complete verse (Judges 3:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 3:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people/men of Israel married girls of those communities and also the girls of Israel married. The people of Israel also worshiped those idols that those communities worshipped.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They married their daughters and gave their own daughters to their sons. And they worshiped their gods.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The Israelinhon allowed their children to take-a-wife and to-take-a-husband from those people, and they worshipped their gods.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Moses had told the people not to associate with any of those people. But the Israelis took daughters of people from those people-groups to be their own wives, and gave their own daughters to men of those groups, to marry them. And as a result they started to worship the gods of those people-groups.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Judges 3:6

This final verse of the section is a kind of climax of the introductory material and a very important point is being made. Because the Israelites were unable to drive out the Canaanites and ended up living with them side by side, they intermarried with them. This inevitably led to their abandoning Yahweh, as they turned to worship the gods of the Canaanites.

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 .