Hakim-hakim 12:1--16:31
Konteks12:1 The Ephraimites assembled 1 and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight 2 with the Ammonites without asking 3 us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” 4
12:2 Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were entangled in controversy with the Ammonites. 5 I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power. 6 12:3 When I saw that you were not going to help, 7 I risked my life 8 and advanced against 9 the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up 10 to fight with me today?” 12:4 Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and they fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because the Ephraimites insulted them, saying, 11 “You Gileadites are refugees in Ephraim, living within Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s territory.” 12 12:5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River 13 opposite Ephraim. 14 Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive 15 said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked 16 him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 12:6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’” 17 If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word 18 correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell dead. 12:7 Jephthah led 19 Israel for six years; then he 20 died and was buried in his city in Gilead. 21
12:8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem 22 led 23 Israel. 12:9 He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family, 24 and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons. 25 Ibzan 26 led 27 Israel for seven years; 12:10 then he 28 died and was buried in Bethlehem.
12:11 After him Elon the Zebulunite led 29 Israel for ten years. 30 12:12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
12:13 After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite led 31 Israel. 12:14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years. 12:15 Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
13:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, 32 so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.
13:2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. 33 13:3 The Lord’s angelic 34 messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “You 35 are infertile and childless, 36 but you will conceive and have a son. 13:4 Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. 37 13:5 Look, you will conceive and have a son. 38 You must never cut his hair, 39 for the child will be dedicated to God 40 from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power 41 of the Philistines.”
13:6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God 42 came to me! He looked like God’s angelic messenger – he was very awesome. 43 I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. 44 So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. 45 For the child will be dedicated 46 to God from birth till the day he dies.’”
13:8 Manoah prayed to the Lord, 47 “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God 48 to visit 49 us again, so he can teach 50 us how we should raise 51 the child who will be born.” 13:9 God answered Manoah’s prayer. 52 God’s angelic messenger visited 53 the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 13:10 The woman ran at once and told her husband, 54 “Come quickly, 55 the man who visited 56 me the other day has appeared to me!” 13:11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met 57 the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” 58 He said, “Yes.” 59 13:12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true, 60 how should the child be raised and what should he do?” 61 13:13 The Lord’s messenger told 62 Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. 63 13:14 She should not drink 64 anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. 65 She should obey everything I commanded her to do.” 13:15 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Please stay here awhile, 66 so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.” 67 13:16 The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “If I stay, 68 I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.) 69 13:17 Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.” 70 13:18 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.” 71 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. 72 13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it 73 while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown 74 to the ground.
13:21 The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the Lord’s messenger. 75 13:22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!” 76 13:23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. 77 He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”
13:24 Manoah’s wife 78 gave birth to a son and named him Samson. 79 The child grew and the Lord empowered 80 him. 13:25 The Lord’s spirit began to control him 81 in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye. 82 14:2 When he got home, 83 he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. 84 Now get her for my wife.” 14:3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our 85 people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” 86 But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, 87 because she is the right one for me.” 88 14:4 Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing, 89 because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines 90 (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).
14:5 Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached 91 the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. 92 14:6 The Lord’s spirit empowered 93 him and he tore the lion 94 in two with his bare hands 95 as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
14:7 Samson continued on down to Timnah 96 and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one. 97 14:8 Some time later, when he went back to marry 98 her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw 99 a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. 14:9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned 100 to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass. 101
14:10 Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. 102 Samson hosted a party 103 there, for this was customary for bridegrooms 104 to do. 14:11 When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company. 105 14:12 Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, 106 I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets 107 of clothes. 14:13 But if you cannot solve it, 108 you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.” 109 14:14 He said to them,
“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong one came something sweet.”
They could not solve the riddle for three days.
14:15 On the fourth 110 day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. 111 If you refuse, 112 we will burn up 113 you and your father’s family. 114 Did you invite us here 115 to make us poor?” 116 14:16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder 117 and said, “You must 118 hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men 119 a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” 120 14:17 She cried on his shoulder 121 until the party was almost over. 122 Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. 123 Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle. 124 14:18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
He said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer, 125
you would not have solved my riddle!”
