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. ¹ 

Hakim-hakim 6:19

6:19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat, ²  along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food ³  to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.

Hakim-hakim 6:26

6:26 Then build an altar for the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern. ⁴  Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.”

Hakim-hakim 6:28

6:28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw ⁵  the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.

Hakim-hakim 8:26

8:26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. ⁶  This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, ⁷  purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. ⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 14:17

14:17 She cried on his shoulder ⁹  until the party was almost over. ¹⁰  Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. ¹¹  Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle. ¹² 

Hakim-hakim 14:19

14:19 The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes ¹³  and gave them ¹⁴  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ¹⁵ 

Hakim-hakim 15:1

Samson Versus the Philistines

15:1 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, ¹⁶  Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. ¹⁷  He said to her father, ¹⁸  “I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!” ¹⁹  But her father would not let him enter.

Hakim-hakim 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ²⁰  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ²¹ 

Hakim-hakim 18:17

18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole ²²  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men. ²³ 

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

[6:19]  ² tn Heb “a kid from among the goats.”

[6:19]  ³ tn The words “the food” are not in the Hebrew text (an implied direct object). They are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[6:26]  ⁴ tn Possibly “in a row” or “in a layer,” perhaps referring to the arrangement of the stones used in the altar’s construction.

[6:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “look!” The narrator uses this word to invite his audience/readers to view the scene through the eyes of the men.

[8:26]  ⁶ sn Seventeen hundred gold shekels would be about 42.7 pounds (19.4 kilograms) of gold.

[8:26]  ⁷ tn Or “pendants.”

[8:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “the ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.”

[14:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “on him.”

[14:17]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “because she forced him.”

[14:17]  ¹² tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”

[14:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”

[14:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”

[14:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”

[15:1]  ¹⁶ sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.

[15:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”

[15:1]  ¹⁸ tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).

[15:1]  ¹⁹ 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”).

[17:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).

[17:10]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.

[18:17]  ²² tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

[18:17]  ²³ tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”