Judges 2:15

15 Wherever Israel marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed.

Judges 2:15 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 2:15

Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against
them for evil
They prospered not in any business they undertook, or put their hands unto; or in any expedition they went upon, or when they went out to war, as Kimchi, Ben Melech, and Abarbinel explain the phrase: the battle went against them, because God was against them; his hand was against them, and there was no resisting and turning that back; and this sense seems to agree with what goes before and follows after; though in some Jewish writings ^F1 it is explained of those that went out of the land to escape the calamities of it, and particularly of Elimelech and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, ( Ruth 1:1 Ruth 1:2 ) ;

as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them;
having ratified and confirmed his threatening with an oath, that if they served other gods, he would surely bring upon them all the curses of the law; see ( Deuteronomy 29:12-20 ) ;

and they were greatly distressed;
by the Canaanites they suffered to dwell among them, who were pricks in their eyes, and thorns in their sides, as had been threatened them; and by the nations round about them, who came in upon them, and plundered them, and carried them captive.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F1 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 12. p. 34.

Judges 2:15 In-Context

13 for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

15 Wherever Israel marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them to bring calamity, just as He had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed.

16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them.

17 Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done.