Judges 11:29-15:20
New English Translation
A Foolish Vow Spells Death for a Daughter
29 The Lord’s Spirit empowered[a] Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh and went[b] to Mizpah in Gilead. From there he approached the Ammonites.[c] 30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 31 then whoever is the first to come through[d] the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites—he[e] will belong to the Lord and[f] I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.” 32 Jephthah approached[g] the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. 33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith—twenty cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim. He wiped them out![h] The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites.[i]
34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out[j] to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines.[k] She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter. 35 When he saw her, he ripped his clothes and said, “Oh no! My daughter! You have completely ruined me![l] You have brought me disaster![m] I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break it.”[n] 36 She said to him, “My father, since[o] you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised.[p] After all, the Lord vindicated you before[q] your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 She then said to her father, “Please grant me this one wish.[r] For two months allow me to walk through the hills with my friends and mourn my virginity.”[s] 38 He said, “You may go.” He permitted her to leave[t] for two months. She went with her friends and mourned her virginity as she walked through the hills.[u] 39 After two months she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. She died a virgin.[v] Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Israel.[w] 40 Every year[x] Israelite women commemorate[y] the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days.[z]
Civil Strife Mars the Victory
12 The Ephraimites assembled[aa] and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go and fight[ab] with the Ammonites without asking[ac] us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!”[ad]
2 Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a struggle and the Ammonites were oppressing me greatly.[ae] I asked for your help, but you did not deliver me from their power.[af] 3 When I saw that you were not going to help,[ag] I risked my life[ah] and advanced against[ai] the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up[aj] to fight with me today?” 4 Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and they fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because the Ephraimites insulted them, saying,[ak] “You Gileadites are refugees in Ephraim, living within Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s territory.”[al] 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River[am] opposite Ephraim.[an] Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive[ao] said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked[ap] him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they said to him, “Say ‘Shibboleth!’”[aq] If he said, “Sibboleth” (and could not pronounce the word[ar] correctly), they grabbed him and executed him right there at the fords of the Jordan. On that day 42,000 Ephraimites fell dead.
7 Jephthah led[as] Israel for six years; then he[at] died and was buried in his town in Gilead.[au]
Order Restored
8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem led[av] Israel. 9 He had thirty sons. He arranged for thirty of his daughters to be married outside his extended family,[aw] and he arranged for thirty young women to be brought from outside as wives for his sons.[ax] Ibzan[ay] led[az] Israel for seven years; 10 then he[ba] died and was buried in Bethlehem.
11 After him Elon the Zebulunite led[bb] Israel for ten years.[bc] 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite led[bd] Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel for eight years. 15 Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Samson’s Birth
13 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight,[be] so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.
2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.[bf] 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “You[bg] are infertile and childless,[bh] but you will conceive and have a son. 4 Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.[bi] 5 Look, you will conceive and have a son.[bj] You must never cut his hair,[bk] for the child will be dedicated to God[bl] from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power[bm] of the Philistines.”
6 The woman went and said to her husband, “A man sent from God[bn] came to me! He looked like God’s angel—he was very awesome.[bo] I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 7 He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and have a son.[bp] So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.[bq] For the child will be dedicated[br] to God from birth till the day he dies.’”
8 Manoah prayed to the Lord,[bs] “Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God[bt] to visit[bu] us again, so he can teach[bv] us how we should raise[bw] the child who will be born.” 9 God answered Manoah’s prayer.[bx] God’s angel visited[by] the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman ran at once and told her husband,[bz] “Come quickly,[ca] the man who visited[cb] me the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met[cc] the man, he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”[cd] He said, “Yes.”[ce] 12 Manoah said, “Now, when your announcement comes true,[cf] how should the child be raised and what should he do?”[cg] 13 The angel of the Lord told[ch] Manoah, “Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her.[ci] 14 She should not drink[cj] anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean.[ck] She should obey everything I commanded her to do.” 15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please stay here awhile,[cl] so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”[cm] 16 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If I stay,[cn] I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it.” (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.)[co] 17 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true.”[cp] 18 The angel of the Lord said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it.”[cq] 19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord. The Lord’s messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.[cr] 20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in it[cs] while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown[ct] to the ground.
