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Judges 2:11–19, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 2:11–19
The narrator states the recurring pattern
Israel serves Baals; God sells them; they groan; judges rise
The children of Israel do evil, forsake the LORD who brought them out of Egypt, and follow other gods of the peoples around them, Baal and Ashtaroth. The LORD's anger is kindled. He delivers them into spoilers' hands and sells them to enemies they cannot withstand. Then the LORD raises judges who deliver them, because the LORD is moved by their groaning under them that oppressed them.
KJV 'it repented the LORD' is compassion and relenting toward groaning people, not an admission of divine wrongdoing. The sexualized 'whoring' metaphor is covenant infidelity. It must not be used to shame women or victims. This is Israel's self-critique in Jewish Scripture, not a warrant for antisemitism or Christian superiority.
They will not hear the judges, and after each death they grow worse
They would not hearken to their judges, but went after other gods. When the judge died they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers. The overview is a frame, not a clock. Later stories will omit a cry, or rest, or a clean repentance, and some judges will themselves be compromised.
Deliverance relieves oppression. It does not automatically convert desire. The book describes progressive corruption, not a neat circle that guarantees reform every time a champion appears.
How this should shape us
Do not read another person's suffering as proof of a hidden sin. Relieve oppression, then build practices that last after the crisis leader is gone. Rescue is not the same thing as a changed community.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 2:11–19 in your own words. Include its scene movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion or imitation the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The traditional 'cycle' remains useful, but recent literary work stresses variations and decline: cries are not always repentance, judges themselves worsen, and rest eventually disappears.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Judges 2:11–19, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 2:11–19
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 454-455, translation and notes on 2:11–19
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 14-75
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
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 2:11–19, 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, 2:11–19
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. 454-455, translation and notes on 2:11–19
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph preview
Before There Were Kings: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Judges
Elie Assis
Penn State University Press / Eisenbrauns, 2024
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Exact location: Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 14-75
Open source ↗doctoral thesis repository record
Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges: An Inductive, Rhetorical Study
Gregory T. K. Wong
University of Edinburgh, 2005
Supports: Compositional alternatives, rhetorical relationships among prologue, central narratives, and epilogues, and the material YHWH-kingship alternative for the no-king refrain.
Exact location: Wong, Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges, University of Edinburgh repository abstract and chapter descriptions
Open source ↗