Judges 3:7

Judges 3:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.

Context of Judges 3:7

5Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 6And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 8Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years. 9But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.

Judges 3:7 word by word

וַיַּעֲשׂ֨וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל אֶת־הָרַע֙ בְּעֵינֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה וַֽיִּשְׁכְּח֖וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֑ם וַיַּעַבְד֥וּ אֶת־הַבְּעָלִ֖ים וְאֶת־הָאֲשֵׁרֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

• So the Israelitesבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• So the Israelitesיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• didעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• in the sightעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
• of the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• they forgotשָׁכַחshâkach shâkêach · to forgetH7911
• their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and servedעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
• the Baalsבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
• and the Asherahsאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842

Cross-references for Judges 3:7

• Judges 3:12Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
• Judges 2:11And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.
• Judges 6:25On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
• Exodus 34:13Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
• Deuteronomy 16:21Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,
• 1 Kings 16:33Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.
• 1 Kings 18:19Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
• 2 Kings 23:6He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
• 2 Chronicles 15:16King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
• 2 Chronicles 24:18They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
• 2 Chronicles 33:3For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. And he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.
• 2 Chronicles 34:3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.

Commentaries on Judges 3:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Served Baalim and the groves - No groves were ever worshipped, but the deities who were supposed to be resident in them; and in many cases temples and altars were built in groves, and the superstition of consecrating groves and woods to the honor of the deities was a practice very usual with the ancients. Pliny assures us that trees, in old times, served for the temples of the gods. Tacitus reports this custom of the old Germans; Quintus Curtius, of the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7And the groves - literally, Asheroth, images of Asherah (the goddess companion of Baal): see Deuteronomy 16:21 note.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-11The story of Othniel is a typical example of the cycles in Judges. People did wrong, often worshipping Baal and Asherah (see study notes on Judges 2:11–13; 6:25–32). This angered the Lord and led to foreign oppression. The people's cries moved God to show compassion and send a rescuer-judge through his spirit. The rescuer stopped the oppression, and the land experienced peace before the cycle repeated. Othniel represents an ideal judge.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5-75-7. 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.Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 3:7

• Amorites
• Fellowship
• Groves
• Hittites
• Israel
• Miscegenation
• Perizzites
• Polytheism

In the dictionaries

• God
• Israel
• Children of Israel
• Close
• Dirt
• Errand
• Grove
• Rest
• Secret
• Abdon (1)

Commentaries on Judges 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary