but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
Parallel translations
- WEB but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.
- KJV But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
- NKJV But they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works;
- NASB But they got involved with the nations And learned their practices,
- NLT Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.
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
Instead they mixed with the nations and adopted their practices. It matters because compromise led to absorbing pagan ways.
Overview
Rather than remaining distinct, Israel intermingled with the Canaanite peoples and learned their customs (Judges 3:5-6). This blending eroded their faithfulness to God. The verse warns that failing to remain set apart opens the door to corruption by the surrounding culture.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Judg 3:5–6Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- 1 Cor 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- 1 Cor 5:6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
- Judg 1:27–36At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.
- Judg 2:2–3and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
- Isa 2:6For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
- Josh 15:63But the descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the descendants of Judah.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 106:35 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.