Psalms 106:34-39 Meaning Explained

Psalms 106:34-39

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. Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The verse highlights that Israel's failure wasn't a lack of God's command, but a direct disobedience to the specific directive to eradicate the Canaanite nations. This points to a deeper issue than just forgetting a rule; it was a conscious choice to defy God's judgment and instead integrate with those He had judged.

What Psalms 106:34-39 means

After settling in the promised land, Israel failed to obey God's command to completely drive out the existing nations. This disobedience led to them intermingling with the Canaanites, learning their practices, and ultimately adopting their idolatrous and violent worship, which deeply defiled the land.

The High Cost of Disobedience

God gave Israel a clear command: conquer and cleanse the promised land. But they didn't finish the job. What happened when they left enemies in their midst?

A Command Ignored

The LORD was very clear with Israel about the Canaanite nations. He didn't just tell them to coexist or to negotiate; He commanded them to 'destroy' them (Deuteronomy 7:1-2). This wasn't about ethnic cleansing for its own sake, but about protecting Israel from the pervasive corruption and idolatry that characterized these peoples.

The Domino Effect of 'Letting Them Be'

When Israel failed to obey this command, it wasn't a minor oversight. It set off a chain reaction:

Compromise: They 'mingled among the heathen' and 'learned their works' (Psalm 106:35).
Idolatry: This mingling led them to serve the idols of these nations.
Abomination: The situation escalated to horrific practices like child sacrifice (Psalm 106:37-38).
Defilement: The land, intended to be holy, became 'defiled with blood' and their 'own works' (Psalm 106:38-39).

The failure to completely obey God's command opened the door for sin to infiltrate Israel's spiritual life, leading to devastating consequences.

More Than Just Laziness

Why didn't Israel finish the job? Was it misplaced compassion, or something else entirely? The reasons are crucial for understanding their downfall.

Not Always Mercy, Often Ease

The commentators suggest that Israel's failure to destroy the Canaanites wasn't typically born out of mercy or a desire to spare lives. Instead, it often stemmed from:

Understand the original words

Original language

LORDיהוה

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.

mixedעָרַב

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.

nationsגּוֹי

goyim · Hebrew Noun

Used for foreign or heathen nations outside the covenant of Israel; often associated with idolatry, pagan practices, and moral corruption.

idolsעָצָב

‘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.

Historical context

Written: Likely during the wilderness wanderings, before entering the Promised Land, around the 13th century BC.
Author: Traditionally attributed to Moses, but likely a compilation of various Levitical or Davidic composers.
Location: Written from the wilderness, looking back on Israel's history.
Genre: Poetry (specifically, a communal lament and confession), characterized by its use of historical narrative to express national sin and God's faithfulness.

Historical background

This verse reflects a critical turning point in Israel's history: their failure to fully obey God's command to cleanse the land of Canaan. This disobedience wasn't just a military oversight; it opened the door to the very idolatry and corrupt practices God warned against, setting a pattern of sin, judgment, and exile that defined much of Israel's subsequent history.

c. 1400-1200 BC
Israel Enters Canaan
After their exodus from Egypt and wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites under Joshua conquered and began to settle the land of Canaan. God had commanded them to drive out and utterly destroy the inhabitants.
c. 1200-1050 BC— this verse
Incomplete Conquest
Many Israelite tribes failed to fully drive out the native Canaanites as commanded, allowing them to remain in the land. This led to intermingling and adoption of local customs and idolatry.
c. 1050 BC onwards
Cycles of Sin and Discipline
Israel's failure to obey led to periods of oppression by surrounding nations, followed by repentance and deliverance, only to fall back into sin. This cycle persisted through the period of the Judges.
c. 1000 BC
United Monarchy
Kings David and Solomon ruled a united Israel. While a time of great power and prosperity, the underlying issues of syncretism and incomplete obedience to God's commands continued.

Cross-references

Judges 1:27

This passage illustrates the direct consequence of not destroying the nations, showing how the tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of certain cities, leading to ongoing cohabitation and likely eventual assimilation or conflict.

Numbers 33:52

This verse directly states the command to destroy the inhabitants of Canaan, making the failure to do so in Psalm 106:34 a clear act of disobedience to God's explicit instruction.

Deuteronomy 7:16

This passage warns against showing pity to the nations that Israel was commanded to destroy, highlighting the spiritual danger of compromise and how it would become a snare, which is precisely what happened according to later accounts.

Judges 2:3

This verse describes God's own words to Israel, stating that the nations they did not drive out would become 'thorns in your sides,' directly connecting the disobedience mentioned in Psalm 106:34 to future trouble and affliction for Israel.

Psalm 106:35-37

These verses immediately follow, detailing the 'mingling' and 'serving idols' that resulted from not destroying the nations, showing the direct spiritual decay and horrific practices that arose from this initial disobedience.

Scholarly commentary

Psalms 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…
benson

Psalms 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…
pulpit

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What does Psalms 106:34-39 mean?

Explain the meaning of Psalms 106:34-39

Breakdown of Psalms 106:34-39

"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 verse highlights that Israel's failure wasn't a lack of God's command, but a direct disobedience to the specific directive to eradicate the Canaanite nations. This points to a deeper issue than j…

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What Psalms 106:34-39 means

Original language

LORDיהוה

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.

mixedעָרַב

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.

nationsגּוֹי

goyim · Hebrew Noun

Used for foreign or heathen nations outside the covenant of Israel; often associated with idolatry, pagan practices, and moral corruption.

idolsעָצָב

‘atsab · Hebrew Noun

Historical context

Written: Likely during the wilderness wanderings, before entering the Promised Land, around the 13th century BC.
Author: Traditionally attributed to Moses, but likely a compilation of various Levitical or Davidic composers.
Location: Written from the wilderness, looking back on Israel's history.
Genre: Poetry (specifically, a communal lament and confession), characterized by its use of historical narrative to express national sin and God's faithfulness.

Historical background

c. 1400-1200 BC

Israel Enters Canaan

After their exodus from Egypt and wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites under Joshua conquered and began to settle the land of Canaan. God had commanded them to drive out and utterly destroy the inhabitants.

c. 1200-1050 BC— this verse

Incomplete Conquest

Many Israelite tribes failed to fully drive out the native Canaanites as commanded, allowing them to remain in the land. This led to intermingling and adoption of local customs and idolatry.

c. 1050 BC onwards

Cycles of Sin and Discipline

Israel's failure to obey led to periods of oppression by surrounding nations, followed by repentance and deliverance, only to fall back into sin. This cycle persisted through the period of the Judges.

c. 1000 BC

United Monarchy

Kings David and Solomon ruled a united Israel. While a time of great power and prosperity, the underlying issues of syncretism and incomplete obedience to God's commands continued.