These are the nations: This clause is not part of the original Hebrew text, but some versions repeat it from verse 3.1 in order to provide an appropriate link. Most translations will need a transition clause here, such as “Here are the peoples the LORD left” or “Those left in the land were” (Good News Translation).

The five lords of the Philistines: This phrase refers to the leaders of the five major Philistine towns, which were Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath (see verse 1.18 for three of them). Lords renders the word seren borrowed from the Philistines. Some say “tyrants,” but a better rendering is “rulers” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version) or “chiefs” (New Jerusalem Bible). Translators should use a word here that is distinct from the key terms “king” and “judge” in this book. The Philistines were located on the Mediterranean coast in what is known today as Palestine. Good News Translation has simply “the five Philistine cities,” but this is incomplete. Contemporary English Version is better with “the Philistines and their five rulers.” The rest of the groups are presented without mentioning their lords or leaders. They are linked together in each case by the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered throughout as and.

And all the Canaanites: In chapter 1 the text says that at least some of the Canaanites were driven out (verse 1.5, 17). In other books of the Old Testament, Canaanite territory is described more narrowly, referring to peoples living on the coast and in the Jordan Valley (Num 13.29), but in this book the Canaanites seems to be a cover term for many different groups (see comments on verse 1.1). The phrase all the Canaanites is probably a reference to all these groups. The word all may modify not just the Canaanites, but the following groups as well.

And the Sidonians refers to people who lived in the coastal town of Sidon and the surrounding area. This was a Phoenician town on the coast in what today is Lebanon.

And the Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon: There is little certainty concerning the identity of the Hivites. Appearing first in Gen 10.17, they are presented as the descendants of Ham, through Canaan. Thus they seem to be part of the wider Canaanite group. Hivites is the name of a people, as the English “-ite” suffix shows, and not the name of a country or region. There is a textual problem here, however, since Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia suggests changing Hivites to “Hittites,” a non-Semitic group originally from much further north, and this reading is followed by some versions (New Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives Hivites an {A} rating, so it should be followed here. Mount Lebanon may not to refer to one mountain peak, but rather to the chain of mountains running parallel to the coast in the region that is modern-day Lebanon. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have “the Lebanon Mountains,” which is a good model to follow. Many languages will prefer to say “the mountain region of [or, in] Lebanon.” Dwelt on Mount Lebanon means the Hivites inhabited these mountains.

From Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance of Hamath describes in more detail the area in which the Hivites lived. This phrase indicates the boundaries of the Hivite territory. Translators may need to begin a new sentence to introduce these details, for example, “Their territory ran from [or, started at] Mount Baal-hermon….” Mount Baal-hermon (literally “mountain of the lord of Hermon”) was one of the high mountains in what is known as the Anti-Lebanon range. The entrance of Hamath renders the Hebrew words leboʾ hamath, which New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible transliterate as “Lebo-hamath.” According to Num 34.7-9, this place marks the northern boundary of the Promised Land. Some scholars take leboʾ to be the infinitive meaning “to enter,” so they propose the entrance of Hamath, that is, the entrance to the city of Hamath. Others speak of “Hamath Pass” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), that is, the mountain pass to the south of Hamath. Translators can choose between these different options, but normally translations are preferred over transliterations.

Translation suggestions for this verse are:

• The peoples remaining in the land included the Philistines with their five chiefs and all the Canaanites, including the Sidonians, along with the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon between Baal-hermon and Lebo-hamath.

• Those remaining in the land were the Philistines, governed by five lords, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who occupied the Lebanon Mountains in the territory beginning at the mountain of Baal-hermon and ending at Hamath’s Pass.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .