Bochim

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("the weepers".) A place W. of Jordan, above Gilgal ( Judges 2:1;  Judges 2:5). "The (Hebrew) angel of the Lord (the Second Person in the Trinity, "the Lord,"  Exodus 23:20) came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you go up out of Egypt," etc. He identifies Himself with Jehovah, as no created angel would do. Their sacrificing to the Lord at Bochim, where there was no sanctuary, implies that the angel was Jehovah Himself, whose appearing at any place justified the offering of sacrifices there ( Judges 6:20;  Judges 6:26;  Judges 6:28;  2 Samuel 24:25). The mention of His coming up "from Gilgal to Bochim" is not so much a geographical as a spiritual intimation. The Angel Prince of Jehovah's host announced to Joshua at Gilgal the fall of Jericho, directly after their rolling away the reproach of Egypt by circumcision, whence the place got its name (Gilgal "rolling") ( Joshua 5:2-15).

As there they entered into covenant with the Lord with the ritual act of self consecration, and so were assured of victory from the Lord, so here at Bochim (unknown geographically) the divine Angel makes known to them that by their making peace with the Canaanites, instead of rooting them out, they have broken the covenant and so must pay the penalty. It is implied that the same Angel who was Israel's champion at Gilgal is now manifesting Himself as Israel's punisher, by means of those very Canaanites whose residence permitted among them was their sin. Shiloh, not Gilgal, was the place of meeting for the nation at the tabernacle set up there ( Joshua 18:1-10). Compare the phrase, "O My people, remember now from Shittim unto Gilgal" ( Micah 6:5): not so much a geographical notice as a reference to the people's spiritual and national obligations to God in connection with those places.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

We meet with this name,  Judges 2:1; Jdg 2:5. It was given in consequence of the message of an angel which caused the people to weep. Hence Bochim means a place of weeping, or the weepers. And so the margin of the Bible renders it. Some make the Word the plural of Baca, or Bocha, mulberry-tree; and so it might be a place of mulberries, and called Bochim, where the people received tidings from the angel, and wept. See Baca; see Mourning; see also Mulberry-tree.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

This signifies 'weepers:' it was the place near Gilgal where an angel of the Lord charged the Israelites with having disobeyed God in making leagues with the inhabitants of the land, and in not throwing down their altars; and told them the results. The people wept and sacrificed to the Lord.  Judges 2:1-5 . Bochim symbolically is not simply 'weepers,' but 'weepers over disobedience.'

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Bo'chim. (The Weepers). A place on the west of Jordan, above Gilgal; so named from the weeping of Israel.  Judges 2:1;  Judges 2:6.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

BOCHIM (‘weepers,’   Judges 2:1 ). Unknown as a geographical site. Possibly the orig. reading was Bethel .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Weepings, a place near Gilgal, where the angel of the Lord reproved Israel for their remissness,  Judges 2:1-5 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Judges 2:1-5 Genesis 35:8

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Judges 2:1,5

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Bokim', בֹּכַים , Weepers, in the first occurrence with the art., הִבֹּכַים , Hab-Bokim, where the Sept. translates Ὁ Κλαυθμών , in the other passages Κλαυθμῶνες or Κλανθμών ) , the name given to a place (apparently the site of an altar) where an " angel of the Lord" reproved the assembled Israelites for their disobedience in making leagues with the inhabitants of the land, and for their remissness in taking possession of their heritage. This caused a bitter weeping among the people, from which the place took its name ( Judges 2:1;  Judges 2:5). " Angel" is here usually taken in the ordinary sense of "messenger," and he is supposed to have been a prophet, which is strengthened by his being said to have come from Gilgal; for it was not usual to say that an angel came from another place, and Gilgal (q.v.) was a noted station and resort of holy men. Most of the Jewish commentators regard this personage as Phinehas, who was at that time the high-priest. There are many, however, who deny that any man or created angel is here meant, and affirm that no other than the Great Angel of the Covenant is to be understood-the same who appeared to Moses in the bush, and to Joshua as the captain of Jehovah's host. This notion is grounded on the fact that "the angel," without using the usual formula of delegation, " Thus saith the Lord," says at once, "I made you to go up out of Egypt," etc. As the Gilgal near the Jordan is doubtless meant, and as the place in question lay on higher ground (" came up"), probably near Shiloh, where the tabernacle then was, we may conjecturally locate Bochim at the head of one of the valleys running up between them, possibly at the present ruins of Khurbet Jeradeh, a little south-east of Seilun (Van de Velde, Map).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bō´kim ( הבּכים , ha - bōkhı̄m ̌ : A place on the mountain West of Gilgal said to have been so named (literally "the weepers") because Israel wept there at the remonstrance of the angel ( Judges 2:1 ,  Judges 2:5 ). No name resembling this has been discovered. Given on the occasion mentioned, it may not have endured. Many, following Septuagint, identify it with Bethel.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Bo´chim (weepings), the name given to a place (probably near Shiloh, where the tabernacle then was), where an 'angel of the Lord' reproved the assembled Israelites for their disobedience in making leagues with the inhabitants of the land, and for their remissness in taking possession of their heritage. This caused the bitter weeping among the people for which the place took its name ( Judges 2:1).