Psalm 106:34-38
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The text highlights not just a failure to destroy, but a failure to obey God's explicit command to do so. This omission wasn't a minor oversight; it was a pivotal moment where Israel's disobedience opened the door to deep entanglement with the very people God intended them to separate from.
They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.
English Standard Version (ESV)
After entering the Promised Land, Israel failed to obey God's command to completely drive out the Canaanite nations. Instead, they mingled with them, learned their wicked practices, and even adopted their idolatrous worship, which involved horrific acts like child sacrifice. This disobedience marked a turning point, leading to further sin and spiritual impurity within Israel.
God gave Israel a clear command: wipe out the Canaanite nations. But they didn't. What happened when they chose to coexist instead of conquer?
The Command and the Compromise
God's instructions to Israel regarding the Canaanite peoples were stark: "You must destroy them completely. Make no treaty with them and show no mercy" (Deuteronomy 7:2). This wasn't about ethnic cleansing for its own sake, but about protecting Israel's spiritual purity and preventing them from falling into the same corrupt practices as the Canaanites. These included horrific acts like child sacrifice and idolatry.
The Slippery Slope of 'Coexistence'
However, the Israelites didn't fully obey. They allowed these nations to remain, often making treaties or living alongside them. This verse, Psalm 106:34, marks this failure as a significant sin. The immediate consequence, as described in the following verses, was that Israel began to 'learn their evil ways' and 'serve their idols.'
It's a powerful reminder: when we fail to fully obey God's commands, especially when it involves compromising with sin or the world, it doesn't stay static. Compromise often leads to corruption, pulling us away from God's path and into practices that defile us.
Was it mere laziness, or something deeper, that led Israel to disobey God's clear command to eliminate the Canaanites?
Beyond Simple Neglect
The commentary highlights that Israel's failure wasn't necessarily driven by compassion for the Canaanites, but often by a "love of ease" and "idleness." They found it more convenient to share the land than to carry out the difficult, costly task of complete eradication.
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The Deception of 'Good Enough'
This verse points to the danger of 'partial' obedience. We might do some of what God asks, but leave out the challenging parts. We might keep some commandments but ignore others, telling ourselves it's 'good enough.' This verse shows that God's commands are often for our protection and spiritual well-being. Failing to obey fully, even in what seems like a minor omission, opens the door to greater sin and spiritual compromise, leading to entanglement with the very things God warned us against.
Understand the original words
YHWH · Hebrew Proper Noun
The covenant name of the God of Israel, YHWH, the self-existent and eternal One who enters into a personal, binding relationship with His people.
arab · Hebrew Verb
To mingle, join with, or associate closely; in a covenantal context, it often refers to the illicit integration of Israel with pagan nations, leading to spiritual defilement.
goyim · Hebrew Noun
Used for foreign or heathen nations outside the covenant of Israel; often associated with idolatry, pagan practices, and moral corruption.
‘atsab · Hebrew Noun
In a biblical context, idols refer to any physical or abstract object, image, or concept that is worshipped or served in the place of, or alongside, the one true God. They are frequently characterized as worthless, powerless, and a source of spiritual deception.
moqesh · Hebrew Noun
A metaphor for a trap, lure, or enticement that leads individuals or communities away from obedience to God and into sin, judgment, or spiritual ruin. It represents the deceptive power of sinful practices to ensnare the heart and life.
shed · Hebrew Noun
Supernatural, malevolent spiritual entities that oppose God and lead humanity into rebellion, idolatry, and destruction. In the Old Testament, these are often associated with the false gods worshipped by pagan nations.
naqi dam · Hebrew Noun Phrase
Refers to the taking of a life that has not committed a capital crime or is morally blameless in a specific context. The shedding of such blood is a grave moral abomination that cries out for divine justice and brings defilement upon the land.
This verse highlights a critical failure of Israel: not obeying God's direct command to completely clear the land of its inhabitants. This omission, driven by a desire for ease or perhaps a misplaced mercy, led directly to centuries of spiritual compromise and conflict.
c. 1406 BC
Israel enters Canaan
Following God's guidance, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and began their conquest of the Promised Land, which was inhabited by various Canaanite nations.
c. 1406-1370 BC— this verse
Partial conquest of Canaan
While some initial victories were won, Israel failed to drive out all the inhabitants of Canaan as God had commanded, leading to ongoing interaction and eventual assimilation.
c. 1370-1070 BC
Period of the Judges
This era was marked by cycles of Israelite disobedience, oppression by surrounding nations, and divine deliverance through judges, largely due to their continued unfaithfulness and mingling with Canaanites.
c. 1070 BC
Rise of the Monarchy
Israel's desire for a king, partly influenced by observing the surrounding nations, marked a new phase. However, the underlying issues of disobedience and syncretism persisted.
This passage directly follows the conquest of Canaan and details how the tribe of Benjamin failed to drive out the Jebusites, mirroring the disobedience described in Psalm 106:34.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2This passage contains God's direct command to Israel to destroy the nations in Canaan, making their failure to do so, as stated in Psalm 106:34, a clear act of disobedience to God's explicit instruction.
Judges 2:2-3Here, an angel of the Lord confronts Israel about their disobedience in not driving out the nations, directly connecting their failure (as in Psalm 106:34) to future consequences and entanglements with these peoples.
Numbers 33:52This verse reiterates the command to 'utterly destroy' the inhabitants of the land, highlighting the severity of the command that Israel in Psalm 106:34 failed to carry out.
Psalm 106:36-37These verses immediately follow Psalm 106:34 and explain the consequence of not destroying the nations: Israel began to serve their idols and sacrifice their children, showing the downward spiral caused by the initial disobedience.
bensonPsalms 106:34: "They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:"
Psalm 106:34-39 . They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom — Concerning whose destruction, the Lord commanded them — For when the iniquity of the Canaanites was full, it was God’s will to extirpate their race, and Israel was commissioned to execute upon them the vengeance determined. But were mingled among the heathen — In their habitations and negotiations, as also in marriages. And they served…
pulpitPsalms 106:34: "They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:"
Verse 34. - They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them. This is reckoned as another sin. Israel, once comfortably settled in Palestine, with sufficient room for its numbers, did not carry out the Divine command to "destroy," or "cast out," the Canaanitish nations, but was content to share the land with them. "The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inha…
The text highlights not just a failure to destroy, but a failure to obey God's explicit command to do so. This omission wasn't a minor oversight; it was a pivotal moment where Israel's disobedience opened the door to deep entanglement with the very people God intended them to separate from.
After entering the Promised Land, Israel failed to obey God's command to completely drive out the Canaanite nations. Instead, they mingled with them, learned their wicked practices, and even adopted their idolatrous worship, which involved horrific acts like child sacrifice. This disobedience marked a turning point, leading to further sin and spiritual impurity within Israel.
After entering the Promised Land, Israel failed to obey God's command to completely drive out the Canaanite nations. Instead, they mingled with them, learned their wicked practices, and even adopted their idolatrous worship, which involved horrific acts like child sacrifice. This disobedience marked a turning point, leading to further sin and spiritual impurity within Israel.
"They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons…" — The text highlights not just a failure to destroy, but a failure to obey God's explicit command to do so. This omission wasn't a minor oversight; it was a pivotal moment where Israel's disobedience o…
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Last reviewed October 2026
