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The Religious Degeneracy Of Israel Which Resulted From Its Disobedient Conduct With Respect To The Canaanites, And The Severe Discipline Which It Rendered Necessary, As Explaining The Alternations Of Apostasy And Servitude, Repentance And Deliverance, Characteristic Of The Period Of The Judges
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A Messenger of Jehovah charges Israel with disobedience, and announces punishment. The people repent and offer sacrifice
Jdg_2:1-5
[Jdg_2:2.— úִּúֹּöåּï , from ðָúַõ , to tear down, demolish. On the form, cf. Ges. Gram. § 47, Rem. 4.—Tr.]
[Jdg_2:2.—More literally: “What is this that ye have done!” i. e. How great is this sin you have committed! cf. Jdg_8:1.—Tr.]
[Jdg_2:3.—Dr. Bachmann interprets the words that follow as a definite judgment on Israel, announcing that henceforth Jehovah will not drive out any of the still remaining nations, but will leave them to punish Israel. It is undoubtedly true that åְâַí àָîַøְúִּé may be translated, “therefore, now, I also say;” but it is also true that it is more natural here (with Bertheau, Keil, Cass.) to render, “and I also said.” To the citations of earlier divine utterances in Jdg_2:1-2 (see the Comment.), the messenger of Jehovah now adds another, from Num_33:55, Jos_23:13. It is, moreover, a strong point against Bachmann’s view that God does not execute judgment speedily, least of all on Israel. We can hardly conceive him to shut the door of hope on the nation so soon after the departure of the latest surviving contemporaries of Joshua as this scene at Bochim seems to have occurred, cf. the comparatively mild charges brought by the messenger, as implied in Jdg_2:2, with the heavier ones in Jdg_2:11 ff. and Jdg_3:6-7. Besides, if we understand a definite and final sentence to be pronounced here, we must understand Jdg_2:20 f. as only reproducing the same (as Bachmann does), although Israel’s apostasy had become far more pronounced when the first Judge arose than it is now. It seems clear, therefore, that we must here understand a warning, while the sentence itself issues subsequently (cf. foot-note 3, on p. 62).—Tr.]
[5 Jdg_2:3.—Dr. Cassel translates: “they shall be to you for thorns.” Cf. the Commentary. The E. V. supplies “thorns” from Num_33:55; but it has to change ìְöãִּéí into áְּöִøֵּéëֶí or áַּöִּãִּéí .—Tr.]
[6 Jdg_2:4.—Better perhaps, with De Wette: “And it came to pass, as the messenger of Jehovah spake, etc., that the people,” etc. On ëְּ with the infin. cf. Ges. Lex. s. ëְּ , B. 5, b.—Tr.]
Came up from Gilgal to Bochim. Heavenly angels “appear,” and do not come from Gilgal particularly. The connection of this statement with the whole preceding narrative is profound and instructive. The history of Israel in Canaan begins in Gilgal. There (Jos_4:20 ff.) stood the memorial which showed how they had come through the Jordan into this land ( àֶìÎäָàָøֶõ åָàָáִéà àֶúְëֶí ). The name Gilgal itself speaks of the noblest benefit bestowed on them—their liberation from the reproach of Egypt. There the first Passover in Canaan had been celebrated. Thence also begin the great deeds that are done after the death of Joshua. As now the messenger of God comes from Gilgal, so at first Judah set out from thence to enter into his possessions. A messenger who came from Gilgal, did by that circumstance alone remind the people of Joshua’s last words and commands The memorial which was there erected rendered the place permanently suggestive to Israel of past events. From the time that Joshua’s camp was there, it never ceased to be a celebrated spot (comp. 1Sa_7:16); but that on this occasion the messenger comes from Gilgal, has its ground in the nature of his message, the history of which commences at Gilgal.
