CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Judges 3:7 Commentaries: The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/judges/3-7.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/judges/3-7.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > Judges 3:7</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../judges/3-6.htm" title="Judges 3:6">◄</a> Judges 3:7 <a href="../judges/3-8.htm" title="Judges 3:8">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/barnes/judges/3.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/judges/3.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/judges/3.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/judges/3.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/judges/3.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/judges/3.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/judges/3.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/judges/3.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/judges/3.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/judges/3.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/judges/3.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/judges/3.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/judges/3.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/judges/3.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/judges/3.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/judges/5-23.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/judges/3.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/judges/3.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kad/judges/3.htm" title="Keil and Delitzsch OT">KD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/judges/3.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/judges/3.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/judges/3.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/judges/3.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/judges/3.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/judges/3.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/judges/3.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/judges/3.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/judges/3.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/judges/3.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/judges/3.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/judges/3.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/judges/3.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(7) <span class= "bld">Did evil in the sight of the Lord.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">did the evil, </span>as in <a href="/judges/2-11.htm" title="And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:">Judges 2:11</a>.<p><span class= "bld">And the groves.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">and the Asheroth, i.e., </span>the wooden images of the nature-goddess, Asherah (which are called also Asherim). The LXX. render the word Asherah by <span class= "ital">alsos, </span>“a grove,” and other versions follow them. (Sec <a href="/exodus/34-13.htm" title="But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:">Exodus 34:13</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/8-5.htm" title="You shall also consider in your heart, that, as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.">Deuteronomy 8:5</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/16-21.htm" title="You shall not plant you a grove of any trees near to the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make you.">Deuteronomy 16:21</a>; <a href="/2_kings/23-14.htm" title="And he broke in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.">2Kings 23:14</a>, &c.) Thus Luther renders it <span class= "ital">die Hainen, </span>and it used to be erroneously supposed that the word pointed to tree-worship. The Vulgate rundere it “Astaroth.” It seems, however, to be clear from the researches of Mövers and others that Asherah and Astarte were different though allied deities. For the latter, see <a href="/judges/2-13.htm" title="And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.">Judges 2:13</a>. Asherah is from a root which means upright (like <span class= "ital">Orthia </span>or <span class= "ital">Orthosia, </span>a designation of Artemis, <span class= "ital">Herod. iv.</span> 87), and her images are generally mentioned in connection with altars and images of Baal (<a href="/exodus/34-13.htm" title="But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:">Exodus 34:13</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/7-5.htm" title="But thus shall you deal with them; you shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.">Deuteronomy 7:5</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/12-3.htm" title="And you shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.">Deuteronomy 12:3</a>; <a href="/1_kings/14-23.htm" title="For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.">1Kings 14:23</a>, &c.; <a href="/micah/6-12.htm" title="For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.">Micah 6:12</a>).