Psalm 106:35-38
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The verse highlights that the Israelites didn't just live among other nations; they actively learned their ways. This wasn't just about picking up bad habits; it was a deliberate assimilation that led them to abandon God's commands and adopt the practices of the surrounding peoples, ultimately drawing them into idolatry and sin.
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)
The psalm recounts Israel's history of disobedience, highlighting how they failed to fully drive out the Canaanite nations as God commanded. This led to close interaction, intermarriage, and ultimately, the adoption of the surrounding peoples' idolatrous practices and sinful ways, a repeated pattern of failure throughout their journey.
God commanded Israel to drive out the nations, not out of cruelty, but for their own protection. Why was this separation so crucial?
The Command to Separate
God's instructions to Israel were clear: drive out the Canaanites. This wasn't arbitrary. It was about spiritual and moral protection. The nations living in Canaan practiced idolatry, immorality, and even child sacrifice. Engaging with them, even through trade or alliances, was a direct path to spiritual compromise.
The Downward Spiral
When Israel did mingle with these nations, particularly through intermarriage and daily interaction, the consequences were severe. They didn't elevate the nations; they were corrupted by them.
It wasn't just grand acts of rebellion that led Israel astray. Sometimes, it was the everyday interactions that proved most dangerous.
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More Than Just Dwelling Together
The psalmist highlights that Israel 'mixed with the nations.' This wasn't just about coexisting geographically. It implies alliances, commercial dealings, and especially intermarriage, as noted in commentaries.
The Slippery Slope
This close contact created a fertile ground for compromise. The very people God commanded Israel to destroy to preserve their purity became the means of their downfall. The danger wasn't in the nations themselves necessarily, but in the influence they exerted.
Understand the original words
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 reflects a critical turning point where Israel, instead of fully obeying God's command to purge Canaan, chose to co-exist, leading to disastrous spiritual contamination. The consequences echoed throughout their history, ultimately contributing to their exile.
c. 1406 BC
Israel Enters the Promised Land
After 40 years in the wilderness, Joshua leads the Israelites into Canaan, fulfilling God's promise to give them the land.
c. 1400-1300 BC
Partial Conquest of Canaan
The Israelites conquer much of the land but fail to drive out all the inhabitants as God commanded, leaving a persistent presence of Canaanite peoples.
Judges period (c. 1380 BC onwards)— this verse
Intermingling and Assimilation
Israelites begin to live alongside the remaining Canaanites, engaging in trade, forming alliances, and intermarrying, contrary to God's direct commands.
Judges 3:5-7
Learning Canaanite Practices
The people of Israel adopt the religious and cultural practices of the Canaanites, including idolatry and other detestable acts, leading to spiritual compromise.
During the Monarchy (c. 1050 BC - 586 BC)
Continued Syncretism
Even during the period of the kings, the tendency to blend Israelite worship with Canaanite practices persists, often leading to cycles of apostasy and divine discipline.
586 BC
Exile of Judah
As a consequence of persistent disobedience and assimilation with surrounding nations, the southern kingdom of Judah is conquered by Babylon, and its people are exiled.
This passage directly illustrates the consequence of Israel 'mingling with the nations,' showing how they began to serve the Baals and abandon the Lord.
Romans 12:2Paul's exhortation to not be conformed to the world echoes the warning in Psalms, highlighting the ongoing danger of adopting the practices of those around us.
1 Corinthians 15:33This verse serves as a timeless proverb about the corrupting influence of bad associations, directly mirroring the outcome described in Psalms 106:35.
Ezra 9:2This passage shows a later generation of Israelites falling into the same trap of 'mingling' through intermarriage, leading to a similar spiritual compromise.
2 Corinthians 6:14-17This New Testament passage provides a strong parallel by warning believers against being unequally yoked with unbelievers, emphasizing the need for separation to avoid spiritual contamination.
pulpitPsalms 106:35: "But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works."
Verse 35. - But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. This was the effect of the continuous contact. "Evil communications corrupted good manners." The command to exterminate, which to moderns seems so terribly severe, and almost cruel, was undoubtedly based upon God's foreknowledge of the fact, that otherwise there would be contact, and if contact, then contamination. (For the actual fact, see Judge…
cambridgePsalms 106:35: "But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works."
35 . But mingled themselves with the nations (R.V.), by matrimonial alliances ( Ezra 9:2 ) and intercourse generally ( Jdg 3:5-6 ).
The verse highlights that the Israelites didn't just live among other nations; they actively learned their ways. This wasn't just about picking up bad habits; it was a deliberate assimilation that led them to abandon God's commands and adopt the practices of the surrounding peoples, ultimately drawing them into idolatry and sin.
The psalm recounts Israel's history of disobedience, highlighting how they failed to fully drive out the Canaanite nations as God commanded. This led to close interaction, intermarriage, and ultimately, the adoption of the surrounding peoples' idolatrous practices and sinful ways, a repeated pattern of failure throughout their journey.
The psalm recounts Israel's history of disobedience, highlighting how they failed to fully drive out the Canaanite nations as God commanded. This led to close interaction, intermarriage, and ultimately, the adoption of the surrounding peoples' idolatrous practices and sinful ways, a repeated pattern of failure throughout their journey.
"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 verse highlights that the Israelites didn't just live among other nations; they actively learned their ways. This wasn't just about picking up bad habits; it was a deliberate assimilation tha…
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Last reviewed October 2026
