translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JDG

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “brothers.”


text: Heb “to all the extended family of the house of the father of his mother.”


text: Heb “Speak into the ears of.”


text: Heb “What good is it to you?”


text: Heb “your bone and your flesh.”


text: Heb “into the ears of.”


text: Heb “and all these words.”


text: Heb “Their heart was inclined after Abimelech.”


text: Heb “our brother.”


text: Heb “empty and reckless.”


text: Heb “and they followed him.”


text: Heb “his brothers.”


text: The word “legitimate” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “remained.”


label: NET textual note

text: The translation assumes that the form in the Hebrew text ( מֻצָּב , mutsav ) is a corruption of an original מַצֵּבָה ( matsevah , “pillar”). The reference is probably to a pagan object of worship (cf. LXX).


text: Heb “And they reported to Jotham.” The subject of the plural verb is indefinite.


text: Heb “He lifted his voice and called and said to them.”


text: Heb “Going they went, the trees.” The precise emphatic force of the infinitive absolute (“Going”) is not entirely clear. Perhaps here it indicates determination, as in Gen 31:30 , where one might translate, “You have insisted on going away.”


text: Heb “to anoint [with oil] over them a king.”


text: Or “Rule over us!”


text: Heb “Should I stop my abundance, with which they honor gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.


text: Or “and rule over us!”


text: Heb “Should I stop my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over the trees? The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.


text: Heb “Should I stop my wine, which makes happy gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?” The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.


text: Heb “are about to anoint [with oil].”


text: Heb “in my shade.”


text: Heb “If not.”


text: Heb “house.”


text: Heb “if according to the deeds of his hands you have done to him.”


text: Heb “threw his life out in front,” that is, “exposed himself to danger.” The MT form מִנֶּגֶד ( minneged , “from before”) should probably be read as מִנֶּגְדּוֹ ( minnegdo , “from before him”); haplography of vav has likely occurred here in the MT.


text: Heb “hand.”


text: Heb “have risen up against.”


text: Heb “your brother.”


text: Heb “then rejoice in Abimelech, and may he also rejoice in you.”


text: Heb “fled and ran away and went.”


text: Heb “from before.”


text: Heb “his brother.”


text: The Hebrew verb translated “commanded” ( שָׂרַר , sarar ), which appears only here in Judges, differs from the ones employed earlier in this chapter ( מָשַׁל [ mashal ] and מָלַךְ [ malakh ]). sn Abimelech commanded Israel. Perhaps while ruling as king over the city-state of Shechem, Abimelech also became a leader of the Israelite tribal alliance (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 175).


text: Heb “an evil spirit.” A nonphysical, spirit being is in view, like the one who volunteered to deceive Ahab ( 1 Kgs 22:21 ). The traditional translation, “evil spirit,” implies the being is inherently wicked, perhaps even demonic, but this is not necessarily the case. The Hebrew adjective רָעַה ( ra ’ ah ) can have a nonethical sense, “harmful; dangerous; calamitous.” When modifying רוּחַ ( ruakh , “spirit”) it may simply indicate that the being in view causes harm to the object of God’s judgment. G. F. Moore ( Judges [ICC], 253) here refers to a “mischief-making spirit.”


text: Heb “The leaders of Shechem were disloyal.” The words “he made” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “their brother.”


text: Heb “so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal might come, and their blood might be placed on Abimelech, their brother, who murdered them, and upon the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to murder his brothers.”


text: Heb “set against him bandits.” sn Putting bandits in the hills . This piracy certainly interrupted or discouraged trade, and probably deprived Abimelech of tariffs or tribute. See C. F. Burney, Judges , 277; G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 253.


text: Heb “on the tops of.”


text: Heb “It was told to Abimelech.”


text: Heb “trusted in him.” Here the verb probably describes more than a mental attitude. It is likely that the Shechemites made an alliance with Gaal and were now trusting him for protection in return for their loyalty (and probably tribute).


text: Heb “vineyards.”


text: Heb “stomped” or “trampled.” This refers to the way in which the juice was squeezed out in the wine vats by stepping on the grapes with one’s bare feet. For a discussion of grape harvesting in ancient Israel, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel , 110-14.


text: Heb “house.”


text: Heb “and Zebul his appointee.”


text: Heb “him”; the referent (Abimelech) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “people.”


text: Heb “in my hand.” sn If only these men were under my command . One might assume from v. 26 b that the men were already at his disposal, but perhaps that was not one of the terms of the agreement. Another possibility is that v. 26 is a general summary statement, with vv. 27-29 then detailing how the alliance with Gaal came about.


