Judges 3:7

Othniel: A Model Leader

3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ² 

Judges 10:6

The Lord’s Patience Runs Short

10:6 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. ³  They worshiped ⁴  the Baals and the Ashtars, ⁵  as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon, ⁶  Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. ⁷  They abandoned the Lord and did not worship ⁸  him.

Judges 10:10

10:10 The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ⁹  the Baals.”

Judges 10:1

Stability Restored

10:1 After Abimelech’s death, ¹⁰  Tola son of Puah, grandson ¹¹  of Dodo, from the tribe of Issachar, ¹²  rose up to deliver Israel. He lived in Shamir in the Ephraimite hill country.

Judges 7:4

7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. ¹³  Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. ¹⁴  When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; ¹⁵  when I say, ¹⁶  ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” ¹⁷ 

Judges 7:1

Gideon Reduces the Ranks

7:1 Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and his men ¹⁸  got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod. ¹⁹  The Midianites ²⁰  were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley.

Judges 18:18

18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole ²¹  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

Judges 18:2

18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, ²²  capable men ²³  from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house. ²⁴ 

Judges 1:2-3

1:2 The Lord said, “The men of Judah should take the lead. ²⁵  Be sure of this! I am handing the land over to them.” ²⁶  1:3 The men of Judah said to their relatives, the men of Simeon, ²⁷  “Invade our allotted land with us and help us attack the Canaanites. ²⁸  Then we ²⁹  will go with you into your allotted land.” So the men of Simeon went with them.

Jeremiah 2:23

2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.

I have not paid allegiance to ³⁰  the gods called Baal.’

Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! ³¹ 

Think about the things you have done there!

You are like a flighty, young female camel

that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. ³² 

Jeremiah 9:14

9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to ³³  the gods called Baal, ³⁴  as their fathers ³⁵  taught them to do.

Hosea 2:13-17

2:13 “I will punish her for the festival days

when she burned incense to the Baal idols; ³⁶ 

she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry,

and went after her lovers,

but ³⁷  she forgot me!” ³⁸  says the Lord.

Future Repentance and Restoration of Israel

2:14 However, in the future I will allure her; ³⁹ 

I will lead ⁴⁰  her back into the wilderness,

and speak tenderly to her.

2:15 From there I will give back her vineyards to her,

and turn the “Valley of Trouble” ⁴¹  into an “Opportunity ⁴²  for Hope.”

There she will sing as she did when she was young, ⁴³ 

when ⁴⁴  she came up from the land of Egypt.

2:16 “At that time,” ⁴⁵  declares the Lord,

“you will call, ⁴⁶  ‘My husband’; ⁴⁷ 

you will never again call me, ⁴⁸  ‘My master.’ ⁴⁹ 

2:17 For ⁵⁰  I will remove the names of the Baal idols ⁵¹  from your lips, ⁵² 

so that you will never again utter their names!” ⁵³ 

[3:7]  ¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[3:7]  ² sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.

[10:6]  ³ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[10:6]  ⁴ tn Or “served;” or “followed.”

[10:6]  ⁵ sn The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Ashtar (i.e., Astarte).

[10:6]  ⁶ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines.”

[10:6]  ⁸ tn Or “serve”; or “follow.”

[10:10]  ⁵ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

[10:1]  ⁷ tn The word “death” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[10:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “son.”

[10:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “a man of Issachar.”

[7:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “too many people.”

[7:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “test them for you there.”

[7:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he should go with you.”

[7:4]  ¹² tn Heb also has “to you.”

[7:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “he should not go.”

[7:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and all the people who were with him.”

[7:1]  ¹² sn The name Harod means, ironically, “trembling.”

[7:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “Midian.” The LXX reads “and Amalek” (cf. v. 12; 6:33).

[18:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

[18:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”

[18:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

[18:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”

[1:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Judah should go up.”

[1:2]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew exclamation הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally, “Behold”), translated “Be sure of this,” draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”

[1:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Judah said to Simeon, his brother.”

[1:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Come up with me into our allotted land and let us attack the Canaanites.”

[1:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “I.” The Hebrew pronoun is singular, agreeing with the collective singular “Judah” earlier in the verse. English style requires a plural pronoun here, however.

[2:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.

[2:23]  ²² tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.

[2:23]  ²³ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the Lord’s control.

[9:14]  ²³ tn Heb “they have gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[9:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Baals,” referring either to the pagan gods called “Baals” or the images of Baal (so NLT).

[9:14]  ²⁵ tn Or “forefathers,” or “ancestors.” Here the referent could be the immediate parents or, by their example, more distant ancestors.