14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes 126 and gave them 127 to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. 128 14:20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. 129
15:1 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, 130 Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. 131 He said to her father, 132 “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” 133 But her father would not let him enter. 15:2 Her father said, “I really thought 134 you absolutely despised 135 her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!” 136 15:3 Samson said to them, 137 “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” 138 15:4 Samson went and captured three hundred jackals 139 and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair. 140 15:5 He lit the torches 141 and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 15:6 The Philistines asked, 142 “Who did this?” They were told, 143 “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite 144 took Samson’s 145 bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. 146 15:7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this, 147 I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.” 148 15:8 He struck them down and defeated them. 149 Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.
15:9 The Philistines went up and invaded 150 Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle 151 in Lehi. 15:10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking 152 us?” The Philistines 153 said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” 15:11 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” 15:12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me 154 you will not kill 155 me.” 15:13 They said to him, “We promise! 156 We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. 15:14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s spirit empowered 157 him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in 158 fire, and they 159 melted away from his hands. 15:15 He happened to see 160 a solid 161 jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it 162 and struck down 163 a thousand men. 15:16 Samson then said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps; 164
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”
15:17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down 165 and named that place Ramath Lehi. 166
15:18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant 167 this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?” 168 15:19 So God split open the basin 169 at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength 170 was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring 171 En Hakkore. 172 It remains in Lehi to this very day. 15:20 Samson led 173 Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence. 174
16:1 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex with her. 175 16:2 The Gazites were told, 176 “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town 177 and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. 178 They relaxed 179 all night, thinking, 180 “He will not leave 181 until morning comes; 182 then we will kill him!” 16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. 183 He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. 184 He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron. 185
16:4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 16:5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate 186 him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”
16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.” 187 16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh 188 bowstrings 189 that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and they tied him up with them. 16:9 They hid 190 in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, 191 Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. 192 The secret of his strength was not discovered. 193
16:10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived 194 me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.” 16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, 195 I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, 196 Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) 197 But he tore the ropes 198 from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.
16:13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair 199 into the fabric on the loom 200 and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.” 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here, 201 Samson!” 202 He woke up 203 and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.
16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me? 204 Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16:16 She nagged him 205 every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it. 206 16:17 Finally he told her his secret. 207 He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, 208 for I have been dedicated to God 209 from the time I was conceived. 210 If my head 211 were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.” 16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, 212 she sent for 213 the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me 214 his secret.” 215 So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. 16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap 216 and then called a man in to shave off 217 the seven braids of his hair. 218 She made him vulnerable 219 and his strength left him. 16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here, 220 Samson!” He woke up 221 and thought, 222 “I will do as I did before 223 and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. 16:21 The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. 16:22 His hair 224 began to grow back after it had been shaved off.
16:23 The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.” 16:24 When the people saw him, 225 they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!” 226
16:25 When they really started celebrating, 227 they said, “Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them. 228 They made him stand between two pillars. 16:26 Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple. 229 Then I can lean on them.” 16:27 Now the temple 230 was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain. 16:28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Master, Lord, 231 remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge 232 against the Philistines for my two eyes!” 16:29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple 233 and he leaned against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. 16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard 234 and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life. 235 16:31 His brothers and all his family 236 went down and brought him back. 237 They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led 238 Israel for twenty years.
[12:1] 1 tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”
[12:1] 2 tn Heb “cross over to fight.”
[12:1] 3 tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”
[12:1] 4 tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”
[12:2] 5 tn Heb A man of great strife I was and my people and the Ammonites.”
[12:3] 7 tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”
[12:3] 8 tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”
[12:3] 9 tn Heb “crossed over to.”
[12:3] 10 tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:4] 11 tn Heb “because they said.”
