Judges 2:3

“Wherefore I also said, etc.] 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 <043355>Numbers 33:55); or for straits, as the Septuagint, or be…”

““Wherefore I also said” - Rather because ye have done the things mentioned in Judges 2:2, “I have now said (i. e. I now protest and declare) that I will not drive them out from before you” (compare Judges 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 Numbers 33:55). return to 'Top of Page'”

“I said - With myself, I have now taken up this peremptory resolution. Judges 2:4”

“I also said: Jdg 2:21; Num 33:55; Jos 23:13 their gods: Jdg 3:6; Exo 23:33, Exo 34:12; Deu 7:16; Kg1 11:1-7; Psa 106:36 Judges 2:4”

“"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. Judges 2:4”