Whereas Judges 2:12 says that the Israelites followed and worshiped various gods,
here they have whored after other gods and bowed down to them.
Kuruvilla notes that they had gone from bad to worse! In fact, they were ‘turning aside quickly’ from the obedient ways of their fathers (Judges 2:17), each succeeding generation 'being more corrupt' than the previous (Judges 2:19), with a greater intentionality about their apostasy—they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways (Judges 2:19). Unfortunately, Yahweh’s compassion and deliverance (Judges 2:18) has no lasting effect on his people.
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17 Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so.