Judges 2:11

THE MESSAGE

The People of Israel did evil in God 's sight: they served Baal-gods; they deserted God , the God of their parents who had led them out of Egypt; they took up with other gods, gods of the peoples around them. They actually worshiped them! And oh, how they angered God as they worshiped god Baal and goddess Astarte! God 's anger was hot against Israel: He handed them off to plunderers who stripped them; he sold them cheap to enemies on all sides. They were helpless before their enemies. Every time they walked out the door God was with them—but for evil, just as God had said, just as he had sworn he would do. They were in a bad way.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals

Hebrew Names Version
The children of Yisra'el did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Ba`alim;

King James Version
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord , and served Baalim:

Lexham English Bible
The Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and they served the Baals.

English Standard Version
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.

New Century Version
So they did what the Lord said was wrong, and they worshiped the Baal idols.

New English Translation
The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals.

Amplified Bible
Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and worshiped and served the Baals,

New American Standard Bible
Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the children of Israel did wickedly in the sight of the Lord, and serued Baalim,

Legacy Standard Bible
Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have poured themselves into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they had worshiped him. But now the Israelites stopped worshiping the Lord and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte, as well as the idols of other gods from nearby nations. The Lord was so angry

Complete Jewish Bible
Then the people of Isra'el did what was evil from Adonai 's perspective and served the ba‘alim.

Darby Translation
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baals.

Easy-to-Read Version
So the Israelites did something very evil before the Lord . They began serving the false god Baal.

George Lamsa Translation
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baal;

Good News Translation
Then the people of Israel sinned against the Lord and began to serve the Baals.

Literal Translation
And the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baals.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then wroughte the children of Israel euell before the LORDE, and serued Baalim,

American Standard Version
And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim;

Bible in Basic English
And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord and became servants to the Baals;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And then the children of Israel dyd wickedly in the sight of the Lorde, and serued Baalim,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baalim.

King James Version (1611)
And the children of Israel did euil in the sight of the Lord, and serued Baalim:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the children of Israel wrought evil before the Lord, and served Baalim.

English Revised Version
And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baalim:

Berean Standard Bible
And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the sones of Israel diden yuel in the siyt of the Lord, and thei serueden Baalym and Astaroth;

Young's Literal Translation
And the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and serve the Baalim,

Update Bible Version
And the sons of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baalim;

Webster's Bible Translation
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:

World English Bible
The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals;

New King James Version
Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals;

New Living Translation
The Israelites did evil in the Lord 's sight and served the images of Baal.

New Life Bible
Then the people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals, the gods of the Canaanites.

New Revised Standard
Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped the Baals;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So the sons of Israel did the thing that was wicked in the sight of Yahweh, - and served the Baals;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served Baalim

Revised Standard Version
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Ba'als;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals,

Contextual Overview

⁶After Joshua had dismissed them, the People of Israel went off to claim their allotted territories and take possession of the land. The people worshiped God throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the time of the leaders who survived him, leaders who had been in on all of God 's great work that he had done for Israel. Then Joshua son of Nun, the servant of God , died. He was 110 years old. They buried him in his allotted inheritance at Timnath Heres in the hills of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn't know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel. ¹¹The People of Israel did evil in God 's sight: they served Baal-gods; they deserted God , the God of their parents who had led them out of Egypt; they took up with other gods, gods of the peoples around them. They actually worshiped them! And oh, how they angered God as they worshiped god Baal and goddess Astarte! God 's anger was hot against Israel: He handed them off to plunderers who stripped them; he sold them cheap to enemies on all sides. They were helpless before their enemies. Every time they walked out the door God was with them—but for evil, just as God had said, just as he had sworn he would do. They were in a bad way. ¹⁶But then God raised up judges who saved them from their plunderers. But they wouldn't listen to their judges; they prostituted themselves to other gods—worshiped them! They lost no time leaving the road walked by their parents, the road of obedience to God 's commands. They refused to have anything to do with it. ¹⁸When God was setting up judges for them, he would be right there with the judge: He would save them from their enemies' oppression as long as the judge was alive, for God was moved to compassion when he heard their groaning because of those who afflicted and beat them. But when the judge died, the people went right back to their old ways—but even worse than their parents!—running after other gods, serving and worshiping them. Stubborn as mules, they didn't drop a single evil practice. ²⁰And God 's anger blazed against Israel. He said, "Because these people have thrown out my covenant that I commanded their parents and haven't listened to me, I'm not driving out one more person from the nations that Joshua left behind when he died. I'll use them to test Israel and see whether they stay on God 's road and walk down it as their parents did." ²³ That's why God let those nations remain. He didn't drive them out or let Joshua get rid of them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

