Judges 2:15
in Judges 2Wherever Israel marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whithersoever 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.
KJV
Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
⋯
This verse in Judges 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA 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.
This site's exposition
the anger of the LORD burned against Israel
on Judges 2:14-15
"He sold them into the hands of their enemies", and the word sold treats the nation as property changing owner. Verse 15 says "the hand of the LORD was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them", which points back to the curses of Deuteronomy 28. Their defeats are read as the covenant working exactly as written.
This site's exposition
the hand of the LORD was against them
Adam Clarke observes that the power which protected Israel when it obeyed now turned against it. Israel lost God's help and also found God opposing them. The distress reached every campaign, wherever Israel marched out.
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 Awakening3 voices
), referring to the curse and death set before them in the covenant, with the blessing and life. Those that have found God true to his promises may thence infer that he will be as true to his threatenings. The God of infinite mercy took pity on them in their distresses, though they had brought themselves into them by their own sin and folly, and wrought deliverance for them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil,....
He was wroth with them, for he is a jealous God and true to the honour of his own name; and the way he took to punish them for their apostasy was to make those their tormentors whom they yielded to as their tempters. They made themselves as mean and miserable by forsaking God as they would have been great and happy if they had continued faithful to him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The hand of the Lord was against them - The power which before protected them when obedient, was now turned against them because of their disobedience. They not only had not God with them, but they had God against them.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Wherever they went, the hand of Adonoy was destructive to them. This refers to Elimelech, Machlon, and Chilyon— 13 Naomi’s husband and two sons, mentioned in the opening passages of the Book of Rus. They were punished with poverty and then death. See Rashi to Megilas Rus, ch.1. Seder Olam.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Adonoy established judges. Continuously, in successive generations, as enumerated in this book, judge succeeding judge.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּכֹ֣ל׀ | bekhol | in every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָצְא֗וּ | yatzeu | they went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| יַד־ | yad- | [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הָיְתָה־ | hayetah- | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בָּ֣ם | bam | on <the> them | ||
| לְרָעָ֔ה | leraah | for harm | H7451 → | 662 times |
| כַּֽאֲשֶׁר֙ | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֣ר | diber | he had spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְכַאֲשֶׁ֛ר | vekhaasher | and just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נִשְׁבַּ֥ע | nishba' | he had sworn | H7650 → | 186 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לָהֶ֑ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| וַיֵּ֥צֶר | vaiyetzer | and it was distress | H3334 → | |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| מְאֹֽד׃ | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
בְּכֹ֣ל׀in every
bekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָצְא֗וּthey went out
yatzeuH3318 →1067 times
יַד־[the] hand of
yad-H3027 →1618 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הָיְתָה־it was
hayetah-H1961 →3559 times
בָּ֣םon <the> them
bam
לְרָעָ֔הfor harm
leraahH7451 →662 times
כַּֽאֲשֶׁר֙just as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֣רhe had spoken
diberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְכַאֲשֶׁ֛רand just as
vekhaasherH834 →5497 times
נִשְׁבַּ֥עhe had sworn
nishba'H7650 →186 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לָהֶ֑םto <the> them
lahem
וַיֵּ֥צֶרand it was distress
vaiyetzerH3334 →
לָהֶ֖םto <the> them
lahem
מְאֹֽד׃exceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
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
Jeremiah 44:11Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 21:10
For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it…
- Leviticus 26:17
And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Psalms 34:16
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.
- Leviticus 20:5–6
then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.
- Leviticus 17:10
If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.
- Jeremiah 21:10
Through
1 Samuel 13:6Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
it leads to
- Judges 6:2
and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
- Hebrews 11:38
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
- Judges 20:41
Then the men of Israel turned back on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had come upon them.
- Judges 6:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Judges
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 (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, SCORPIACE 3.