[12:4] 12 tc Heb “Refugees of Ephraim are you, O Gilead, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” The LXX omits the entire second half of the verse (beginning with “because”). The words כִּי אָמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם (ki ’amru pÿlitey ’efrayim, “because they said, ‘Refugees of Ephraim’”) may have been accidentally copied from the next verse (cf. כִּי יֹאמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם, ki yo’mÿru pelitey ’efrayim) and the following words (“you, O Gilead…Manasseh”) then added in an attempt to make sense of the verse. See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 307-8, and C. F. Burney, Judges, 327. If the Hebrew text is retained, then the Ephraimites appear to be insulting the Gileadites by describing them as refugees who are squatting on Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s land. The present translation assumes that “Ephraim” is a genitive of location after “refugees.”
[12:5] 13 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:5] 14 tn Or “against Ephraim,” that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.
[12:5] 15 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form here.
[12:6] 17 sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.
[12:6] 18 tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew
[12:7] 19 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:7] 20 tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:7] 21 tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.
[12:8] 22 map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
[12:8] 23 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:9] 24 tn Heb “thirty daughters he sent off outside.” Another option is to translate, “He arranged for his thirty daughters…” It is not clear if he had more than the “thirty daughters” mentioned in the text.
[12:9] 25 tn Heb “and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside.”
[12:9] 26 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.
[12:9] 27 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:10] 28 tn Heb “Ibzan.” The pronoun “he” is used in the translation in keeping with English style, which tends to use a proper name first in a sentence followed by a pronoun rather than vice versa.
[12:11] 29 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[12:11] 30 tn Heb “…led Israel. He led Israel for ten years.”
[12:13] 31 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[13:1] 32 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[13:2] 33 tn Heb “and had not given birth.”
[13:3] 34 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).
[13:3] 36 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
[13:4] 37 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:5] 38 tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her – actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.
[13:5] 39 tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”
[13:5] 40 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
[13:6] 42 tn Heb “The man of God.”
[13:6] 43 tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome.”
[13:7] 44 tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.
[13:7] 45 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:7] 46 tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”
[13:8] 47 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:8] 48 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:8] 50 tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (vi’irenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (vÿyorenu, “to teach”).
[13:8] 51 tn Heb “what we should do for.”
[13:9] 52 tn Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”
[13:10] 54 tn Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[13:11] 58 tn Heb “the woman.”
[13:12] 60 tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”
[13:12] 61 tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”
[13:13] 63 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.
[13:14] 65 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
[13:15] 66 tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”
[13:15] 67 tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”
[13:16] 68 tn Heb “If you detain me.”
[13:16] 69 tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the messenger represented the
[13:17] 70 tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.
[13:18] 71 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective פִּלְאִי (pile’iy, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
[13:19] 72 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
[13:20] 73 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
[13:20] 74 tn Heb “on their faces.”
[13:21] 75 tn Heb “Then Manoah knew that he was the
[13:22] 76 tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the
[13:24] 78 tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”
[13:24] 79 tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”
[13:24] 80 tn Traditionally, “blessed.”
[13:25] 81 tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”
[14:1] 82 tn Heb “and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
[14:2] 83 tn Heb “and he went up.”
[14:2] 84 tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
[14:3] 85 tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.
[14:3] 86 tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”
[14:3] 87 tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.
[14:3] 88 tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”
[14:4] 89 tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”
[14:4] 90 tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”
[14:5] 91 tc The MT reads, “Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When they approached…” Verse 6b states that Samson did not tell his parents about his encounter with the lion (vv. 5b-6a), but v. 5a gives the impression they would have seen the entire episode. One could assume that Samson separated from his parents prior to the lion’s attack, but the Hebrew text does not indicate this. It seems more likely that the words “with his father and his mother” were accidentally copied into the text, perhaps under the influence of v. 4a, where the same phrase appears. An original singular verb (“he approached”) may have been changed to the plural form (“they approached”) after the words “his father and his mother” were accidentally added to the text.