21 The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the angel of the Lord. 22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!”[cu] 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us.[cv] He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.”
24 Manoah’s wife[cw] gave birth to a son and named him Samson.[cx] The child grew and the Lord empowered[cy] him. 25 The Lord’s Spirit began to control him[cz] in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Samson’s Unconsummated Marriage
14 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye.[da] 2 When he got home,[db] he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye.[dc] Now get her for my wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Certainly you can find a wife among your relatives or among all our[dd] people! You should not have to go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.”[de] But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me,[df] because she is the right one for me.”[dg] 4 Now his father and mother did not realize this was the Lord’s doing,[dh] because he was looking for an opportunity to stir up trouble with the Philistines[di] (for at that time the Philistines were ruling Israel).
5 Samson[dj] went down to Timnah. When he approached[dk] the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him.[dl] 6 The Lord’s Spirit empowered[dm] him, and he tore the lion[dn] in two with his bare hands[do] as easily as one would tear a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
7 Samson continued on down to Timnah[dp] and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one.[dq] 8 Some time later, when he went back to marry[dr] her, he turned aside to see the lion’s remains. He saw[ds] a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, as well as some honey. 9 He scooped it up with his hands and ate it as he walked along. When he returned[dt] to his father and mother, he offered them some and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of the lion’s carcass.[du]
10 Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage.[dv] Samson hosted a party[dw] there, for this was customary for bridegrooms[dx] to do. 11 When the Philistines saw he had no attendants, they gave him thirty groomsmen who kept him company.[dy] 12 Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts,[dz] I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets[ea] of clothes. 13 But if you cannot solve it,[eb] you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.”[ec] 14 He said to them,
“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong one came something sweet.”
They could not solve the riddle for three days.
15 On the fourth[ed] day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle.[ee] If you refuse,[ef] we will burn up[eg] you and your father’s family.[eh] Did you invite us here[ei] to make us poor?”[ej] 16 So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder[ek] and said, “You must[el] hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men[em] a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?”[en] 17 She cried on his shoulder[eo] until the party was almost over.[ep] Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much.[eq] Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle.[er] 18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
He said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,[es]
you would not have solved my riddle!”
19 The Lord’s Spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men. He took their clothes[et] and gave them[eu] to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home.[ev] 20 Samson’s bride was then given to his best man.[ew]
Samson Versus the Philistines
15 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest,[ex] Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride.[ey] He said to her father,[ez] “I want to sleep with[fa] my bride in her bedroom!”[fb] But her father would not let him enter. 2 Her father said, “I really thought[fc] you absolutely despised[fd] her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!”[fe] 3 Samson said to them,[ff] “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!”[fg] 4 Samson went and captured 300 jackals[fh] and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair.[fi] 5 He lit the torches[fj] and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 6 The Philistines asked,[fk] “Who did this?” They were told,[fl] “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite[fm] took Samson’s[fn] bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father.[fo] 7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this,[fp] I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.”[fq] 8 He struck them down and defeated them.[fr] Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.
9 The Philistines went up and invaded[fs] Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle[ft] in Lehi. 10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking[fu] us?” The Philistines[fv] said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” 11 So 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” 12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me[fw] you will not kill[fx] me.” 13 They said to him, “We promise![fy] We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. 14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s Spirit empowered[fz] him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in[ga] fire, and they[gb] melted away from his hands. 15 He happened to see[gc] a solid[gd] jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it[ge] and struck down[gf] 1,000 men. 16 Samson then said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps;[gg]
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”
17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down[gh] and named that place Ramath Lehi.[gi]
18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant[gj] this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into the hands of these uncircumcised Philistines?”[gk] 19 So God split open the basin[gl] at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength[gm] was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring[gn] En Hakkore.[go] It remains in Lehi to this very day. 20 Samson led[gp] Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.[gq]
Footnotes
- Judges 11:29 tn Heb “was on.”
