II. 1-5. The messenger of the Lord rebukes the people at Bochim. Judges 2:6. Faithfulness of the Israelites during the lives of Joshua and his generation. Judges 2:11. Their subsequent apostasy. Judges 2:14. The retribution which fell upon them. Judges 2:16. Failure of their deliverance by Judges t... [ Continue Reading ]
AN ANGEL OF THE LORD. — The words “_Maleak Jehovah_” are used of Haggai, in Haggai 1:13; of prophets in Isaiah 42:19; Malachi 3:6; of priests in Malachi 2:7. Hence from very ancient times these words have been interpreted as, “a messenger of the Lord” (as in the margin of our Bible). The Targum para... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL MAKE NO LEAGUE. — This is the _condition_ of the Covenant, quoted from Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 12:2. Comp. Exodus 23:31; Exodus 34:12. WHY HAVE YE DONE THIS? — Comp. Genesis 3:13; Genesis 12:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE I ALSO SAID. — Rather, _And now I have said._ I WILL NOT DRIVE THEM OUT. — The withdrawal of the conditional promises in Exodus 23:31. THEY SHALL BE AS THORNS IN YOUR SIDES. — The Hebrew is, “they shall be to you for _sides.”_ The words “_as thorns_” are conjecturally supplied from Number... [ Continue Reading ]
BOCHIM. — (Comp. Genesis 35:8; Genesis 1:11.) It was like “the Jews’ wailing-place” in modern Jerusalem. THEY SACRIFICED THERE UNTO THE LORD. — It is not _necessary_ to infer from this that Bochim must have been near the sanctuary at Bethel, Shechem, or Shiloh. Not only did kings and prophets seem t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN JOSHUA HAD LET THE PEOPLE GO. — Rather, _And Joshua let the people go._ This passage strongly tends to support the view that the events of the previous chapter, and the message at Bochim, occurred before Joshua’s death. (Comp. Joshua 22:6; Joshua 24:28.)... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE DAYS OF JOSHUA. — Compare the whole passage (Judges 2:6) with Joshua 24:28, which is almost verbally identical with it. It is usually supposed that Joshua was about eighty at the time of the conquest of Canaan, because that was the age of his comrade Caleb (Joshua 14:7); if so, he had lived... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SERVANT OF THE LORD. — Deuteronomy 34:5 (Moses); Psalms 18 (David); 2 Timothy 2:24 (ministers in general), &c. AN HUNDRED AND TEN YEARS OLD. — The same age as Joseph (Genesis 1:26). Moses attained the age of 120 (Deuteronomy 34:7), Jacob, of 130 (Genesis 47:9), Isaac, of 180 (Genesis 35:28).... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY BURIED HIM. — This circumstance is usually added in the case of kings, heroes, &c. (Genesis 23:19; Jeremiah 22:18, &c.), and this care about burial seems to point to at least a dim hope of that immortality which had not as yet been fully “brought to light.” IN THE BORDER OF HIS INHERITANCE. —... [ Continue Reading ]
GATHERED UNTO THEIR FATHERS. — See 2 Kings 22:20, and for similar phrases, Genesis 15:15; 1 Kings 1:21; Acts 13:36, &c. Another common phrase is. “gathered unto his people” (Genesis 15:8, &c.); and “sleep with fathers” (Deuteronomy 31:16), &c. WHICH KNEW NOT THE LORD. — “They proceed from evil to ev... [ Continue Reading ]
DID EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD. — Rather, “_the_ evil.” Used especially of apostasy (see Judges 3:7; Judges 4:1; Judges 6:1; Judges 10:6; Judges 13:1). They fell into the very idolatry against which they had been emphatically warned (Deuteronomy 4:19). BAALIM. — Rather, “_the_ Baalim.” Baal means... [ Continue Reading ]
FORSOOK THE LORD GOD OF THEIR FATHERS. — (Deuteronomy 31:16.) It seems, however, that the sin of the Israelites was a breach rather of the _second_ than of the _first_ commandment. It was not so much a worshipping of other gods as a worshipping of Jehovah under false symbols adopted from the surroun... [ Continue Reading ]
BAAL AND ASHTAROTH. — Literally, “the Baals and the Ashtareths.” ASHTAROTH. — The plural of the feminine word Ash-tareth, or Astarte, “the goddess of the Sidonians” (1 Kings 11:5), the Phœnician Venus — identified sometimes with the moon (_e.g.,_ in the name Ashtaroth Karnaim, “the city of the two-h... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS HOT. — (Psalms 78:59.) The language of the sad summary which follows should be compared with that of very similar passages which we find in various parts of the Bible (Psalms 106:34; Deuteronomy 32; 2 Kings 17; 2 Kings 17; 2 Kings 24:2; 2 Chronicles 36:11; Jeremiah 11 [ Continue Reading ]
THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS AGAINST THEM. — Contrast this with Joshua 1:9. AS THE LORD HAD SAID. — Leviticus 26:17; Deuteronomy 28:25, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
NEVERTHELESS. — Rather, _And._ THE LORD RAISED UP JUDGES. — Acts 13:20; 1 Samuel 12:10. This is the key-note to the book. (See Judges 3:10; Judges 4:4; Judges 10:2; Judges 12:7, &c.; 15:20.) The word for _Judges_ is _Shophetim._ The ordinary verb “to judge,” in Hebrew, is not _Shaphât,_ but _dayyân.... [ Continue Reading ]
WENT A WHORING. — Idolatry throughout the Bible is regarded as a spiritual adultery. (Exodus 34:15; Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:8; Ezekiel 23:37; Hosea 2:7; 2 Corinthians 11:2, &c.) THE WAY WHICH THEIR FATHERS WALKED IN. — As described in Judges 2:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT REPENTED THE LORD — _i.e.,_ Jehovah was grieved. (Comp. Jonah 3:10, “God repented of the evil that He had said He would do unto them; and He did it not” — Genesis 6:6; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:35; Amos 7:3; Joel 2:13, &c.) The simple anthropomorphism of early ages never hesitates to describe the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY CEASED NOT FROM THEIR OWN DOINGS. — Literally, as in the margin, “they let nothing fall of their deeds.” STUBBORN. — They are called “stiff-necked” in Exodus 32:9; Deuteronomy 10:16; Acts 7:51. The prophets and sacred writers are always careful to impress upon the Jews that they are chosen by G... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS PEOPLE. — Comp. Isaiah 6:9, “Go, and tell this people”; Judges 8:12. HATH TRANSGRESSED MY COVENANT. — The same expression is used in Joshua 23:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THROUGH THEM I MAY PROVE ISRAEL. — Yet in this as in all God’s punishments there was an element of mercy mingled with the judgment, as we see from Exodus 23:29; Deuteronomy 7:22; and _infr_. Judges 3:1. If in one point of view the non-extermination of Canaan at first led the Israelites into tem... [ Continue Reading ]