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

5So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, 6and they intermarried with them. Israelite sons married their daughters, and Israelite daughters were given in marriage to their sons. And the Israelites served their gods. The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. 8Then the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. And the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. 9But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother, Kenaz.

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

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 3:12Once again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel because of their evil.
• Judges 2:11The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal.
• Judges 6:25That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it.
• Exodus 34:13Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles.
• Deuteronomy 16:21“You must never set up a wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build for the Lord your God.
• 1 Kings 16:33Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him.
• 1 Kings 18:19Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
• 2 Kings 23:6The king removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s Temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people.
• 2 Chronicles 15:16King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
• 2 Chronicles 24:18They decided to abandon the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead! Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem.
• 2 Chronicles 33:3He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He constructed altars for the images of Baal and set up Asherah poles. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them.
• 2 Chronicles 34:3During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah poles, and the carved idols and 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