Judges 2:10

After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works that He had done for Israel.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The narrator records the immediate aftermath of Joshua’s burial, marking the end of the conquest generation and the beginning of Israel’s settled period in Canaan. This moment establishes the historical pivot point for the cyclical failures that structure the book.

The words — The phrase נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־אֲבֹתָיו (ne'essu el-avotav) literally means "they were gathered to their fathers," a standard Hebrew idiom for death and burial. The verb וַיָּקָם (va-yakam) translates as "arose" or "came to power," signaling the abrupt appearance of a new cohort.

The thread — The text’s description of a generation that "did not know the LORD" parallels the spiritual blindness of Pharaoh in Exodus 5:2 and the unfaithful priests in 1 Samuel 2:12. The New Testament applies the same pattern of claimed knowledge versus actual denial in Titus 1:16.

Why it lands — The text states that the new generation failed to know God or His acts for Israel, which directly precedes the immediate turn to Baal worship in Judges 2:11. It requires the reader to acknowledge that inherited faith without active transmission produces idolatry, demanding deliberate preservation of divine works.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

Cross-references

1 Samuel 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD
Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
Exodus 5:2 But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
1 Chronicles 28:9 As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
Jeremiah 31:34 No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
Acts 13:36 For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.
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.
2 Samuel 7:12 And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
Isaiah 5:12 At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
Genesis 15:15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.