Judges 3:1

LIST OF THE NATIONS LEFT, Judges 3:1-6.

1. Which the Lord left In Hebrew usage, God is often said to do what men alone are responsible for; as in the case of Pharaoh hardening his heart, which God is said to have done, though the hardening really resulted from his own perversity. God works through appointed agencies; but when his agencies fail to co-operate in the attainment of any end, he is said to fail. In this sense he left the Canaanites. Another peculiarity of the Hebrew idiom is the representation of results as if they were purposes. The grand purpose of Jehovah was the complete extermination of these pagan tribes, that there might be free scope for the development of the Hebrew commonwealth. Since this purpose was defeated by the defection of his human allies, Jehovah controls the consequences of their disobedience so that as little evil and as much good as possible shall result. In this case the intended good results were: 1st. The trial and proof of Israel. 2d. The beasts of prey are kept from overrunning the land. Deuteronomy 7:22.

3d. The cultivation of the art of war by habituating the people to the constant use of arms for their protection against foes near at hand, so that they might be prepared to defend themselves against a foreign foe.

Even as many… as had not known all the wars of Canaan The generation which arose after the death of Joshua had little or no experience in the wars for the conquest of Canaan. “This younger generation,” says Cassel, “enjoyed the fruits of the conquest, but did not estimate aright the greatness of the dangers endured by the fathers, and therefore did not sufficiently value the help of God. It was no light thing to triumph over the warlike nations. They did not know what a war with Canaan signified.”