Jdg_2:2-3. Why have ye done this? This sorrowful exclamation is uttered by the priest—according to Jewish exegesis, Phinehas, the same who spoke Jdg_1:2—after he has exhibited in brief quotations from the old divine instructions, first, what God has done for Israel, and then what Israel has done in disregard of God. The eternal God has enjoined it upon you, not under any circumstances to enter into peaceful compacts with the idolatrous tribes and their altars among you, thereby authorizing them openly before your eyes to manifest their depravity and practice their abominations—what have ye done! The exclamation is full of sharp grief; for the consequences are inevitable. For God said (Jos_23:13): “I will not drive out these nations from before you.” Israel had its tasks to perform. If it failed it must bear the consequences. God has indeed said (Exo_23:29-30), and Moses reiterates it (Deu_7:22), “By little and little I will drive out the Canaanite, lest the land becomes desolate.” And this word received its fulfillment in the days of Joshua and subsequently. But when Israel disobeys, God will not prosper its disobedience. It must then experience that which the messenger now with grief and pain announces: Since Canaanites remain among you, who ought not to remain, and whom ye could have expelled, had ye been wholly with your God (Deu_7:17 ff.), they will hurt you, though they are conquered. It is not an innocent thing to suffer the presence of sin, and give it equal rights.
They shall be thorns, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. The Hebrew text has åְçָéåּ ìָëֶí ìְöִãִּéí : literally, “they shall be sides unto you.” öַã everywhere means “the side;” and the explanations which make “adversaries, hostes” (Vulgate), “nets” (Luther), “tormentors” (Sachs), out of it, are without any foundation. Arias Montanus, who gives in lateribus, follows therein the older Jewish expositors; but neither does the idea of “hurtful neighbors” lie in the word. From the fact that the Chaldee para phrast has îְòִé÷ִéï , “oppressors,” it would indeed seem that he read öָøִéí ; for in Num_33:55 he also renders åְöָøֲøåּ by åִéòִé÷åּï . The Septuagint rendering óõíï÷Üò (the Syriac version of it has the singular, cf. Rördam, p. 69), might seem to indicate a similar reading, although óõíÝ÷åéí occurs perhaps only twice for öåּø (1Sa_23:8; 2Sa_20:3). None the less does it appear to me to be against the language and spirit of Scripture, to read öָøִéí here. For not only does öָøִéí occur but once in Scripture (Lam_1:7), but it is expressive of that hostility which arises in consequence of the state of things here described. Only after one has fallen into the snare begins that miserable condition in which one is oppressed by the enemy, while all power of resistance is lost. The following considerations may assist us to arrive at the true sense: Every sentence, from Jdg_2:1 to Jdg_2:4, is in all its parts and words a reproduction of utterances by Moses and Joshua. Verse 1 is composed of expressions found as follows: àַòֲìֶä , etc., Exo_3:17; åָàָáִéà , etc., Jos_24:8; ðִùְׁáַּöְúִּé , etc., Deu_1:35; ìָֹà àָôֵø , etc., Lev_26:44. Verse 2 likewise: ìàֹ úִëְøְäåּ , etc., Exo_23:32, Deu_7:2; îִæְáְּçåֹúֵéäֶí , úִּúֹּöåּï , Exo_34:13, Deu_7:5; ìֹà ùְׁîַòְúֶּí , Num_14:22. The case is similar with Jdg_2:3, and it is to be assumed that the parallel passages may be used to throw light on the text. Now, as the first parallel to the expression, “and they shall be to you for tsiddim ( öִãִּéí ),” we have the words in Num_33:55 : “and they shall be to you for pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides ( ìִöְðִéðִí áְּöִãֵּéëֶí ).” Not for “sides,” therefore, but for “thorns in the sides;” and we can as little believe that the same meaning would result if the expression were only “sides,” as we can imagine the idea to remain unaltered if instead of “pricks in the eyes,” one were to say, “they shall be to you for eyes.” The second parallel passage is Jos_23:13 : they shall be to you for “scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes.” The enemies are compared, not with “sides” and “eyes,” but with scourges and thorns by which sides and eyes are afflicted. Now as our passage as a whole corresponds entirely with those of Numbers and Joshua, save only that it abridges and epitomizes them, the threat which they contain appears here also, and in a similarly condensed form. It was sufficient to say, “they shall be to you for thorns;” accordingly, instead of öִãִּéë we are to read öִðִּéí (tsinnim for tsiddim), a change as natural as it is easily accounted for, since both words occurred not only in each of the other passages, but in one of them were joined together in the same clause. Emendation in this instance is more conservative than retention, for it rests on the internal organic coherence of Scripture.Tsinnah, tsinnim, tseninim, are thorns, spinœ, pointed and stinging. The figure is taken from rural life. Israel, in the conquest, has acted like a slothful gardener. It has not thoroughly destroyed the thorns and thistles of its fields. The consequence will be, that sowing and planting and other field labors, will soon be rendered painful by the presence of spiteful thorns. What will turn the Canaanites into stinging weeds and snares for Israel? The influence of habitual intercourse. Familiarity blunts aversion, smooths away contrarieties, removes differences, impairs obedience. It induces forgetfulness of what one was, what one promised, and to what conditions one is subject. Familiar intercourse with idolaters will weaken Israel’s faith in the invisible God who has said, “Thou shalt not serve strange gods.”
