Judges 3:6

Jdg 3:6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Ver. 6. And served their gods.] See Neh 13:26. {See Trapp on "Neh 13:26"}

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_3:6-7

Served their Gods . . . forgat the Lord, and served Baalim and the groves.

The downward course of sin

I. The form of their sin. One of omission (Jdg_2:2).

1. No sin of omission is ever small.

(1) It slights Gods authority.

(2) It implies alienation of heart from God.

(3) There is no fear of God before the eyes.

2. Sins of omission may become indefinitely great.

II. The tendency of sin to multiply itself.

1. No sin stands alone.

2. The root-sin here was failure to exterminate the Canaanites.

3. It led to their dwelling among the idolators.

4. Their intermarrying with the ungodly.

5. Their worship of false gods.

6. The facility with which they made the change.

III. The deplorable end to which their evil course led.

1. There was entire abandonment of God as their God. Sin is a great--

(1) Spoiler;

(2) madness.

2. There was sinking down to the level of heathen worship and heathen practices. (J. P. Millar.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 3:6-7. They took their daughters, and served their gods — Were drawn to idolatry by the persuasions and examples of their yoke-fellows. And served Baalim and the groves — Or, Baalim in groves; that is, false gods, or rather their images, set up under shady trees, contrary to the command given Exo 34:13. Some expositors, however, think the meaning is, Baalim and Ashtaroth; for by the addition of a single letter, the Hebrew word rendered groves, will be Ashtaroth, and the greater part of the versions so render it, understanding thereby goddesses, as distinguished from Baalim or lords. It must be acknowledged, however, that the trees themselves, which composed those shady retreats in which they placed their idols, and which were consecrated to their honour, were accounted sacred by the ancient pagans, and held in great veneration. They decorated them with ribands and lights, made vows to them, and hung the spoils of their enemies upon them: insomuch that it was customary for travellers to stop, when they were to pass by them, and approach them with veneration and religious awe, as if they had been the habitation of some god.

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

Contrary to God’s commandment, Deut. 3:7.

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

Verse 6. And they took their daughters] They formed matrimonial alliances with those proscribed nations, served their idols, and thus became one with them in politics and religion.

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

(6) And they took their daughters.—This beginning of intermarriages shows that we are now a generation removed from the days of Joshua. Such marriages had been forbidden in Deu_7:3. but are not among the sins denounced by the Angel-messenger at Bochim (Jdg_2:1).

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

6. they took their daughters] Cf. Gen_34:9; Gen_34:16; Exo_34:16; Deu_7:3. According to the ideas of the ancient world, it was impossible for the Israelites to maintain any religious exclusiveness when they intermarried with the heathen nations (cf. Jdg_2:1 b–3); the connubium carried with it an alliance of religion and worship, as for instance in the case of Solomon, 1Ki_11:1 ff. The source of these two verses is disputed. If the connexion suggested above is correct, they may be assigned to E, though they shew no signs distinctive of that school.

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 took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons,.... The Israelites intermarried with the inhabitants of the land, contrary to the express command of God, Deu 7:3; whereby they confounded their families, debased their blood, and were ensnared into idolatry, as follows: perhaps to these unlawful marriages, in their first settlement in the land of Canaan, reference is had in Eze 16:3, "thy father was an Amorite and thy mother an Hittite"; an Amorite marrying a daughter of Israel, and an Israelitish man an Hittite woman:

and served their gods; this was the natural consequence of their intermarriages, which the Lord foresaw, and therefore cautioned them against them, Exo 34:15.

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

See Jdg 2:2 note.

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

Gods. This was the fatal consequence which God had foretold, Deuteronomy vii. 4. (Haydock)

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).

Were drawn to idolatry by the persuasions and examples of their yoke-fellows, through the just judgment of God, punishing their sinful marriages by giving them up to idolatry.

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

6. And they took their daughters — So that marriages and mixing of blood threatened to render Israel homogeneous in blood and paganism with the doomed nations.

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

They took their daughters, etc. Here is a further downward step in the disobedience of the Israelites. Intermarriage with the Canaanite nations had been expressly forbidden, (Exo_34:15, 16 Deu 7:3Jo Deu_23:12) and the reason of the prohibition clearly stated, and for some time after Joshua"s death no such marriages appear to have been contracted. But now the fatal step was taken, and the predicted consequence immediately ensued: "they served their gods; they forgat the Lord their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth."

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

Served their gods - Were drawn to idolatry by the persuasions and examples of their yoke-fellows.

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