And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.
When Israel became strong enough, they forced the Canaanites to pay taxes and serve them, but they didn't completely drive them out of the land as they should have.
This verse shows that Israel chose the easier path of making the Canaanites pay tribute rather than fully obeying God's command to remove them from the land.
📚 Historical Context
During the period of the Judges, after Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land, God had commanded them to completely drive out the Canaanites to prevent idolatry and moral corruption from taking root. However, as the Israelites grew stronger, some tribes, like Manasseh, chose to subjugate the Canaanites by making them pay tribute instead of fully expelling them, which reflected a pattern of incomplete obedience seen throughout the book. This decision allowed the Canaanites to remain and influence Israel negatively in the years that followed.
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