Judges 2:2
New International Version
and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?

New Living Translation
For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this?

English Standard Version
and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?

Berean Standard Bible
and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?

King James Bible
And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

New King James Version
And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?

New American Standard Bible
and as for you, you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this thing that you have done?

NASB 1995
and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done?

NASB 1977
and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done?

Legacy Standard Bible
and as for you, you shall cut no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not listened to My voice; what is this you have done?

Amplified Bible
and as for you, you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this that you have done?

Christian Standard Bible
You are not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed me. What have you done?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You are not to make a covenant with the people who are living in this land, and you are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed Me. What is this you have done?

American Standard Version
and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this?

Contemporary English Version
and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. Why haven't you kept your promise?

English Revised Version
and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars: but ye have not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You must never make a treaty with the people who live in this land. You must tear down their altars.' But you didn't obey me. What do you think you're doing?

Good News Translation
You must not make any covenant with the people who live in this land. You must tear down their altars.' But you have not done what I told you. You have done just the opposite!

International Standard Version
As for you, you must not make any treaties with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.' But you haven't obeyed me. What have you done?

Majority Standard Bible
and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?

NET Bible
but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.' But you have disobeyed me. Why would you do such a thing?

New Heart English Bible
and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not listened to my voice: why have you done this?

Webster's Bible Translation
And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

World English Bible
You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and says, “I cause you to come up out of Egypt, and bring you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers, and say, I do not break My covenant with you for all time; and you make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land—you break down their altars; and you have not listened to My voice—what [is] this you have done?

Young's Literal Translation
and saith, 'I cause you to come up out of Egypt, and bring you in unto the land which I have sworn to your fathers, and say, I do not break My covenant with you to the age; and ye -- ye make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land -- their altars ye break down; and ye have not hearkened to My voice -- what is this ye have done?

Smith's Literal Translation
And ye shall not cut out a covenant to the inhabitants of this land; their altars ye shall break down: and ye heard not to my voice: why did ye this?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
On condition that you should not make a league with the inhabitants of this land, but should throw down their altars: and you would not hear my voice: why have you done this?

Catholic Public Domain Version
but only if you would not form a pact with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, you should overturn their altars. Yet you were not willing to listen to my voice. Why have you done this?

New American Bible
but you must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you must pull down their altars. But you did not listen to me. Look what you have done!

New Revised Standard Version
For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done!
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; you shall destroy their altars; but you have not obeyed my voice. Why have you done this?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And you shall not covenant a covenant with those inhabiting this land; pull down their altars’; and you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done so?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars; but ye have not hearkened unto My voice; what is this ye have done?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And ye shall make no covenant with them that dwell in this land, neither shall ye worship their gods; but ye shall destroy their graven images, ye shall pull down their altars: but ye hearkened not to my voice, for ye did these things.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Israel Rebuked at Bochim
1Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, 2and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done? 3So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”…

Cross References
Exodus 23:32-33
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. / They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Deuteronomy 7:2-4
and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. / Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, / because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

Joshua 23:12-13
For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them, / know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

Exodus 34:12-16
Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst. / Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles. / For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. ...

Deuteronomy 12:3
Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

Numbers 33:55-56
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle. / And then I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”

Psalm 106:34-36
They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them, / but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. / They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.

1 Kings 11:2
These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? / What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? / What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” ...

Deuteronomy 31:16
And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.

1 Corinthians 10:20-22
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. / You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too. / Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

Hosea 4:1-2
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! / Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.

James 4:4
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

2 Kings 17:15
They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

Jeremiah 11:10
They have returned to the sins of their forefathers who refused to obey My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers.


Treasury of Scripture

And you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; you shall throw down their altars: but you have not obeyed my voice: why have you done this?

and ye shall

Exodus 23:32,33
Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods…

Exodus 34:12-16
Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: …

Numbers 33:52,53
Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: …

but ye have

Judges 2:20
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;

Ezra 9:1-3,10-13
Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites…

Psalm 78:55-58
He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents…

why have

Genesis 3:11,12
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? …

Genesis 4:10
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Exodus 32:21
And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

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Judges 2
1. An angel rebukes the people at Bochim
6. The wickedness of the new generation after Joshua
14. God's anger and pity toward them
20. The Canaanites left to prove Israel














And you are not to make a covenant
The phrase "make a covenant" in Hebrew is "karat berit," which literally means "to cut a covenant." This reflects the ancient practice of cutting animals in two and passing between the pieces as a solemn agreement. In the context of Judges, God is reminding the Israelites of His command not to enter into agreements with the Canaanites. Historically, covenants were binding and often involved mutual obligations. The Israelites were to remain distinct and separate, preserving their identity and faithfulness to God. This command underscores the importance of spiritual purity and the dangers of syncretism, where blending with pagan practices could lead to idolatry and moral compromise.

with the people of this land
The "people of this land" refers to the Canaanites, the original inhabitants of the Promised Land. These people were known for their idolatrous practices and moral corruption, which were abominations in the sight of the Lord. The Israelites were called to be a holy nation, set apart for God's purposes. Historically, the Canaanites' influence was pervasive, and their religious practices were deeply entrenched in the land. The command not to make a covenant with them was a protective measure to prevent the Israelites from being led astray.

but you shall tear down their altars
The directive to "tear down their altars" is a call to action against idolatry. Altars were central to Canaanite worship, often dedicated to false gods like Baal and Asherah. The Hebrew word for "tear down" is "haras," which implies a complete destruction. This command signifies the need for the Israelites to actively remove any temptation or influence that could lead them away from worshiping the one true God. Spiritually, it represents the call for believers to eliminate anything in their lives that competes with their devotion to God. Historically, this was a radical and counter-cultural act, demonstrating the Israelites' allegiance to God over the prevailing cultural norms.

(2) And ye shall make no league.--This is the condition of the Covenant, quoted from Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 12:2-3. Comp. Exodus 23:31-33; Exodus 34:12-13.

Why have ye done this?--Comp. Genesis 3:13; Genesis 12:18. . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
and you
וְאַתֶּ֗ם (wə·’at·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

are not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

to make
תִכְרְת֤וּ (ṯiḵ·rə·ṯū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 3772: To cut, to destroy, consume, to covenant

a covenant
בְרִית֙ (ḇə·rîṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 1285: A covenant

with the people
לְיֽוֹשְׁבֵי֙ (lə·yō·wō·šə·ḇê)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

of this
הַזֹּ֔את (haz·zōṯ)
Article | Pronoun - feminine singular
Strong's 2063: Hereby in it, likewise, the one other, same, she, so much, such deed, that,

land,
הָאָ֣רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

but you shall tear down
תִּתֹּצ֑וּן (tit·tō·ṣūn)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | Paragogic nun
Strong's 5422: To pull down, break down

their altars.’
מִזְבְּחוֹתֵיהֶ֖ם (miz·bə·ḥō·w·ṯê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 4196: An altar

Yet you have not
וְלֹֽא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

obeyed Me.
שְׁמַעְתֶּ֥ם (šə·ma‘·tem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

What
מַה־ (mah-)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

is this
זֹּ֥את (zōṯ)
Pronoun - feminine singular
Strong's 2063: Hereby in it, likewise, the one other, same, she, so much, such deed, that,

you have done?
עֲשִׂיתֶֽם׃ (‘ă·śî·ṯem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 6213: To do, make


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OT History: Judges 2:2 And you shall make no covenant (Jd Judg. Jdg)
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