Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, but did not utterly drive them out.
But when the Israelites became strong and powerful, they made the Canaanites pay them taxes and work for them, instead of completely driving them out of the land as they were supposed to do.
The Israelites chose the easier path of making money from their enemies rather than fully obeying God's command to remove them from the land.
📚 Historical Context
In the Book of Joshua, the Israelites were in the process of conquering the Promised Land as God had commanded, following their exodus from Egypt, with specific instructions to drive out the Canaanites to avoid their idolatrous influences. The tribe of Manasseh, one of the twelve tribes, had grown powerful in their allocated territory but chose to make the Canaanites pay tribute instead of fully expelling them, reflecting a pattern of incomplete obedience seen among other tribes. This partial conquest set the stage for future conflicts, as the remaining Canaanites intermingled with the Israelites and led them into spiritual compromise.
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