Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 3:4
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.
4. to prove Israel ] leads back to the thought of Jdg 2:22 and Jdg 3:1, and prepares the way for Jdg 3:5. The verse seems to be a later editorial adaptation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 4. To know whether they would hearken] This would be the consequence of the Canaanites being left among them: if they should be faithful to God, their enemies would not be able to enslave them; should they be rebellious, the Lord would abandon them to their foes.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To know, i.e. that they and others might know by experience.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they were to prove Israel by them,…. They were left in the land, as to inure them to war, and try their courage, so to prove their faithfulness to God:
to know whether they would hearken to the commandments, of the Lord,
which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses; even all the commandments of the Lord delivered to them by Moses, moral, civil, and ceremonial, and particularly those that concerned the destruction of the Canaanites, their altars, and their idols, De 7:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) To prove Israel.See Jdg. 2:22.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. To prove Israel This is the topic and key-note of the following history, and is accordingly emphasized by a fuller repetition from Jdg 3:1-2.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“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.” Jdg 3:4 .
This may show us the part which our enemies have to play in the education and development of our lives. The Lord left so many nations, as the Canaanites, the Zidonians, and the Hivites, that they might subject Israel to continual testing to prove their quality. It is so that hardships are permitted to continue in the life. When we ask why we should be surrounded by limitations so exact, and even by opponents so hostile, we should remember that this was the plan which God pursued in the training of his ancient people. This is the divine purpose of all human affliction. God must be left to determine what tests are best for our quality. Men are not to choose their own tests and standards, but are to accept the chastening of the Lord, and to go into the furnace which the Almighty has specifically appointed. Different men are tried in different ways, but the object of the trial is the same. Your business perplexities are sent to prove your honesty; your bodily afflictions are imposed to test your courage and trust; your family difficulties are allowed to continue that the life of the household may be strengthened and refined; your bitterest rival is permitted to run his course side by side with you that your temper may be sweetened, your charity enlarged, and your whole tone of mind elevated. Thus we are brought to consider the religious uses of opposition and hardships, and to identify their very presence with the distinct purpose of God. When we can take this view of them we shall use them rather than fear them, and in due time shall come to account them as in some sort friends and teachers. “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord.’
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Jdg 3:4 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.
Ver. 4. And they were to prove. ] See Jdg 3:1 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
to prove: Jdg 3:1, Jdg 2:22, Exo 15:25, Deu 33:8, 1Co 11:19, 2Th 2:9-12
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 3:4. To prove Israel That their piety and faithfulness to the one living and true God might appear, if they did not imitate these nations, and relapse into idolatry, and their baseness and degeneracy if they did. To know whether they would hearken That is, that they themselves and others might know by experience.