^2:6When Joshua dismissed¹⁴ the people, the Israelites went to their allotted portions of territory,¹⁵ intending to take possession of the land. ^2:7The 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.¹⁹^2:8Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten. ^2:9The people²⁰ buried him in his allotted land²¹ in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ^2:10That 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

^2:11The Israelites did evil before²⁵ the Lord by worshiping²⁶ the Baals. ^2:12They 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. ^2:13They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtars.²⁹

^2:14The Lord was furious with Israel³⁰ and handed them over to robbers who plundered them.³¹ He turned them over to³² their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks.³³^2:15Whenever they went out to fight,³⁴ the Lord did them harm,³⁵ just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do.³⁶ They suffered greatly.³⁷

^2:16The Lord raised up leaders³⁸ who delivered them from these robbers.³⁹^2:17But they did not obey⁴⁰ their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped⁴¹ them. They quickly turned aside from the path⁴² their ancestors⁴³ had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not.⁴⁴^2:18When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people⁴⁵ from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them⁴⁶ when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them.⁴⁷^2:19When a leader died, the next generation⁴⁸ would again⁴⁹ act more wickedly than the previous one.⁵⁰ They would follow after other gods, worshiping them⁵¹ and bowing down to them. They did not give up⁵² their practices or their stubborn ways.

A Divine Decision

^2:20The Lord was furious with Israel.⁵³ He said, “This nation⁵⁴ has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors⁵⁵ by disobeying me.⁵⁶^2:21So I will no longer remove before them any of the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. ^2:22Joshua left those nations⁵⁷ to test⁵⁸ Israel. I wanted to see⁵⁹ whether or not the people⁶⁰ would carefully walk in the path⁶¹ marked out by⁶² the Lord, as their ancestors⁶³ were careful to do.” ^2:23This is why⁶⁴ the Lord permitted these nations to remain and did not conquer them immediately;⁶⁵ he did not hand them over to Joshua.

^3:1These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel—he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites.¹^3:2He 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.²^3:3These were the nations:³ the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath.⁴^3:4They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses.⁵

^3:5The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ^3:6They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites;⁶ they worshiped⁷ their gods as well.

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Footnotes

14 Or “sent away.”
15 Heb “the Israelites went each to his inheritance.”
16 Or “served”; or “followed.”
17 Or perhaps “elders,” which could be interpreted to mean “leaders.”
18 Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen.”
19 Heb “the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”
20 Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”
22 Heb “All that generation were gathered to their fathers.”
23 Heb “arose after them.”
24 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 Heb “in the eyes of.”
26 Or “serving”; or “following.”
27 Or “fathers.”
28 Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).
29 Some English translations simply transliterate the plural Hebrew term (“Ashtaroth,” cf. , ), pluralize the transliterated Hebrew singular form (“Ashtoreths,” cf. ), or use a variation of the name (“Astartes,” cf. ). The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Astarte.
30 Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”
31 Heb “robbers who robbed them.” (The verb שָׁסָה [shasah] appears twice in the verse.) The expression robbers who plundered them is a derogatory reference to the enemy nations, as the next line indicates.
32 Heb “sold them into the hands of.”
33 The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
34 The expression “to fight” is interpretive.
35 Heb “the Lord’s hand was against them for harm.”
36 Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”
37 Or “they experienced great distress.”
38 Or more traditionally, “judges” (also in vv. 17, 18 [3×], 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.”
39 Heb “and they delivered them from the hand of the ones robbing them.”
40 Or “did not listen to.”
41 Or “bowed before.”
42 Or “way [of life].”
43 Or “fathers.”
44 Heb “… walked, obeying the Lord’s commands. They did not do this.”
45 Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46 The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
47 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.
48 Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
49 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.
50 Heb “their fathers.” 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).
51 Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”
52 Or “drop.”
53 Or “The Lord’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”
54 Heb “Because this nation.”
55 Heb “my covenant which I commanded their fathers.”
56 Heb “and has not listened to my voice.” The expression “to not listen to [God’s] voice” is idiomatic here for disobeying him.
57 The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21). In this case the Lord announces that he has now decided to leave these nations as a test for Israel. Another possibility is to subordinate “to test” to “He said” (v. 20; see B. Lindars, Judges 1–5, 111). In this case the statement recorded in vv. 20b–21 is the test in that it forces Israel to respond either positively (through repentance) or negatively to the Lord’s declaration. A third possibility (the one reflected in the present translation) is to subordinate “to test” to “left unconquered” (v. 21). In this case the Lord recalls that Joshua left these nations as a test. Israel has failed the test (v. 20), so the Lord announces that the punishment threatened earlier (Josh 23:12–13; see also Judg 2:3) will now be implemented. As B. G. Webb (Judges [], ) observes, “The nations which were originally left as a test are now left as a punishment.” This view best harmonizes v. 23, which explains that the Lord did not give all the nations to Joshua, with v. 22. (For a grammatical parallel, where the infinitive construct of נָסָה [nasah] is subordinated to the perfect of עָזַב [’azav], see 2 Chr 32:31.)
58 The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.
59 The words “I [i.e., the Lord] wanted to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
60 Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
61 Or “way [of life].”
62 “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.
63 Or “fathers.”
64 The words “this is why” are interpretive.
65 Or “quickly.”
1 Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”
2 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.” 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 [], ).
3 The words “These were the nations,” though not present in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 Or “the entrance to Hamath.”
5 Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”
6 Heb “to their sons.”
7 Or “served”; or “followed” (this term occurs in the following verse as well).