Judges 2:7-10

2:7 The people worshiped ¹  the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men ²  who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed ³  all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. ⁴  2:8 Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten. 2:9 The people ⁵  buried him in his allotted land ⁶  in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 2:10 That entire generation passed away; ⁷  a new generation grew up ⁸  that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel. ⁹ 

Judges 2:17

2:17 But they did not obey ¹⁰  their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped ¹¹  them. They quickly turned aside from the path ¹²  their ancestors ¹³  had walked. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. ¹⁴ 

Judges 2:19

2:19 When a leader died, the next generation ¹⁵  would again ¹⁶  act more wickedly than the previous one. ¹⁷  They would follow after other gods, worshiping them ¹⁸  and bowing down to them. They did not give up ¹⁹  their practices or their stubborn ways.

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¹ tn Or “served”; or “followed.”

² tn Or perhaps “elders,” which could be interpreted to mean “leaders.”

³ tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen.”

⁴ tn Heb “the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”

⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”

⁷ tn Heb “All that generation were gathered to their fathers.”

⁸ tn Heb “arose after them.”

⁹ tn Heb “that did not know the Lord or the work which he had done for Israel.” The expressions “personally experienced” and “seen” are interpretive.

¹⁰ tn Or “did not listen to.”

¹¹ tn Or “bowed before.”

¹² tn Or “way [of life].”

¹³ tn Or “fathers.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “…walked, obeying the Lord’s commands. They did not do this.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.

¹⁷ tn Heb “their fathers.”

sn The statement the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one must refer to the successive sinful generations after Joshua, not Joshua’s godly generation (cf. vv. 7, 17).

¹⁸ tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”

¹⁹ tn Or “drop.”