Judges 3:3

3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sido'nians, and the Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Ba'al-her'mon as far as the entrance of Hamath.

Judges 3:3 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 3:3

[Namely], five lords of the Philistines
The places they were lords of were Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron; see ( Joshua 13:3 ) ; three of these, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, had been taken from them by Judah, since the death of Joshua, ( Judges 1:18 ) ; but they soon recovered them again, perhaps by the help of the other two. The Philistines were a people originally of Egypt, but came from thence and settled in these parts, and were here as early as in the times of Abraham, and were very troublesome neighbours to the Israelites in later times; see ( Genesis 10:14 ) ( Genesis 21:32 Genesis 21:33 ) ;

and all the Canaanites;
these were a particular tribe or nation in the land so called, which inhabited by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan, ( Numbers 13:29 ) ; otherwise this is the general name for the seven nations:

and the Sidonians;
the inhabitants of the famous city of Sidon, which had its name from the firstborn of Canaan, ( Genesis 10:15 ) ;

and the Hivites that dwelt in Mount Lebanon;
on the north of the land of Canaan:

from Mount Baalhermon;
the eastern part of Lebanon, the same with Baalgad, where Baal was worshipped:

unto the entering in of Hamath;
the boundary of the northern part of the land, which entrance led into the valley between Libanus and Antilibanus; see ( Numbers 34:8 ) ( Joshua 11:3 ) ( 13:5 ) .

Judges 3:3 In-Context

1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had no experience of any war in Canaan;

2 it was only that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, that he might teach war to such at least as had not known it before.

3 These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sido'nians, and the Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Ba'al-her'mon as far as the entrance of Hamath.

4 They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

5 So the people of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites;