Hakim-hakim 13:1

Samson’s Birth

13:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, ¹  so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

Hakim-hakim 13:1

Samson’s Birth

13:1 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight, ²  so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

1 Samuel 4:2-3

4:2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight ³  Israel. As the battle spread out, ⁴  Israel was defeated by ⁵  the Philistines, who ⁶  killed about four thousand men in the battle line in the field.

4:3 When the army ⁷  came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by ⁸  the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us ⁹  from the hand of our enemies.

1 Samuel 4:10-11

4:10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. ¹⁰  The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. 4:11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.

Mazmur 78:60-62

78:60 He abandoned ¹¹  the sanctuary at Shiloh,

the tent where he lived among men.

78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; ¹² 

he gave the symbol of his splendor ¹³  into the hand of the enemy. ¹⁴ 

78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,

and was angry with his chosen nation. ¹⁵ 

[13:1]  ¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[13:1]  ² tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “to meet.”

[4:2]  ⁴ tn The MT has וַתִּטֹּשׁ (vattittosh), from the root נטשׁ (ntsh). This verb normally means “to leave,” “to forsake,” or “to permit,” but such an idea does not fit this context very well. Many scholars have suspected that the text originally read either וַתֵּט (vattet, “and it spread out”), from the root נטה (nth), or וַתִּקֶשׁ (vattiqesh, “and it grew fierce”), from the root קשׂה (qsh). The former suggestion is apparently supported by the LXX ἔκλινεν (eklinen, “it inclined”) and is adopted in the translation.

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “before.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Philistines, and they killed.” The pronoun “they” has been translated as a relative pronoun (“who”) to make it clear to the English reader that the Philistines were the ones who did the killing.

[4:3]  ⁷ tn Or “people.”

[4:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “before.”

[4:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and it will come in our midst and it will save.” After the cohortative (see “let’s take”), the prefixed verbal forms with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose or result. The translation understands the ark to be the subject of the third masculine singular verbs, although it is possible to understand the Lord as the subject. In the latter case, one should translate, “when he is with us, he will save us.”

[4:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they fled, each to his tents.”

[78:60]  ¹¹ tn Or “rejected.”

[78:61]  ¹² tn Heb “and he gave to captivity his strength.” The expression “his strength” refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant, which was housed in the tabernacle at Shiloh.

[78:61]  ¹³ tn Heb “and his splendor into the hand of an enemy.” The expression “his splendor” also refers metonymically to the ark of the covenant.

[78:61]  ¹⁴ sn Verses 60-61 refer to the Philistines’ capture of the ark in the days of Eli (1 Sam 4:1-11).

[78:62]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his inheritance.”