These people were left to test the Israelites—to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses.
Parallel translations
- WEB They were left to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to Yahweh’s commandments, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.
- KJV And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
- BSB These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out whether they would keep the commandments of the LORD, which He had given their fathers through Moses.
- NKJV And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
- NASB They were left to test Israel by them, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses.
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
These nations remain to test whether Israel will obey the commandments God gave through Moses. It matters as restating the moral purpose of the test.
Overview
The narrator clarifies that the nations are a deliberate test of obedience to the law given through Moses. Israel's response to these neighbors will reveal the state of their hearts. This frames the coming history as a referendum on covenant faithfulness, which Israel, as the next verses show, tragically fails.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Judg 2:22that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep the Yahweh’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.”
- Judg 3:1Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to test Israel by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
- Exod 15:25Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them;
- Deut 33:8About Levi he said, “Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, whom you proved at Massah, with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah.
- 1 Cor 11:19For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you.
- Deut 8:2You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
- 2 Th 2:9–12even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:4 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.