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Judges 2:13

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does Judges 2:13 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
Judges 2:13 — American Standard Version

Context — Judges 2

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
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.
← Judges 2:12Judges 2:14 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And they forsook the Lord, etc.] The worship of the Lord, as the Targum; this is repeated to observe the heinous sin they were guilty of, and how displeasing it was to God: and served Baal and Ashtaroth; two images, as the Arabic version adds; Baal, from whence Baalim, may signify the he deities of the Gentiles, as Jupiter, Hercules, etc. and Ashtaroth their female deities, as Juno, Venus, Diana, etc. the word is plural, and used for flocks of sheep, so called because they make the owners of them rich; and Kimchi and Ben Melech say these were images in the form of female sheep. Perhaps, as Baal may signify the sun, so Ashtaroth the moon, and the stars like flocks of sheep about her.…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Ashtaroth--Also a plural word, denoting all the female divinities, whose rites were celebrated by the most gross and revolting impurities.”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Baal and Ashtaroth - That is, the sun and moon, whom many Heathens worshipped, tho' under divers names; and so they ran into that error which God had so expressly warned them against, Deu 4:19. Baalim signifies lords, and Ashtaroth, blessed ones, he - gods and she - gods. When they forsook Jehovah, they had gods many and lords many, as a luxuriant fancy pleased to multiply them. Judges 2:14”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“served: Jdg 2:11, Jdg 3:7, Jdg 10:6; Sa1 31:10; Kg1 11:5, Kg1 11:33; Kg2 23:13; Psa 106:36; Co1 8:5, Co1 10:20-22 Judges 2:14”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“Thus they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Asthartes. In this case the singular Baal is connected with the plural Ashtaroth, because the male deities of all the Canaanitish nations, and those that bordered upon Canaan, were in their nature one and the same deity, viz., Baal, a sun-god, and as such the vehicle and source of physical life, and of the generative and reproductive power of nature, which was regarded as an effluence from its own being (see Movers, Relig. der Phnizier, pp. 184ff., and J. G. Mller in Herzog's Cyclopaedia). "Ashtaroth, from the singular Ashtoreth, which only occurs again in Kg1 11:5, Kg1 11:33, and Kg2 23:13, in connection with the Sidonian Astharte, was the…”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification