NET Bible
"These were the nations the LORD permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel– he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites."
— Judges 3:1, NET Bible
“Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;”
“Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; ”
“Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to prove Israel by them, even as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan;”
“These are the nations which the Lord left, that by them he might instruct Israel, and all that had not known the wars of the Chanaanites:”
“Now these are the nations which the Lord kept in the land for the purpose of testing Israel by them, all those who had had no experience of all the wars of Canaan;”
“Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;”
These were the nations the LORD permitted to remain so he could use them to test Israel– he wanted to test all those who had not experienced battle against the Canaanites.
He left those nations simply because he wanted to teach the subsequent generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war.
These were the nations: the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.
They were left to test Israel, so the LORD would know if his people would obey the commands he gave their ancestors through Moses.