Bible Strands
Judges 3:1
These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses Israel regarding the immediate post-Joshua period. This statement introduces the unresolved geopolitical landscape following the initial land distribution.
The words — The Hebrew verb הִנִּיחַ (hi.Ni.ach) literally means "he left" or "he allowed to remain." Coupled with לְנַסּוֹת (le./na.Sot), "to put to the test," the syntax presents divine permission as an active examination.
The thread — This retention of nations appears in Judges 2:21, where God declares He will no longer drive them out, and aligns with Deuteronomy 7:22’s gradual expulsion. The testing motif parallels Proverbs 17:3, which identifies Yahweh as the examiner of hearts.
Why it lands — The text states that Israel’s military inexperience results from deliberate divine allowance rather than conquest failure. It requires readers to acknowledge that unremoved opposition functions as a structural instrument for national formation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
Cross-references
- Judges 2:21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.
- Deuteronomy 7:22 The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you.
- Proverbs 17:3 A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
- Deuteronomy 8:16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
- 1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
- Judges 2:10 After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works that He had done for Israel.
- Job 23:10 Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
- Jeremiah 6:27 “I have appointed you to examine My people like ore, so you may know and try their ways.
- John 2:24 But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all.