<p><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/judges/3.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>3:1-7 As the Israelites were a type of the church on earth, they were not to be idle and slothful. The Lord was pleased to try them by the remains of the devoted nations they spared. Temptations and trials detect the wickedness of the hearts of sinners; and strengthen he graces of believers in their daily conflict with Satan, sin, and this evil world. They must live in this world, but they are not of it, and are forbidden to conform to it. This marks the difference between the followers of Christ and mere professors. The friendship of the world is more fatal than its enmity; the latter can only kill the body, but the former murders many precious souls.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/judges/3.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>And the groves - literally, Asheroth, images of Asherah (the goddess companion of Baal): see <a href="/deuteronomy/16-21.htm">Deuteronomy 16:21</a> note. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/judges/3.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>Jud 3:5-7. By Communion with These the Israelites Commit Idolatry.<p>5-7. the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites—The two peoples by degrees came to be on habits of intercourse. Reciprocal alliances were formed by marriage till the Israelites, relaxing the austerity of their principles, showed a growing conformity to the manners and worship of their idolatrous neighbors.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/judges/3.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> i.e. In the groves, in which the heathens usually worshipped their <span class="ital">Baalims</span> or idols. Or, <span class="ital">the groves</span> are here put metonymically for the idols of the groves, which are distinguished here from their <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Baalim, </span> which seem to have been worshipped in other places, as <span class="ital">the prophets of Baal</span> are distinguished from <span class="ital">the prophets of the groves</span>, <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/1_kings/18-19.htm" title="Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.">1 Kings 18:19</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/judges/3.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Both by marrying with Heathens, and worshipping their gods: <p>and forgot the Lord their God; as if they had never heard of him, or known him, their Maker and Preserver, who had done so many great and good things for them: <p>and served Baalim, and the groves; of Baalim, see <a href="/judges/2-11.htm">Judges 2:11</a>; the groves mean either idols worshipped in groves, as Jupiter was worshipped in a grove of oaks, hence the oak of Dodona; and Apollo in a grove of laurels in Daphne: there were usually groves where idol temples were built; and so in Phoenicia, or Canaan, Dido the Sidonian queen built a temple for Juno in the midst of the city, where was a grove of an agreeable shade (d): so Barthius (e) observes, that most of the ancient gods of the Heathens used to be worshipped in groves. And groves and trees themselves were worshipped; so Tacitus says (f) of the Germans, that they consecrated groves and forests, and called them by the names of gods. Groves are here put in the place of Ashtaroth, <a href="/judges/2-13.htm">Judges 2:13</a>; perhaps the goddesses of that name were worshipped in groves; and if Diana is meant by Astarte, Servius (g) says that every oak is sacred to Jupiter and every grove to Diana; and Ovid (h) speaks of a temple of Diana in a grove. But as they are joined with Baalim, the original of which were deified kings and heroes, the groves may be such as were consecrated to them; for, as the same writer observes (i), the souls of heroes were supposed to have their abode in groves; See Gill on <a href="/exodus/34-13.htm">Exodus 34:13</a> and See Gill on <a href="/deuteronomy/7-5.htm">Deuteronomy 7:5</a>. It was in this time of defection that the idolatry of Micah, and of the Danites, and the war of Benjamin about the Levite's concubine, happened, though related at the end of the book; so Josephus (k) places the account here. <p>(d) "Lucus in urbe fuit media", &c. Virgil. Aeneid. l. 1.((e) Animadv. ad Claudian. de raptu Proserp. l. 1. v. 205. (f) De mor. German. c. 9. Vid. Plin. l. 12. 1.((g) In Virgil. Georgic. l. 3. col. 295. (h) "Est nemus et piceis", &c. <a href="http://biblehub.com/ephesians/12.htm">Ephesians 12</a>. v. 67. Vid. Metamorph. l. 11. Fab. 9. v. 560. (i) In Virgil. Aeneid. l. 1. col. 481. & in l. 3. col. 721. (k) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. & 3.<a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/judges/3.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the <span class="cverse3">{d}</span> groves.</span><p>(d) Or Ashteroth, trees or woods erected for idolatry.