Judges 2:22

22. prove Israel] Jdg_3:1; Jdg_3:4, as He had proved them in the wilderness, Exo_16:4 J, Exo_15:25, Exo_20:20 E, Deu_8:2; Deu_8:16; Deu_13:3. The purpose of God’s proving is to test man’s loyalty and to perfect the character, Gen_22:1; Psa_26:2; Jas_1:2-4. In Jdg_2:20-21 the nations were not driven out because Israel must be punished, in Jdg_2:22 because Israel must be tested. The two ideas are not irreconcileable in thought; but it is probable that Jdg_2:22 was not written by the author of Jdg_2:20-21; at any rate the form of the sentence whether they will keep … or not is Deuteronomic; see the refs. to Deut. just given. In the Hebrew way must be corrected to ways to agree with therein (plur.).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 2:22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep [it], or not.

Ver. 22. That through them I may prove Israel.] But whenas upon trial he found them to be no better than "reprobate silver," {Jer 6:30} those nations served no longer for trials, but for scourges, and instruments of revenge.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 2:22. That through them I may prove Israel — That I may try and see whether Israel will be true and faithful to me, or whether they will suffer themselves to be corrupted by the counsels and examples of their bad neighbours.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So that both outward enemies and false prophets are but a trial to prove our faith, Deut. 13:3 and Judg. 3:1.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 22. That through them I may prove Israel] There appeared to be no other way to induce this people to acknowledge the true God, but by permitting them to fall into straits from which they could not be delivered but by his especial providence. These words are spoken after the manner of men; and the metaphor is taken from the case of a master or father, who distrusts the fidelity or obedience of his servant or son, and places him in such circumstances that, by his good or evil conduct, he may justify his suspicions, or give him proofs of his fidelity.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) That through them I may prove Israel.—Yet in this as in all God’s punishments there was an element of mercy mingled with the judgment, as we see from Exo_23:29-30; Deu_7:22; and infr. Jdg_3:1-2. If in one point of view the non-extermination of Canaan at first led the Israelites into temptation and brought down retributive punishments upon them, yet out of these evils God raised the two-fold good, that they meanwhile increased sufficiently in numbers to be able effectually to till the soil and keep down the wild beasts, and were also being trained in bravery and warlike skill, while the aborigines were being driven out “by little and by little.” Further, we see that a real growth was going on during this period of suffering and anarchy. The peril of internal discord was partly averted by the noble life, and inspiring memories, and treasures of infinite truth which they had acquired in the free air of the desert. “They learned by perpetual struggle to defend their new home, and the free exercise of their religion, and so they prepared for coming generations a sacred place where that religion and national culture might develop. During the long pause of apparent inaction a hidden movement was going on, and the principles and truths so marvellously brought to light were taking firm root.” (Ewald.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That through them I may prove Israel,.... Afflict them by them, and so prove or try them, their faith and patience, which are tried by afflictions; and such were the Canaanites to them, as afflictions and temptations are to the spiritual Israel of God; or rather, whether they would keep in the ways of God, or walk in those the Canaanites did, as follows:

whether they will keep the way of the Lord, as their fathers did keep it, or not; whether they would worship the true God their fathers did, or the gods of the Canaanites; not that the Lord was ignorant of what they would do, and so made the experiment; but that the sincerity and faithfulness, or insincerity and unfaithfulness of their hearts, might appear to themselves and others.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or not. The secrets of hearts cannot be hidden from the omniscience of God. (Calmet) --- But he would have an experimental knowledge of the fidelity of his people, by leaving these nations in the midst of them. It was partly on this account that he withdrew the sword of Josue, who would otherwise have easily followed up his victories, and exterminated all the inhabitants. The cowardice and secret indispositions of the people was another obstacle. (Haydock) --- God acted like a person who distrusted the fidelity of his servant, and left something in his way to see if we would steal it. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

That I may prove Israel; either, first, That I may try, and see whether Israel will be true and faithful to me, or whether they will suffer themselves to be corrupted by the evil counsels and examples of their bad neighbours, whom I will leave among them for their trial and exercise. Or, secondly, That by them I may afflict and punish Israel; for afflictions are commonly and justly called trials. But the former sense suits better with the following words.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. That through them I may prove Israel — The presence of wicked men in society constitutes a part of the trial of the good. The Hebrews, by sparing their idolatrous enemies, multiplied and intensified their own temptations to sin. Jehovah used the heathen tribes that were left in the land to chastise the Israelites when the latter went out of the way. Of these chastisements and the deliverances wrought upon Israel’s repentance, the Book of Judges is largely the history.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To walk therein. The Hebrew has in them. Probably for way we should read ways, as Deu_8:6 Deu_10:12, etc. This verse does not seem to be part of what the Lord said, but to be the comment of the writer. The A.V that through them I may prove inserts an I which is not in the original. Ver. 22 depends upon ver. 23. The literal rendering is, For the sake of proving Israel, etc... the Lord left those nations. The writer, after rehearsing the Lord"s reason for not completing the extirpation of the nations after the death of Joshua, adds the further information why they had not been delivered into Joshua"s hand in his lifetime. (cf. Jos_3:1, Jos_3:4) In Exo_23:29, 30 Deu_7:22, an additional reason is given for the gradual extirpation of the Canaaniteslest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. "

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

May prove - That I may try and see whether Israel will be true and faithful to me, or whether they will suffer themselves to be corrupted by the counsels and examples of their bad neighbours.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The purpose of God in this resolution was "to prove Israel through them (the tribes that were not exterminated), whether they (the Israelites) would keep the way of the Lord to walk therein (cf. Deu 8:2), as their fathers did keep it, or not." נסּות למען is not dependent upon the verb עזב, as Studer supposes, which yields no fitting sense; nor can the clause be separated from the preceding one, as Bertheau suggests, and connected as a protasis with Jdg 2:23 (this would be a thoroughly unnatural construction, for which Isa 45:4 does not furnish any true parallel); but the clause is attached in the simplest possible manner to the main thought in Jdg 2:20, Jdg 2:21, that is to say, to the words "and He said" in Jdg 2:20 : Jehovah said, i.e., resolved, that He would not exterminate the remaining nations any further, to tempt Israel through them. The plural בּם, in the place of the singular בּהּ, which the foregoing דּרך requires, is to be regarded as a constructio ad sensum, i.e., to be attributed to the fact, that keeping the way of God really consists in observing the commandments of God, and that this was the thought which floated before the writer's mind. The thought expressed in this verse, that Jehovah would not exterminate the Canaanites before Israel any more, to try them whether they would keep His commandments, just as He had previously caused the people whom He brought out of Egypt to wander in the wilderness for forty years with the very same intention (Deu 8:2), is not at variance with the design of God, expressed in Exo 23:29-30, and Deu 7:22, not to exterminate the Canaanites all at once, lest the land should become waste, and the wild beasts multiply therein, nor yet with the motive assigned in Jdg 3:1-2. For the determination not to exterminate the Canaanite sin one single year, was a different thing from the purpose of God to suspend their gradual extermination altogether. The former purpose had immediate regard to the well-being of Israel; the latter, on the contrary, was primarily intended as a chastisement for its transgression of the covenants, although even this chastisement was intended to lead the rebellious nation to repentance, and promote its prosperity by a true conversion to the Lord. And the motive assigned in Jdg 2:2 is in perfect harmony with this intention, as our explanation of this passage will clearly show.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Whether they observe. The letter ה is vocalized with the abridged pasach, as it expresses the inquiry involved in testing.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.