[14:5] 92 tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”
[14:6] 94 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:6] 95 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
[14:7] 96 tn Heb “He went down.”
[14:7] 97 tn Heb “She was the right one in the eyes of Samson.”
[14:8] 99 tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees…”
[14:9] 100 tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.
[14:9] 101 sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.
[14:10] 102 tn Heb “And his father went down to the woman.”
[14:10] 103 tn Or “[wedding] feast.”
[14:10] 104 tn Heb “the young men.”
[14:11] 105 tn Heb “When they saw him, they gave him thirty companions and they were with him.” Instead of כִּרְאוֹתָם (kir’otam, “when they saw”) some ancient witnesses (e.g., some
[14:12] 106 tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”
[14:13] 108 tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”
[14:13] 109 tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”
[14:15] 110 tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.
[14:15] 111 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
[14:15] 113 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:15] 115 tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew
[14:15] 116 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
[14:16] 118 tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”
[14:16] 119 tn Heb “the sons of my people.”
[14:16] 120 tn Heb “Should I tell you?”
[14:17] 122 tn Heb “the seven days [during] which they held the party.” This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.
[14:17] 123 tn Heb “because she forced him.”
[14:17] 124 tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”
[14:18] 125 sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.
[14:19] 126 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
[14:19] 127 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
[14:19] 128 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
[14:20] 129 tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”
[15:1] 130 sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.
[15:1] 131 tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”
[15:1] 132 tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).
[15:1] 133 tn Heb “I will go to my wife in the bedroom.” The Hebrew idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve (“I want to go”) or request (“let me go”).
[15:2] 134 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
[15:2] 135 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
[15:2] 136 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
[15:3] 137 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular “to him.”
[15:3] 138 tn Heb “I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm.”
[15:4] 139 tn Traditionally, “foxes.”
[15:4] 140 tn Heb “He turned tail to tail and placed one torch between the two tails in the middle.”
[15:5] 141 tn Heb “He set fire to the torches.”
[15:6] 143 tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
[15:6] 144 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:6] 145 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:6] 146 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.
[15:7] 147 tn The Niphal of נָקָם (naqam, “to avenge, to take vengeance”) followed by the preposition ב (bet) has the force “to get revenge against.” See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.
[15:7] 148 tn Heb “and afterward I will stop.”
[15:8] 149 tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.
[15:9] 151 tn Or “spread out.” The Niphal of נָטָשׁ (natash) has this same sense in 2 Sam 5:18, 22.
[15:10] 152 tn Or “come up against.”
[15:10] 153 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:12] 154 tn Or “swear to me.”
[15:12] 155 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
[15:13] 156 tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.
[15:14] 157 tn Heb “rushed on.”
[15:14] 158 tn Heb “burned with.”
[15:14] 159 tn Heb “his bonds.”
[15:15] 160 tn Heb “he found.”
[15:15] 161 tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.
[15:15] 162 tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”
[15:15] 163 tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:16] 164 tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).
[15:17] 165 tn Heb “from his hand.”
[15:17] 166 sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”
[15:18] 167 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
[15:18] 168 tn Heb “the uncircumcised,” which in context refers to the Philistines.
[15:19] 169 tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.
[15:19] 171 tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:19] 172 sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”
[15:20] 173 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
[15:20] 174 tn Heb “in the days of the Philistines.”
[16:1] 175 tn Heb “and he went in to her.” The idiom בּוֹא אֶל (bo’ ’el, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations.
[16:2] 176 tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”
[16:2] 177 tn Heb “And they surrounded.” The rest of the verse suggests that “the town” is the object, not “the house.” Though the Gazites knew Samson was in the town, apparently they did not know exactly where he had gone. Otherwise, they would could have just gone into or surrounded the house and would not have needed to post guards at the city gate.
[16:2] 178 tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”
[16:2] 179 tn Heb “were silent.”