</div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/judges/3.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">7</span>. <span class="ital">did that which was evil</span>] See <a href="/judges/2-11.htm" title="And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:">Jdg 2:11</a> <span class="ital">n.</span>; <span class="ital">forgat</span>, cf. <a href="/deuteronomy/6-12.htm" title="Then beware lest you forget the LORD, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.">Deuteronomy 6:12</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/8-11.htm" title="Beware that you forget not the LORD your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command you this day:">Deuteronomy 8:11</a> etc.; <a href="/1_samuel/12-9.htm" title="And when they forgot the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.">1 Samuel 12:9</a>; <a href="/hosea/2-13.htm" title="And I will visit on her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, said the LORD.">Hosea 2:13</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/3-21.htm" title="A voice was heard on the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.">Jeremiah 3:21</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">the Baalim and the Asheroth</span>] For <span class="ital">the Baalim</span> see <a href="/judges/2-13.htm" title="And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.">Jdg 2:13</a> <span class="ital">n.</span> The word rendered <span class="ital">groves</span> by AV. (from the LXX <span class="greekheb">ἄλσος</span>, Vulgate lucus) is in Hebr. <span class="ital">ashçroth</span> (only here and <a href="/2_chronicles/19-3.htm" title="Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have taken away the groves out of the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.">2 Chronicles 19:3</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/33-3.htm" title="For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.">2 Chronicles 33:3</a>), usually <span class="ital">ashçrim</span>, plur. of <span class="ital">ashçrah</span> which denotes a wooden pole planted (<a href="/deuteronomy/16-21.htm" title="You shall not plant you a grove of any trees near to the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make you.">Deuteronomy 16:21</a>), or set up (<a href="/2_kings/17-10.htm" title="And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:">2 Kings 17:10</a>), beside an altar, and venerated as a sacred symbol. It was a characteristic feature of the Canaanite sanctuaries, and from them it was adopted by the Israelites; thus at Ophrah an <span class="ital">ashçrah</span> stood by the altar of Baal (<a href="/judges/6-25.htm" title="And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said to him, Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the grove that is by it:">Jdg 6:25</a>), at Samaria, Beth-el, Jerusalem by the altar of Jehovah (<a href="/2_kings/13-6.htm" title="Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)">2 Kings 13:6</a>; <a href="/2_kings/23-6.htm" title="And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof on the graves of the children of the people.">2 Kings 23:6</a>; <a href="/2_kings/23-15.htm" title="Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.">2 Kings 23:15</a>; cf. <a href="/deuteronomy/16-21.htm" title="You shall not plant you a grove of any trees near to the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make you.">Deuteronomy 16:21</a> f.). It seems to have been a general symbol for deity. How it came to have this significance is disputed; some regard the sacred pole as a substitute for a tree and a relic of primitive tree-worship; others think that the name meant originally a <span class="ital">sign-post</span>, marking the precincts of the sanctuary, cf. Assyr. <span class="ital">ashirtu</span> ‘sanctuary,’ ‘temple.’ Here, however, and in a few other passages, <span class="ital">ashçrah</span>, like ‘Ashtoreth elsewhere (e.g. <a href="/judges/2-13.htm" title="And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.">Jdg 2:13</a>), is combined with Baal, and was <span class="ital">served</span> apparently as a divinity; cf. <a href="/2_kings/23-4.htm" title="And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel.">2 Kings 23:4</a> and <a href="/1_kings/15-13.htm" title="And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.">1 Kings 15:13</a>, <a href="/2_kings/21-7.htm" title="And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:">2 Kings 21:7</a>. Was <span class="ital">ashçrah</span>, then, a goddess, confused with ‘Ashtoreth and sometimes put in her place1[26]? From outside the O.T. we find undoubted evidence of a goddess Ashçrah, worshipped by the Babylonians in the remote period of Ḫammurabi (c. 2130 b.c.), and of Western or Canaanite origin; while the pr. name <span class="ital">Abd-ashirta</span> ‘servant of Ashçrah,’ which occurs frequently in the Amarna letters, implies her cult in Canaan in the xv cent. b.c.2[27] Still more decisive is the express mention of her name in the phrase ‘the finger of Ashirat,’ from one of the cuneiform tablets found at Taanach (Driver, <span class="ital">Schweich Lects</span>., p. 82). The goddess Ashratum, i.e. ‘the kindly,’ ‘the gracious,’ is simply the fem. of the god Ashur, sometimes written Ashir. In S. Arabia we meet with <span class="ital">Athîrat</span>, the wife of the moon-god; in N. Arabia (Têma) the name was pronounced <span class="ital">Ashîra</span>3[28]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[26] The confusion goes much further in the Versions, e.g. Vulg. here has Astaroth; but it is in no way due to any similarity in the names, which are quite distinct.