Jdg_2:4. When the messenger had spoken these words, etc. It is most likely that the few sentences here given, are but the outlines of the messenger’s address. But every word rests on the basis of instructions delivered by Moses and Joshua. The people are sensible of the surpassing reality of the blessings which they have received, and for that reason are the more affected by the thought of the consequences which their errors have brought upon them. For the fulfillment of the law of truth as to its promises, guarantees the same as to its threatenings. Their alarm on account of sin is the livelier, the less decidedly active their disregard of the Word of God has hitherto been. They have not yet served the gods whose temples they have failed to destroy—have not yet joined in sin with the nations whom they suffered to remain. It was a weak faith, but not yet full-grown sin, by which they were led astray. God’s messenger addresses “all the sons of Israel,” for no tribe had formed an exception. In greater or less degree, they all had committed the same disobedience. The whole nation lifted up its voice and wept.
Jdg_2:5. And they called the name of the place Bochim (Weepers). The messenger of the divine word, when he wished to address Israel, must have gone up to the place where he would find them assembled. Israel had been commanded, as soon as the Jordan should have been crossed, and rest obtained, to assemble for feasts and sacrifices at a sacred place (Deu_12:10). This order applied not to Jerusalem merely, but to “the place which the Lord your God shall choose in one of the tribes.” Thither they are to go up, trusting in God and dismissing care. It was only at such festal assemblies that Israel could be met. There was the opportunity for preaching and admonition. The chosen place at that time was Shiloh. There the tabernacle had been set up (Jos_18:1); and there the people assembled (cf. Jos_21:2). Thither they went up from far and near, to attend festivals (Jdg_21:19), and to offer sacrifices (1Sa_1:3). The whole progress of Joshua was a going from Gilgal to Shiloh. Accordingly, the messenger of God can have found Israel at no other place. His discourse produced a general outburst of weeping (cf. 1Sa_11:4). And only because it was a weeping of penitence and shame before God, did the place where it occurred receive and retain the name Bochim. It was not a place otherwise nameless. How could the place where such an assembly was held be without a name! And how could it occur to the people to assemble at such a place! In Shiloh itself, some spot—perhaps that where the priest was accustomed to address the people—received the name Bochim. This name served thenceforth to recall the tears which were there shed. So do they show to-day in Jerusalem the “Jews’ wailing-place” (El Ebra, Ritter, xvi. 350 [Gage’s Transl. iv. 50]), where every Friday the Jews pray and lament. “And they offered sacrifices there.” After repentance and reconciliation comes sacrifice.
Therefore, let not the preaching of repentance fail to address all the people. But the preacher must be (1), a messenger of God; and (2), must not shun the way from Gilgal to Bochim,—must not wait till the people come to him in the place for preaching, but must go to them, until he find a Bochim, a place of tearful eyes. But as God’s messenger he must give heed that the weeping be not merely the result of affecting words, but of a penitent disposition; that it be called forth, not by the flow of rhetoric, but by memories of the grace of God hitherto experienced by the congregation.
