Judges 2:11-19
New English Translation
A Monotonous Cycle
11 The Israelites did evil before[a] the Lord by worshiping[b] the Baals. 12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors[c] who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods—the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped[d] them and made the Lord angry. 13 They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.[e]
14 The Lord was furious with Israel[f] and handed them over to robbers who plundered them.[g] He turned them over to[h] their enemies who lived around them. They could no longer withstand their enemies’ attacks.[i] 15 Whenever they went out to fight,[j] the Lord did them harm,[k] just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do.[l] They suffered greatly.[m]
16 The Lord raised up leaders[n] who delivered them from these robbers.[o] 17 But they did not obey[p] their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped[q] them. They quickly turned aside from the path[r] their ancestors[s] had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not.[t] 18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people[u] from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them[v] when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them.[w] 19 When a leader died, the next generation[x] would again[y] act more wickedly than the previous one.[z] They would follow after other gods, worshiping them[aa] and bowing down to them. They did not give up[ab] their practices or their stubborn ways.
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- Judges 2:11 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- Judges 2:11 tn Or “serving”; or “following.”
- Judges 2:12 tn Or “fathers.”
- Judges 2:12 tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).
- Judges 2:13 sn The Ashtoreths were local manifestations of the goddess Astarte.
- Judges 2:14 tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”
- Judges 2:14 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.
- Judges 2:14 tn Heb “sold them into the hand of.”
- Judges 2:14 tn The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 2:15 tn The expression “to fight” is interpretive.
- Judges 2:15 tn Heb “the Lord’s hand was against them for harm.”
- Judges 2:15 tn Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”
- Judges 2:15 tn Or “they experienced great distress.”
- Judges 2:16 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.”
- Judges 2:16 tn Heb “and they delivered them from the hand of the ones robbing them.”
- Judges 2:17 tn Or “did not listen to.”
- Judges 2:17 tn Or “bowed before.”
- Judges 2:17 tn Or “way [of life].”
- Judges 2:17 tn Or “fathers.”
- Judges 2:17 tn Heb “…walked, obeying the Lord’s commands. They did not do this.”
- Judges 2:18 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 2:18 tn The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 2:18 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.
- Judges 2:19 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Judges 2:19 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.
- Judges 2:19 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).
- Judges 2:19 tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”
- Judges 2:19 tn Or “drop.”
Judges 2:11-19
Amplified Bible
Israel Serves Baals
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped and served the Baals, 12 and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from the gods of the peoples who were around them, and they bowed down to them, and offended and provoked the Lord to anger. 13 So they abandoned the Lord and served Baal [the pagan god of the Canaanites] and the [a]Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands (power) of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer stand [in opposition] before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil (misfortune), as the Lord had spoken, and as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.(A)
16 Then the Lord raised up [b]judges who rescued them from the hands of those who robbed them. 17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the prostitute after other gods and they bowed down to them. They quickly turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do as their fathers. 18 When the Lord raised up judges for them, He was with the judge and He rescued them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, they turned back and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, in following and serving other gods, and bowing down to them. They did not [c]abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.
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- Judges 2:13 Various Canaanite goddesses of fertility and warfare.
- Judges 2:16 The judges were military leaders called out by God to defend and rescue Israel from the oppression of the pagan nations. They also settled legal and personal disputes.
- Judges 2:19 Lit let drop.
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