Judges 2:11-19

11 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight. They worshiped the Baals

12 and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods from the surrounding peoples^[a] and bowed down to them. They infuriated the Lord,^[b]

13 for they abandoned Him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.^[c]

14 The Lord's anger burned against Israel, and He handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold them to^[d] the enemies around them, so that they could no longer resist their enemies.

15 Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord ^[e] was against them^[f] and brought disaster [on them], just as He had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.

16 The Lord raised up judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders,

17 but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way^[g] of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the Lord's commands. They did not do as their fathers did.

18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive.^[h] The Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them.

19 Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their fathers, going after other gods to worship and bow down to them. They did not turn from their [evil] practices or their obstinate ways.

Judges 2:11-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 2

This chapter gives an account of an angel of the Lord appearing and rebuking the children of Israel for their present misconduct, Jud 2:1-5; of their good behaviour under Joshua, and the elders that outlived him, Jud 2:6-10; and of their idolatries they fell into afterwards, which greatly provoked the Lord to anger, Jud 2:11-15; and of the goodness of God to them nevertheless, in raising up judges to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, of which there are many instances in the following chapter, Jud 2:16-18; and yet that how, upon the demise of such persons, they relapsed into idolatry which caused the anger of God to be hot against them, and to determine not to drive out the Canaanites utterly from them, but to leave them among them to try them, Jud 2:19-23.

Footnotes

• [a]. Dt 6:14; 13:7
• [b]. 1 Kg 14:15; 15:30; 2 Kg 17:11; 2 Ch 28:25
• [c]. Jdg 10:6; 1 Sm 7:3-4; 12:10; 1 Kg 11:5,33; 2 Kg 23:13
• [d]. Lit into the hand of
• [e]. Lit the hand of the Lord
• [f]. Dt 2:15
• [g]. Ex 32:8; Dt 9:12,16
• [h]. Lit enemies all the days of the judge