Starke: How great concern God takes in the salvation of men, and especially in the welfare of His church, appears clearly from the fact that He himself has often reasoned with them, taught them, admonished and rebuked them.
The same: The Word of God has the power of moving and converting men.
The same: To attest our repentance by tears as well as reformation, is not improper; nay, repentance is seldom of the right sort, if it does not, at least in secret, weep for sin.
Gerlach: He reminds them of earlier commands, promises and threats, and shows them how their own transgressions are now about to turn into self-inflicted judgments. The people, however, do not proceed beyond an unfruitful sorrow in view of this announcement.
[Henry: Many are melted under the word, that harden again before they are cast into a new mould.
Scott: If transgressors cannot endure the rebukes of God’s word and the convictions of their own consciences, how will they be able to stand before the tribunal of the holy, heart-searching Judge.
The same: The worship of God is in its own nature joy, praise, and thanksgiving, and our crimes alone render weeping needful; yet, considering what we are and what we have done, it is much to be wished that our religious assemblies were more frequently called “Bochim,” the place of the weepers. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Wordsworth: The Israelites called the place Bochim; they named it from their own tears. They laid the principal stress on their own feelings, and on their own outward demonstrations of sorrow. But they did not speak of God’s mercies; and they were not careful to bring forth fruits of repentance; they were a barren fig-tree, having only leaves. Their’s was a religion (such as is too common) of sentiment and emotions, not of faith and obedience.
The same: Reproofs which produce only tears—religious feelings without religious acts—emotions without effects—leave the heart worse than before. If God’s rebukes are trifled with, His grace is withdrawn.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[Jdg_2:1.— àַòֲìֶä : Keil: “The use of the imperfect instead of the perfect (cf. Jdg_6:8) is very singular, seeing that the contents of the address, and its continuation in the historical tense ( åָàָáִéà and åָàֹîַø ), require the preterite. The imperfect can only be explained by supposing it to be under the retrospective influence of the immediately following imperfect consecutive.” De Wette translates, “I said, I will lead you up out of Egypt, and brought you into the land,” etc. This supposes that àָîַøְúִּé , or some such expression, has dropped out of the text, or is to be supplied. This mode of explaining the imperfect is favored (1), by the fact that we seem to have here a quotation from Exo_3:17; but especially (2), by the åָàֹîַø before the last clause of this verse, and the åְâַí àָîַøְúִּé of Jdg_2:3, which suggest that the same verb is to be understood in Jdg_2:1 a.—Tr.]
[Jdg_2:2.— úִּúֹּöåּï , from ðָúַõ , to tear down, demolish. On the form, cf. Ges. Gram. § 47, Rem. 4.—Tr.]
[Jdg_2:2.—More literally: “What is this that ye have done!” i. e. How great is this sin you have committed! cf. Jdg_8:1.—Tr.]
[Jdg_2:3.—Dr. Bachmann interprets the words that follow as a definite judgment on Israel, announcing that henceforth Jehovah will not drive out any of the still remaining nations, but will leave them to punish Israel. It is undoubtedly true that åְâַí àָîַøְúִּé may be translated, “therefore, now, I also say;” but it is also true that it is more natural here (with Bertheau, Keil, Cass.) to render, “and I also said.” To the citations of earlier divine utterances in Jdg_2:1-2 (see the Comment.), the messenger of Jehovah now adds another, from Num_33:55, Jos_23:13. It is, moreover, a strong point against Bachmann’s view that God does not execute judgment speedily, least of all on Israel. We can hardly conceive him to shut the door of hope on the nation so soon after the departure of the latest surviving contemporaries of Joshua as this scene at Bochim seems to have occurred, cf. the comparatively mild charges brought by the messenger, as implied in Jdg_2:2, with the heavier ones in Jdg_2:11 ff. and Jdg_3:6-7. Besides, if we understand a definite and final sentence to be pronounced here, we must understand Jdg_2:20 f. as only reproducing the same (as Bachmann does), although Israel’s apostasy had become far more pronounced when the first Judge arose than it is now. It seems clear, therefore, that we must here understand a warning, while the sentence itself issues subsequently (cf. foot-note 3, on p. 62).—Tr.]
