but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.
Parallel translations
- KJV But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
- BSB but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
- 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 3:5–6The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
- 1 Cor 15:33Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
- 1 Cor 5:6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
- Judg 1:27–36Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
- Judg 2:2–3You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this?
- Isa 2:6For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, with those who practice divination like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.
- Josh 15:63As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah couldn’t drive them out; but the Jebusites live with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
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.