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[27] The inscr. of Ḫammurabi which mentions <span class="ital">Ash-ra-tum</span>, ‘the bride of the king of heaven,’ is given by Hommel, <span class="ital">Aufsätze u. Abhandlungen</span> ii. 211 f. In the Amarna letters the pr. name alluded to is once written <span class="ital">Ab-di-ash-ta-</span>[<span class="ital">ar</span>]<span class="ital">-ti</span>, i.e. ‘servant of Ishtar,’ shewing how early the confusion between Ashçrah and ‘Ashtoreth began; see also Zimmern, <span class="ital">Keilinschr. u. d. A. T.</span>3 432 ff.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[28] For <span class="ital">Athîrat</span> in Minaean inscrr. see Hommel l.c. 206 ff., <span class="ital">Expos. Times</span> xi. (1899) 127; for the Aramaic inscr. of Têma see <span class="ital">NSI.</span> 195 ff. In the obscure expression ‘Ashtart in the ashçrah’ the name occurs once in Phoenician, inscr. of Ma‘sûb (<span class="ital">NSI.</span> 50). On some seals and gems, partly of Assyr.-Babyl., partly of Phoen. origin, an altar or a sacred tree is represented with what may be intended for a pole (or <span class="ital">maṣṣçbah</span> ‘pillar’) on either side.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>. The bearing of this evidence upon the usage of the O.T. is not easy to make out; there was a goddess Ashçrah, though in the O.T. the name is probably not to be understood in this sense. At any rate the goddess never had a very distinct existence; in Babylonia she was overshadowed by Ishtar; in Canaan, at a later epoch, she was confused with, or absorbed into, the great Canaanite goddess ‘Ashtoreth, and survived merely in the name of the sacred pole, usually a general symbol for deity, but occasionally, as here, regarded as itself divine and worshipped. In this way, perhaps, we may do justice to all the facts.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>7–11. <span class="ital">Othniel delivers Israel from Cushan-rishathaim<span class="p"><br /><br /></span></span>The account of this deliverance is given as a typical illustration of the theory announced in <a href="/context/judges/2-11.htm" title="And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:...">Jdg 2:11-19</a>. It is composed almost entirely of the standing formulae of the Deuteronomic editor. The other narratives of the Judges are founded upon some popular story, but there is no story here; the only details preserved are the bare names of the oppressor and the deliverer. As it stands this meagre notice can hardly be historical; but when we go behind it we seem to discover the faint tradition of an actual struggle.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/judges/3.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The groves</span>. The <span class="accented">Asheroth</span>, here and elsewhere (<a href="/judges/6-25.htm">Judges 6:25, 26</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/16-21.htm">Deuteronomy 16:21</a>, etc.)wrongly rendered groves, were large wooden images or pillars in honour of Ashtoreth, and so are properly coupled with <span class="accented">Baalim.</span> This verse is in fact identical in meaning with <a href="/judges/2-13.htm">Judges 2:13</a>, of which it is a repetition (see note to <a href="/judges/2-13.htm">Judges 2:13</a>, and <a href="/judges/8-23.htm">Judges 8:23</a>). Judges 3:7<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/judges/3.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>II. History of the People of Israel under the Judges - <a href="http://biblehub.com/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7-16:31</a><p>In order that we may be able to take a distinct survey of the development of the Israelites in the three different stages of the their history duringthe times of the judges, the first thing of importance to be done is to determine the chronology of the period of the judges, inasmuch as not only have greatly divergent opinions prevailed upon this point, but hypotheses have been set up, which endanger and to some extent directly overthrow the historical character of the accounts which the book of Judges contains.<p>(Note: Rud. Chr. v. Bennigsen, for example, reckons up fifty different calculations, and the list might be still further increased by the addition of both older and more recent attempts (see Winer, Bibl. Real-Wrterb. ii. pp. 327-8). Lepsius (Chronol. der. Aeg. i.