text: Heb “said to Abimelech.” On the other hand, the preposition ל ( lamed ) prefixed to the proper name may be vocative (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178). If so, one could translate, “He boasted, ‘Abimelech…’”


text: Heb “Make numerous.”


text: The words “for battle” are interpretive.


text: Heb “his anger burned.”


text: The form בְּתָרְמָה ( bÿtarmah ) in the Hebrew text, which occurs only here, has traditionally been understood to mean “secretly” or “with deception.” If this is correct, it is derived from II רָמָה ( ramah , “to deceive”). Some interpreters object, pointing out that this would imply Zebul was trying to deceive Abimelech, which is clearly not the case in this context. But this objection is unwarranted. If retained, the phrase would refer instead to deceptive measures used by Zebul to avoid the suspicion of Gaal when he dispatched the messengers from Shechem. The present translation assumes an emendation to “in Arumah” ( בָּארוּמָה , ba ’ rumah ), a site mentioned in v. 41 as the headquarters of Abimelech. Confusion of alef and tav in archaic Hebrew script, while uncommon, is certainly not unimaginable.


text: Heb “Look!”


text: The participle, as used here, suggests Gaal and his brothers are in the process of arriving, but the preceding verses imply they have already settled in. Perhaps Zebul uses understatement to avoid the appearance of negligence on his part. After all, if he made the situation sound too bad, Abimelech, when he was informed, might ask why he had allowed this rebellion to reach such a stage.


text: The words “to rebel” are interpretive. The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb צוּר ( tsur ) is unclear here. It is best to take it in the sense of “to instigate; to incite; to provoke” (see Deut 2:9, 19 and R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 178).


text: Heb “arise.”


text: Heb “you and the people who are with you.”


text: The words “outside the city” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “Look! He and the people who are with him will come out to you, and you will do to him what your hand finds [to do].”


text: Heb “and all the people who were with him arose.”


text: Heb “four heads.” The words “they divided into” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “the people” (also in vv. 38, 43, 48 ). These were warriors, so “men” has been used in the translation, since in ancient Israelite culture soldiers would have been exclusively males.


text: Heb “the shadow on the hills you are seeing, like men.”


text: Heb “navel.” On the background of the Hebrew expression “the navel of the land,” see R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 178-79.


text: Heb “head.”


text: Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name ( Heb “Elon-meonenim”); cf. NAB, NRSV.


text: Heb “is your mouth that says.”


text: Heb “the people.”


text: Or “despised.”


text: Heb “So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Gaal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The word “Shechemites” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarification.


text: Heb “stayed.” Some scholars revise the vowel pointing on this verb from that of the MT, resulting in the translation “and he returned to.” The Lucianic recension of the LXX understands the word in this way.


text: Heb “drove…out from dwelling in Shechem.”


text: Heb “the people”; the referent (the Shechemites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “And they told Abimelech.”


text: Heb “his people.”


text: Heb “And he saw and, look, the people were coming out of the city.”


text: Heb “he arose against them and struck them.”


text: Or possibly, “the unit that was with him.”


text: Heb “stood [at].”


text: Or “destroyed.”


text: Heb “sowed it with salt.” sn The spreading of salt over the city was probably a symbolic act designed to place the site under a curse, deprive it of fertility, and prevent any future habitation. The practice is referred to outside the Bible as well. For example, one of the curses in the Aramaic Sefire treaty states concerning Arpad: “May Hadad sow in them salt and weeds, and may it not be mentioned again!” See J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire (BibOr), 15, 53. Deut 29:23 , Jer 17:6 , and Zeph 2:9 associate salt flats or salty regions with infertility and divine judgment.


text: Apparently this rare word refers here to the most inaccessible area of the temple, perhaps the inner sanctuary or an underground chamber. It appears only here and in 1 Sam 13:6 , where it is paired with “cisterns” and refers to subterranean or cave-like hiding places.


text: Heb “and it was told to Abimelech.”


text: Heb “were assembled.”


text: Heb “Abimelech.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”) due to considerations of English style.


text: The Hebrew text has the plural here.


text: Heb “he lifted it and put [it].”


text: Heb “What you have seen me do, quickly do like me.”


text: The words “the branches” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “they kindled over them the stronghold with fire.”


text: Or “men,” but the word seems to have a more general sense here, as the conclusion to the sentence suggests.


text: Or “went.”


text: Heb “he camped near Thebez and captured it.”


text: Or “strong.”


text: Or “fortress.” The same Hebrew term occurs once more in this verse and twice in v. 52 .


text: Heb “Abimelech’s.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun “his” in the translation in keeping with conventions of English narrative style.


text: The Hebrew text adds, “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: The Hebrew text adds, “concerning me.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “each to his own place.”


text: Heb “seventy brothers.”


text: Heb “came.”