Judges 2

Judges 2:1 The agent[1] of Yahveh went up from Gilgal to Bochim and he said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I had promised to your fathers. I also said: I will never invalidate my covenant with you.

Judges 2:2 You are not to cut[2] a covenant with the ones living in this land. You are to tear down their altars.” But you have not obeyed me. What is this you have done?

Judges 2:3 Therefore, I now say: I will not drive out these people before you. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a trap for you.”

Judges 2:4 When the agent of Yahveh had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people raised their voices and wept.

Judges 2:5 So they named that place Bochim and offered sacrifices there to Yahveh.

Judges 2:6 Previously, when Joshua had sent the people away, the Israelites had gone to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.

Judges 2:7 The people worshiped Yahveh throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had seen all Yahveh’s great works he had done for Israel.

Judges 2:8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of Yahveh, died at the age of 110.

Judges 2:9 They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

Judges 2:10 That whole generation was also gathered to their fathers. After them another generation rose up who did not know Yahveh or the works he had done for Israel.

Judges 2:11 The Israelites did what was evil in the Yahveh’s eyes. They worshiped the Baals

Judges 2:12 and abandoned Yahveh, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They angered Yahveh,

Judges 2:13 because they abandoned him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.

Judges 2:14 Yahveh’s nose burned angrily[3] against Israel, and he handed them over to raiders who raided them. He sold them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies.

Judges 2:15 Whenever the Israelites went out, Yahveh was against them and brought disaster on them, just as he had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.

Judges 2:16 Yahveh raised judges, who rescued[4] them from the power of their raiders,

Judges 2:17 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 of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to Yahveh’s commands. They did not do as their fathers did.

Judges 2:18 Whenever Yahveh raised up a judge for the Israelites, Yahveh was with him and rescued the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. Yahveh was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them.

Judges 2:19 Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more spoiled[5] than their fathers, following other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate ways.

Judges 2:20 Yahveh’s nose burned angrily against Israel, and he declared, “Because this nation has violated my covenant that I made with their fathers and disobeyed me,

Judges 2:21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.

Judges 2:22 I did this to test Israel and to see whether or not they would keep Yahveh’s way by walking in it, as their fathers had.”

Judges 2:23 Yahveh placed[6] these nations and did not drive them out immediately. He did not hand them over to Joshua.

[1] מַלְאָךְ = agent. Judges 2:1, 4; 5:23; 6:11-12, 20-22, 35; 7:24; 9:31; 11:12-14, 17, 19; 13:3, 6, 9, 13, 15-18, 20-21.

[2] כָּרָת = cut, cut down (destroy). Judges 2:2; 4:24; 6:25-26, 28, 30; 9:48-49.

[3] ‎ ַיִּֽחַר־אַ֤ף= his nose burned angrily. Judges 2:14, 20; 3:8; 6:39; 9:30; 10:7; 14:19.

[4] יָשַׁע = rescue. Judges 2:16, 18; 3:9, 15, 31; 6:14, 15, 31, 36, 37; 7:2, 7; 8:22; 10:1, 12, 13, 14; 12:2, 3; 13:5.

[5] שָׁחַת = spoil, ruin, devastate. Judges 2:19; 6:4-5; 20:21, 25, 35, 42.

[6] נוּחַ = place. Judges 2:23; 3:1; 6:18, 20

Judges 2 quotes:

“Two features are noteworthy in exploring the place of chapter 2 within the corpus of Judges. Its style is characterized by the presence of complex sentence structures, with embedded clauses and much subordination, a trait that Polak (1998) finds in postexilic or Persian period Hebrew. Laying the text out in cola thus reveals considerable enjambment whereby the thought is not completed until a line or two beyond the opening clause. The language, content, and themes of Judges 2, moreover, parallel those of Deuteronomistic writings, emphasizing the idolatry of the natives of the land, the need to separate from these peoples, the tendency to break covenant by consorting with foreigners, and the punishment as defeat that follows. The texture of the passage would seem to indicate a late Deuteronomistic voice. The register is thus quite different from that of ch. 1, which more often than not assumes an epic style, although its date, as preserved, may well be as late or later than that of ch. 2 (see introduction, sections 3 and 4). Structurally, Judges 2 is composed of at least four segments, each of which offers theological explanation for Israel’s lack of success in taking possession of the land. All are framed in terms of covenant.”

Niditch Susan. Judges : A Commentary. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 48.

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Tag: Judges 2

Judges 2

Judges 2

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