[Jdg_2:3.—Dr. Cassel translates: “they shall be to you for thorns.” Cf. the Commentary. The E. V. supplies “thorns” from Num_33:55; but it has to change ìְöãִּéí into áְּöִøֵּéëֶí or áַּöִּãִּéí .—Tr.]
[Jdg_2:4.—Better perhaps, with De Wette: “And it came to pass, as the messenger of Jehovah spake, etc., that the people,” etc. On ëְּ with the infin. cf. Ges. Lex. s. ëְּ , B. 5, b.—Tr.]
Nevertheless, Keil also, in loct, has followed the older expositors. [We subjoin the main points on which Keil rests his interpretation: “ îַìְàַêְ éִäåָֹä is not a prophet or any other earthly ambassador of Jehovah, as Phinehas or Joshua (Targ., Rabb., Stud., Berth., and others), but the Angel of Jehovah, consubstantial with God. In simple historical narrative no prophet is ever called îַìְàַã éְäåָֹä ; such are designated ðָáִéà or àִéùׁ ðָáéà , as in Jdg_6:8, or àéùׁ àֶìäִֹéí , 1Ki_12:22; 1Ki_13:1, etc. The passages, Hag_1:13 and Mal_3:1, cannot be adduced against this, since there, in the prophetic style, the purely appellative significance of îַìְàָêְ is placed beyond all doubt by the context. Moreover, no prophet ever identifies himself so entirely with God, as is here done by the Angel of Jehovah, In his address Jdg_2:1-3. The prophets always distinguish themselves from Jehovah by this, that they introduce their utterances as the word of God by the formula “thus saith Jehovah,” as is also done by the prophet in Jdg_6:8. … Nor does it conflict with the nature of the Angel of Jehovah that he comes up from Gilgal to Bochim. His appearance at Bochim is described as a coming up to Bochim, with as much propriety as in Jdg_6:11 it is said concerning the Angel of Jehovah, that “he came and sat down under the terebinth at Ophra.” The only feature peculiar to the present instance is the coming up “from Gilgal.” This statement must stand in intimate connection with the mission of the angel—must contain more than a mere notice of his journeying from one place to another.” Keil then recalls the appearance to Joshua, at Gilgal, of the angel who announced himself as the “Captain of the host of Jehovah,” and promised a successful issue to the siege of Jericho. “The coming up from Gilgal indicates, therefore, that the same angel who at Gilgal, with the fall of Jericho delivered all Canaan into the hands of the Israelites, appeared to them again at Bochim, in order to announce the divine decree resulting from their disobedience to the commands of the Lord.” With this view Bachmann and Wordsworth also agree. It must be admitted, however, that the appearance of the Angel of Jehovah, or indeed of any angel, in the character of a preacher before the assembled congregation of Israel is without a parallel in sacred history. Keil’s supposition that he addressed the people only through their heads or representatives, is against the clear import of Jdg_2:4-5, and not to be justified by a reference to Jos_24:1-2. Besides, an assembly of the heads and representatives, presents the same difficulty as an assembly of all the people. Angels appear only to individuals; to Israel as a nation God speaks through prophets.—Tr.]
[Bachmann is not inclined to admire the “conservative” character of this emendation. He holds to the reading of the text, and finds in it a free reference to Num_33:55 and Jos_23:13, by virtue of which “the nations themselves”—for, in his view, the ìֹà àֲâָøֵùׁ (Jdg_2:3) refers rather to the nations of the unconquered border districts (cf. Jdg_2:23; Jdg_3:1), than to the scattered remnants of Canaanites within the conquered territories—“are described as (sides for Israel, i. e. as cramping, burdensome, tormenting neighbors.” But is it quite “conservative” to attach the idea of something cramping, etc., to the simple word “side.” which on no other occasion appears with such horrible suggestions of compression and suffocation as Dr. B. would give it here?—Tr.]