1 And it cometh to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel ask at Jehovah, saying, `Who doth go up for us unto the Canaanite, at the commencement, to fight against it?'
2 And Jehovah saith, `Judah doth go up; lo, I have given the land into his hand.'
3 And Judah saith to Simeon his brother, `Go up with me into my lot, and we fight against the Canaanite -- and I have gone, even I, with thee into thy lot;' and Simeon goeth with him.
4 And Judah goeth up, and Jehovah giveth the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they smite them in Bezek -- ten thousand men;
5 and they find Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fight against him, and smite the Canaanite and the Perizzite.
6 And Adoni-Bezek fleeth, and they pursue after him, and seize him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes,
7 and Adoni-Bezek saith, `Seventy kings -- their thumbs and their great toes cut off -- have been gathering under my table; as I have done so hath God repaid to me;' and they bring him in to Jerusalem, and he dieth there.
8 And the sons of Judah fight against Jerusalem, and capture it, and smite it by the mouth of the sword, and the city they have sent into fire;
9 and afterwards have the sons of Judah gone down to fight against the Canaanite, inhabiting the hill-country, and the south, and the low country;
10 and Judah goeth unto the Canaanite who is dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron formerly `is' Kirjath-Arba), and they smite Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.
11 And he goeth thence unto the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir formerly `is' Kirjath-Sepher),
12 and Caleb saith, `He who smiteth Kirjath-Sepher -- and hath captured it -- then I have given to him Achsah my daughter for a wife.'
13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, doth capture it, and he giveth to him Achsah his daughter for a wife.
14 And it cometh to pass in her coming in, that she persuadeth him to ask from her father the field, and she lighteth from off the ass, and Caleb saith to her, `What -- to thee?'
15 And she saith to him, `Give to me a blessing; when the south land thou hast given me -- then thou hast given to me springs of water; and Caleb giveth to her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, have gone up out of the city of palms with the sons of Judah `to' the wilderness of Judah, which `is' in the south of Arad, and they go and dwell with the people.
17 And Judah goeth with Simeon his brother, and they smite the Canaanite inhabiting Zephath, and devote it; and `one' calleth the name of the city Hormah.
18 And Judah captureth Gaza and its border, and Askelon and its border, and Ekron and its border;
19 and Jehovah is with Judah, and he occupieth the hill-country, but not to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they have chariots of iron.
20 And they give to Caleb Hebron, as Moses hath spoken, and he dispossesseth thence the three sons of Anak.
21 And the Jebusite, inhabiting Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin have not dispossessed; and the Jebusite dwelleth with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, till this day.
22 And the house of Joseph go up -- even they -- to Beth-El, and Jehovah `is' with them;
23 and the house of Joseph cause `men' to spy about Beth-El (and the name of the city formerly is Luz),
24 and the watchers see a man coming out from the city, and say to him, `Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance of the city, and we have done with thee kindness.'
25 And he sheweth them the entrance of the city, and they smite the city by the mouth of the sword, and the man and all his family they have sent away;
26 and the man goeth to the land of the Hittites, and buildeth a city, and calleth its name Luz -- it `is' its name unto this day.
27 And Manasseh hath not occupied Beth-Shean and its towns, and Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Iblaim and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in that land;
28 and it cometh to pass, when Israel hath been strong, that he setteth the Canaanite to tribute, and hath not utterly dispossessed it.
29 And Ephraim hath not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, in Gezer.
30 Zebulun hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, and they become tributary.
31 Asher hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Zidon, and Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob;
32 and the Asherite dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, for it hath not dispossessed them.
33 Naphtali hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, and the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, and he dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath have become tributary to them.
34 And the Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not suffered them to go down to the valley;
35 and the Amorite is desirous to dwell in mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and the hand of the house of Joseph is heavy, and they become tributary;
36 and the border of the Amorite `is' from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock and upward.
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Commentary on Judges 1 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 1
Jud 1:1-3. The Acts of Judah and Simeon.
1. Now after the death of Joshua—probably not a long period, for the Canaanites seem to have taken advantage of that event to attempt recovering their lost position, and the Israelites were obliged to renew the war.
the children of Israel asked the Lord—The divine counsel on this, as on other occasions, was sought by Urim and Thummim, by applying to the high priest, who, according to Josephus, was Phinehas.
saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first—The elders, who exercised the government in their respective tribes, judged rightly, that in entering upon an important expedition, they should have a leader nominated by divine appointment; and in consulting the oracle, they adopted a prudent course, whether the object of their inquiry related to the choice of an individual commander, or to the honor of precedency among the tribes.
2. the Lord said, Judah shall go up—The predicted pre-eminence (Ge 49:8) was thus conferred upon Judah by divine direction, and its appointment to take the lead in the ensuing hostilities was of great importance, as the measure of success by which its arms were crowned, would animate the other tribes to make similar attempts against the Canaanites within their respective territories.
I have delivered the land into his hand—not the whole country, but the district assigned for his inheritance.
3. Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me …, that we may fight against the Canaanites—Being conterminous tribes (Jos 19:1, 2), they had a common interest, and were naturally associated in this enterprise.
Jud 1:4-21. Adoni-bezek Justly Requited.
5, 6. