Israel’s failure to obey leads the LORD to make three further pronouncements. First, the LORD will not help the Israelites drive out the local people. Second, there will be increased conflict between the Canaanites and themselves, and third, they will “fall into the trap” of the Canaanites’ religion.

So now I say (literally “And also I say”) introduces God’s stern warning. Many languages have similar emphatic expressions to introduce an important statement, for example, repetitive expressions such as “I say that, I say.” Another possibility would be to replace the general verb say with a verb such as “warn,” for example, “So now I warn you that these are the consequences.” The Hebrew verb here is perfect, which might refer to a past action still relevant in the present. At least one version opts for this: “At that time I also warned you” ( NET Bible). But most see a present: “Now therefore I tell you” (New International Version). Some also take this verb as expressing a kind of solemn decision: “Therefore, I have resolved” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). This is another possibility.

I will not drive them out before you: The LORD had promised to help his people capture the land and he carried out his promise on several occasions (verse 1.4, 19). The people of Israel were then supposed to drive out the inhabitants, but on numerous occasions they failed to do so (verse 1.19, 27, 29). Because of this, the LORD declares that he will take away his support from Israel. For not drive … out, see verse 1.19 even though the Hebrew verb is different here. This verb occurs less frequently and seems to express the idea of dispossession more powerfully. It is used also in verse 6.9. Revised Standard Version; verse 9.41; verse 11.2, 7. The pronoun them refers to the Canaanite inhabitants. Before you (literally “from your faces”) gives a picture of Yahweh going before the Israelites and driving the Canaanites out as the Israelites advanced. Good News Translation expresses this idea with “as you advance.” But in some languages it might be easier to say “I won’t remove the Canaanites for you” or “I’ll stop helping you defeat your enemies” (Contemporary English Version).

But they shall become adversaries to you expresses the nature of the relationship that will develop between the original inhabitants, the Canaanites, and the invaders, the Israelites. But renders the Hebrew waw conjunction. There is a sense in which it introduces an alternative situation, but a contrastive conjunction seems out of place here. Some languages may say “and” or prefer to omit the conjunction. As adversaries the Canaanites will become “hostile to” or “enemies of” the Israelites. The word for adversaries does not appear in Hebrew. Rather, there is the Hebrew term tsiddim that usually means “sides.” Some commentators believe a word may have dropped out of the original text or is implied, suggesting a reading like “thorns in your sides” (New International Version). Others think the word means “snare,” based on parallelism with the next clause, and read the two clauses as “and they will turn into a snare for you, and their gods will become like a trap for you.” However, with a small change, the text can also be read as tsarim, which is the Hebrew word for “enemies/adversaries.” This change requires only a tiny adjustment of d to r, two letters that are almost identical in Hebrew, and some ancient translations reflect this reading. Many modern translations opt also for this reading, speaking of “enemies,” “oppressors,” or “adversaries.” If this reading is adopted, a footnote can be added, as in New Revised Standard Version, to inform readers that this is an emended text and that the Masoretic Text has a word meaning “sides.”

And their gods shall be a snare to you: Yahweh’s concern is that, by associating with the Canaanites, the people of Israel will be drawn away from their covenant with him to serve the local gods. The commandments given to Moses at Sinai were clear. The Israelites were to worship only Yahweh, the LORD God, and reject all other forms of worship (Exo 20.2-3). This clause describes what will happen when the LORD withdraws his support and the people are left living together with those they have supposedly conquered.

Their gods refers to the various gods that the Canaanites acknowledged and worshiped. The Hebrew word rendered gods (ʾelohim) is often one of the most difficult terms to translate in the Old Testament. In Hebrew the plural form ʾelohim is the same word used to refer to the unique God, Yahweh. But this word is ambiguous, since the plural form can refer to the one and only God of Israel or to the gods worshiped by the other nations. In English and other languages, there is a convention that when the word refers to the unique God, a capital letter is used, but when it refers to multiple deities, a small letter is used (“gods”). Some translations adopt this solution. Others try to take the word for God in their language and make it plural to render gods here, but this is most often not a good solution. It is better to find a different word or expression, for example, “worship-things,” “idols,” or even “fetishes.” Some languages may have a word for “religion” as an abstract concept, which might fit the context here. Nevertheless, translators will need to find a word for gods not just for this book, but for all the texts in the Old Testament.

A snare is a trap for catching animals and birds. A small bit of food or a “lure” is placed in the trap to attract their attention. The animal is drawn to the trap and eventually captured, leading to the death of the animal. Here the word snare is being used as a figure of speech, meaning that Canaanite gods or their religion could lure or pull the Israelites away from the worship of God toward other religious practices. If possible, translators should maintain the figure of speech, for example, the whole clause may be rendered “and they will trap you and lead you into worshiping their idols [or, gods].” Good News Translation takes this approach by saying “and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods.” If the imagery of a trap is not acceptable or not easily understood, we might say “and they will tempt you to follow their own gods.”

These words pronounced by the LORD are very strong and almost poetic. Translators may also want to use an emphatic or special kind of speech form to render the LORD’s message here. Translation suggestions for this pronouncement are:

• I will not drive out the Canaanites for you. They will become your enemies, and tempt you to follow their own gods.”

• I will no longer help you rid your land of the Canaanites. Instead, they will become hostile to you and their idols will trap you [and lure you away from me].”

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .