Verse Lens · Context pointer
Judges 3:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
This verse identifies remaining nations as a test for Israelites without war experience.
Read It With
- Judges 3:1–6
Read Judges 3:1–6 together. This verse identifies remaining nations as a test for Israelites without war experience. The list of nations, military-learning explanation, covenant test, dwelling, intermarriage, and service of other gods form one transition; verse 7 begins Othniel's pattern.
Why It Needs Context
This verse identifies remaining nations as a test for Israelites without war experience. It needs Judges 3:1–6 because The transition names the religious problem that launches the deliverer stories and connects incomplete land possession to household alliances and worship.
Read Judges 3:1–6 together
Why these verses belong together: The list of nations, military-learning explanation, covenant test, dwelling, intermarriage, and service of other gods form one transition; verse 7 begins Othniel's pattern.
Verse 1. 1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
Verse 2. 2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;
Verse 3. 3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath.
Verse 4. 4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
Verse 5. 5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:
Verse 6. 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Judges 3:1–6 — Testing becomes accommodation and worshipSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 3:1–6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 3:1–6
Open source ↗