Chapter Two

1–5. The Appearance of the Angel of the Lord in Bochim and his admonition to the people. A general sketch of the alternation and mutual connection of events in the history of the Hebrew people during the time of the judges (6–23).

Judges 2:1. And the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim and said: I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers, and I said: “I will never break my covenant with you; Judges 2:2. and you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.” But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? Judges 2:3. So now I say, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall become adversaries to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you. After the Israelites failed to fulfill the Lord’s command regarding the expulsion from the promised land of the Canaanite peoples, the Angel of the Lord came from Gilgal (cf. Josh 4:19-20) to Bochim, and according to the LXX also to Bethel, to the representatives of the Israeli people, who in the name of the Lord pointed out to them that they had not fulfilled the Lord’s commandment concerning the Canaanites and warned them of the divine punishment to follow from such disregard of God’s will: the unexpelled nations would be a snare for the Israeli people and their gods a source of temptation. By the Angel of the Lord some understand the Angel of the Lord who led the Israelite people into the promised land (cf. Exod 32:34), others—some prophet appearing as the messenger of God (cf. Hag 1:13, Mal 3:1), still others—the high priest Phinehas, as the high priest is the messenger of the Lord of hosts (cf. Mal 2:7). The place Bochim (Weepers) may be identified with the allon bacuth (the Oak of Weeping), which was located not far from Bethel (Gen 35:8), where Bochim is placed.

Judges 2:4. When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept. Judges 2:5. And they named that place Bochim, and there they made an offering to the Lord. The speech of the Angel of the Lord evoked a feeling of repentance in the listening Israeli people, so much so that the people shed tears, on account of which this place was afterward called Bochim (Weepers, LXX – K λαυθυωνες).

Judges 2:6. When Joshua dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. Judges 2:7. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. Judges 2:8. And Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten years. Judges 2:9. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance at Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. In beginning to characterize the time of the judges, the historian, for the sake of a clearer characterization of the events of this time, mentions the state of the people in the final days of Joshua and during the life of the elders of Israel who had seen the wondrous deeds of the Lord during the wandering of the Hebrews through the Arabian wilderness. Cf. Josh 24:28-31.

Judges 2:10. And when all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, and there arose after them another generation who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel, – Judges 2:11. then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals; Judges 2:12. and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went after other gods, the gods of the peoples around them, and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord to anger. Judges 2:13. And they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Astartes. After the death of Joshua and the elders who had seen the deeds of the Lord and during the wandering of the people through the Arabian wilderness, the newly arising offspring of the sons of Israel forgot the Lord God and began to serve the gods of the Canaanite peoples, the Baals and the Astartes. Baal, in the plural Baalim (Baalim), identified with the Babylonian Ben (Dan Bil), literally “Lord” (dominus), a Canaanite deity, was the personification of dominion, power, and the productive force of nature. In accordance with the particular moments of its manifestation and particular areas of influence, it received particular designations and names. As standing above all else it was called Elyon, Baal Tamipal (cf. Greek Ζευς Δημαρους). As the god of heaven he was called Baal Samin. As the god of the sun he was called Baal Shemesh, or Baal Hamman. As the productive force of nature he was called Tammuz (Adon, cf. Greek Αδωνις). As the all-consuming force of the sun and as the terrible king of the universe he was called Baal-Melek, or Moloch, and as the god of winds and weather—Baal Sephon. As the patron of the city (Tyre) he was called Baal Melqart. As the patron of covenants he was called Baal Berith, as the patron of fertility—Baal-peor, and so forth. In accordance with the different designations of Baal, popular speech distinguished as it were many “Baals.” Astarte, in the plural Astartes (Aschtaroth), probably literally “Lady of fortune, fertility,” called also Asherah (Fortunate), a Canaanite deity, was the personification of the receiving and generative force of nature, on which account she was called “the face of Baal” (facies Baali) and corresponded to the Babylonian Belitis (spouse of Bil). In accordance with the different rites of manifestation of Baal, of which Astarte was the reflection, just as the light of the moon or Venus is a reflection of the light of the sun, Astarte was sometimes represented as the goddess of fortune and fertility (cf. Greek Aphrodite, Venus), and sometimes as the goddess of war and vengeance (cf. Greek Artemis, Nemesis). In accordance with the different designations of Astarte, popular speech distinguished many “Astartes” (cf. Troitsky I. G. The Religious, Public and Political Condition of the Hebrews in the Time of the Judges, p. 104–124; Palmov M. S. Idolatry among the Ancient Hebrews, p. 217–322, Zimmern H. and Winckler H. Die Keilinschriften und das alte Testament, von Eberhard Schrader (1902), II-te Halfte, I-te Liefer, SS. 354–358, 420–432. Jastrow Morris, Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, (1902), SS. 52–55, 61–83, 140–143, 214–218). The deviation of the Israelites from faith in the true God and attraction to the cults of the Canaanite peoples was repeated more than once during the time of the judges.

Judges 2:14. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Judges 2:15. Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, just as the Lord had said, and just as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. Because of such a departure from the true God, the Lord, in punishing whom he loves, as an instrument for the faithless Israeli people, chose those same peoples whom the Israelites had left on their territory and whose gods they served: these peoples became oppressors of the Israelites.

Judges 2:16. Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them from the power of those who plundered them; When, under the influence of external oppression, the Israelites turned to the Lord, he raised up from among the people special persons who saved the people from external oppressors and were called judges (schofetim) of the Israeli people. The saving of Israel was the principal function of the judges. Their power, like that of the Roman dictators, ended with their lives and was not hereditary. In order to be a judge (Schofet) of the people, personal qualities were required, not descent from some notable person, however illustrious. There were twelve judges mentioned in the Book of Judges in all.

Judges 2:18. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groans because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them. The judges were merely instruments of the Lord’s salvation; the true Savior of the people was the Lord himself, as the sole and supreme Ruler of the people.

Judges 2:19. But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and do worse than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. During the lifetime of the judges as leaders of the people, the Israelites remained faithful to the Lord. When a particular judge died, they would again turn away from the Lord and for the most part fall into idolatry. Such a picture of misery, turning around, salvation, and returning to idolatry was observed throughout the time of the judges.

Judges 2:20. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said: Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, Judges 2:21. I for my part will not drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, – Judges 2:22. that by them I may test whether or not Israel will keep the way of the Lord, walking in it as their fathers did. Judges 2:23. So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. As a punishment for such inconstancy of the Israeli people in faith in the true God and failure to obey the Lord’s command to abstain from idolatry, the Lord left some of the Canaanite peoples to dwell within the boundaries of the promised land to test the Israelites themselves by means of them. * * * Weepers