And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD repeats the clause from verse 2.11 (see comments there). Since this clause begins a new section, the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be omitted, or it can be rendered by a paragraph opener, such as “Now.” This new section begins with the full phrase the people of Israel (literally “the sons/children of Israel”) and the name YHWH, the LORD (see comments on verse 1.1 for both these expressions).
Forgetting the LORD their God, and serving the Baals and the Asheroth: These clauses describe the evil the Israelites committed. The words rendered forgetting and serving occur as the verbs of independent clauses in the Hebrew text, literally, “and they forgot Yahweh their God and they served the Baals and the Asheroth.” In many languages it will be more natural to follow the Hebrew forms rather than those in Revised Standard Version. In the introductory part of this book, Israel “forsook the LORD” (verse 2.13). Here a different phrase, forgetting the LORD, expresses the same idea. It does not mean that Israel did not or could not remember the LORD or what he did. Rather, this is a figurative way of saying the Israelites deliberately ignored what the LORD had done for them. There is an element of rejection implied here. In Deut 6.12; verse 8.11, 14, 19, and elsewhere the LORD had warned Israel against forgetting him and worshiping other gods. Many English versions retain the word “forget,” and in many languages the verb will have the same meaning as in Hebrew. However, if this verb cannot be used, translators could say “ignored” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “rejected,” “forsook,” or even “turned their back on.”
The LORD their God is similar to but shorter than the expression in verse 2.12, “the LORD, the God of their fathers.” The pronoun their refers to the Israelites. The LORD is the God they worship, adore, and serve. God renders the generic Hebrew word ʾelohim. In some languages using a possessive pronoun such as their can imply that God belonged exclusively to the Israelites. If so, it may be necessary to say “Yahweh, the God they worshiped” or “the LORD, the God they served.”
As in Deuteronomy, forgetting the LORD is linked with serving or worshiping foreign gods. For serving see verse 2.7 and verse 2.11. Baals and Asheroth render plural words in Hebrew. For Baals see verse 2.11. Asheroth is the plural of “Asherah,” the partner of the god Baal and mother of the Canaanite divine family. She is represented in art form as the “tree of life,” and at her worship centers by a wooden pole. She is not the same goddess as Ashtoreth/Astartes in verse 2.13. Good News Translation renders the Baals and the Asheroth as “the idols of Baal and Asherah,” which may serve as a good model.
Good News Translation rearranges the material here, bringing the idea of forgetting the LORD to the beginning of the verse. This may seem more logical in English, but in Hebrew, the more general statement introduces the problem, and then examples of Israel’s sin are given. This Hebrew order may be appreciated in many target languages.
Models for translation of this verse are:
• The people of Israel sinned against Yahweh their God and put him out of their mind. Instead, they served the Canaanite gods, the Baals and the Asherahs.
• The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, the God they served. They forgot [or, rejected] him and began to worship the idols of Baal and Asherah.
Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .