Judges 2:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Judges 2:7
And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
served
וַיַּעַבְד֤וּvai.ya.'av.Du
H5647
to work (in any sense) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
days
יְמֵ֣יye.Mei
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Joshua
יְהוֹשֻׁ֑עַye.ho.Shu.a'
H3091
Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua) · proper noun, a man's name
days
יְמֵ֣יye.Mei
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct
elders
הַזְּקֵנִ֗יםha.ze.ke.Nim
H2205
old · definite article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
outlived
הֶאֱרִ֤יכוּhe.'e.Ri.khu
H748
to be (causative · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural
Joshua
יְהוֹשׁ֔וּעַye.ho.Shu.a'
H3091
Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua) · proper noun, a man's name
seen
רָא֗וּra.'U
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
great
הַגָּד֔וֹלha.ga.Dol
H1419
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
works
מַעֲשֵׂ֤הma.'a.Seh
H4639
an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
did
עָשָׂ֖ה'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Israel
לְיִשְׂרָאֵֽלle.Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
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
Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation wi…
Joshua 24:31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works o…
2 Kings 12:2 And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
2 Chronicles 24:2 And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
2 Chronicles 24:14-22 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of t…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Judges 2:6–end
The beginning of this paragraph is only a repetition of what account we had before of the people's good character during the government of Joshua, and of his death and burial (Jos 24:29, Jos 24:30), which comes in here again only to make way for the following account, which this chapter gives, of their degeneracy and apostasy. The angel had foretold that the Canaanites and their idols would be a snare to Israel; now the historian undertakes to show that they were so, and, that this may appear the more clear, he looks back a little, and takes notice, 1. Of their happy settlement in the land of Canaan. Joshua, having distributed this land among them, dismissed them to the quiet and comfortable…
And when Joshua had let the people go--This passage is a repetition of Jos 24:29-31. It was inserted here to give the reader the reasons which called forth so strong and severe a rebuke from the angel of the Lord. During the lifetime of the first occupiers, who retained a vivid recollection of all the miracles and judgments which they had witnessed in Egypt and the desert, the national character stood high for faith and piety. But, in course of time, a new race arose who were strangers to all the hallowed and solemnizing experience of their fathers, and too readily yielded to the corrupting influences of the idolatry that surrounded them.
John Gill on Judges 2:7
And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord that he did for Israel. In Egypt, at the Red sea, in the wilderness, at the river Jordan, and in the land of Canaan; See Gill on Joshua 24:31. The Jews (a) say, the elders died on the fifth of Shebet, which answers to part of January and part of February, on which account a fast was kept on that day.
(a) Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. c. 580. sect. 2.
Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 2:6-10
The account of this development of the covenant nation, which commenced after the death of Joshua and his contemporaries, is attached to the book of Joshua by a simple repetition of the closing verses of that book (Jos 24:28-31) in Jdg 2:6-10, with a few unimportant differences, not only to form a link between Josha and Jdg 2:11, and to resume the thread of the history which was broken off by the summary just given of the results of the wars between the Israelites and Canaanites (Bertheau), but rather to bring out sharply and clearly the contrast between the age that was past and the period of the Israelitish history that was just about to commence. The vav consec. attached to וישׁלּח expres…
The Church Fathers
Who are these elders who either came with Joshua/Jesus or after him, if not the very apostles who illumined our hearts by their writings and precepts, even bringing a certain kind of "day" among us from that "true light" in which they were partakers? Whoever, therefore, is enlightened and instructed from the precepts of the apostles and is ordained according to the apostolic rules for the service of the Lord is the very person who is said to serve the Lord in the days of the elders who came after Jesus. Do you wish to see that the apostles also were the "light of the world," just as the Savior "was the true light which illumines every person coming into the world"2? The Lord himself said to them, as it is written in the Gospel, "You are the light of the world." But if the apostles are also the light of the world, then the "days" in which "we serve the Lord" undoubtedly illuminate us through their precepts and commandments.
It mentions "the days of the elders who knew all the works of the Lord." Who is the person who "knows all the works of the Lord," except the one who does them himself? For just as it was said that the sons of Eli were "sons of pestilence, having no knowledge of the Lord," yet not meaning that these men who taught others were ignorant of the Lord, but rather that they behaved like those who did not know the Lord, so also in like manner is this statement to be understood that the elders "knew all the works of the Lord." Moreover, it does not merely say that "they knew the works of the Lord" but specifies that "they knew every work of the Lord," that is, that they knew the Lord's work of justice and work of sanctification and patience and kindness and piety, for everything that comes from the commandments of God is called a "work of the Lord." … Therefore, they are said to "know" the work of God who do his work. But that its customary use of "to know" and "not to know" may shine still more clearly from the authority of the Scriptures, observe how it is written elsewhere that "he who keeps the commandment," it says, "will not know an evil word." Can, therefore, one who keeps the commandments become one who does not know evil? He knows, of course, but "not know" is said of him because he is careful to avoid the evil. It is even said of the Lord and Savior himself that "he did not know sin," certainly indicating in this case that to be ignorant of sin is equivalent to refraining from every sinful act. In this way, therefore, he is said to "know the works of the Lord" who performs "the works of the Lord," whereas he who does not do the work of God is ignorant of the work of God.
Dictionary and topics
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…
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).
Whose days extended. Their 'days' extended7In contentment. However, their lives were short. (Shabbos, 105:b.-See Rashi there). but not their 'years', as they neglected to eulogize him.8Scripture omits any mention of a mourning period for Yehoshua, as with Aharon (Bemidbar 20:29) and Moshe (Devarim 34:8). This indicates that they were remiss in eulogizing him and mourning for him. (Tosafos to Shabbos, 105:b). Thus it is said, "…of Mount Ga'ash"—9“They buried him (Yehoshua)…at Mount Ephraim, north of Ga’ash.” [v.9] Mount Ephraim was better known than G’ash. Why, then, does Scripture identify the famous Mountain by its proximity to the obscure Ga’ash? Evidently, “Ga’ash” is not an identifying l…
