Judges 2:23
in Judges 2That is why the LORD had left those nations in place and had not driven them out immediately by delivering them into the hand of Joshua.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Jehovah left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
KJV
Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
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This verse in Judges 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseDivine grace ever stirs up the will of human beings, not so as to protect and defend it in all things in such a way as to cause it not to fight by its own efforts against its spiritual adversaries, the victor over whom may set it down to God's grace, and the vanquished to his own weakness, and thus learn that his hope is always not in his own courage but in the divine assistance and that he must ever fly to his Protector.
This site's exposition
Because this nation has transgressed the covenant
on Judges 2:20-23
The nations Joshua left are now left on purpose, as a sentence at verse 21 and a test at verse 22. Joshua 21:45 says none of the LORD's promises failed, yet verse 23 says He did not deliver those nations "into the hand of Joshua". Two old readings hold both: God gave what He promised and Israel failed to take it, or Joshua means the land granted.
This site's exposition
had not driven them out immediately
Adam Clarke explains the delay by Israel's own conduct, since a people given the whole land at once would have forgotten God in prosperity. God cleared room enough for the tribes, who were to expand as they grew. Matthew Henry reads Christ's unfinished conquest in the same way.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
You may read that it was possible for the nations to be exterminated at once out of the land which was given to the children of Israel, and yet that God willed it to be gradually effected. And one may meet with a thousand other incidents, the past or the future possibility of which we might readily admit, and yet be unable to produce any proofs of their having ever really happened. Accordingly, it would not be right for us to deny the possibility of a man's living without sin, on the ground that amongst men none can be found except Him who is in His nature not man only, but also God, in whom we could prove such perfection of character to have existed.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Some of his [humanity's] petitions God grants him promptly (I mean those without which no one can be saved), but some He withholds from him. And on certain occasions He restrains and dispels from him the scorching assault of the enemy, while on others, He …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Our Lord Jesus, though he spoiled principalities and powers, yet did not complete his victory at first. We see not yet all things put under him; there are remains of Satan's interest in the church, as there were of the Canaanites in the land; but our Joshua lives for ever, and will in the great day perfect his conquest.
Therefore the Lord left these nations, without driving them out hastily,....
It was the privilege of Israel that they had not only a law in general sent them from heaven, once for all, to direct them into and keep them in the way of happiness, but that they had particular messages sent them from heaven, as there was occasion, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, when at any time they turned aside out of that way.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Without driving them out hastily - Had God expelled all the ancient inhabitants at once, we plainly see, from the subsequent conduct of the people, that they would soon have abandoned his worship, and in their prosperity forgotten their deliverer. He drove out at first as many as were necessary in order to afford the people, as they were then, a sufficiency of room to settle in; as the tribes increased in population, they were to extend themselves to the uttermost of their assigned borders, and expel all the remaining inhabitants.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּנַּ֤ח | vaiyanach | and he left | H5117 → | 142 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֣ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| הָאֵ֔לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֥י | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| הוֹרִישָׁ֖ם | horisham | to dispossess them | H3423 → | 231 times |
| מַהֵ֑ר | maher | quickly | H4118 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נְתָנָ֖ם | netanam | he gave them | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| בְּיַד־ | beyad- | in [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יְהוֹשֻֽׁעַ׃ פ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
וַיַּנַּ֤חand he left
vaiyanachH5117 →142 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַגּוֹיִ֣םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
הָאֵ֔לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
לְבִלְתִּ֥יto not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
הוֹרִישָׁ֖םto dispossess them
horishamH3423 →231 times
מַהֵ֑רquickly
maherH4118 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
נְתָנָ֖םhe gave them
netanamH5414 →2011 times
בְּיַד־in [the] hand of
beyad-H3027 →1618 times
יְהוֹשֻֽׁעַ׃ פJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 1; Isaac of Nineveh, ASCETICAL HOMILIES 8; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 13.14; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.