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II. Stories of the Judges

Othniel. (A)Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they forgot the Lord, their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs,[a] and the anger of the Lord flared up against them. He sold them into the power of Cushan-rishathaim,[b] king of Aram Naharaim; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:7 The Asherahs: Asherah was an important goddess, whose presence in the cult was represented by a wooden pole, also called an “asherah”; see notes on Ex 34:13 and Dt 7:5. Here the plural is used to refer to goddesses in general.
  2. 3:8 Cushan-rishathaim: this king is not known from other biblical or extrabiblical sources. His title, “king of Aram Naharaim,” indicates that he was a Mesopotamian ruler.

Ehud. 12 Again the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so he strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel because they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

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Chapter 4

Deborah and Barak. (A)The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; Ehud was dead. So the Lord sold them into the power of the Canaanite king, Jabin, who reigned in Hazor. The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim.(B)

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Chapter 6

The Call of Gideon. The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, who therefore delivered them into the power of Midian for seven years,

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Oppression by the Ammonites. (A)The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, serving the Baals and Ashtarts, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. Since they had abandoned the Lord and would not serve him, the Lord became angry with Israel and he sold them into the power of the Philistines and the Ammonites. For eighteen years they afflicted and oppressed the Israelites in Bashan, and all the Israelites in the Amorite land beyond the Jordan in Gilead.

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Chapter 13

The Birth of Samson. (A)The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, who therefore delivered them into the power of the Philistines for forty years.

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