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Judges Chapter 2

Old Testament Historical 23 Verses

What is Judges 2 about?

Cycles of apostasy, oppression, and deliverance through charismatic leaders in pre-monarchic Israel. The complete chapter text below provides the immediate literary context for study.

Text — American Standard Version (1901)

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. For original Hebrew/Greek interlinear text, open in BibleWord.ai.
1And the angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you:
2and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this?
3Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be [as thorns] in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
4And it came to pass, when the angel of Jehovah spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
5And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto Jehovah.
6Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
7And the people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Jehovah that he had wrought for Israel.
8And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
9And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.
10And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel.
11And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim;
12and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger.
13And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
14And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
15Whithersoever they went out, the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had spoken, and as Jehovah had sworn unto them: and they were sore distressed.
16And Jehovah raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those that despoiled them.
17And yet they hearkened not unto their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed themselves down unto them: they turned aside quickly out of the way wherein their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Jehovah; [but] they did not so.
18And when Jehovah raised them up judges, then Jehovah was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented Jehovah because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
19But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their doings, nor from their stubborn way.
20And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel; and he said, Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;
21I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died;
22that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Jehovah to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
23So Jehovah left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
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What do historical commentaries say about this chapter?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · on verse 1
“And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, etc.] The Targum calls him a prophet f23; and the Jewish commentators in general interpret it of Phinehas f24; and that a man is meant is given into by others, because he is said to come from a certain place in Canaan, and not from heaven, and spoke in a public congregation, and is not said to disappear; but neither a man nor a created angel is meant, or otherwise he would have spoken in the name of the Lord, and have said, “thus saith the Lord”, and not in his own name; ascribing to himself the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and swearing…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on verse 1
“AN ANGEL SENT TO REBUKE THE PEOPLE AT BOCHIM. (Jdg 2:1-10) an angel . . . came from Gilgal to Bochim--We are inclined to think, from the authoritative tone of his language, that he was the Angel of the Covenant (Exo 23:20; Jos 5:14); the same who appeared in human form and announced himself captain of the Lord's host. His coming from Gilgal had a peculiar significance, for there the Israelites made a solemn dedication of themselves to God on their entrance into the promised land [Jos 4:1-9]; and the memory of that religious engagement, which the angel's arrival from Gilgal awakened, gave emphatic force to his…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · on verse 1
“The angel of the Lord (not an angel). - The phrase is used nearly 60 times to designate the Angel of God’s presence. See Genesis 12:7 note. In all cases where “the angel of the Lord” delivers a message, he does it as if God Himself were speaking, without the intervening words “Thus saith the Lord,” which are used in the case of prophets. (Compare Judges 6:8; Joshua 24:2.) When the host of Israel came up from Gilgal in the plain of Jericho, near the Jordan Joshua 4:19 to Shiloh and Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim, the Angel who had been with them at Gilgal Exodus 23:20-23; Exodus 33:1-4; Joshua 5:10-15…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · on verse 1
“The angel - Christ the angel of the covenant, often called the angel of the Lord, to whom the conduct of Israel out of Egypt into Canaan, is frequently ascribed. He alone could speak the following words in his own name and person; whereas created angels and prophets universally usher in their message with, Thus saith the Lord, or some equivalent expression. And this angel having assumed the shape of a man, it is not strange that he imitates the motion of a man, and comes as it were from Gilgal to the place where now they were: by which motion he signified, that he was the person that brought them to Gilgal, the…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · on verse 1
“And an angel: or messenger, Jdg 6:12, Jdg 13:3; Gen 16:7-10, Gen 16:13, Gen 22:11, Gen 22:12, Gen 48:16; Exo 3:2-6, Exo 14:19, Exo 23:20; Exo 33:14; Jos 5:13, Jos 5:14; Isa 63:9; Hos 12:3-5; Zac 3:1, Zac 3:2; Mal 3:1; Act 7:30-33 Bochim: Jdg 2:5 I made: Exo 3:7, Exo 3:8, Exo 14:14, Exo 20:2; Deu 4:34; Psa 78:51-53, Psa 105:36-38 have brought: Gen 12:7, Gen 22:16, Gen 22:17, Gen 26:3, Gen 26:4; Jos 3:10; Psa 105:44, Psa 105:45 I will never: Gen 17:7, Gen 17:8; Lev 26:42; Num 14:34; Psa 89:34; Jer 14:21, Jer 33:20, Jer 33:21; Zac 11:10 Judges 2:2”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · on verse 1
“The Angel of the Lord at Bochim. - To the cursory survey of the attitude which the tribes of Israel assumed towards the Canaanites who still remained in their inheritances, there is appended an account of the appearance of the angel of the Lord, who announced to the people the punishment of God for their breach of the covenant, of which they had been guilty through their failure to exterminate the Canaanites. This theophany is most intimately connected with the facts grouped together in Judg 1, since the design and significance of the historical survey given there are only to be learned from the reproof of the…”
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