Bible Strands
Judges 3:12
Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records this event immediately after the death of Judge Othniel, marking the termination of a forty-year period of rest and the resumption of Israel’s cycle of covenant failure.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יֹּסִ֙פ֤וּ (va/yi.yo.Si.fu) literally means "they added" or "they repeated," stressing the cumulative nature of the rebellion. The verb וַ/יְחַזֵּ֨ק (va/yi.cha.Zek) translates as "he strengthened," denoting God’s deliberate act of empowering Eglon as a direct consequence of Israel’s actions.
The thread — This sequence of apostasy followed by foreign oppression appears in 1 Samuel 12:9 and Judges 2:19, while the principle that human authority derives from divine permission is noted in John 19:11.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to acknowledge that repeated covenant violation produces tangible historical consequences, leaving no room for assuming divine patience overrides the stated cause-and-effect structure.
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 the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 12:9 But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
- Judges 2:19 But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
- John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”
- Exodus 9:16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
- Judges 2:11 And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.
- Judges 2:14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
- 2 Kings 5:1 Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
- Isaiah 10:15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- Isaiah 37:26 Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
- Isaiah 45:1 This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut: