Hakim-hakim 2:11-14

A Monotonous Cycle

2:11 The Israelites did evil before ¹  the Lord by worshiping ²  the Baals. 2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors ³  who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods – the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped ⁴  them and made the Lord angry. 2:13 They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars. ⁵ 

2:14 The Lord was furious with Israel ⁶  and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. ⁷  He turned them over to ⁸  their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks. ⁹ 

Hakim-hakim 3:7

Othniel: A Model Leader

3:7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹⁰  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ¹¹ 

Hakim-hakim 3:2

3:2 He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war. ¹² 

Hakim-hakim 1:23

1:23 When the men of Joseph spied out Bethel (it used to be called Luz),

Mazmur 106:36

106:36 They worshiped ¹³  their idols,

which became a snare to them. ¹⁴ 

[2:11]  ¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[2:11]  ² tn Or “serving”; or “following.”

[2:12]  ³ tn Or “fathers.”

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).

[2:13]  ⁵ 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).

[2:13]  sn The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Astarte.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “robbers who robbed them.” (The verb שָׁסָה [shasah] appears twice in the verse.)

[2:14]  sn The expression robbers who plundered them is a derogatory reference to the enemy nations, as the next line indicates.

[2:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “sold them into the hands of.”

[2:14]  ⁹ tn The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[3:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[3:7]  ¹¹ sn The Asherahs were local manifestations of the Canaanite goddess Asherah.

[3:2]  ¹² tn The Hebrew syntax of v. 2 is difficult. The Hebrew text reads literally, “only in order that the generations of the Israelites might know, to teach them war – only those who formerly did not know them.”

[3:2]  sn The stated purpose for leaving the nations (to teach the subsequent generations…how to conduct holy war) seems to contradict 2:22 and 3:4, which indicate the nations were left to test Israel’s loyalty to the Lord. However, the two stated purposes can be harmonized. The willingness of later generations to learn and engage in holy war would measure their allegiance to the Lord (see B. G. Webb, Judges [JSOTSup], 114-15).

[106:36]  ¹³ tn Or “served.”

[106:36]  ¹⁴ sn Became a snare. See Exod 23:33; Judg 2:3.