Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to prove Israel by them, even as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
"All the Canaanites ..."  (Judges 3:3).  All of the nations which are mentioned here as being left by the Lord in Canaan actually include all of the "seven nations" enumerated in  Deuteronomy 7:1, except the Gergasites, but, of course, a very large percentage of all these peoples had been defeated by Joshua and removed from the land occupied by Israel.  Therefore, it appears certain that Moore's observation is correct that, "These words cannot refer to unconquered Canaanites in Israel's territory, but to a compact (and diverse) population on its borders."[4]  Dummelow also restricted the meaning of "the Canaanites" in this passage to those living in the lowlands, the Shephelah, in the Southwest adjacent to the Philistines."[5]