The Meaning of Judges 3:5 Explained

Judges 3:5

KJV: And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:

YLT: And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,

Darby: So the people of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites;

ASV: And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And the children  of Israel  dwelt  among  the Canaanites,  Hittites,  and Amorites,  and Perizzites,  and Hivites,  and Jebusites: 

What does Judges 3:5 Mean?

Context Summary

Judges 3:1-14 - Delivered From Mesopotamian Oppression
Our sins and failures will sometimes be so overruled as to promote the growth of our souls in the true knowledge of ourselves and of God. It would be better to acquire these great lessons and virtues by the regular advance of an obedient and believing life. But where this method fails, God will teach us through our faults. The presence of the Canaanite taught Israel war and self-knowledge. See Judges 3:2; Judges 4:1-24.
Othniel had a noble estate of his own, which might have made him indifferent to the national crisis. But he and Achsah were animated by the high courage of Caleb, the lion-cub. See Judges 1:12. Let us be quick to feel the impulse of the Spirit of the Lord, and yield to it when it prompts us to go forth to war in some sacred cause. No thought of our own comfort or ease must hold us, when there is a wrong to right or an oppressor to beat to the ground! Dare to trust the unseen Christ who summons you, and as you step out, the ether will be rock beneath your feet. [source]

Chapter Summary: Judges 3

1  The nations which were left to prove Israel
5  By communion with them they commit idolatry
8  Othniel delivered them from Chushan-Rishathaim
12  Ehud from Eglon
31  and Shamgar from the Philistines

What do the individual words in Judges 3:5 mean?

Thus the sons of Israel dwelt among the Canaanite the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite
וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יָשְׁב֖וּ בְּקֶ֣רֶב הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֑י הַחִתִּ֤י וְהָֽאֱמֹרִי֙ וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔י וְהַחִוִּ֖י וְהַיְבוּסִֽי

וּבְנֵ֣י  Thus  the  sons 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
יָשְׁב֖וּ  dwelt 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֑י  the  Canaanite 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: כִּנְעָן 
Sense: descendant of inhabitant of Canaan n.
הַחִתִּ֤י  the  Hittite 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: חִתִּי  
Sense: the nation descended from Heth, the 2nd son of Canaan; once inhabitants of central Anatolia (modern Turkey), later in north Lebanon.
וְהָֽאֱמֹרִי֙  and  the  Amorite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֱמֹרִי  
Sense: one of the peoples of east Canaan and beyond the Jordan, dispossessed by the Israelite incursion from Egypt.
וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔י  and  the  Perizzite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: פְּרִזִּי  
Sense: a people who inhabited southern Canaan prior to the conquest.
וְהַחִוִּ֖י  and  the  Hivite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: חִוִּי  
Sense: 6th generation of descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, who were living in northern Canaan near Mount Hermon at the time of the conquest.
וְהַיְבוּסִֽי  and  the  Jebusite 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְבוּסִי  
Sense: descendants of the 3rd son of Canaan who lived in or around the site of Jebus, the early name for Jerusalem.