Judges 3:7

7 The children of Yisra'el did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Ba`alim and the Asherot.

Judges 3:7 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:7

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,
&c.] Both by marrying with Heathens, and worshipping their gods:

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:

and served Baalim, and the groves;
of Baalim, see ( Judges 2:11 ) ; 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 F4: so Barthius F5 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 F6 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, ( Judges 2:13 ) ; perhaps the goddesses of that name were worshipped in groves; and if Diana is meant by Astarte, Servius F7 says that every oak is sacred to Jupiter and every grove to Diana; and Ovid F8 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 F9, the souls of heroes were supposed to have their abode in groves; (See Gill on Exodus 34:13) and (See Gill on Deuteronomy 7:5). 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 F11 places the account here.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 "Lucus in urbe fuit media" Virgil. Aeneid. l. 1.
F5 Animadv. ad Claudian. de raptu Proserp. l. 1. v. 205.
F6 De mor. German. c. 9. Vid. Plin. l. 12. 1.
F7 In Virgil. Georgic. l. 3. col. 295.
F8 "Est nemus et piceis" Ep. 12. v. 67. Vid. Metamorph. l. 11. Fab. 9. v. 560.
F9 In Virgil. Aeneid. l. 1. col. 481. & in l. 3. col. 721.
F11 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. & 3.

Judges 3:7 In-Context

5 The children of Yisra'el lived among the Kana`anim, the Hitti, and the Amori, and the Perizzi, and the Hivvi, and the Yevusi:
6 and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.
7 The children of Yisra'el did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Ba`alim and the Asherot.
8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Yisra'el, and he sold them into the hand of Kushan-Rish`atayim king of Aram-Naharayim: and the children of Yisra'el served Kushan-Rish`atayim eight years.
9 When the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a savior to the children of Yisra'el, who saved them, even `Otni'el the son of Kenaz, Kalev's younger brother.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.