Discovery BoxExodus 23:33 
Context23:33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare 1 to you.”
Exodus 34:12
Context34:12 Be careful not to make 2 a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare 3 among you.
1 tn The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about contact with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business. They were very syncretistic, and so it would be dangerous to settle among them.
2 tn The exact expression is “take heed to yourself lest you make.” It is the second use of this verb in the duties, now in the Niphal stem. To take heed to yourself means to watch yourself, be sure not to do something. Here, if they failed to do this, they would end up making entangling treaties.
3 sn A snare would be a trap, an allurement to ruin. See Exod 23:33.
