Judges 2:4

And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
angel	מַלְאַ֤ךְ mal.'Akh	H4397	a messenger · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD	יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
spake	כְּדַבֵּ֞ר ke.da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
words	הַדְּבָרִ֣ים ha.de.va.Rim	H1697	a word · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
children	בְּנֵ֖י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
people	הָעָ֛ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up	וַיִּשְׂא֥וּ vai.yis.'U	H5375	to lift · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
voice	קוֹלָ֖ם ko.Lam	H6963	a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
wept	וַיִּבְכּֽוּ vai.yiv.Ku	H1058	to weep · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
James 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
1 Samuel 7:6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sin…
Ezra 10:1 Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out…
Proverbs 17:10 A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.
Jeremiah 31:9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way,…
Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall loo…
Luke 6:21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 2:1-5

It was the privilege of Israel that they had not only a law in general sent them from heaven, once for all, to direct them into and keep them in the way of happiness, but that they had particular messages sent them from heaven, as there was occasion, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, when at any time they turned aside out of that way. Besides the written word which they had before them to read, they often heard a word behind them, saying, This is the way, Isa 30:21. Here begins that way of God's dealing with them. When they would not hear Moses, let it be tried whether they will hear the prophets. In these verses we have a very awakening sermon that was preac…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 2:4

when the angel of the Lord spake these words . . . the people lifted up their voice, and wept--The angel's expostulation made a deep and painful impression. But the reformation was but temporary, and the gratifying promise of a revival which this scene of emotion held out, was, ere long, blasted by speedy and deeper relapses into the guilt of defection and idolatry.

John Gill on Judges 2:4

And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel,.... This being either one of the three solemn feasts, when all the males appeared at the tabernacle of the Lord; or else here was now a solemn convention of all the tribes to inquire of the Lord the reason why they were not able to drive out the Canaanites in some places, and why they prevailed over them in many: that the people lift up their voice, and wept; being affected with what the angel said, and convicted in their consciences of their sins, and so fearing the bad consequences thereof, they wept because of the sins they had been guilty of, and because of the evils that were like to befa…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 2:4-5

The people broke out into loud weeping on account of this reproof. And since the weeping, from which the place received the name of Bochim, was a sign of their grief on account of their sin, this grief led on to such repentance that "they sacrificed there unto the Lord," no doubt presenting sin-offerings and burnt-offerings, that they might obtain mercy and the forgiveness of their sins. It does not follow from this sacrifice, however, that the tabernacle or the ark of the covenant was to be found at Bochim. In any place where the Lord appeared to His people, sacrifices might be offered to Him (see Jdg 6:20, Jdg 6:26, Jdg 6:28; Jdg 13:16.; Sa2 24:25, and the commentary of Deu 12:5). On the o…

The Church Fathers

Let us consider where he has set his ascent: "In the valley of tears, in the place that he has appointed." We have read in the book of Judges that when the angel came and preached repentance to the people, saying, "You have abandoned the Lord, and the Lord shall abandon you," the Israelites wept aloud when they heard the threat; and that place was called the valley of tears. We have called attention to ancient history in order to avoid heresy. The valley of tears, moreover, we may understand allegorically as this world, for we are not on the mountain, that is, in the kingdom of heaven, but in the valley, in the darknesses of this world; through a fault, we have been cast out of Paradise with Adam into a lowly vale of tears where there is repentance and weeping. "In the valley of tears, in the place that he has appointed." What did the prophet mean? God made this world an arena that here we may strive against the devil, against sin, in order to receive our crown in heaven. Why did he ordain a contest? Could not he save us without the struggle? He gave us, as it were, a master of contests; he gave us a stadium in which to carry on our wrestling against vices, so that afterwards he may crown us meritoriously, not as those who sleep but as those who labor.
— Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS, ALTERNATE SERIES 63 (Ps 83)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Fast — The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old…
God · .To Israel — .To Israel
Weeping · .The Israelites — .The Israelites

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 2:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 2:4

John Gill on Judges 2:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 2:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 2:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 2:4

John Gill on Judges 2:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 2:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 2:3