- Judges 11:29 tn Heb “passed through.”
- Judges 11:29 tn Heb “From Mizpah in Gilead he passed through [to] the Ammonites.”
- Judges 11:31 tn Heb “the one coming out, who comes out from.” The text uses a masculine singular participle with prefixed article, followed by a relative pronoun and third masculine singular verb. The substantival masculine singular participle הַיּוֹצֵא (hayyotseʾ, “the one coming out”) is used elsewhere of inanimate objects (such as a desert [Num 21:13] or a word [Num 32:24]) or persons (Jer 5:6; 21:9; 38:2). In each case context must determine the referent. Jephthah may have envisioned an animal meeting him, since the construction of Iron Age houses would allow for an animal coming through the doors of a house (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 208). But the fact that he actually does offer up his daughter indicates the language of the vow is fluid enough to encompass human beings, including women. He probably intended such an offering from the very beginning, but he obviously did not expect his daughter to meet him first.
- Judges 11:31 tn The language is fluid enough to include women and perhaps even animals, but the translation uses the masculine pronoun because the Hebrew form is grammatically masculine.
- Judges 11:31 tn Some translate “or,” suggesting that Jephthah makes a distinction between humans and animals. According to this view, if a human comes through the door, then Jephthah will commit him/her to the Lord’s service, but if an animal comes through the doors, he will offer it up as a sacrifice. However, it is far more likely that the Hebrew construction (vav [ו] + perfect) specifies how the subject will become the Lord’s, that is, by being offered up as a sacrifice. For similar constructions, where the apodosis of a conditional sentence has at least two perfects (each with vav) in sequence, see Gen 34:15-16; Exod 18:16.
- Judges 11:32 tn Heb “passed over to.”
- Judges 11:33 tn Heb “with a very great slaughter.”
- Judges 11:33 tn Heb “The Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.”
- Judges 11:34 tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”
- Judges 11:34 tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”
- Judges 11:35 tn Heb “you have brought me very low,” or “you have knocked me to my knees.” The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.
- Judges 11:35 tn Heb “You are among [or “like”] those who trouble me.”
- Judges 11:35 tn Heb “I opened my mouth to the Lord and I am not able to return.”
- Judges 11:36 tn The conjunction “since” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 11:36 tn Heb “you opened your mouth to the Lord, do to me according to [what] went out from your mouth.”
- Judges 11:36 tn Or “has given you vengeance against.”
- Judges 11:37 tn Heb “Let this thing be done for me.”
- Judges 11:37 tn Heb “Leave me alone for two months so I can go and go down on the hills and weep over my virginity—I and my friends.”
- Judges 11:38 tn Heb “he sent her.”
- Judges 11:38 tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.
- Judges 11:39 tn Heb “She had never known a man.” Some understand this to mean that her father committed her to a life of celibacy, but the disjunctive clause (note the vav + subject + verb pattern) more likely describes her condition at the time the vow was fulfilled. (See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 302-3; C. F. Burney, Judges, 324.) She died a virgin and never experienced the joys of marriage and motherhood.
- Judges 11:39 tn Heb “There was a custom in Israel.”
- Judges 11:40 tn Heb “From days to days,” a Hebrew idiom for “annually.”
- Judges 11:40 tn Heb “go to commemorate.” The rare Hebrew verb תָּנָה (tanah, “to tell; to repeat; to recount”) occurs only here and in 5:11.
- Judges 11:40 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in the year.” This is redundant (note “every year” at the beginning of the verse) and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 12:1 tn Heb “the men of Ephraim were summoned [or “were mustered”].”
- Judges 12:1 tn Heb “cross over to fight.”
- Judges 12:1 tn Or “calling”; or “summoning.”
- Judges 12:1 tn Heb “Your house we will burn over you with fire.”
