Judges 2:3 (KJV)

Passage

Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

Nearby Context

Judges 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Judges 2:2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

Judges 2:3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

Judges 2:4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

Judges 2:5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "wherefore", "said", "drive", "before", "shall", "thorns", "sides", and "gods". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "wherefore" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "And ye shall make no league with..." into verse 4's "And it came to pass when the...", so "wherefore" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Judges context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "wherefore" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.