Hakim-hakim 9:15

9:15 The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to choose ¹  me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches! ²  Otherwise ³  may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’

Hakim-hakim 16:2

16:2 The Gazites were told, ⁴  “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town ⁵  and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. ⁶  They relaxed ⁷  all night, thinking, ⁸  “He will not leave ⁹  until morning comes; ¹⁰  then we will kill him!”

Hakim-hakim 18:3

18:3 As they approached ¹¹  Micah’s house, they recognized the accent ¹²  of the young Levite. So they stopped ¹³  there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ¹⁴ 

[9:15]  ¹ tn Heb “are about to anoint [with oil].”

[9:15]  ² tn Heb “in my shade.”

[9:15]  ³ tn Heb “If not.”

[16:2]  ⁴ tc Heb “To the Gazites, saying.” A verb is missing from the MT; some ancient Greek witnesses add “it was reported.”

[16:2]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they lay in wait for him all night in the city gate.”

[16:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “were silent.”

[16:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “saying.”

[16:2]  ⁹ tn The words “He will not leave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[16:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”

[18:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “When they were near.”

[18:3]  ¹² tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).

[18:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[18:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”