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Judges 3:4
ESV They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
NIV They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.
NASB They were left to test Israel by them, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses.
CSB The Lord left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the Lord’s commands he had given their fathers through Moses.
NLT These people were left to test the Israelites — to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses.
KJV And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.
NKJV And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

What does Judges 3:4 mean?

This verse restates again why the Lord allowed all the nations listed in the previous verse to continue to exist. His original command to Israel was to entirely remove those cultures from the region (Deuteronomy 20:16–17). This was, in part, to prevent Israel from imitating those depraved, evil practices (Deuteronomy 20:18). Another was to punish the Canaanites for those very sins (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4–5). Since Israel refused to complete their mission (Judges 2:20), God chose to use the remaining Canaanites to serve His own plans (Judges 2:21–23). Even in their battles and wars against Yahweh's people Israel, they would prove and accomplish God's purposes.

God intended to use these nations and their oppression of His people as a test. When faced with oppression by foreign enemies, would God's people turn to Him in faithfulness for help or would they continue to stubbornly turn to false gods in hopes of being rescued by them? Naturally, God already knew the outcome of those events. This "testing" is in the sense of a demonstration: repeatedly showing the truth about how Israel would respond to their own sin and God's correction.
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