Text -- Judges 2:2-23 (NET)

2:2 but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’ But you have disobeyed me. Why would you do such a thing? 2:3 At that time I also warned you, ‘If you disobey, I will not drive out the Canaanites before you. They will ensnare you and their gods will lure you away.’” 2:4 When the Lord’s messenger finished speaking these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. 2:5 They named that place Bokim and offered sacrifices to the Lord there.

The End of an Era

2:6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites went to their allotted portions of territory, intending to take possession of the land. 2:7 The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. 2:8 Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten. 2:9 The people buried him in his allotted land in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 2:10 That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.

A Monotonous Cycle

2:11 The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals. 2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods– the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped them and made the Lord angry. 2:13 They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars. 2:14 The Lord was furious with Israel and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. He turned them over to their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks. 2:15 Whenever they went out to fight, the Lord did them harm, just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. They suffered greatly. 2:16 The Lord raised up leaders who delivered them from these robbers. 2:17 But they did not obey their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned aside from the path their ancestors had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. 2:18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. 2:19 When a leader died, the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one. They would follow after other gods, worshiping them and bowing down to them. They did not give up their practices or their stubborn ways.

A Divine Decision

2:20 The Lord was furious with Israel. He said, “This nation has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors by disobeying me. 2:21 So I will no longer remove before them any of the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. 2:22 Joshua left those nations to test Israel. I wanted to see whether or not the people would carefully walk in the path marked out by the Lord, as their ancestors were careful to do.” 2:23 This is why the Lord permitted these nations to remain and did not conquer them immediately; he did not hand them over to Joshua.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jdg 2:2

¹ tn Heb “their altars.”

² tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”

³ tn Heb “What is this you have done?”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:3

¹ tn Heb “And I also said.” The use of the perfect tense here suggests that the messenger is recalling an earlier statement (see Josh 23:12-13). However, some translate, “And I also say,” understanding the following words as an announcement of judgment upon those gathered at Bokim.

² tn The words “If you disobey” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See Josh 23:12-13.

³ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Canaanites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צִדִּים (tsiddim) is uncertain in this context. It may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “snare.” If so, a more literal translation would be “they will become snares to you.” Normally the term in question means “sides,” but this makes no sense here. On the basis of Num 33:55 some suggest the word for “thorns” has been accidentally omitted. If this word is added, the text would read, “they will become [thorns] in your sides” (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

⁵ tn Heb “their gods will become a snare to you.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:4

¹ tn Heb “lifted their voices and wept.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:5

¹ sn Bokim means “weeping ones” and is derived from the Hebrew verb בָּכָא (bakha’, “to weep”).

NET Notes: Jdg 2:6

¹ tn Or “sent away.”

² tn Heb “the Israelites went each to his inheritance.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:7

¹ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

² tn Or perhaps “elders,” which could be interpreted to mean “leaders.”

³ tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen.”

⁴ tn Heb “the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:9

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:10

¹ tn Heb “All that generation were gathered to their fathers.”

² tn Heb “arose after them.”

³ tn Heb “that did not know the Lord or the work which he had done for Israel.” The expressions “personally experienced” and “seen” are interpretive.

NET Notes: Jdg 2:11

¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

² tn Or “serving”; or “following.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:12

¹ tn Or “fathers.”

² tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).

NET Notes: Jdg 2:13

¹ tn Some English translations simply transliterate the plural Hebrew term (“Ashtaroth,” cf. NAB, NASB), pluralize the transliterated Hebrew singular form (“Ashtoreths,” cf. NIV), or use a variation of the name (“Astartes,” cf. NRSV).

sn The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Astarte.

NET Notes: Jdg 2:14

¹ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”

² tn Heb “robbers who robbed them.” (The verb שָׁסָה [shasah] appears twice in the verse.)

sn The expression robbers who plundered them is a derogatory reference to the enemy nations, as the next line indicates.

³ tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”

⁴ tn The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Jdg 2:15

¹ tn The expression “to fight” is interpretive.

² tn Heb “the Lord’s hand was against them for harm.”

³ tn Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”

⁴ tn Or “they experienced great distress.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:16

¹ tn Or more traditionally, “judges” (also in vv. 17, 18 [3x], 19). Since these figures carried out more than a judicial function, also serving as rulers and (in several instances) as military commanders, the translation uses the term “leaders.”

² tn Heb “and they delivered them from the hand of the ones robbing them.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:17

¹ tn Or “did not listen to.”

² tn Or “bowed before.”

³ tn Or “way [of life].”

⁴ tn Or “fathers.”

⁵ tn Heb “…walked, obeying the Lord’s commands. They did not do this.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:18

¹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “the ones oppressing them and afflicting them.” The synonyms “oppressing” and “afflicting” are joined together in the translation as “harsh oppressors” to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.

NET Notes: Jdg 2:19

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.

³ tn Heb “their fathers.”

sn The statement the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one must refer to the successive sinful generations after Joshua, not Joshua’s godly generation (cf. vv. 7, 17).

⁴ tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”

⁵ tn Or “drop.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:20

¹ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”

² tn Heb “Because this nation.”

³ tn Heb “my covenant which I commanded their fathers.”

⁴ tn Heb “and has not listened to my voice.” The expression “to not listen to [God’s] voice” is idiomatic here for disobeying him.

NET Notes: Jdg 2:22

¹ tn The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21). In this case the Lord announces that he has now decided to leave these nations as a test for Israel. Another possibility is to subordinate “to test” to “He said” (v. 20; see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 111). In this case the statement recorded in vv. 20b-21 is the test in that it forces Israel to respond either positively (through repentance) or negatively to the Lord’s declaration. A third possibility (the one reflected in the present translation) is to subordinate “to test” to “left unconquered” (v. 21). In this case the Lord recalls that Joshua left these nations as a test. Israel has failed the test (v. 20), so the Lord announces that the punishment threatened earlier (Josh 23:12-13; see also Judg 2:3) will now be implemented. As B. G. Webb (Judges [JSOTSup], 115) observes, “The nations which were originally left as a test are now left as a punishment.” This view best harmonizes v. 23, which explains that the Lord did not give all the nations to Joshua, with v. 22. (For a grammatical parallel, where the infinitive construct of נָסָה [nasah] is subordinated to the perfect of עָזַב [’azav], see 2 Chr 32:31.)

² tn The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn The words “I [i.e., the Lord] wanted to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Or “way [of life].”

⁶ tn “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.

⁷ tn Or “fathers.”

NET Notes: Jdg 2:23

¹ tn The words “this is why” are interpretive.

² tn Or “quickly.”