And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD: See the comments on verse 2.11 and verse 3.12. After Jephthah three judges led Israel for a number of years. When all these leaders died, the Israelites once again fell back into their old ways. They sinned against LORD. The adverb again links this episode to the previous failures of Israel.

And the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years: For gave them into the hand of, see verse 1.4 and verse 2.14; for the Philistines, see verse 3.3. Forty years is a traditional long period of time (see verse 3.11).

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 .