- Judges 12:2 tc Heb “A fighting man was I was and my people, and the Ammonites greatly.” The LXX reads “I was man fighting, and my people [also]. And the sons of Ammon were humiliating me greatly.” The imperfect form of ταπεινόω (tapeinoō) in the LXX probably represents the Hebrew verb עָנָה (ʿanah) as it commonly does elsewhere. Two nearby words begin with ע (ʿayin): עַמִּי (ʿammi; “my people”) and עַמּוֹן (ʿammōn; “Ammon”). So a form of עָנָה (ʿanah) could easily have been omitted by haplography. A piel perfect would begin with ʿayin, (עִנּוּ; ʿinnu), while a piel participle (as might be suggested by the Greek imperfect) would begin with mem and ʿayin, מְעַנֶּה (meʿanneh).tn The Hebrew verb רִיב (riv) often appears in a legal setting, to contend a legal case, but does not have to. In non-legal settings it can mean to strive against, quarrel, brawl (HALOT, 1224).
- Judges 12:2 tn Heb “hand.”
- Judges 12:3 tn Heb “you were no deliverer.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX has “no one was helping.”
- Judges 12:3 tn Heb “I put my life in my hand.”
- Judges 12:3 tn Heb “crossed over to.”
- Judges 12:3 tn The Hebrew adds “against me” here. This is redundant in English and has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 12:4 tn Heb “because they said.”
- Judges 12:4 tc Heb “Refugees of Ephraim are you, O Gilead, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” The LXX omits the entire second half of the verse (beginning with “because”). The words כִּי אָמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם (ki ʾameru pelite ʾefrayim, “because they said, ‘Refugees of Ephraim’”) may have been accidentally copied from the next verse (cf. כִּי יֹאמְרוּ פְּלִיטֵי אֶפְרַיִם, ki yoʾmeru pelite ʾefrayim) and the following words (“you, O Gilead…Manasseh”) then added in an attempt to make sense of the verse. See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 307-8, and C. F. Burney, Judges, 327. If the Hebrew text is retained, then the Ephraimites appear to be insulting the Gileadites by describing them as refugees who are squatting on Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s land. The present translation assumes that “Ephraim” is a genitive of location after “refugees.”
- Judges 12:5 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 12:5 tn Or “against Ephraim,” that is, so as to prevent Ephraim from crossing.
- Judges 12:5 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form here.
- Judges 12:5 tn Heb “say to.”
- Judges 12:6 sn The inability of the Ephraimites to pronounce the word shibboleth the way the Gileadites did served as an identifying test. It illustrates that during this period there were differences in pronunciation between the tribes. The Hebrew word shibboleth itself means “stream” or “flood,” and was apparently chosen simply as a test case without regard to its meaning.
- Judges 12:6 tn Heb “and could not prepare to speak.” The precise meaning of יָכִין (yakhin) is unclear. Some understand it to mean “was not careful [to say it correctly]”; others emend to יָכֹל (yakhol, “was not able [to say it correctly]”) or יָבִין (yavin, “did not understand [that he should say it correctly]”), which is read by a few Hebrew mss.
- Judges 12:7 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
- Judges 12:7 tn Heb “Jephthah the Gileadite.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 12:7 tc The Hebrew text has “in the cities of Gilead.” The present translation has support from some ancient Greek textual witnesses.
- Judges 12:8 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
- Judges 12:9 tn Heb “thirty daughters he sent off outside.” Another option is to translate, “He arranged for his thirty daughters….” It is not clear if he had more than the “thirty daughters” mentioned in the text.
- Judges 12:9 tn Heb “and thirty daughters he brought for his sons from the outside.”
- Judges 12:9 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ibzan) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for English stylistic reasons.
- Judges 12:9 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
- Judges 12:10 tn Heb “Ibzan.” The pronoun “he” is used in the translation in keeping with English style, which tends to use a proper name first in a sentence followed by a pronoun rather than vice versa.
