Judges 2:15 (DBY)

Passage

Whithersoever they went out the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had said, and as Jehovah had sworn unto them; and they were greatly distressed.

Nearby Context

Judges 2:13 And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

Judges 2:14 And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about; and they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

Judges 2:15 Whithersoever they went out the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil, as Jehovah had said, and as Jehovah had sworn unto them; and they were greatly distressed.

Judges 2:16 And Jehovah raised up judges, and they saved them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

Judges 2:17 But they did not even hearken to their judges, for they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves to them; they turned quickly out of the way that their fathers had walked in, obeying the commandments of Jehovah; they did not so.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "whithersoever", "went", "hand", "jehovah", "against", "evil", and "said". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "whithersoever" and "went", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "And the anger of Jehovah was hot..." into verse 16's "And Jehovah raised up judges and they...", so "whithersoever" and "went" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "whithersoever" and "went" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.