Judges 2:19

Jdg 2:19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, [that] they returned, and corrupted [themselves] more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

Ver. 19. More than their fathers.] See on Jdg 2:10, and observe the danger of relapse in religion. See Mat 12:43.

Nor from their stubborn way.] Heb., Hard, rough way; such are all the ways of wickedness: whereas God’s ways are plain and pleasant. {Pro 3:17; Pro 3:23} Christ’s yoke is easy, and his burden light. {Mat 11:29}

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.

Hebrew, corrupt themselves.

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

Verse 19. When the judge was dead] It appears that in general the office of the judge was for life.

Their stubborn way.] Their hard or difficult way. Most sinners go through great tribulation, in order to get to eternal perdition; they would have had less pain in their way to heaven.

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

(19) They ceased not from their own doings.—Literally, as in the margin, “they let nothing fall of their deeds.”

Stubborn.—They are called “stiff-necked” in Exo_32:9; Deu_10:16; Act_7:51. The prophets and sacred writers are always careful to impress upon the Jews that they are chosen by God’s free grace to work out His purpose, and that their selection for this service was in no sense due to any merits of their own (Isa_65:2; Psa_81:11-12; Mat_23:37; Act_7:51). It is to be noted that in the Bible there is none of the extravagant national self-satisfaction which defaces so much of the Talmud.

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

19. when the judge was dead … they turned back] e.g. Jdg_4:1, Jdg_8:33; the whole period is a continual repetition of apostasy, subjugation, the cry for help, the deliverance—such is the Dtc. editor’s reading of the history; see note at the beginning of this section. As in Jdg_2:18, the tenses denote repeated acts; it used to come to pass, they used to turn back and deal corruptly.

than their fathers] i.e. their predecessors in the age of the Judges, not the godly fathers of Jdg_2:10; Jdg_2:17; Jdg_2:22.

they ceased not from their doings] Joshua could say before he died that not one of Jehovah’s good promises had failed of fulfilment (Jos_23:14 D); the compiler bitterly remarks that Jehovah’s ungrateful people had let no kind of iniquity fail of performance. The same phraseology (‘bad doings,’ ‘way’) is used by Jer_4:18; Jer_7:3; Jer_7:5; Jer_18:11.

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 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) "non Cadere faciebant", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius. (c) "de via sua dura", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Drusius.

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

And did. Hebrew, "and corrupted themselves." Septuagint, "were more depraved than," &c. --- By which, &c., is put instead of the Hebrew, "their stubborn (or hard) (Haydock) Chaldean, ’corrupt’ way." This hard and rough path denotes the labours which the wicked have to encounter, in the pursuit of pleasure, as they themselves confess. We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity....and have walked through hard ways, Wisdom v. 7. (Calmet) --- Though the life of the libertine seem delightful, it draws on the most serious evils and provokes the anger of God. (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 returned to their former, and usual, and natural, though interrupted course.

More than their fathers, in Egypt or in the wilderness.

From their own doings, i.e. from their evil practices, which he calls their own partly because they were agreeable to their own natures, which in all mankind are deeply and universally corrupted, Gen 6:5; 8:21; and partly because they were familiar and customary to them. Compare Isa 58:13; 66:3; Eze 36:32; Act 14:16; Jdg 1:16.

Their stubborn way, Heb. hard way; so he calls their way of wickedness, either because it proceeded from a hard heart, and was managed with a hard and stiff neck; or to signify, that although it seemed at first very soft, and easy, and pleasant, yet they would certainly, and did constantly, find that it was hard, and difficult, and troublesome to them, as a hard way is to the traveller.

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

19. When the judge was dead — A God-fearing ruler can, by his example and authority, arrest the moral degeneracy of a nation. The removal of such a ruler, whether by death or otherwise, is often the disastrous turning-point in a nation’s history.

More than their fathers — A disobedient and corrupt nation, when the fear of God has been completely thrown off, gravitates towards ruin with an ever-accelerating velocity.

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

Returned - To their former, and usual course. 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.

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

They fell nothing short. They omitted nothing deserving of the reproach inherent in everything that befell them.

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.