- Judges 12:11 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
- Judges 12:11 tn Heb “…led Israel. He led Israel for ten years.”
- Judges 12:13 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
- Judges 13:1 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- Judges 13:2 tn Heb “and had not given birth.”
- Judges 13:3 tn Heb “Look, you.”
- Judges 13:3 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
- Judges 13:4 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
- Judges 13:5 tn Another option is to translate, “you are already pregnant and will have a son.” The earlier reference to her being infertile (v. 3) suggests that her conception is still future, but it is possible that the earlier statement only reflects her perspective (as far as she is concerned, she is infertile). According to this interpretation, in v. 5 the angel reveals the truth to her—actually she has recently conceived and is now pregnant (see the translation in R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 217). Usage favors this interpretation. The predicate adjective הָרָה (harah, “[be/become] pregnant”) elsewhere has a past (1 Sam 4:19) or present (Gen 16:11; 38:25; 2 Sam 11:5) translation value. (The usage in Isa 7:14 is debated, but a present translation is definitely possible there.) A final, but less likely possibility, is that she miraculously conceived during the angel’s speech, sometime between his statements recorded in vv. 3 and 5.
- Judges 13:5 tn Heb “a razor should not go up on his head.”
- Judges 13:5 tn Or “set apart to God.” Traditionally the Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) has been translated “Nazirite.” The word is derived from the verb נָזַר (nazar, “to dedicate; to consecrate; to set apart”).
- Judges 13:5 tn Heb “hand.”
- Judges 13:6 tn Heb “The man of God.”
- Judges 13:6 tn Heb “His appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome.”
- Judges 13:7 tn See the note on the word “son” in 13:5, where this same statement occurs.
- Judges 13:7 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
- Judges 13:7 tn Traditionally “a Nazirite.”
- Judges 13:8 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 13:8 tn Heb “the man of God.”
- Judges 13:8 tn Heb “come to.”
- Judges 13:8 tc The LXX has “enlighten,” understanding the Hebrew to read וִיאִירֵנוּ (viʾirenu, “to give light”) rather than the reading of the MT, וְיוֹרֵנוּ (veyorenu, “to teach”).
- Judges 13:8 tn Heb “what we should do for.”
- Judges 13:9 tn Heb “God listened to the voice of Manoah.”
- Judges 13:9 tn Heb “came to.”
- Judges 13:10 tn Heb “and said to him.” This phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 13:10 tn Heb “Look.”
- Judges 13:10 tn Heb “came to.”
- Judges 13:11 tn Heb “came to.”
- Judges 13:11 tn Heb “the woman.”
- Judges 13:11 tn Heb “I [am].”
- Judges 13:12 tn Heb “Now, [when] your word comes [to pass].”
- Judges 13:12 tn Heb “what will be the child’s rule [i.e., way of life] and his work?”
- Judges 13:13 tn Or “said to.”
- Judges 13:13 tn Heb “To everything I said to the woman she should pay attention.” The Hebrew word order emphasizes “to everything,” probably because Manoah’s wife did not tell her husband everything the angel had said to her (cf. vv. 3-5 with v. 7). If she had, Manoah probably would not have been so confused about the child’s mission.
- Judges 13:14 tn Heb “eat.”
- Judges 13:14 tn Heb “eat anything unclean.” Certain foods were regarded as ritually “unclean” (see Lev 11). Eating such food made one ritually “contaminated.”
- Judges 13:15 tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”
- Judges 13:15 tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”
- Judges 13:16 tn Heb “If you detain me.”
- Judges 13:16 tn The words “he said this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Manoah should have known from these words that the angel represented the Lord. In the preceding narrative the narrator has informed the reader that the visitor is the angel of the Lord, but Manoah and his wife did not perceive this. In vv. 5 and 7 the angel refers to “God” (אֱלֹהִים, ʾelohim), not the Lord (יְהוַה, yehvah). Manoah’s wife calls the visitor “a man sent from God” and “God’s angel” (v. 6), while Manoah prays to the “Lord” (אֲדוֹנָי, ʾadonay) and calls the visitor “a man sent from God” (v. 8).