[16:2] 181 tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[16:2] 182 tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”
[16:3] 183 tn Heb “And Samson lay until the middle of the night and arose in the middle of the night.”
[16:3] 184 tn Heb “with the bar.”
[16:3] 185 tn Heb “which is upon the face of Hebron.”
[16:5] 186 tn Heb “subdue him in order to humiliate him.”
[16:6] 187 tn Heb “how you can be subdued in order to be humiliated.”
[16:7] 189 tn The word refers to a bowstring, probably made from animal tendons. See Ps 11:2; Job 30:11.
[16:9] 190 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting for her.” The grammatically singular form וְהָאֹרֵב (vÿha’orev) is collective here, referring to the rulers as a group (so also in v. 16).
[16:9] 191 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:9] 192 tn Heb “when it smells fire.”
[16:9] 193 tn Heb “His strength was not known.”
[16:10] 194 tn See Gen 31:7; Exod 8:29 [8:25 HT]; Job 13:9; Isa 44:20; Jer 9:4 for other uses of this Hebrew word (II תָּלַל, talal), which also occurs in v. 13.
[16:11] 195 tn Heb “with which no work has been done.”
[16:12] 196 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:12] 197 tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”
[16:12] 198 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:13] 199 tn Heb “head” (also in the following verse). By metonymy the head is mentioned in the Hebrew text in place of the hair on it.
[16:13] 200 tn Heb “with the web.” For a discussion of how Delilah did this, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 381, and G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 353-54.
[16:14] 201 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:14] 202 tc The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. (In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54.) The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.
[16:14] 203 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:15] 204 tn Heb “when your heart is not with me.”
[16:16] 205 tn Heb “forced him with her words.”
[16:16] 206 tn Heb “and his spirit was short [i.e., impatient] to the point of death.”
[16:17] 207 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:17] 208 tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”
[16:17] 209 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
[16:17] 210 tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”
[16:17] 211 tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).
[16:18] 212 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:18] 213 tn Heb “she sent and summoned.”
[16:18] 214 tc The translation follows the Qere, לִי (li, “to me”) rather than the Kethib, לָהּ (lah, “to her”).
[16:18] 215 tn Heb “all his heart.”
[16:19] 216 tn Heb “on her knees.” The expression is probably euphemistic for sexual intercourse. See HALOT 160-61 s.v. בֶּרֶךְ.
[16:19] 217 tn Heb “she called for a man and she shaved off.” The point seems to be that Delilah acted through the instrumentality of the man. See J. A. Soggin, Judges (OTL), 254.
[16:19] 218 tn Heb “head.” By metonymy the hair of his head is meant.
[16:19] 219 tn Heb “She began to humiliate him.” Rather than referring to some specific insulting action on Delilah’s part after Samson’s hair was shaved off, this statement probably means that she, through the devious actions just described, began the process of Samson’s humiliation which culminates in the following verses.
[16:20] 220 tn Heb “are upon you.”
[16:20] 221 tn The Hebrew adds, “from his sleep.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:20] 222 tn Heb “and said.”
[16:20] 223 tn Heb “I will go out as before.”
[16:22] 224 tn Heb “the hair of his head.”
[16:24] 225 tn Most interpret this as a reference to Samson, but this seems premature, since v. 25 suggests he was not yet standing before them. Consequently some prefer to see this statement as displaced and move it to v. 25 (see C. F. Burney, Judges, 387). It seems more likely that the pronoun refers to an image of Dagon.
[16:24] 226 tn Heb “multiplied our dead.”
[16:25] 227 tn Heb “When their heart was good.”
[16:25] 228 tn Heb “before them.”
[16:26] 229 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house is founded.”
[16:28] 231 tn The Hebrew has אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה (’adonay yehovih, “Lord Yahweh”).
[16:28] 232 tn Heb “so I can get revenge with one act of vengeance.”
[16:29] 233 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house was founded.”
[16:30] 234 tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”
[16:30] 235 tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”
[16:31] 236 tn Heb “and all the house of his father.”
