So people now call the city Hormah. ⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 4:9

4:9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame ⁷  on the expedition you are undertaking, ⁸  for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman.” ⁹  Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Hakim-hakim 9:31

9:31 He sent messengers to Abimelech, who was in Arumah, ¹⁰  reporting, “Beware! ¹¹  Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers are coming ¹²  to Shechem and inciting the city to rebel against you. ¹³ 

Hakim-hakim 15:6

15:6 The Philistines asked, ¹⁴  “Who did this?” They were told, ¹⁵  “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite ¹⁶  took Samson’s ¹⁷  bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. ¹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 16:3

16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. ¹⁹  He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. ²⁰  He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron. ²¹ 

[1:16]  ¹ tc Part of the Greek ms tradition lacks the words “of Judah.”

[1:16]  ² tn Heb “[to] the Desert of Judah in the Negev, Arad.”

[1:16]  ³ tn The phrase “of Judah” is supplied here in the translation. Some ancient textual witnesses read, “They went and lived with the Amalekites.” This reading, however, is probably influenced by 1 Sam 15:6 (see also Num 24:20-21).

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ⁶ sn The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).

[4:9]  ⁷ tn Or “honor.”

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “on [account of (?)] the way which you are walking.” Another option is to translate, “due to the way you are going about this.” In this case direct reference is made to Barak’s hesitancy as the reason for his loss of glory.

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “for into the hands of a woman the Lord will sell Sisera.”

[9:31]  ¹⁰ tn The form בְּתָרְמָה (bÿtarmah) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה (ramah, “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” (בָּארוּמָה, ba’rumah), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.

[9:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look!”

[9:31]  ¹² tn The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.

[9:31]  ¹³ tn The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר (tsur) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).

[15:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “said.”

[15:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.

[15:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.

[16:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”

[16:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with the bar.”

[16:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”