That through them I may try Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, and walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

that by them I may test Israel, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.|

That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

in order to try Israel by them, whether they are keeping the way of Jehovah, to go in it, as their fathers kept it or not.'

In order to put Israel to the test, and see if they will keep the way of the Lord, walking in it as their fathers did, or not.

that by them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.'

so that, by them, I may test Israel, as to whether or not they will keep the way of the Lord, and walk in it, just as their fathers kept it."

That through them I may prove Israel - There appeared to be no other way to induce this people to acknowledge the true God, but by permitting them to fall into straits from which they could not be delivered but by his especial providence. These words are spoken after the manner of men; and the metaphor is taken from the case of a master or father, who distrusts the fidelity or obedience of his servant or son, and places him in such circumstances that, by his good or evil conduct, he may justify his suspicions, or give him proofs of his fidelity.

That through them I may (m) prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep [it], or not.
(m) So that both outward enemies and false prophets are but a trial to prove our faith, (Deuteronomy 13:3; Judges 3:1).

That through them I may prove Israel,.... Afflict them by them, and so prove or try them, their faith and patience, which are tried by afflictions; and such were the Canaanites to them, as afflictions and temptations are to the spiritual Israel of God; or rather, whether they would keep in the ways of God, or walk in those the Canaanites did, as follows:
whether they will keep the way of the Lord, as their fathers did keep it, or not; whether they would worship the true God their fathers did, or the gods of the Canaanites; not that the Lord was ignorant of what they would do, and so made the experiment; but that the sincerity and faithfulness, or insincerity and unfaithfulness of their hearts, might appear to themselves and others.

The purpose of God in this resolution was "to prove Israel through them (the tribes that were not exterminated), whether they (the Israelites) would keep the way of the Lord to walk therein (cf. Deuteronomy 8:2), as their fathers did keep it, or not." נסּות למען is not dependent upon the verb עזב, as Studer supposes, which yields no fitting sense; nor can the clause be separated from the preceding one, as Bertheau suggests, and connected as a protasis with Judges 2:23 (this would be a thoroughly unnatural construction, for which Isaiah 45:4 does not furnish any true parallel); but the clause is attached in the simplest possible manner to the main thought in Judges 2:20, Judges 2:21, that is to say, to the words "and He said" in Judges 2:20 : Jehovah said, i.e., resolved, that He would not exterminate the remaining nations any further, to tempt Israel through them. The plural בּם, in the place of the singular בּהּ, which the foregoing דּרך requires, is to be regarded as a constructio ad sensum, i.e., to be attributed to the fact, that keeping the way of God really consists in observing the commandments of God, and that this was the thought which floated before the writer's mind. The thought expressed in this verse, that Jehovah would not exterminate the Canaanites before Israel any more, to try them whether they would keep His commandments, just as He had previously caused the people whom He brought out of Egypt to wander in the wilderness for forty years with the very same intention (Deuteronomy 8:2), is not at variance with the design of God, expressed in Exodus 23:29-30, and Deuteronomy 7:22, not to exterminate the Canaanites all at once, lest the land should become waste, and the wild beasts multiply therein, nor yet with the motive assigned in Judges 3:1-2. For the determination not to exterminate the Canaanite sin one single year, was a different thing from the purpose of God to suspend their gradual extermination altogether. The former purpose had immediate regard to the well-being of Israel; the latter, on the contrary, was primarily intended as a chastisement for its transgression of the covenants, although even this chastisement was intended to lead the rebellious nation to repentance, and promote its prosperity by a true conversion to the Lord. And the motive assigned in Judges 2:2 is in perfect harmony with this intention, as our explanation of this passage will clearly show.

May prove - That I may try and see whether Israel will be true and faithful to me, or whether they will suffer themselves to be corrupted by the counsels and examples of their bad neighbours.