-315-6, 365ff. and 377-8) and Bunsen (Aegypten, i. pp. 209ff. iv. 318ff., and Bibelwerk, i. pp. 237ff.), starting from the position maintained by Ewald and Bertheau, that the chronological data of the book of Judges are for the most part to be regarded as round numbers, have sought for light to explain the chronology of the Bible in the darkness of the history of ancient Egypt, and with their usual confidence pronounce it an indisputable truth that the whole of the period of the Judges did not last longer than from 169 to 187 years.)<p>If we take a superficial glance at the chronological data contained in the book, it appears a very simple matter to make the calculation required, inasmuch as the duration of the different hostile oppressions, and also the length of time that most of the judges held their office, or at all events the duration of the peace which they secured for the nation, are distinctly given. The following are the numbers that we find: - <p>1. Oppression by Chushan-rishathaim, (<a href="/judges/3-8.htm">Judges 3:8</a>), 8 years. Deliverance by Othniel, and rest, (<a href="/judges/3-11.htm">Judges 3:11</a>), 40 years. 2. Oppression by the Moabites, (<a href="/judges/3-14.htm">Judges 3:14</a>), 18 years. Deliverance by Ehud, and rest, (<a href="/judges/3-30.htm">Judges 3:30</a>), 80 years. 3. Oppression by the Canaanitish king Jabin, (<a href="/judges/4-3.htm">Judges 4:3</a>), 20 years. Deliverance by Deborah and Barak, and rest, (<a href="/judges/5-31.htm">Judges 5:31</a>), 40 years. 4. Oppression by the Midianites, (<a href="/judges/6-1.htm">Judges 6:1</a>), 7 years. Deliverance by Gideion, and rest, (<a href="/judges/8-28.htm">Judges 8:28</a>) 40 years. Abimelech's reign, (<a href="/judges/9-22.htm">Judges 9:22</a>), 3 years. Tola, judge, (<a href="/judges/10-2.htm">Judges 10:2</a>), 23 years. Jair, judge, (<a href="/judges/10-3.htm">Judges 10:3</a>), 22 years. Total, 301 years. 5. Oppression by the Ammonites, (<a href="/judges/10-8.htm">Judges 10:8</a>), 18 years. Deliveance by Jephthah, who judged Israel, (<a href="/judges/12-7.htm">Judges 12:7</a>), 6 years. Ibzan, judge, (<a href="/judges/12-9.htm">Judges 12:9</a>), 7 years. Elon, judge, (<a href="/judges/12-11.htm">Judges 12:11</a>), 10 years. Abdon, judge, (<a href="/judges/12-14.htm">Judges 12:14</a>), 8 years. 6. Oppression by the Philistines, (<a href="/judges/13-1.htm">Judges 13:1</a>), 40 years. At this time Samson judged Israel for 20 years (<a href="/judges/15-20.htm">Judges 15:20</a>; <a href="/judges/16-31.htm">Judges 16:31</a> Total, 390 years. For if to this we add - <p>(a.) the time of Joshua, which is not distinctly mentioned, and 20 years. (b.) the time during which Eli was judge (<a href="/1_samuel/4-18.htm">1 Samuel 4:18</a>) 40 years. <p>We obtain 450 years.<p>(Note: The earlier chronologists discovered a confirmation of this as the length of time that the period of the judges actually lasted in <a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/13-20.htm">Acts 13:20</a>, where Paul in his speech at Antioch in Pisidia says, according to the textus receptus, "After that He gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years until Samuel the prophet." The discrepancy between this verse and the statement in <a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/6-1.htm">1 Kings 6:1</a>, that Solomon built the temple in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of Egypt, many have endeavoured to remove by a remark, which is correct in itself, viz., that the apostle merely adopted the traditional opinion of the Jewish schools, which had been arrive at by adding together the chronological data of the book of Judges, without entering into the question of its correctness, as it was not his intention to instruct his hearers in chronology. But this passage cannot prove anything at all; for the reading given in the lect. rec. is merely founded upon Cod Al., Vat., Ephr. S. rescr., but according to the Cod. Sinait., ed. Tischendorf and several minuscula, as well as the Copt. Sahid. Arm. Vers. and Vulg., is, καὶ καθελὠν ἔθνη ἑπτὰ ἐν γῇ Χαναὰν κατεκλληρονόμησεν αὐτοῖς τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν ὡς ἔτεσιν τετπακοσίοις καὶ πεντήκοντα, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἔδωκεν κριτὰς ἕως Σαμουήλ τ. πρ. This text is rendered thus in the Vulgate: et destruens gentes septem in terra Chanaan sorte distribuit eis terram eorum quasi post quadringentos et quinquaginta annos: et post haec dedit judices usque ad Samuel prophetam, and can hardly be understood in any other sense than this, that Paul reckoned 450 as the time that elapsed between the call of Abraham (or the birth of Isaac) and the division of the land, namely 215 + 215 (according to the Alex. reading of <a href="/exodus/12-40.htm">Exodus 12:40</a> : see the comm. on this passage) + 40 equals 470, or about 450.)