Judges 2 · WEB
The Angel at Bokim and the Pattern of the Judges
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The angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, "I brought you up out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you;
2and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.' But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this?
3Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.'"
4When the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept.
5They called the name of that place Bochim, and they sacrificed there to Yahweh.
6Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel each went to his inheritance to possess the land.
7The people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Yahweh that he had done for Israel.
8Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died at the age of one hundred ten years.
9They 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.
10Also all that generation were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who didn't know Yahweh, nor yet the work which he had done for Israel.
11The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals.
12They abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; and they provoked Yahweh to anger.
13They abandoned Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
14The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
15Wherever they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken, and as Yahweh had sworn to them; and they were in great distress.
16Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
17Yet they didn't listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They quickly turned from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying Yahweh's commandments. They didn't do so.
18When Yahweh raised up judges for them, Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for Yahweh was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them.
19But when the judge died, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They didn't cease from their own deeds, nor from their stubborn ways.
20The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel; and he said, "Because this nation has transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice,
21I also will not henceforth drive out any of them from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died;
22that by them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not."
23So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out quickly; and he didn't deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
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Summary
The angel of Yahweh confronts Israel at Bokim, declaring that because they made covenants with Canaanites and tolerated their altars, God will no longer drive out the nations before them. The chapter then introduces the theological framework for the entire book: the recurring cycle of apostasy, oppression, repentance, deliverance through judges, and relapse. The generation that witnessed God's miracles dies, and the next generation abandons Yahweh entirely for Baal and the Ashtaroth.
Themes
- The covenant faithfulness of God contrasted with Israel's covenant unfaithfulness
- The generational transmission (and loss) of faith
- The judge cycle: sin, oppression, cry, deliverance, relapse
- God's mercy expressed through raising up deliverers
- The dangers of religious syncretism
Key verses
- Judg 2:10 — “There arose another generation after them who didn't know Yahweh, nor yet the work which he had done for Israel.”
- Judg 2:16 — “Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.”
- Judg 2:19 — “But when the judge died, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods.”
Context & background
The events of Judges take place throughout Canaan — modern Israel, West Bank, and parts of Jordan and Lebanon. Bochim ("weepers") was likely near Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, though the exact site is uncertain. Joshua is buried at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, in the central highlands of modern Israel/West Bank. The Baals were local Canaanite fertility deities, and Ashtaroth (Ashtoreth) was the Canaanite goddess of love and war — their worship was deeply embedded in the agricultural culture of Canaan. The theological structure introduced here (the judge cycle) is the organizing framework for all subsequent narratives.
Cross-references
- Deut 31:16-18 — Moses warned that Israel would abandon God after entering the land
- Heb 3:12-13 — Warning against an "evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God"
- Josh 24:31 — Israel served Yahweh through Joshua's generation, as this chapter confirms
- Ps 106:34-42 — The psalmist rehearses Israel's failure to drive out the nations and its consequences
- Rom 1:21-25 — Paul describes a similar pattern of knowing God but abandoning him for idols