- Judges 13:17 tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.
- Judges 13:18 tn Heb “Why do you ask for my name, for it is incomprehensible?” The Hebrew adjective e פִּלְאִי (pilʾi, “wonderful, incomprehensible”) refers to what is in a category of its own and is beyond full human understanding. Note the use of this word in Ps 139:6, where God’s knowledge is described as incomprehensible and unattainable.
- Judges 13:19 tc Heb “Doing an extraordinary deed while Manoah and his wife were watching.” The subject of the participle is missing. The translation assumes that the phrase “the Lord’s messenger” was lost by homoioteleuton. If the text originally read לַיהוָה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (layhvah malʾakh yehvah), the scribe’s eye could have jumped from the first יְהוָה to the second, accidentally omitting two of the three words. Later the conjunction וּ (shureq) would have been added to the following מַפְלִא (mafliʾ) for syntactical reasons. Another possibility is that a pronominal subject (הוּא, huʾ) has been lost in the MT due to haplography.
- Judges 13:20 tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”
- Judges 13:20 tn Heb “on their faces.”
- Judges 13:22 tn Or “seen God.” Some take the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) as the divine name (“God”) here, but this seems unlikely since v. 21 informs us that Manoah realized this was the Lord’s messenger, not God himself. Of course, he may be exaggerating for the sake of emphasis. Another option, the one followed in the translation, understands Manoah to be referring to a lesser deity. The term אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim) is sometimes used of an individual deity other than the Lord (see BDB 43 s.v. 2.a). One cannot assume that Manoah was a theologically sophisticated monotheist.
- Judges 13:23 tn Heb “our hand.”
- Judges 13:24 tn Heb “the woman.” For clarity this has been specified in the translation as “Manoah’s wife.”
- Judges 13:24 tn The name appears to mean “sun-like” or “solar.”
- Judges 13:24 tn Traditionally, “blessed.”
- Judges 13:25 tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”
- Judges 14:1 tn Heb “and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
- Judges 14:2 tn Heb “and he went up.”
- Judges 14:2 tn Heb “I have seen a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.”
- Judges 14:3 tn Heb “my.” The singular may seem strange, since the introduction to the quotation attributes the words to his father and mother. But Samson’s father apparently speaks for both himself and his wife. However, the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a second person pronoun here (“you”), and this may represent the original reading.
- Judges 14:3 tn Heb “Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman that you have to go to get a wife among the uncircumcised Philistines?”
- Judges 14:3 tn “Her” is first in the Hebrew word order for emphasis. Samson wanted this Philistine girl, no one else. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 357.
- Judges 14:3 tn Heb “because she is right in my eyes.”
- Judges 14:4 tn Heb “this was from the LORD.”
- Judges 14:4 tn Heb “for an opportunity he was seeking from the Philistines.”
- Judges 14:5 tc The Hebrew includes “and his father and his mother.” See the next note.
- Judges 14:5 tc The MT reads “they approached,” while the LXX reads “he approached.” The previous sentence suggests that his parents were there, reading literally, “he went down, Samson and his father and his mother, to Timnah.” But the story line suggests that his parents were not there, as v. 6b reports that Samson did not tell them about the incident. The following sentence begins with וְהִנֵּה (vehinneh, “and behold”). This particle is used to focus or shift attention, typically pointing something out or introducing it into the scene (here the lion). But the scene that וְהִנֵּה comments on is set by the previous verb. If the verb “approached” were plural, then Samson’s parents should be with him when the lion attacks, something that contradicts the story as a whole. This indicates the verb should be singular. Since the previous verb, “went down,” is also singular (so also v. 7a), the phrase “and his father and his mother” may have been accidentally copied into the text under the influence of v. 4a. Later the verb was changed to “they approached” to account for the addition, but not until after the LXX was translated. Or one might suppose that his parents had gone on this trip down to Timnah (retaining “and his father and his mother”), but he had separated from them before approaching to the vineyards.
