Judges 21:22 New English Translation
22 When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us,[a] we’ll say to them, ‘Do us a favor and let them be,[b] for we could not get each one a wife through battle.[c] Don’t worry about breaking your oath![d] You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’”[e]
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- Judges 21:22 tc The (original) LXX and Vulgate read “to you.”
- Judges 21:22 tn The words “and let them be” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Judges 21:22 tn Heb “for we did not take each his wife in battle.”sn Through battle. This probably refers to the battle against Jabesh Gilead, which only produced 400 of the 600 wives needed.
- Judges 21:22 tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the logic of the statement.
- Judges 21:22 tc Heb “You did not give to them, now you are guilty.” The MT as it stands makes little sense. It is preferable to emend לֹא (loʾ, “not”) to לוּא (luʾ, “if”). This particle introduces a purely hypothetical condition, “If you had given to them [but you didn’t].” See G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 453-54.
New English Translation (NET)
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