Hakim-hakim 6:31

6:31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, ¹  “Must you fight Baal’s battles? ²  Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause ³  will die by morning! ⁴  If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! ⁵  After all, it was his altar that was pulled down.” ⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 12:3

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?”

[6:31]  ¹ tn Heb “to all who stood against him.”

[6:31]  ² tn Heb “Do you fight for Baal?”

[6:31]  ³ tn Heb “fights for him.”

[6:31]  ⁴ sn Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning. This may be a warning to the crowd that Joash intends to defend his son and to kill anyone who tries to execute Gideon. Then again, it may be a sarcastic statement about Baal’s apparent inability to defend his own honor. Anyone who takes up Baal’s cause may end up dead, perhaps by the same hand that pulled down the pagan god’s altar.

[6:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “fight for himself.”

[6:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “for he pulled down his altar.” The subject of the verb, if not Gideon, is indefinite (in which case a passive translation is permissible).

[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.