Bible Strands
Judges 3:4
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator explains the strategic purpose behind the survival of specific Canaanite groups in the land. This occurs immediately after listing the Philistines, Sidonians, and Hivites, and directly precedes the account of Israel’s continued residence among them.
The words — The Hebrew לְנַסּוֹת (le-na.Sot) translates literally to “to put to the test,” and אֶת־מִצְוֹת (et-mitz.Vot) means “the commandments.” These terms frame the remaining nations as a deliberate mechanism for evaluating Israel’s obedience rather than as a random historical outcome.
The thread — This testing motif runs through Judges 2:22, where God declares He will test whether Israel will keep the way of the Lord. It aligns with Judges 3:1, which identifies the leftover nations specifically to test those who had not previously known Canaanite warfare.
Why it lands — The verse requires a direct evaluation of whether Israel will obey the Mosaic covenant while embedded in a hostile environment. It establishes that divine allowance of opposition functions as a structured trial for covenant fidelity.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Judges 2:22 In this way I will test whether Israel will keep the way of the LORD by walking in it as their fathers did.”
- 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,
- Exodus 15:25 And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 33:8 Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.
- 1 Corinthians 11:19 And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,