Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Judges 10:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse shows repentance enacted by removing gods and divine grief over Israel's misery.
Read It With
- Judges 10:6–16
Read Judges 10:6–16 together. This verse shows repentance enacted by removing gods and divine grief over Israel's misery. The sevenfold list of foreign gods, oppression on both sides of the Jordan, cry, divine refusal, confession, surrender, removal of gods, and divine grief form one covenant confrontation; verse 17 turns to the assembled armies.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The exchange distinguishes a request for relief from repentance demonstrated by changed allegiance, while divine compassion does not erase the coming human crisis. Within that movement, shows repentance enacted by removing gods and divine grief over Israel's misery.
Read Judges 10:6–16 together
Why these verses belong together: The sevenfold list of foreign gods, oppression on both sides of the Jordan, cry, divine refusal, confession, surrender, removal of gods, and divine grief form one covenant confrontation; verse 17 turns to the assembled armies.
Verse 6. 6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.
Verse 7. 7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.
Verse 8. 8 And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
Verse 9. 9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.
Verse 10. 10 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
Verse 11. 11 And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
Verse 12. 12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.
Verse 13. 13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
Verse 14. 14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
Verse 15. 15 And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
Verse 16. 16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
Follow the Context
- Israel's multiplied worship corresponds to severe oppression east and west of the Jordan.
- God answers the cry with a history of rescues, a refusal, and an ironic direction to the gods Israel chose.
- Israel confesses without conditions, removes foreign gods, renews service, and divine grief responds to their misery.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Suffering does not prove that victims secretly worshiped the wrong god.
Repentance is not a technique for controlling immediate rescue.
Israel's failure does not authorize contempt for Jewish people.
What Remains True
Shows repentance enacted by removing gods and divine grief over Israel's misery. Credible repentance joins truthful confession to changed practice, while compassionate response attends to misery even before every consequence is repaired.
How It Can Shape Life
- Because Judges 10:16 shows repentance enacted by removing gods and divine grief over Israel's misery, when an institution confesses harm, require removal of the harmful system and provide relief to those still suffering.
Teach It Back
Explain Judges 10:16's precise role in Judges 10:6–16. Include the scene's ancient covenant setting, one material uncertainty, the affected people, and one conclusion or violent imitation the context does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Judges 10:6–16 — Israel's confession is tested beyond crisis wordsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The theology of divine change and the literary history of this speech are debated. In the final narrative, refusal tests the cry and compassionate grief follows actual removal of the gods.
Interpreters debate whether verse 16 means God became impatient with misery, was moved to compassion, or both. The idiom clearly marks a turning point after enacted repentance.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 10:6–16, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 10:6–16
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 471, translation and notes on 10:6–16
Open source ↗