Judges 3:4

4 They were [left], to prove Yisra'el by them, to know whether they would listen to the mitzvot of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by Moshe.

Judges 3:4 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:4

And they were to prove Israel by them
They were left in the land, as to inure them to war, and try their courage, so to prove their faithfulness to God:

to know whether they would hearken to the commandments, of the Lord,
which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses;
even all the commandments of the Lord delivered to them by Moses, moral, civil, and ceremonial, and particularly those that concerned the destruction of the Canaanites, their altars, and their idols, ( Deuteronomy 7:1 Deuteronomy 7:5 ) .

Judges 3:4 In-Context

2 only that the generations of the children of Yisra'el might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing of it:

3 [namely], the five lords of the Pelishtim, and all the Kana`anim, and the Tzidonim, and the Hivvi who lived on Mount Levanon, from Mount Ba`al-Hermon to the entrance of Hamat.

4 They were [left], to prove Yisra'el by them, to know whether they would listen to the mitzvot of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by Moshe.

5 The children of Yisra'el lived among the Kana`anim, the Hitti, and the Amori, and the Perizzi, and the Hivvi, and the Yevusi:

6 and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.