Judges 3:1

1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Yisra'el by them, even as many [of Yisra'el] as had not known all the wars of Kana`an;

Judges 3:1 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:1

Now these [are] the nations which the Lord left to prove
Israel by them
Which are later mentioned, ( Judges 3:3 Judges 3:5 ) ;

[even] as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
those that Joshua, and the people of Israel under him, had with the Canaanites, when they first entered the land and subdued it; being then not born, or so young as not to have knowledge of them, at least not able to bear arms at that time.

Judges 3:1 In-Context

1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Yisra'el by them, even as many [of Yisra'el] as had not known all the wars of Kana`an;

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: