Hakim-hakim 3:15

3:15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he ¹  raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. ²  The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. ³ 

Hakim-hakim 3:28

3:28 He said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” ⁴  They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River ⁵  opposite Moab, ⁶  and did not let anyone cross.

Hakim-hakim 7:2

7:2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. ⁷  Israel might brag, ⁸  ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 7:5

7:5 So he brought the men ¹⁰  down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” ¹¹ 

Hakim-hakim 13:7

13:7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son. ¹²  So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. ¹³  For the child will be dedicated ¹⁴  to God from birth till the day he dies.’”

Hakim-hakim 16:30

16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard ¹⁵  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. ¹⁶ 

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord.” This has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:15]  ² tn The phrase, which refers to Ehud, literally reads “bound/restricted in the right hand,” apparently a Hebrew idiom for a left-handed person. See Judg 20:16, where 700 Benjaminites are described in this way. Perhaps the Benjaminites purposely trained several of their young men to be left-handed warriors by restricting the use of the right hand from an early age so the left hand would become dominant. Left-handed men would have a distinct military advantage, especially when attacking city gates. See B. Halpern, “The Assassination of Eglon: The First Locked-Room Murder Mystery,” BRev 4 (1988): 35.

[3:15]  ³ tn Heb “The Israelites sent by his hand an offering to Eglon, king of Moab.”

[3:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “for the Lord has given your enemies, Moab, into your hand.” The verb form (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

[3:28]  ⁵ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

[3:28]  ⁶ tn Or “against Moab,” that is, so as to prevent the Moabites from crossing.

[7:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”

[7:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”

[7:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”

[7:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the people.”

[7:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water, as a dog laps, put him by himself, as well as the one who gets down on his knees to drink.”

[13:7]  ¹² tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.

[13:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”

[13:7]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”

[16:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he stretched out with strength.”

[16:30]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And the ones whom he killed in his death were many more than he killed in his life.”