What Does Judges 2:20 Mean?
And the LORD's anger burned hot against Israel, and he said, Because this people have crossed over my covenant, which I commanded their fathers, and have not heard and responded to my voice.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;THE KEY
“Transgressed” means they crossed over: the verse shows covenant rupture as a step beyond the bond paired with a refusal to hear its voice.
THE MEANING
The verse holds the LORD’s hot anger beside two linked acts: crossing the covenant and not hearing his voice. It makes rupture visible as both movement beyond a bond and the loss of response to its voice. That pairing still names what happens when belonging and listening separate.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A covenant can be broken without relational consequence.
THE ROOT
עָבְרוּ
ʿāveru
GROWS FROM
עבר
To cross over or pass beyond.
English “transgressed” can sound like a legal category; עָבְרוּ (ʿāveru, “they crossed over”) keeps the movement visible. The verse pairs that crossing with not hearing the voice, showing rupture as both departure from the bond and a break in response.
ALSO GROWS
ʿaverah: Transgression; a crossing over.
עֲבֵרָה
The same root makes the connection between crossing a boundary and transgressing plain.
maʿavar: A passage or crossing.
מַעֲבָר
This branch keeps the root’s sense of movement across or beyond visible.
ʿover: One passing by or crossing.
עוֹבֵר
The participle shows the root as an ongoing act of passing across.
שָׁמְעוּ
shamʿu
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear or listen; in this covenant setting, to hear with response.
“heard and responded” in this verse is shamʿu. The verse sets not hearing beside crossing the covenant: the break is not only a change of direction but also a lost response to the voice. The root can name hearing itself, while this setting makes the relational weight of listening clear.
ALSO GROWS
shemiʿah: Hearing or listening.
שְׁמִיעָה
It keeps the basic act of receiving a voice visible beneath “hearkened.”
shemuʿah: A report or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows the root extending from hearing to what reaches someone through hearing.
THE PATTERN
A covenant voice is heard through response; when response disappears, the bond is crossed.
Now therefore, if you will truly hear and respond to my voice, and guard my covenant, then you shall be my own treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.That you may love the LORD your God, and that you may hear and respond to his voice, and that you may cling to him; for he is your life, and the lengthening of your days; that you may settle upon the ground the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Israel has missed the mark, and has also crossed over my covenant which I commanded them. For they have also taken from the devoted thing, and also stolen, and also lied, and also set it among their own vessels.Both verses use עָבְרוּ (ʿāveru, “they crossed over”) for transgressing the covenant. Joshua makes the crossing concrete in what follows, while Judges pairs it with the people not hearing the voice.
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