The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
Even though the Israelites had defeated some of the Canaanites in various battles during Joshua’s day, significant groups within the Canaanite tribes remained in the land (Judges 3:3; Judges 3:5). [Note: See Yohanan Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, map 68, p. 50, for a map that illustrates the limits of Israelite control.] The Sidonians (Judges 3:3) were the Phoenicians, Sidon being Phoenicia’s chief port until about 1100 B.C. when Tyre began to eclipse it. [Note: The New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed., s.v. "Sidon," by D. J. Wiseman; Wolf, p. 396.] These enemies (Judges 3:5) represented the whole of Canaan: the Philistines on the southwest, the Sidonians on the northwest, the Hivites on the northeast, and the Canaanites on the southeast. The Israelites then proceeded to marry them and worship with them (Judges 3:6). From "the people served the Lord" (Judges 2:7) they had degenerated to the point that they "served their gods" (Judges 3:6).