Albert Barnes Commentary


Albert Barnes Commentary
"And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook Jehovah, and served him not." — Judges 10:6 (ASV)
The gods of Syria - Or “Aram.” In the times of the Judges the various tribes of Aramites, or Syrians, were not compacted into one state, nor were they until after the time of Solomon. The national gods of these various Aramean tribes were probably the same; and their worship would be likely to be introduced into the trans-Jordanic tribes. It has been remarked that the Hebrew words for “to divine,” “to practice magic,” “idolatrous priests,” and other like words, are of Syrian origin. The Syriac ritual proved very attractive to king Ahaz (2 Kings 16:10–12). For the national gods of the Zidonians, Moabites, Ammonites, and Philistines, see (1 Kings 11:5), (1 Kings 11:7), (1 Kings 11:33); (1 Samuel 5:2–5).