Judges 2:18

Jdg 2:18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

Ver. 18. For it repented the Lord.] This was Mutatio rei, non Dei; effectus, non affectus; facti, non consilii.

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 2:18-19. For it repented the Lord — That is, the Lord changed his course and dealings with them, as penitent men use to do; removed his judgments, and returned to them in mercy. When the judge was dead they returned — To their former and usual course. More than their fathers — In Egypt, or in the wilderness. Their own doings — That is, from their evil practices, which he calls their own, because they were agreeable to their own natures, which in all mankind are deeply and universally corrupted, and because they were familiar and customary to them.

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

Hebrew, repented.

Seeing their cruelty.

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

Verse 18. The Lord was with the judge] God himself was king, and the judge was his representative.

It repented the Lord] He changed his purpose towards them: he purposed to destroy them because of their sin; they repented and turned to him, and he changed this purpose. The purpose was to destroy them if they did not repent; when they did repent, his not destroying them was quite consistent with his purpose.

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

(18) It repented the Lord—i.e., Jehovah was grieved. (Comp. Jon_3:10, “God repented of the evil that He had said He would do unto them; and He did it not”—Gen_6:6; Exo_32:14; 1Sa_15:35; Amo_7:3; Joe_2:13, &c.) The simple anthropomorphism of early ages never hesitates to describe the ways and thoughts of Jehovah by the analogy of human lives; nor is it easy to see how the sacred writers could have otherwise expressed their meaning. Yet they were, even in using this language, perfectly aware that it was only an imperfect and approximate method of explaining God’s dealings with man; and when they are using the language of calm and unmetaphorical instruction they say, “God is not a man . . .that he should repent” (Num_23:19); “He is in one mind, and who can turn Him?” (Job_23:13); “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal_3:6).

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

18. was with the judge] as He had been with Moses and Joshua, Jos_1:5. The Hebrew tense here shews that the verbs was, saved, denote frequentative acts in the past, used to be, used to save; similarly, it repented the Lord means the Lord used to be moved to pity. Not that Jehovah abandoned His fixed intention to punish, but His compassion was roused by the people’s cries to mitigate His purpose.

oppressed … vexed] The first word is used characteristically of Israel’s oppressors, Jdg_4:3; Jdg_6:9; Jdg_10:12, 1Sa_10:18; cf. Jdg_1:34 n. The second word occurs only here and Joe_2:8; it is common in Aramaic, and may be a late gloss on them that oppressed. LXX. cod. A omits it.

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 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.

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

It repented the Lord - Rather, “the Lord was moved with compassion,” or “was grieved,” “because of their groanings.” (Compare Jdg 21:15.)

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Moved, &c. Hebrew and Septuagint, "and the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge, (for it repented the Lord (Septuagint, he was moved to compassion) on account of their groans, &c.) (Haydock) --- The repentance of God denotes a change of conduct in our regard. (Calmet) --- Delivered. Hence the judges have the title of Saviour, chap. iii. 9., and 2 Esdras ix. 27. (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).

It repented the Lord, i.e. the Lord changed his course and dealings with them, as penitent men use to do; removed his judgments, and returned to them in mercy, Gen 6:6.

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

18. It repented the Lord — Render, Jehovah was grieved by their wailings on account of their oppressors and persecutors. Grief, anger, and love are emotions frequently, in the Scriptures, attributed to the divine nature. Jdg_10:16; Psa_7:2; Hos_11:8; Joh_3:16; Eph_4:30; Heb_3:10. Being absolutely perfect and pure in God, these emotions cannot, of course, be associated in the divine nature with any of the errors or evils with which they are often associated in the operations of the human soul. And when this Hebrew word (נחם) bears the sense of repented, (as our translators have rendered it here, but which it more clearly bears in Gen_6:6, and Jon_3:10,) it must never be understood as involving changeableness or inconsistency in God. “God is not a man, that he should lie: neither the son of man, that he should repent.” Num_23:19. Yet when men change, God may change his method of dealing with them. God is angry with the wicked every day. But when a man passes over from the class of the wicked to that of the righteous, he comes into the range of the Divine complacency. The man has changed, not God. Yet the change may, humanly speaking, be ascribed to God.

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

It repented the Lord - That is, the Lord changed his course and dealings with them, as penitent men use to do; removed his judgments, and returned to them in mercy.

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

"And when the Lord raised them up judges, and was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge (i.e., as long as the judge was living), because the Lord had compassion upon their sighing, by reason of them that oppressed them, and vexed them (דּחק only occurs again as a verb in Joe 2:8): it came to pass when the judge was dead, that they returned and acted more corruptly than their fathers," i.e., they turned again to idolatry even more grievously than their fathers had done under the previous judges. "They did not let fall from their deeds," i.e., they did not cease from their evil deeds, and "from their stiff-necked way." קשׁה, hard, is to be understood as in Exo 32:9 and Exo 33:3, where Israel is called a hard-necked people which did not bend under obedience to the commandments of God.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

judges

The judges were tribesmen in Israel upon whom the Lord laid the burden of Israel’s apostate and oppressed state. They were the spiritual ancestors of the prophets; that is to say, men raised up of God, the theocratic King, to represent Him in the nation. They were patriots and religious reformers because national security and prosperity were inseparably connected with loyalty and obedience to Jehovah. Not one of the chosen deliverers had anything whereof to glory in the flesh. Othniel was but the son of the younger brother of Caleb; Ehud was a left-handed man and an assassin; Shamgar, a rustic with an ox-goad; Deborah, a woman; Gideon, of an obscure family in the smallest tribe, etc. Each of the classes mentioned in 1Co 1:27; 1Co 1:28 is illustrated among the judges.

repented

(See Scofield "Zec 8:14").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Yahweh raised up judges

Yahweh appointing persons to be judges is spoken of as if he raised or lifted up the persons. (See: Metaphor)

judges for them ... rescued them

The word "them" refers to the Israelites.

the hand of their enemies

Here "hand" refers to power of the enemies to hurt Israel. AT: "the power of their enemies" (See: Metonymy)

all the days the judge lived

"as long as the judge lived"

pity

to have compassion for someone or something

as they groaned

The sound made by a person who suffers is used to describe the pain of the Israelites as they suffer. AT: "as they suffered" (See: Metonymy)

they would turn away

The people no longer obeying Yahweh is spoken of as if they would physically turn away from Yahweh. (See: Metaphor)

their fathers

"their ancestors" or "their forefathers"

They would go after other gods to serve them and worship them

The Israelites worshiping other gods is spoken of as if they were walking and going after other gods. AT: "They would serve and worship other gods" (See: Metaphor)

They refused to give up any of their evil practices or their stubborn ways

"They refused to stop doing evil things and being stubborn." This can be stated in positive form. AT: "They continued doing evil things and being stubborn" (See: Litotes)

translationWords

Yahweh

raise

judge, judges

power

adversary

life

oppress

afflicted

die

turn

corrupt

ancestor

false god

servant

worship

evil

stiff-necked

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

When He would establish—This describes an ongoing process—'When He would establish judges for them, and Adonoy would visit with the judge, etc.'

For He would recant. He would recant, concerning them, from the destruction. This is Yonasan's rendition.

From the outcry—As a result of their cry that went up to Him because of their tormentors

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.