Survey of Israel’s Early History: Joshua to Judges · Here begins a new section, but not immediately a new subject. In fact, rather than carrying the story forward, the text looks back to the period immediately after the Israelites renewed their covenant with the Lord at Shechem (Josh. 24). The text picks up nearly where the book of Joshua left off. Joshua 24:28 almost word for word corresponds to Judges 2:6. The section that follows (vv. 10–19) points to the author’s special concern with Israel’s spiritual condition in the generation after Joshua. What we have in these verses is a prime example of “second verse same as the first.” There is nothing new in this analysis of Israel’s spiritual history, and the repetition of events and themes serves only to emphasize Israel’s spiritual apostasy…