<p>And if we add still further - <p>(c.) The times of Samuel and Saul combined, 40 years. (d.) The reign of David (<a href="/2_samuel/5-4.htm">2 Samuel 5:4</a>; <a href="/1_kings/2-11.htm">1 Kings 2:11</a>), 40 years. (e.) The reign of Solomon to the building of the temple (<a href="/1_kings/6-1.htm">1 Kings 6:1</a>), 3 years. The whole time from the entrance of Israel into Canaan to the building of the temple amounted to, <p>533 years. Or if we add the forty years spent in the wilderness, the time that elapsed between the exodus from Egypt and the building of the temple 573 years. But the interval was not so long as this; for, according to <a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/6-1.htm">1 Kings 6:1</a>, Solomon built the house of the Lord in the 480th year after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, and in the fourth year of his reign. And no well-founded objections can be raised as to the correctness and historical credibility of this statement. It is true that the lxx have "the 440th year" instead of the 480th; but this reading is proved to be erroneous by Aquila and Symmachus, who adopt the number 480 in common with all the rest of the ancient versions, and it is now almost unanimously rejected (see Ewald, Gesch. ii. p. 479). In all probability it owed its origin to an arbitrary mode of computing the period referred to by reckoning eleven generations of forty years each (see Ed Preuss; die Zeitrechnung der lxx pp. 78ff.). On the other hand, the number 480 of the Hebrew text cannot rest upon a mere reckoning of generations, since the year and month of Solomon's reign are given in <a href="/1_kings/6-1.htm">1 Kings 6:1</a>; and if we deduct this date from the 480, there remain 477 of 476 years, which do not form a cyclical number at all.<p>(Note: Bertheau has quite overlooked this when he endeavors to make the 480 years from the exodus to the building of the temple into a cyclical number, and appeals in support of this to <a href="/1_chronicles/6-5.htm">1 Chronicles 6:5</a>., where twelve generations are reckoned from Aaron to Ahimaaz, the contemporary of David. But it is perfectly arbitrary on his part to include Ahimaaz who was a boy in the time of David (<a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/15-27.htm">2 Samuel 15:27</a>, <a href="/2_samuel/15-36.htm">2 Samuel 15:36</a>; <a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-19.htm">2 Samuel 18:19</a>, <a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/18-22.htm">2 Samuel 18:22</a>, <a href="/2_samuel/18-27.htm">2 Samuel 18:27</a>.), as the representative of a generation that was contemporaneous with David; whereas it was not Ahimaaz, but his father Zadok, i.e., the eleventh high priest from Aaron, who anointed Solomon as king (<a href="/1_kings/1-39.htm">1 Kings 1:39</a>; <a href="/1_kings/2-35.htm">1 Kings 2:35</a>), and therefore there had been only eleven high priests from the exodus to the building of the temple. If therefore this period was to be divided into generations of forty years each on the ground of the genealogies in the Chronicles, there could only be eleven generations counted, and this is just what the lxx have done.)<p>Again, the exodus of Israel from Egypt was an "epoch-making" event, which was fixed in the recollection of the people as no other ever was, so that allusions to it run through the whole of the Old Testament. Moreover, the very fact that it does not tally with the sum total of the numbers in the book of Judges is an argument in favor of its correctness; whereas all the chronological calculations that differ from this bring us back to these numbers, such, for example, as the different statements of Josephus, who reckons the period in question at 592 years in Ant. viii. 3, 1, and on the other hand, at 612 years in Ant. xx. 10 and c. Ap. ii. 2.<p>(Note: Josephus adds together the numbers which occur in the book of JudGes. Reckoning from the invasion of Chushan-rishathaim to the forty years' oppression of the Philistines (inclusive), these amount to 390 years, if we regard Samson's twenty years as forming part of the Philistine oppression, or to 410 years if they are reckoned separately. Let us add to this the forty years of the journey through the wilderness, the twenty-five years which Josephus assigns to Joshua (Ant. 5:1, 29), the forty years of Eli, the twelve years which he allots to Samuel before the election of Saul as king (6:13, 5), and the forty years which he reckons to Samuel and Saul together, and lastly, the forty and a half years of David's reign and the four years of Solomon's up to the time when the temple was built, and we obtain 40 + 25 + 40 + 12 + 40 + 401/2 + 4 equals 2011/2 years; and these added to 390 make 5911/2, or added to 410 they amount to 611 years.)<p>continued...<div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/judges/3-7.htm">Judges 3:7 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../judges/3-6.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Judges 3:6"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Judges 3:6" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../judges/3-8.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Judges 3:8"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Judges 3:8" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>