[2:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the days of the Baals, to whom she burned incense.” The word “festival” is supplied to clarify the referent of “days,” and the word “idols” is supplied in light of the plural “Baals” (cf. NLT “her images of Baal”).

[2:13]  ²⁶ tn The vav prefixed to a nonverb (וְאֹתִי, vé’oti) introduces a disjunctive contrastive clause, which is rhetorically powerful.

[2:13]  ²⁷ tn The accusative direct object pronoun וְאֹתִי (vé’oti, “me”) is emphatic in the word order of this clause (cf. NIV “but me she forgot”), emphasizing the heinous inappropriateness of Israel’s departure from the Lord.

[2:14]  ²⁷ tn The participle מְפַתֶּיהָ (méfatteha, Piel participle masculine singular + 3rd feminine singular suffix from פָּתָה, patah, “to allure”) following the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “Now!”) describes an event that will occur in the immediate or near future.

[2:14]  ²⁸ tn Following the future-time referent participle (מְפַתֶּיהָ, méfatteha) there is a string of perfects introduced by vav consecutive that refer to future events.

[2:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Valley of Achor,” so named because of the unfortunate incident recorded in Josh 7:1-26 (the name is explained in v. 26; the Hebrew term Achor means “disaster” or “trouble”). Cf. TEV, CEV “Trouble Valley.”

[2:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “door” or “doorway”; cf. NLT “gateway.” Unlike the days of Joshua, when Achan’s sin jeopardized Israel’s mission and cast a dark shadow over the nation, Israel’s future return to the land will be marked by renewed hope.

[2:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “as in the days of her youth” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[2:15]  ³² tn Heb “as in the day when” (so KJV, NASB).

[2:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “And in that day”; NLT “In that coming day.”

[2:16]  ³² tc The MT reads תִּקְרְאִי (tiqrÿ’i, “you will call”; Qal imperfect 2nd person feminine singular). The versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) all reflect an alternate Vorlage of תִּקְרָא לִי (tiqra’ li, “she will call me”; Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ, lamed, + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). This textual variant undoubtedly arose under the influence of לִי תִּקְרְאִי (tiqrÿ’i li) which follows. Most English versions follow the reading of the MT (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, CEV), but some follow the ancient versions and read the 3rd person (“she”, so NAB, NCV, TEV).

[2:16]  ³³ tn There are wordplays on the terms אִישׁ (’ish) and בַּעַל (ba’al) here. The term אִישִׁי (’ishi, “my man, husband”) is a title of affection (Gen 2:23; 3:6, 16) as the counterpart to אִשָּׁה (’ishah, “woman, wife”). The term בַּעְלִי (ba’li, “my lord”) emphasizes the husband’s legal position (Exod 21:3; Deut 22:22; 24:4). The relationship will no longer be conditioned on the outward legal commitment but on a new inward bond of mutual affection and love.

[2:16]  ³⁴ tc The MT reads תִקְרְאִי לִי (tiqrÿ’i li, “you will call me”; Qal imperfect 2nd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ, lamed, + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). The versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) all reflect an alternate Vorlage of תִקְרְא לִי (tiqrÿ’ li, “she will call me”; Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). This textual variant is related to the preceding textual issue (see preceding tc note).

[2:16]  ³⁵ sn There is a wordplay on the terms בַּעְלִי (ba’li, “my master”) and הַבְּעָלִים (habbé’alim, “the Baals”) which are derived from the root בַּעַל (ba’al, “master; lord”). This wordplay is especially effective because the term בַּעַל can refer to one’s husband and is also the name of the Canaanite storm god Baal. Referring to a spouse the term normally means “husband; master.” It was a common, ordinary, nonpejorative term that was frequently used in an interchangeable manner with אִישׁ (’ish, “husband; man”). Due to its similarity in sound to the abhorrent Canaanite fertility god Baal, the repentant Israelites would be so spiritually sensitive that they would refrain from even uttering this neutral term for fear of recalling their former idolatry. The purpose of the exile is to end Israel’s worship of Baal and to remove syncretism.

[2:17]  ³³ tn The vav consecutive prefixed to וַהֲסִרֹתִי (vahasiroti) “I will remove” (vav consecutive + Hiphil perfect 1st person common singular) introduces an explanatory clause.

[2:17]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the Baals.” The singular term בַּעַל (ba’al) refers to the Canaanite god Baal himself, while the plural form הַבְּעָלִים (habbé’alim) refers to the manifestations of the god (i.e., idols; BDB 127 s.v. בָּעַל II.1).

[2:17]  ³⁵ tn Heb “from her mouth.” In the translation this is rendered as second person for consistency.

[2:17]  ³⁶ tn Heb “they will no longer be mentioned by their name.”