1. Judges 2:6–10 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why does the narrator bother with the flashback in 2:6–10?

Judges 2:6–10 (ESV)

6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land.

The narrator could have proceeded from Judges 2:1–5. What is the purpose of the flashback in Judges 2:6–10? Well, whereas Judges 2:1–5 provided the Lord’s perspective on the period after Joshua, Judges 2:6–10 reviews the whole period, from Joshua to the following generation, from the Lord’s perspective. Judges 2:9–10 serve as a preface to the shocking announcement made in Judges 2:11–12 regarding Israel’s outright apostasy.1