New English Translation
Judges 3:7
7The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.
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
5The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 6They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave their daughters to the Canaanites; they worshiped their gods as well. The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. 8The Lord was furious with Israel and turned them over to King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram-Naharaim. They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects for eight years. 9When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
Read all of Judges 3Judges 3:7 word by word
וַיַּעֲשׂ֨וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל אֶת־הָרַע֙ בְּעֵינֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה וַֽיִּשְׁכְּח֖וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֑ם וַיַּעַבְד֥וּ אֶת־הַבְּעָלִ֖ים וְאֶת־הָאֲשֵׁרֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- didעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
- in the sightעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
- of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- and forgatשָׁכַחshâkach shâkêach · to forgetH7911
- their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- and servedעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
- Baalimבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
- and the grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
Cross-references for Judges 3:7
- Judges 3:12The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel because they had done evil in the Lord’s sight.
- Judges 2:11The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals.
- Judges 6:25That night the Lord said to him, “Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.
- Exodus 34:13Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles.
- Deuteronomy 16:21You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.
- 1 Kings 16:33Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
- 1 Kings 18:19Now send out messengers and assemble all Israel before me at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah whom Jezebel supports.
- 2 Kings 23:6He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard.
- 2 Chronicles 15:16King Asa also removed Maacah his grandmother from her position as queen mother because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and crushed and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
- 2 Chronicles 24:18They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, and worshiped the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 33:3He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and worshiped them.
- 2 Chronicles 34:3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year he began ridding Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and 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
In the dictionaries
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
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Commentaries