That is why the LORD had left those nations in place and had not driven them out immediately by delivering them into the hand of Joshua.
Parallel translations
- WEB So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out hastily. He didn’t deliver them into Joshua’s hand.
- KJV Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
- NKJV Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.
- NASB So the Lord allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out quickly; and He did not hand them over to Joshua.
- NLT That is why the Lord left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
So the LORD leaves those nations without quickly driving them out, not delivering them into Joshua's hand. It matters as confirming the new arrangement under God's hand.
Overview
The chapter ends by affirming that the unconquered nations remain by God's deliberate purpose. What looked like Israel's military failure is here shown to lie within God's sovereign plan. This providence frames chapter three's account of the specific nations left and the testing they bring upon Israel.
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 2:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.