Judges 2:3

3 So I tell you now that I will not drive these people out as you advance. They will be your enemies, and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods."

Judges 2:3 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 2:3

Wherefore I also said
Supposing, or on condition of their being guilty of the above things, which was foreseen they would:

I will not drive them out from before you;
the seven nations of the Canaanites entirely, and which accounts for the various instances related in the preceding chapter; where it is observed, that they could not, or did not, drive the old inhabitants out of such and such places, because they sinned against the Lord, and he forsook them, and would not assist them in their enterprises, or them to their sloth and indolence:

but they shall be [as thorns] in your sides:
very troublesome and afflicting, see ( Numbers 33:55 ) ; or for straits, as the Septuagint, or be such as would bring them into tribulation, and distress them, as the Targum; so they often did:

and their gods shall be a snare unto you;
which they suffered to continue, and did not destroy them, as they ought to have done; they would be, as they proved, ensnaring to them, and whereby they were drawn to forsake the worship of the true God, and bow down to them, as we read in some following verses.

Judges 2:3 In-Context

1 The angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bochim and said to the Israelites, "I took you out of Egypt and brought you to the land that I promised to your ancestors. I said, "I will never break my covenant with you.

2 You must not make any covenant with the people who live in this land. You must tear down their altars.' But you have not done what I told you. You have done just the opposite!

3 So I tell you now that I will not drive these people out as you advance. They will be your enemies, and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods."

4 When the angel had said this, all the people of Israel began to cry,

5 and that is why the place is called Bochim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Some ancient translations] enemies; [Hebrew] sides.