Judges 2:3

3 Now I tell you, 'I will not force out the people in this land. They will be your enemies, and their gods will be a trap for you.'"

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 up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up from Egypt and led you to the land I promised to give your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my agreement with you.

2 But you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You must destroy their altars.' But you did not obey me. How could you do this?

3 Now I tell you, 'I will not force out the people in this land. They will be your enemies, and their gods will be a trap for you.'"

4 After the angel gave Israel this message from the Lord, they cried loudly.

5 So they named the place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.