Judges 2:2 (WEB)

Passage

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?

Nearby Context

Judges 2:1 Yahweh’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.

Judges 2:2 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?

Judges 2:3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.’”

Judges 2:4 When Yahweh’s angel spoke these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "make", "covenant", "inhabitants", "land", "break", and "down". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "make", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Yahweh s angel came up from Gilgal..." into verse 3's "Therefore I also said I will not...", so "shall" and "make" 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 "shall" and "make" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.