Judges 10:16

THEY REPENT; GOD PITIES THEM. (Jdg 10:16-18)

they put away the strange gods . . . and served the Lord; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel--On their abandonment of idolatry and return to purity of worship, God graciously abridged the term of national affliction and restored times of peace.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jdg 10:16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

Ver. 16. And they put away the strange gods from among them.] This was it that completed their repentance. What is humiliation without reformation? Optima et aptissima poenitentia est nova vita, saith Luther. Ephraim never repented indeed till he said, "What have I to do any more with idols?" When these words once fell from him, then "God heard him, and observed him," {Hos 14:8} yea, God melted over him, and said, "I will surely have mercy upon him." {Jer 31:20} And the like he did here, for

His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.] O gracious God, what could have been spoken more for the honour of thy goodness, and for the comfort of thy poor afflicted! God’s soul was shortened, he could hold in no longer; Postquam poenitentitiara egerunt, totus ipsorum factus est; now that they had repented, they might have but what they would of him.

“ Flectitur oratus voce rogante Deus. ” - Ovid.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 10:16. They put away the strange gods — As an evidence of the sincerity of their sorrow, and that they did not only confess their sins, but also forsake them. And it is probable that, for the present, a thorough reformation took place, and that they entirely quitted the worship of strange gods, and served the Lord alone. His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel — That is, upon their repentance and reformation he turned away his anger, had compassion upon them on account of their miseries, and acted toward them like one that felt their sufferings. He changed his carriage toward them, and punished their enemies as sorely as if they had grieved and injured his own person. From this chapter we may learn the amazing depravity of human nature, and how readily it falls from one degree of degeneracy to another. God, who knows what our nature is, foresaw that apostacy to idolatry would be the certain consequence of the Israelites dwelling among the heathen nations, and therefore had strictly commanded them to expel those nations entirely out of Canaan, and to have no communication with them. But the Israelites did not obey his commands in this; and, in neglecting this one thing, fell into all the errors, crimes, and miseries, which God had forewarned them would be the consequence. They thought there was but little harm in letting the Canaanites remain among them as long as they lived peaceably with them. But, alas! evil communication unavoidably corrupts good manners; they could not converse and traffic with the Canaanites without, by degrees, contracting a friendship with them, perhaps thinking they should be strengthened by these alliances with the inhabitants of the land. This naturally produced at least a complaisant deference to their customs and religious ceremonies, and, in a little longer time, the adjoining some of those customs and ceremonies with their own; till at last they fell into all the abominations of the nations; to deliver them from which, the true God had done so many wondrous works. From hence we may learn how we may, by offending in a single point only, and that not seeming in itself absolutely immoral, or of any great consequence, be by degrees carried entirely out of the paths of piety, and brought to the greatest degeneracy. We may further observe, from the circumstances of the Israelites, related in this chapter, that afflictions are of great use, and are employed by God to bring men to a right sense of their duty, and into the paths of righteousness, from which they had wandered by their follies. And we may also learn, that God is always ready to receive us with forgiveness and mercy whenever we return to him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This is true repentance, to put away the evil, and to serve God aright.

Or, he pitied.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 16. And his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.] What a proof of the philanthropy of God! Here his compassions moved on a small scale; but it was the same principle that led him to give his Son Jesus Christ to be a sacrifice for the sins of the WHOLE world. God grieves for the miseries to which his creatures are reduced by their own sins. Be astonished, ye heavens, at this; and shout for joy, all ye inhabitants of the earth! for, through the love whence this compassion flowed, God has visited and redeemed a lost world!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) They put away the strange gods.—The moment the sincerity of their repentance was proved, God hears them (Gen_35:1; 1Sa_7:3; 2Ch_15:8).

His soul was grieved.—Literally, was shortened. (Comp. Zec_11:8.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. The first half of the verse resembles Gen_35:2 E, Jos_24:20-23 E, 1Sa_7:3.

strange gods] i.e. foreign gods, E’s expression: Jos_24:20; Jos_24:23, etc.; contrast other gods, Jdg_10:13.

was grieved] lit. was shortened, cf. Jdg_16:16, Exo_6:9, Num_21:4, Zec_11:8; i.e. He lost patience, He could bear Israel’s distress no longer. Jehovah’s impatience (cf. Mic_2:7 RVm.) is aroused by mingled pity and indignation.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they put away the strange gods from among them,.... Which was an evidence of the truth of their repentance, and showed their confessions and humiliations to be genuine:

and served the Lord; and him only, both in private and public; in the observance of duties, both moral and ceremonial; in an attendance on the service of the sanctuary, and by offering sacrifices to God there, according to his will:

and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel; which is to be understood after the manner of men; for grief properly does not belong to God, there being no passion in him; but it denotes a carriage or behaviour of his, which shows what looks like sympathy in men; a love and affection for Israel, notwithstanding their ill behaviour to him, and a change of his dispensations Providence towards them, according to his unchangeable will; so Maimonides (b) understands it of the good will and pleasure of God, to cease from afflicting the people of Israel; but Abarbinel is of opinion that this refers to the soul of Israel, which was shortened and contracted, as the word signifies, because of the labour of servitude, the affliction and distress they were in.

(b) Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 41.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Touched. Literally, "grieved." Hebrew, "his soul was straitened," as in joy it is said to be enlarged. He speaks of God in a human manner. (Calmet) (Genesis vi. 6.) (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They put away the strange gods: this was an evidence of the sincerity of their sorrow, that they did not only confess and bewail their sins, but also forsake them, and loathe themselves for them.

His soul was grieved; not properly, or as to inward affection; for God being infinitely happy, is not capable of grieving; but figuratively, and as to outward expression. He acted towards them like one that felt their sufferings; he had pity upon them, repented of his severe proceedings against them, and quite changed his carriage towards them, and punished their enemies as sorely as if they had grieved and injured his own person.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. Put away the strange gods — They no longer repented in words only, by a mere confession of their guilt, but proceeded to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance. So in every genuine conversion there must be added to confession an earnest revolt and turning away from the old sins.

His soul was grieved — Literally, was shortened; that is, thrilled with the most intense emotions of distress and anxiety. Compare the similar sense of the verb קצר, in Jdg_16:16; Num_21:4; Job_21:4; Zec_11:8. This text shows that Jehovah’s nature is profoundly emotional, which fact, instead of detracting from our reverence of him, should serve to give us a more affecting view of the divine character. See notes on Jdg_2:14; Jdg_2:18, and 1Sa_15:11.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they put away the strange gods. Here at length were "the fruits meet for repentance," and "the returning to the Lord their God;" the intended result of the severe but loving correction. (see Homiletics, Jud 6:25-32) Cf. Gen_35:2 1Sa_7:3, in which passages, as here, the phrase the strange gods is the correct rendering; not, as in the margin, gods of strangers. The Hebrew phrase here rendered his soul was grieved occurs Num_21:4 Jud_1:16:16 Zec_11:2; it means was impatient literally, was shortened, i.e. he could bear it no longer. A somewhat similar description of the Divine relenting is contained in the beautiful passage Hos_11:7-9.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They put away - This was an evidence of the sincerity of their sorrow, that they did not only confess their sins, but also forsake them. His soul, &c. - He acted towards them, like one that felt their sufferings; he had pity upon them, quite changed his carriage towards them, and punished their enemies as sorely as if they had grieved and injured his own person.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Could not contain Himself at [Yisroel's] anguish. As if one could depict God as lacking the space to bear and encompass His pain at Yisroel's anguish.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.