Judges 2:13
in Judges 2for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.
KJV
And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
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This verse in Judges 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAs long as a people serves God, they are not "delivered into the hands of plunderers." But when they "abandon the Lord" and begin to serve their own passions, then it is said of them that "God gave them over to shameful passions" and, again, "He gave them over to a reprobate mind, that they would do unsuitable things." Why? Because, he says, "they were filled with every iniquity, wickedness, fornication, greed" and all other evils.
This site's exposition
the children of Israel did evil in the sight
on Judges 2:11-13
This is the first of seven times the book says it, at 2:11, 3:7, 3:12, 4:1, 6:1, 10:6 and 13:1, and three of those read did evil again, so a reader counting the shorter phrase finds only four. The gods named are Baalim and Ashtaroth, the storm god and the goddess of the surrounding towns, so what draws them is the religion of the neighbours rather than an argument. The verb forsook falls twice in three verses.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
After the death of Joshua the son of Nave [Nun] they forsook the God of their fathers and served idols, Baalim and Ashtaroth; and the Lord in anger delivered them up to the hands of plunderers, and they continued to be plundered by them and to be sold to their adversaries, and [they] could not at all stand before their enemies. Wherever they went forth, his hand was upon them for evil, and they were greatly distressed. And after this God sets judges, the same as our censors, over them. But not even these did they continue steadfastly to obey. So soon as one of the judges died, they proceeded to transgress more than their fathers had done by going after the gods of others and serving and worshiping them. Therefore the Lord was angry. "Since, indeed," he says, "this nation has transgressed my covenant which I established with their fathers and has not hearkened to my voice, I will not remove from them any of the nations which Joshua left at his death." And thus, throughout almost all the annals of the judges and of the kings who succeeded them, while the strength of the surrounding nations was preserved, he meted wrath out to Israel by war and captivity and a foreign yoke, as often as they turned aside from him, especially to idolatry.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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, Deut. iv, 19. Baalim signifies lords, and Ashtaroth, blessed ones, he-gods and she-gods.
); this was one of the two great evils they were guilty of, Jer. ii. They had been joined to the Lord in covenant, but now they forsook him, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband. "They forsook the worship of the Lord," so the Chaldee: for those that forsake the worship of God do in effect forsake God himself.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And they forsook the Lord,....
In general, they did evil, nothing could be more evil, that is, more provoking to God, nor more prejudicial to themselves, and it was in the sight of the Lord; all evil is before him, but he takes special notice of the sin of having any other god.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Served Baal and Ashtaroth - In a general way, probably, Baal and Ashtaroth mean the sun and moon; but in many cases Ashtaroth seems to have been the same among the Canaanites as Venus was among the Greeks and Romans, and to have been worshipped with the same obscene rites.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
An attentive consideration of them, therefore, is of the greatest importance to a right understanding of the strange and varying phases of Israelitish history, from the death of Joshua till the establishment of the monarchy. served Baalim--The plural is used to include all the gods of the country.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעַזְב֖וּ | vaiyaazvu | and they forsook | H5800 → | 215 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיַּעַבְד֥וּ | vaiyaavdu | and they served | H5647 → | 288 times |
| לַבַּ֖עַל | labaal | <to> the Baal | H1168 → | 82 times |
| וְלָעַשְׁתָּרֽוֹת׃ | velaashtarot | and <to> the Ashtaroth | H6252 → |
וַיַּעַזְב֖וּand they forsook
vaiyaazvuH5800 →215 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיַּעַבְד֥וּand they served
vaiyaavduH5647 →288 times
לַבַּ֖עַל<to> the Baal
labaalH1168 →82 times
וְלָעַשְׁתָּרֽוֹת׃and <to> the Ashtaroth
velaashtarotH6252 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 11:5Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 11:7
At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 11:7
Through
Judges 10:6And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:13
The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 11:33
For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 11:5
Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
- 2 Kings 23:13
Through
Psalms 106:36They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:16
You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Judges 2:3
So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
- Exodus 23:33
They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
- Deuteronomy 7:16
Through
Judges 3:7So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
it leads to
- Exodus 34:13
Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
- Exodus 34:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Judges
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JUDGES 2.5 and Tertullian, SCORPIACE 3.