did evil: Judges 4:1, Judges 6:1, Judges 13:1, Genesis 13:13, Genesis 38:7, 2 Chronicles 33:2, 2 Chronicles 33:6, Ezra 8:12

and served Baalim: Baalim, or lords, seems to have been the common appellation of the Syrian gods; whence we have Baal-peor, Baal-zebub, etc. Judges 3:7, Judges 10:6, Judges 10:10, 1 Samuel 7:4, 1 Kings 18:18, 2 Chronicles 28:2, 2 Chronicles 33:3, Jeremiah 2:23, Jeremiah 9:14, Hosea 2:13-17

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 7:4 - so will Deuteronomy 28:43 - General Judges 2:13 - served 1 Kings 16:31 - served Baal 2 Kings 21:15 - since the day 2 Chronicles 6:24 - because 2 Chronicles 17:3 - sought Nehemiah 9:26 - they were Psalms 78:56 - General Psalms 78:58 - with Jeremiah 22:21 - This Jeremiah 32:23 - but Amos 2:4 - after

Cross-References

Genesis 10:7
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba, Dedan.

1 Samuel 15:7
Then Saul went after Amalek, from the canyon all the way to Shur near the Egyptian border. He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive. Everyone else was killed under the terms of the holy ban. Saul and the army made an exception for Agag, and for the choice sheep and cattle. They didn't include them under the terms of the holy ban. But all the rest, which nobody wanted anyway, they destroyed as decreed by the holy ban.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Openly and publicly, boldly and impudently, in the very face of God, and amidst all the good things they received from him, which were aggravating circumstances of their sins; what the evil was they did is next observed:

and served Baalim; the idol Baal, as the Arabic version, of which there were many, and therefore a plural word is used; to which the apostle refers 1 Corinthians 8:5; for the word signifies "lords", and there were Baalpeor, Baalzebub, Baalberith, c. and who seem to have their name from Bal, Bel, or Belus, a king of Babylon after Nimrod, and who was the first monarch that was deified, the Jupiter of the Heathens. Theophilus of Antioch p says, that, according to the history of Thallus, Belus the king of the Assyrians, whom they worshipped, was older than the Trojan war three hundred twenty two years and that some call Cronus or Saturn Bel and Bal; by the Assyrians called Bel, and in the Punic or Phoenician language Bal q.

p Ad Autolyc. l. 3. p. 138, 139. Vid. Lactant. de fals. Relig. l. 1. c. 23. q Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. 1. prope finem.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the children of Israel - Here begins the narrative of what really did happen “after the death of Joshua,” but of which Judges 1:0 conveys no hint. Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua Judges 2:7. But when Joshua was dead ... “the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and forsook the God of their fathers.” And then follows from Judges 2:14 to the end of the chapter, a summary of the whole contents of the book.

Did evil in the sight of the Lord - Through this book and all the historical books, this is the regular phrase for falling into idolatry. It occurs seven times in Judges, as descriptive of the seven apostasies of Israel, which drew down upon them the seven servitudes under

(1) Chushan-Rishathaim,

(2) Eglon,

(3) Jabin,

(4) Midian,

(5) the tyranny of Abimelech,

(6) the Ammonites,

(7) the Philistines.

The recurrence of the phrase marks the hand of one author and of one book. For the opposite phrase, see 1 Kings 15:5, 1 Kings 15:11, etc.

The plural of Baal, “Baalim,” refers to the numerous images of Baal which they set up and worshipped, as does the plural form, “Ashtaroth” Judges 2:13, to those of the female divinity, Astarte.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 2:11. Served Baalim — The word בעלים baalim signifies lords. Their false gods they considered supernatural rulers or governors, each having his peculiar district and office; but when they wished to express a particular בעל baal, they generally added some particular epithet, as Baal-zephon, Baal-peor, Baal-zehub, Baal-shamayim, c., as Calmet has well observed. The two former were adored by the Moabites Baal-zebub by the Ekronites. Baal-berith was honoured at Shechem; and Baal-shamayim, the lord or ruler of the heavens, was adored among the Phoenicians, Syrians, Chaldeans, c. And whenever the word baal is used without an epithet, this is the god that is intended and probably, among all these people, it meant the sun.