Judges 3:1-4

3:1 These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel – he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites. ¹  3:2 He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war. ²  3:3 These were the nations: ³  the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath. ⁴  3:4 They were left to test Israel, so the Lord would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses. ⁵ 

[3:1]  ¹ tn Heb “did not know the wars of Canaan.”

[3:2]  ² tn The Hebrew syntax of v. 2 is difficult. The Hebrew text reads literally, “only in order that the generations of the Israelites might know, to teach them war – only those who formerly did not know them.”

[3:3]  ³ tn The words “These were the nations,” though not present in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:3]  ⁴ tn Or “the entrance to Hamath.”

[3:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “to know if they would hear the commands of the Lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”