- Judges 14:5 tn Heb “and look, a young lion of the lions was roaring to meet him.”
- Judges 14:6 tn Heb “rushed on.”
- Judges 14:6 tn Heb “him” or “it”; the referent (the lion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 14:6 tn Heb “and there was nothing in his hand.”
- Judges 14:7 tn Heb “He went down.”
- Judges 14:7 tn Heb “She was the right one in the eyes of Samson.”
- Judges 14:8 tn Heb “get.”
- Judges 14:8 tn Heb “and look, a swarm of bees….”
- Judges 14:9 tn Heb “went.” Samson apparently went home to his parents before going to Timnah for the marriage. Seeing and tasting the honey appears to encourage Manoah to go with his son to Timnah. Perhaps both Samson and his father viewed the honey as a good omen of future blessing. Possibly Samson considered it a symbol of sexual pleasure or an aphrodisiac. Note the use of honey imagery in Song 4:11 and 5:1.
- Judges 14:9 sn Touching the carcass of a dead animal undoubtedly violated Samson’s Nazirite status. See Num 6:6.
- Judges 14:10 tn Heb “And his father went down to the woman.”
- Judges 14:10 tn Or “[wedding] feast.”
- Judges 14:10 tn Heb “the young men.”
- Judges 14:11 tn Heb “When they saw him, they gave him thirty companions and they were with him.” Instead of כִּרְאוֹתָם (kirʾotam, “when they saw”) some ancient witnesses (e.g., some mss of the LXX) assume the reading בְּיִרְאָתָם (beyirʾatam, “because they feared”).
- Judges 14:12 tn Heb “If you really can tell it to me [during] the seven days of the feast and you find [its answer].”
- Judges 14:12 tn Heb “changes.”
- Judges 14:13 tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”
- Judges 14:13 tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”
- Judges 14:15 tc The MT reads “seventh.” In Hebrew there is a difference of only one letter between the words רְבִיעִי (reviʿi, “fourth”) and שְׁבִיעִי (sheviʿi, “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 (sheloshet, “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.
- Judges 14:15 tn Heb “Entice your husband so that he might tell us the riddle.”
- Judges 14:15 tn Heb “lest.”
- Judges 14:15 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.
- Judges 14:15 tn Heb “house.”
- Judges 14:15 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 (haloʾ), a negative particle with interrogative particle prefixed to it.
- Judges 14:15 tn For discussion of this difficult form, see C. F. Burney, Judges, 364.
- Judges 14:16 tn Heb “on him.”
- Judges 14:16 tn Heb “only”; or “simply.”
- Judges 14:16 tn Heb “the sons of my people.”
- Judges 14:16 tn Heb “Should I tell you?”
- Judges 14:17 tn Heb “on him.”
- Judges 14:17 tn Heb “the seven days [during] which they held the party.” This does not mean she cried for the entire seven days; v. 15 indicates otherwise. She cried for the remainder of the seven day period, beginning on the fourth day.
- Judges 14:17 tn Heb “because she forced him.”
- Judges 14:17 tn Heb “she told the riddle to the sons of her people.”
- Judges 14:18 sn Plowed with my heifer. This statement emphasizes that the Philistines had utilized a source of information which should have been off-limits to them. Heifers were used in plowing (Hos 10:11), but one typically used one’s own farm animals, not another man’s.
- Judges 14:19 tn Heb “equipment”; or “gear.”
- Judges 14:19 tn Heb “changes [of clothes].”
- Judges 14:19 tn Heb “he went up to his father’s house.”
- Judges 14:20 tn Heb “to his companion who had been his attendant.”
- Judges 15:1 sn The wheat harvest took place during the month of May. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 37, 88.
- Judges 15:1 tn Heb “Samson visited his wife with a young goat.”
- Judges 15:1 tn The words “to her father” are supplied in the translation (see the end of the verse).
