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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 3:1-7

We are here told what remained of the old inhabitants of Canaan. 1. There were some of them that kept together in united bodies, unbroken (Jdg. 3:3): The five lords of the Philistines, namely, Ashdod, Gaza, Askelon, Gath, and Ekron, 1 Sam. 6:7. Three of these cities had been in part reduced (Jdg. 1:18), but it seems the Philistines (probably with the help of the other two, which strengthened their confederacy with each other thenceforward) recovered the possession of them. These gave the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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 , 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. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 3:2

Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know and teach them war ,.... That is, the following nations were left in the land, that the young generations of Israel might by their wars and conflicts with them learn the art of war, and be inured to martial discipline; which, if none had been left to engage with, they had been ignorant of: besides, their fathers in Joshua's time, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe, had no need to learn the art of war, for God fought for them; they did... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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, ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 3:5

And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites ,.... As if they had been only sojourners with them, and not conquerors of them; and dwelt by sufferance, and not as proprietors and owners; such were their sloth and indolence, and such the advantage the inhabitants of the land got over them through it, and through their compliances with them; and this was the case not only of one sort of them, the Canaanites, but of the rest: the Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 3:1

Now these are the nations - The nations left to prove the Israelites were the five lordships or satrapies of the Philistines, viz., Gath, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gaza; the Sidonians, the Hivites of Lebanon, Baal-hermon, etc.; with the remains of the Canaanites, viz., the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, and Jebusites. Those who were left to be proved were those Israelites that had not seen all the wars of Canaan. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 3:2

That - Israel might know , to teach them war - This was another reason why the Canaanites were left in the land, that the Israelites might not forget military discipline, but habituate themselves to the use of arms, that they might always be able to defend themselves against their foes. Had they been faithful to God, they would have had no need of learning the art of war; but now arms became a sort of necessary substitute for that spiritual strength which had departed from... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 3:4

To know whether they would hearken - This would be the consequence of the Canaanites being left among them: if they should be faithful to God, their enemies would not be able to enslave them; should they be rebellious, the Lord would abandon them to their foes. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 3:1

Even as many of Israel ... - These words show that the writer has especially in view the generation which came to man’s estate immediately after the close of the wars with the Canaanites Joshua 23:1. Compare Judges 2:10. read more

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