Judges 2:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.

NIV: Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.

NASB: Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals,

CSB: The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals

NLT: The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal.

KJV: And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:

NKJV: Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals;

The second part of this re-introduction to the book of Judges takes a painful turn. Joshua's generation was faithful to the Lord, but the generation that followed was not. Verses 1–5 explain their first sin: They failed to drive out the Canaanites from the Promised Land. This is exactly what God had warned them would happen if they failed to purge the territory of this evil culture:

"But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 20:16–18).

Despite a clear command from God, Israel allowed the depraved Canaanites to stay. Those remnants almost immediately began to convert the people to follow a series of false gods, known as Baals, instead of Yahweh. The Hebrew word ba'al carries a broad range of meanings, but implies lordship, mastery, or ownership. In some ways, the term fits into Semitic language much as "God" or "god" does into English. In the Bible, this refers to idols in general, or to a specific fertility deity often worshipped in Canaan.

Judges 2:11–15 summarizes the source of Israel's troubles in the book of Judges. This passage describes the rebellion of Israel against Yahweh after the time of Joshua. They abandon faithfulness to God and worship the gods of the Canaanites. Names associated with those false gods include Baal and Ashtaroth. As He promised, the Lord allows the faithless Israelites to be attacked and plundered. They suffer until they are in terrible distress. As the following passage describes, this is followed by God sending a rescuer—referred to as a "judge." Yet, when that rescuer is gone, Israel returns to their sin (Judges 2:16–19). This cycle will continue for centuries.

The tribes of Israel committed great sin when they failed to drive the depraved, wicked Canaanites from the land. God rebukes them harshly, warning them of the consequences to follow. The people weep and offer sacrifices. And yet, the generations after Joshua abandon God. They worship false gods and perform heinous sins. The Lord burns with anger and uses Israel's enemies as punishment. When the suffering becomes intense, God rescues Israel through a human "judge." When the judge dies, the people return to their sin, deeper even than before.

Judges 2 follows reports about the failure of Israel to drive the Canaanites from each tribes' territories. Despite being rebuked by God, the generations after Joshua eventually abandon the Lord to worship the gods of the Canaanites: the Baals and the Ashtaroth. This establishes a pattern to be repeated in the chapters to come. Israel will worship Canaan's gods. God punishes the people through their enemies. God saves the people through a human judge. When the judge dies, the people return to their sin. This cycle continues throughout the rest of the book of Judges.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).