1tn Heb “men.” 2tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 3tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.” 4tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).” 5tn Heb “and it will be.” 6tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.” 7tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.” 8tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 9tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it. 10tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.” 11tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal. 12tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.” 13sn This is the so-called “levirate” custom (from the Latin term levir, “brother-in-law”), an ancient provision whereby a man who died without male descendants to carry on his name could have a son by proxy, that is, through a surviving brother who would marry his widow and whose first son would then be attributed to the brother who had died. This is the only reference to this practice in an OT legal text but it is illustrated in the story of Judah and his sons (Gen 38) and possibly in the account of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 2:8; 3:12; 4:6). 14tn Heb “and it will be that.” 15tn Heb “the firstborn.” This refers to the oldest male child. 16tn Heb “want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister in law.” In the second instance the pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy. 17sn The removal of the sandal was likely symbolic of the relinquishment by the man of any claim to his dead brother’s estate since the sandal was associated with the soil or land (cf. Ruth 4:7-8). Spitting in the face was a sign of utmost disgust or disdain, an emotion the rejected widow would feel toward her uncooperative brother-in-law (cf. Num 12:14; Lev 15:8). See W. Bailey, NIDOTTE 2:544. 18tn Heb “build the house of his brother”; TEV “refuses to give his brother a descendant”; NLT “refuses to raise up a son for his brother.” 19tn Heb “called,” i.e., “known as.” 20tn Heb “house.” 21tn Cf. NIV, NCV “The Family of the Unsandaled.” 22tn Heb “a man and his brother.” 23tn Heb “shameful parts.” Besides the inherent indelicacy of what she has done, the woman has also threatened the progenitive capacity of the injured man. The level of specificity given this term in modern translations varies: “private parts” (NAB, NIV, CEV); “genitals” (NASB, NRSV, TEV); “sex organs” (NCV); “testicles” (NLT). 24tn Heb “a stone and a stone.” The repetition of the singular noun here expresses diversity, as the following phrase indicates. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3c. 25tn Heb “a large and a small,” but since the issue is the weight, “a heavy and a light one” conveys the idea better in English. 26tn Heb “an ephah and an ephah.” An ephah refers to a unit of dry measure roughly equivalent to five U.S. gallons (just under 20 liters). On the repetition of the term to indicate diversity, see IBHS 116 §7.2.3c. 27tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.” 28tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25. 29tn Heb “what Amalek” (so NAB, NRSV). Here the individual ancestor, the namesake of the tribe, is cited as representative of the entire tribe at the time Israel was entering Canaan. Consistent with this, singular pronouns are used in v. 18 and the singular name appears again in v. 19. Since readers unfamiliar with the tribe of Amalekites might think this refers to an individual, the term “Amalekites” and the corresponding plural pronouns have been used throughout these verses (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). 30sn See Exod 17:8-16. 31tn Heb “ the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy. 32tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.” 33tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context. 34sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.
1tn Heb “men.”
2tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
4tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
5tn Heb “and it will be.”
6tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
7tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
8tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.
10tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”
11tn Heb “an.” By implication this is one’s own animal.
12tn Heb “take her as wife”; NRSV “taking her in marriage.”
13sn This is the so-called “levirate” custom (from the Latin term levir, “brother-in-law”), an ancient provision whereby a man who died without male descendants to carry on his name could have a son by proxy, that is, through a surviving brother who would marry his widow and whose first son would then be attributed to the brother who had died. This is the only reference to this practice in an OT legal text but it is illustrated in the story of Judah and his sons (Gen 38) and possibly in the account of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 2:8; 3:12; 4:6).
14tn Heb “and it will be that.”
15tn Heb “the firstborn.” This refers to the oldest male child.
16tn Heb “want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister in law.” In the second instance the pronoun (“she”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
17sn The removal of the sandal was likely symbolic of the relinquishment by the man of any claim to his dead brother’s estate since the sandal was associated with the soil or land (cf. Ruth 4:7-8). Spitting in the face was a sign of utmost disgust or disdain, an emotion the rejected widow would feel toward her uncooperative brother-in-law (cf. Num 12:14; Lev 15:8). See W. Bailey, NIDOTTE 2:544.
18tn Heb “build the house of his brother”; TEV “refuses to give his brother a descendant”; NLT “refuses to raise up a son for his brother.”
19tn Heb “called,” i.e., “known as.”
20tn Heb “house.”
21tn Cf. NIV, NCV “The Family of the Unsandaled.”
22tn Heb “a man and his brother.”
23tn Heb “shameful parts.” Besides the inherent indelicacy of what she has done, the woman has also threatened the progenitive capacity of the injured man. The level of specificity given this term in modern translations varies: “private parts” (NAB, NIV, CEV); “genitals” (NASB, NRSV, TEV); “sex organs” (NCV); “testicles” (NLT).
24tn Heb “a stone and a stone.” The repetition of the singular noun here expresses diversity, as the following phrase indicates. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
25tn Heb “a large and a small,” but since the issue is the weight, “a heavy and a light one” conveys the idea better in English.
26tn Heb “an ephah and an ephah.” An ephah refers to a unit of dry measure roughly equivalent to five U.S. gallons (just under 20 liters). On the repetition of the term to indicate diversity, see IBHS 116 §7.2.3c.
27tn Or “just”; Heb “righteous.”
28tn The Hebrew term translated here “abhorrent” (תּוֹעֵבָה, to’evah) speaks of attitudes and/or behaviors so vile as to be reprehensible to a holy God. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.
29tn Heb “what Amalek” (so NAB, NRSV). Here the individual ancestor, the namesake of the tribe, is cited as representative of the entire tribe at the time Israel was entering Canaan. Consistent with this, singular pronouns are used in v. 18 and the singular name appears again in v. 19. Since readers unfamiliar with the tribe of Amalekites might think this refers to an individual, the term “Amalekites” and the corresponding plural pronouns have been used throughout these verses (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
30sn See Exod 17:8-16.
31tn Heb “ the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
32tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it.”
33tn Or “from beneath the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
34sn This command is fulfilled in 1 Sam 15:1-33.