Then the men of the town said to Joash: Then is a good rendering of the Hebrew waw conjunction here. For the men of the town, see verse 6.27. Here the leaders of the town may be in focus. The use of the full noun phrase the men of the town may show that a new stage in the action is beginning. Now that the culprit has been identified, they go into action. Not surprisingly, they address Joash, holding him responsible both for Baal’s altar (verse 6.25) and for the act of his son Gideon (verse 6.11).

Bring out your son means that Joash should hand over his son. As his father, he is responsible for what Gideon has done. Bring out renders the causative form of the Hebrew verb meaning “come out” (yatsaʾ), which is a keyword in this book, especially in the latter chapters (see comments on verse 1.24). Though it sounds like Gideon might be hiding in the house, this is not certain. Translators can use more general expressions, such as “Give us your son” and “Hand over your son” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

That he may die is literally “and may he die.” The Hebrew verb form here is a subjunctive or jussive, which expresses a wish: “he should die” or “let him die!” The people of the town want to personally kill Gideon or see him put to death. In their way of thinking, Gideon has offended the gods and therefore would be bringing harm on their town. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered that may be translated “so that” (Good News Translation) to clearly express purpose. Die does not imply here that Gideon will die of natural causes, but rather that he will be put to death. Contemporary English Version provides a good model for this clause and the previous one by saying “Hand him over, so we can kill him!” Another possibility is “Hand him over. He deserves to die.”

For he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it: See the comments on verse 6.25. This clause begins with the conjunction for (ki in Hebrew) and tells why Gideon should die. There are many ways to present this information. Some introduce the clause with “because,” while others omit the conjunction (Good News Translation). In many languages the logical link between the clauses is obvious. Contemporary English Version expresses this logical connection by inverting this and the preceding clause: “Your son Gideon knocked over Baal’s altar and cut down the sacred pole next to it. Hand him over, so we can kill him!” This will serve as a good model in many languages. Pulled down renders the same Hebrew verb translated “broken down” in verse 6.28 (see comments there). Though Baal is often thought of as the most important Canaanite god, the townspeople here seem equally concerned that the goddess Asherah has been offended. This shows the importance of preserving the name Asherah in the translation.

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 .