Judges 2:3

Jdg 2:3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be [as thorns] in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

Ver. 3. As thorns in your sides.] See Jos 23:13.

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.

"And I also have said to you:" these words point to the threat already expressed in Num 33:55; Jos 23:13, in the event of their not fulfilling the command of God, which threat the Lord would now fulfil. From the passages mentioned, we may also explain the expression לצדּים לכם והיוּ, they shall be in your sides, i.e., thorns in your sides. לצדּים is an abbreviated expression for בּצדּיכם לצנינים in Num 33:55, so that there is no necessity for the conjecture that it stands for לצרים. The last clause of Jdg 2:3 is formed after Exo 23:33.

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.)

Or, snare.

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

Verse 3. I will not drive them out from before you] Their transgressions, and breach of the covenant, were the reasons why they were not put in entire possession of the promised land. See note at the end of this chapter. Clarke "Jdg 2:23".

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

(3) Wherefore I also said.—Rather, And now I have said.

I will not drive them out.—The withdrawal of the conditional promises in Exo_23:31.

They shall be as thorns in your sides.—The Hebrew is, “they shall be to you for sides.” The words “as thorns” are conjecturally supplied from Num_33:55. In Jos_23:13 we have “scourges in your sides.” The LXX. render “for pressures,” and the Vulgate “that you may have enemies.” The Hebrew word for “sides” is tsiddim, and would differ little from tsarim (“nets”), which is the conjecture of R. Jonas; and this root is found in the verb, “and they shall vex you,” in Num_33:55. Whether we adopt this reading, or tsinnim (“thorns”), or suppose that a word has dropped out, the general sense is the same.

Their gods shall be a snare unto you.—See Jdg_2:12-13; Psa_106:36.

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

3. Wherefore I also said] Moreover also I said; perhaps referring to the warning in Jos_23:13 D, Num_33:55 P, from which latter place the expressions in this verse appear to be borrowed. Others translate ‘and I have also said,’ a present, resolve in antithesis to the past promise ‘And I said, I will never break’ etc. in Jdg_2:1 b; but the antithesis is hardly to be extracted from the Hebr.

they shall be as thorns in your sides] Supplying ‘as thorns’ from Num_33:55, to make sense; cf. Jos_23:13 ‘thorns in your eyes’; the word ‘as thorns’ may have been omitted here by accident. Instead of ‘they shall be sides (!) unto you’ (ṣiddim) the Vulgate and Targ. have ‘they shall be adversaries’ (ṣarim); the LXX, taking ṣarim as = ṣaroth, render ‘straits,’ ‘distresses,’ so Vet. Ital. in angustias, in pressura: these are probably only conjectures. It has been proposed to pronounce ṣiddim ‘sides’ as ṣaddim, and give it the sense of the Assyrian ṣaddu ‘a net, trap’; this would make a good parallel to ‘snare’ at the end of the verse; but the Assyr. form is not quite certain (? zaddu).

their gods … a snare unto you] Cf. Exo_23:33; Exo_34:12; Deu_7:16; Jos_23:13.

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.

Wherefore I also said,.... Supposing, or on condition of their being guilty of the above things, which was foreseen they would:

I will not drive them out from before you; the seven nations of the Canaanites entirely, and which accounts for the various instances related in the preceding chapter; where it is observed, that they could not, or did not, drive the old inhabitants out of such and such places, because they sinned against the Lord, and he forsook them, and would not assist them in their enterprises, or them to their sloth and indolence:

but they shall be as thorns in your sides: very troublesome and afflicting, see Num 33:55; or for straits, as the Septuagint, or be such as would bring them into tribulation, and distress them, as the Targum; so they often did:

and their gods shall be a snare unto you; which they suffered to continue, and did not destroy them, as they ought to have done; they would be, as they proved, ensnaring to them, and whereby they were drawn to forsake the worship of the true God, and bow down to them, as we read in some following verses.

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

“Wherefore I also said” - Rather because ye have done the things mentioned in Jdg 2:2, “I have now said (i. e. I now protest and declare) that I will not drive them out from before you” (compare Jdg 19:29). And it was the annonncement of this resolution by the Angel that caused the people to weep.

The word thorns in this verse is supplied by the King James Version from the similar passage in Joshua (see the marginal reference). Other versions adopt a different reading of the original text, and prefer the sense “they shall be to you for adversaries” (compare the last words of Num 33:55).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ruin. Septuagint, "stumbling block," the occasion of ruin. (Menochius) --- Thus by a false compassion (Calmet) and negligence, the Israelites brought upon themselves the most serious difficulties, while those whom they had spared, turned against them by a just judgment of God, and proved the ruin both of their souls and bodies, by drawing them into idolatry and then putting them to the sword. (Haydock)

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).

I also said with myself; I have now taken up this peremptory resolution.

Thorns in your sides: See Poole "Num 33:55"; See Poole "Jos 23:13".

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

3. Wherefore I also said — By the lips of Moses (Num_33:55) and of Joshua (Jos_23:12-13) the declaration was made that if they clave unto the remnant of the nations, and had social and commercial intercourse with them. God would not drive out these nations. They had received a fair warning.

As thorns — These words are not found in the Hebrew of this passage, but are here supplied by our translators from Num_33:55, and Jos_23:13. Literally this text reads, They shall be to you to sides; but it is to be regarded as an abbreviation of the proverb, They shall be for thorns to your sides. “The figure is taken from rural life. Israel has acted like a slothful gardener. He has not thoroughly destroyed the thorns and thistles of his fields. The consequence will be that sowing and planting and other field labours will soon be rendered painful by the presence of spiteful thorns. The influence of habitual intercourse will make the Canaanites stinging weeds and snares for Israel.” — Cassel.

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

I said, i.e. I now declare to you my resolve. It was this that made the people weep. Thorns in your sides. This is not a translation of the Hebrew text, which only has "for sides," but a partial adaptation of Jos_23:13, where the phrase is "scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes." Either the words for "scourges in" have fallen out of the text, or the word here rendered "sides" should be rendered, as some think, "enemies." A snare. See Jud_1:8:27, note.

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

I said - With myself, I have now taken up this peremptory resolution.

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

General Information:

The angel of Yahweh continues to speak to the people of Israel.

So now I say, 'I will not ... trap for you.'

This has a quotation within a quotation. This direct quotation can be stated as an indirect quotation. AT: "So now I tell you that I will not ... trap for you.'" (See: Quotes Within Quotes and Direct and Indirect Quotations)

become thorns in your sides

The Canaanites troubling the Israelites is spoken of as if the Canaanites would be thorns in the side of the Israelites. AT: "cause you trouble" (See: Metaphor)

thorns

sharp pieces of wood up to 7 centimeters long that stick out from some plants

their gods will become a trap for you

The Israelites worshiping the Canaanite gods is spoken of as if the false gods were a hunter's trap that catches an animal and causes it harm. (See: Metaphor)

shouted and wept

"cried many tears"

translationWords

cast out

Canaan

thorn

false god

snare

angel

Yahweh

Israel

sacrifice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Now I have also declared. At present I have declared, in My fury.

At your flanks. They will harass your flanks with bandits and troops, pillaging and plundering.

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.