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When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.
Judges 2:4 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB When Yahweh’s angel spoke these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
  • KJV And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
  • NKJV So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.
  • NASB Now when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people raised their voices and wept.
  • NLT When the angel of the Lord finished speaking to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

At the angel's words the people weep aloud. It matters as a display of sorrow over their sin.

Overview

Israel responds to God's rebuke with loud weeping, an emotional acknowledgment of their failure. Whether this was true repentance or mere remorse, the narrative leaves their subsequent conduct to reveal. Genuine sorrow over sin is the right response to God's word, though it must be matched by changed living.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Jas 4:9Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
  • 2 Cor 7:10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
  • Luke 6:21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
  • Ezra 10:1While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well.
  • 1 Sam 7:6When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.
  • Prov 17:10A rebuke cuts into a man of discernment deeper than a hundred lashes cut into a fool.
  • Luke 7:38As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed them with the perfume.
  • Jer 31:9They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
  • Zech 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Judges videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Judges 2:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JudgesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.

How Judges 2:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.