Hakim-hakim 9:51

9:51 There was a fortified ¹  tower ²  in the center of the city, so all the men and women, as well as the city’s leaders, ran into it and locked the entrance. Then they went up to the roof of the tower.

Hakim-hakim 12:1

Civil Strife Mars the Victory

12:1 The Ephraimites assembled ³  and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight ⁴  with the Ammonites without asking ⁵  us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!” ⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 14:15

14:15 On the fourth ⁷  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ⁸  If you refuse, ⁹  we will burn up ¹⁰  you and your father’s family. ¹¹  Did you invite us here ¹²  to make us poor?” ¹³ 

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 ¹⁴  and gave them ¹⁵  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ¹⁶ 

Hakim-hakim 18:19

18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser ¹⁷  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ¹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 21:19

21:19 However, there is an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel ¹⁹  (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah.”

[9:51]  ¹ tn Or “strong.”

[9:51]  ² tn Or “fortress.” The same Hebrew term occurs once more in this verse and twice in v. 52.

[12:1]  ³ tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”

[12:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “cross over to fight.”

[12:1]  ⁵ tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”

[14:15]  ⁷ tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (rÿvi’i, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (shÿvi’i, “seventh”). Some ancient textual witnesses (e.g., LXX and the Syriac Peshitta) read “fourth,” here, which certainly harmonizes better with the preceding verse (cf. “for three days”) and with v. 17. Another option is to change שְׁלֹשֶׁת (shÿloshet, “three”) at the end of v. 14 to שֵׁשֶׁת (sheshet, “six”), but the resulting scenario does not account as well for v. 17, which implies the bride had been hounding Samson for more than one day.

[14:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”

[14:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “lest.”

[14:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text expands the statement: “burn up with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

[14:15]  ¹² tc The translation assumes the Hebrew form הֲלֹם (halom, “here,” attested in five Hebrew mss and supported by the Targum), instead of the inexplicable הֲלֹא (halo’), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.

[14:15]  ¹³ tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.

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

[14:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”

[14:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”

[18:19]  ¹⁷ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

[18:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”

[21:19]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.