- Judges 15:1 tn Heb “I want to approach.” The verb בּוֹא (boʾ) with the preposition אֶל (ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations.
- Judges 15:1 tn Heb “I will go to my wife in the bedroom.” The Hebrew idiom בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel, “to go to”) often has sexual connotations. The cohortative form used by Samson can be translated as indicating resolve (“I want to go”) or request (“let me go”).
- Judges 15:2 tn Heb “saying, I said.” The first person form of אָמַר (ʾamar, “to say”) sometimes indicates self-reflection. The girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
- Judges 15:2 tn Heb “hating, you hated.” Once again the girl’s father uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis.
- Judges 15:2 tn Heb “Is her younger sister not better than her? Let her [i.e., the younger sister] be yours instead of her [i.e., Samson’s ‘bride’]).”
- Judges 15:3 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the (original) LXX has the singular “to him.”
- Judges 15:3 tn Heb “I am innocent this time from the Philistines when I do with them harm.”
- Judges 15:4 tn Traditionally, “foxes.”
- Judges 15:4 tn Heb “He turned tail to tail and placed one torch between the two tails in the middle.”
- Judges 15:5 tn Heb “He set fire to the torches.”
- Judges 15:6 tn Or “said.”
- Judges 15:6 tn Heb “and they said.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.
- Judges 15:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Timnite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 15:6 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Samson) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 15:6 tn The Hebrew text expands the statement with the additional phrase “burned with fire.” The words “with fire” are redundant in English and have been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons. Some textual witnesses read “burned…her father’s house,” perhaps under the influence of 14:15. On the other hand, the shorter text may have lost this phrase due to haplography.
- Judges 15:7 tn The Niphal of נָקָם (naqam, “to avenge, to take vengeance”) followed by the preposition ב (bet) has the force “to get revenge against.” See 1 Sam 18:25; Jer 50:15; Ezek 25:12.
- Judges 15:7 tn Heb “and afterward I will stop.”
- Judges 15:8 tn Heb “He struck them, calf on thigh, [with] a great slaughter.” The precise meaning of the phrase “calf on thigh” is uncertain.
- Judges 15:9 tn Or “camped in.”
- Judges 15:9 tn Or “spread out.” The Niphal of נָטָשׁ (natash) has this same sense in 2 Sam 5:18, 22.
- Judges 15:10 tn Or “come up against.”
- Judges 15:10 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 15:12 tn Or “swear to me.”
- Judges 15:12 tn Heb “meet [with hostility]”; “harm.” In light of v. 13, “kill” is an appropriate translation.
- Judges 15:13 tn Heb “No,” meaning that they will not harm him.
- Judges 15:14 tn Heb “rushed on.”
- Judges 15:14 tn Heb “burned with.”
- Judges 15:14 tn Heb “his bonds.”
- Judges 15:15 tn Heb “he found.”
- Judges 15:15 tn Heb “fresh,” i.e., not decayed and brittle.
- Judges 15:15 tn Heb “he reached out his hand and took it.”
- Judges 15:15 tn The Hebrew text adds “with it.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 15:16 tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).
- Judges 15:17 tn Heb “from his hand.”
- Judges 15:17 sn The name Ramath Lehi means “Height of the Jawbone.”
- Judges 15:18 tn Heb “you have placed into the hand of your servant.”
- Judges 15:18 tn Heb “the hand of uncircumcised.” “Hand” often represents power or control. “The uncircumcised [ones]” is used as a pejorative and in the context refers to the Philistines.
- Judges 15:19 tn The word translated “basin” refers to a circular-shaped depression in the land’s surface.
- Judges 15:19 tn Heb “spirit.”
- Judges 15:19 tn Heb “named it”; the referent (the spring) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 15:19 sn The name En Hakkore means “Spring of the one who cries out.”
- Judges 15:20 tn Traditionally, “judged.”
- Judges 15:20 tn Heb “in the days of the Philistines.”
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