Judges 2:18
Ver. 18. And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge,.... Every one of them that he raised up; as he stirred up their spirits for such service, to judge his people, and qualified them for it, he assisted and strengthened them, and abode by them, and succeeded them in whatsoever they engaged for the welfare of the people; the Targum is,
"the Word of the Lord was for the help of the judge:''
and delivered them out of the hands of their enemies all the days of the judge; so long as a judge lived, or continued to be their judge, they were protected by him, and preserved from falling into the hands of their enemies:
for it repented the Lord because of their groanings, by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them; the Lord being merciful had compassion upon them, when they groaned under their oppressions, and cried unto him, then he received their prayer, as the Targum, and sent them a deliverer; and so did what men do when they repent of a thing, change their conduct; thus the Lord changed the outward dispensation of his providence towards them, according to his unchangeable will; for otherwise repentance, properly speaking, does not belong unto God: the Targum is,"he turned from the word he spake;''the threatening he had denounced. Judges 2:19Ver. 19. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead,.... Any one of them, the first and so all succeeding ones:[that] they returned; to their evil ways and idolatrous practices, from which they reformed, and for which they showed outward repentance during the life of the judge; but he dying, they returned again to them:and corrupted [themselves] more than their fathers; in Egypt and in the wilderness; or rather than their fathers that lived in the generation after the death of Joshua; and so in every generation that lived before a judge was raised up to deliver them out of the evils brought upon them; the children of those in every age successively grew worse than their fathers:in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; not content with the idols their fathers served, they sought after and found out others, and were more constant and frequent in their worship and service of them, and increased their sacrifices and acts of devotion to them:they ceased not from their own doings; or, "did not let them fall" {b}; but retained them, and continued in the practice of them, being what they were naturally inclined unto and delighted in:nor from their stubborn way; which they were bent upon, and determined to continue in: or "their hard way" {c}; which their hard hearts had chosen, and they obstinately persisted in, being obdurate and stiffnecked; and which, in the issue, they would find hard, troublesome, and distressing to them, though at present soft and agreeable, and in which they went on smoothly; but in time would find it rough and rugged, offensive, stumbling, and ruinous; or it may signify a hard beaten path, a broad road which multitudes trod in, as is the way of sin.{b} wlyph al "non Cadere faciebant", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius. {c} hvqh Mkrdm "de via sua dura", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Drusius. Judges 2:20Ver. 20. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel,.... As at first, so whenever they fell into idolatry; see Jud 2:14;and he said, because this people have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers; made at Sinai, in which they were enjoined to have no other gods before him:and have not hearkened to my voice; in his commands, and particularly what related to his worship and against idolatry. Judges 2:21Ver. 21. I also henceforth will not drive out and from before them,.... At least not as yet, not very soon nor hastily, as in Jud 2:23;of the nations which Joshua left when he died; that is, unsubdued; which was owing either to the infirmities of old age coming upon him, which made him incapable of engaging further in war with the Canaanites; or to the sloth and indolence of the people, being weary of war, and not caring to prosecute it; or to want of men to cultivate any more land, and people other cities, than what they were possessed of; and chiefly this was owing to the providence of God, who had an end to answer hereby, as follows. Judges 2:22Ver. 22. That through them I may prove Israel,.... Afflict them by them, and so prove or try them, their faith and patience, which are tried by afflictions; and such were the Canaanites to them, as afflictions and temptations are to the spiritual Israel of God; or rather, whether they would keep in the ways of God, or walk in those the Canaanites did, as follows:whether they will keep the way of the Lord, as their fathers did keep [it], or not; whether they would worship the true God their fathers did, or the gods of the Canaanites; not that the Lord was ignorant of what they would do, and so made the experiment; but that the sincerity and faithfulness, or insincerity and unfaithfulness of their hearts, might appear to themselves and others. Judges 2:23Ver. 23. Therefore the Lord left these nations, without driving them out hastily,.... Left them unsubdued, or suffered them to continue among the Israelites, and did not drive them out as he could have done; which was permitted, either that it might be seen and known whether Israel would give into the idolatry of these nations or not, Jud 2:22; of which there could have been no trial, if they and their idols had been utterly destroyed; or because the children of Israel had transgressed the covenant of the Lord, therefore he would drive no more of them out, but leave them to afflict and distress them, and thereby prove and try them, Jud 2:20; both senses may very well stand, but the former seems rather to agree with what follows:neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua; having an end to be answered by them, before suggested, namely, to prove and try Israel; and, for a like reason, the indwelling sin and corruptions of God's people are suffered to remain in them, for the trial of their graces, and that the power of God in the support and deliverance of them might appear the more manifest.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.