Idolatry Leads to Servitude

(A)Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them (that is, all the Israelites who had not [a]experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might [b]be taught war, [c]those who had not [d]experienced it previously). These nations are: the five governors of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians, and (B)the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as [e]Lebo-hamath. They were left to (C)test Israel by them, to find out if they would [f]obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers [g]through Moses. (D)The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and (E)they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 3:1 Lit known
  2. Judges 3:2 Lit know, to teach them
  3. Judges 3:2 Lit only those
  4. Judges 3:2 Lit known
  5. Judges 3:3 Or the entrance of Hamath
  6. Judges 3:4 Lit listen to
  7. Judges 3:4 Lit by the hand of

The Lord Tests Israel

These are the nations the Lord left in order to test Israel, since the Israelites had fought none of these in[a] any of the wars with Canaan.(A) This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.[b] These nations included: the five rulers(B) of the Philistines(C) and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians,(D) and the Hivites(E) who lived in the Lebanese mountains[c] from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath.[d] The Lord left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the Lord’s commands He had given their fathers through[e] Moses.(F) But they settled among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 3:1 Lit had known
  2. Judges 3:2 Lit not known it
  3. Judges 3:3 LXX reads in Lebanon
  4. Judges 3:3 Or as Lebo-hamath
  5. Judges 3:4 Lit by the hand of