Hakim-hakim 2:1

Confrontation and Repentance at Bokim

2:1 The Lord’s angelic messenger ¹  went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. ²  I said, ‘I will never break my agreement ³  with you,

Hakim-hakim 3:1

3:1 These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites. ⁴ 

Hakim-hakim 8:2

8:2 He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes ⁵  are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! ⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 8:27

8:27 Gideon used all this to make ⁷  an ephod, ⁸  which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites ⁹  prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it ¹⁰  there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Hakim-hakim 11:13

11:13 The Ammonite king said to Jephthah’s messengers, “Because Israel stole ¹¹  my land when they ¹²  came up from Egypt – from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and as far west as the Jordan. ¹³  Now return it ¹⁴  peaceably!”

Hakim-hakim 15:1

Samson Versus the Philistines

15:1 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, ¹⁵  Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. ¹⁶  He said to her father, ¹⁷  “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” ¹⁸  But her father would not let him enter.

Hakim-hakim 16:12

16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ¹⁹  Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) ²⁰  But he tore the ropes ²¹  from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

Hakim-hakim 16:17

16:17 Finally he told her his secret. ²²  He said to her, “My hair has never been cut, ²³  for I have been dedicated to God ²⁴  from the time I was conceived. ²⁵  If my head ²⁶  were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.”

Hakim-hakim 19:9

19:9 When the man got ready to leave ²⁷  with his concubine and his servant, ²⁸  his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over! ²⁹  Stay another night! Since the day is over, ³⁰  stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.” ³¹ 

Hakim-hakim 19:22

19:22 They were having a good time, ³²  when suddenly ³³  some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, ³⁴  surrounded the house and kept beating ³⁵  on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.” ³⁶ 

[2:1]  ¹ sn See Exod 14:19; 23:20.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “the land that I had sworn to your fathers.”

[2:1]  ³ tn Or “covenant” (also in the following verse).

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”

[8:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “gleanings.”

[8:2]  ⁶ sn Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim’s mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon’s family.

[8:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “made it into.”

[8:27]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “Israel” (a collective singular).

[8:27]  ¹⁰ tn The words “by worshiping it” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “took”; or “seized.”

[11:13]  ¹² tn Heb “he” (a collective singular).

[11:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan.” The word “River” has been supplied in the translation with “Arnon” and “Jabbok,” because these are less familiar to modern readers than the Jordan.

[11:13]  ¹⁴ tc The translation assumes a singular suffix (“[return] it”); the Hebrew text has a plural suffix (“[return] them”), which, if retained, might refer to the cities of the land.

[15:1]  ¹⁵ sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.

[15:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”

[15:1]  ¹⁷ tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).

[15:1]  ¹⁸ 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”).

[16:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “are upon you.”

[16:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And the ones lying in wait were sitting in the bedroom.”

[16:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the ropes) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:17]  ²² tn Heb “all his heart.”

[16:17]  ²³ tn Heb “a razor has not come upon my head.”

[16:17]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from the womb of my mother.”

[16:17]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I.” The referent has been made more specific in the translation (“my head”).

[19:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the man arose to go.”

[19:9]  ²⁸ tn Or “young man.”

[19:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the day is sinking to become evening.”

[19:9]  ³⁰ tn Or “declining.”

[19:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “for your way and go to your tent.”

[19:22]  ³² tn Heb “they were making their heart good.”

[19:22]  ³³ tn Heb “and look.”

[19:22]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the men of the city, men, the sons of wickedness.” The phrases are in apposition; the last phrase specifies what type of men they were. It is not certain if all the men of the city are in view, or just a group of troublemakers. In 20:5 the town leaders are implicated in the crime, suggesting that all the men of the city were involved. If so, the implication is that the entire male population of the town were good-for-nothings.

[19:22]  ³⁵ tn The Hitpael verb form appears to have an iterative force here, indicating repeated action.

[19:22]  ³⁶ tn Heb “so we can know him.” On the surface one might think they simply wanted to meet the visitor and get to know him, but their hostile actions betray their double-talk. The old man, who has been living with them long enough to know what they are like, seems to have no doubts about the meaning of their words (see v. 23).