Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 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.

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.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

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.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

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.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

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.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

“ 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 ( 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.” , 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.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

(18) It repented the Lordi.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 notGen. 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 Gods 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).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

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 ( ) 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.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And when Yahweh raised up judges, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For Yahweh relented because of their groaning as a result of those who oppressed them and vexed them.’

The repetition compared with Jdg 2:16 is deliberate. The process was repeated over and over and over again. Yahweh would continually raise up judges over the different tribes. He would be with the judges and save the tribes out of the hands of their enemies. Sometimes it would be one tribe, sometimes another, sometimes a group of tribes. Sometimes the judges would overlap. But He would do it because He was sorry for the people and the predicament they found themselves in. He heard ‘their groaning’ (compare Exo 2:7; Exo 2:24; Exo 6:5 where we are also told He remembered His covenant with Abraham) and He relented from His hard stance and had mercy on them.

“Yahweh relented.” His covenant was firm, therefore He had to relent. It was in the nature of His promises. He did not really change His mind, it only looked like it from a human point of view. This is human language. Yahweh had always intended to finally relax His anger when the time was right.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jdg 2:18. For it repented the Lord, because of their groanings That is, the Lord acted as men do when they repent; he changed his conduct towards them. Seeing them afflicted for their offences, and returning to duty, he heard their voice, ch. Jdg 3:9; Jdg 3:15.; He broke their chains, and restored them to liberty. See Gen 6:6.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

“Handfuls of Purpose”

For All Gleaners

“And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge” Jdg 2:18 .

A picture of society when divinely constructed. The economy of mediation is here, as everywhere, observed. The great principle of election is here also affirmed. The judges were raised up by the Lord. Men did not make themselves judges, nor did the people arbitrarily appoint and dismiss the judges. The appointment was divine. So it ought to be considered in all magistracy, judgeship, and government. Society is a piece of mosaic wrought out by the loving hands of God. God will only speak through the judges whom he himself has created and appointed. The judge should recognise this himself, and be modest and self-restrained in proportion. The true leader is always himself a follower of the divine guidance. Elevation to office does not mean release from responsibility, but rather a responsibility that is enlarged and sanctified. In times of national crisis men should pray that God would send the right leaders into the land, and clothe those leaders with appropriate influence. It is in vain to have an orthodox Church and an atheistic State that is to say, that the Church may be guided by God, but that the State may attempt to govern itself. The Church should continually pray for the State, and thus acknowledge that God is the God of nations as well as the God of churches. It is marvellous to observe how throughout the whole Scripture, all great appointments are acknowledged to be in the hands of God. The children of Israel cried unto the Lord, and Moses was sent; again they cried, and judges were raised up; and so throughout the whole historical line, until Jesus Christ says, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” This is a lesson quite as much to those who suppose themselves to be appointed to high authority, as for the peoples whom they rule or attempt to direct. The true judge, minister, leader, statesman, will recognise that he is divinely appointed, and therefore accountable to God. This will give moderation to his counsels, and invest all his thoughts and purposes with supreme solemnity, and will subdue the pomp of office by the consciousness of personal obligation to God.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

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.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)