Judges 2:7–12

2:7 The people worshiped16 the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men17 who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed18 all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.19 2:8 Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten. 2:9 The people20 buried him in his allotted land21 in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 2:10 That entire generation passed away;22 a new generation grew up23 that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.24

A Monotonous Cycle

2:11 The Israelites did evil before25 the Lord by worshiping26 the Baals. 2:12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors27 who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods—the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped28 them and made the Lord angry.

16	tn Or “served”; or “followed.”
17	tn Or perhaps “elders,” which could be interpreted to mean “leaders.”
18	tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen.”
19	tn Heb “the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”
20	tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21	tn Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”
22	tn Heb “All that generation were gathered to their fathers.”
23	tn Heb “arose after them.”
24	tn Heb “that did not know the Lord or the work which he had done for Israel.” The expressions “personally experienced” and “seen” are interpretive.
25	tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
26	tn Or “serving”; or “following.”
27	tn Or “fathers.”
28	tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).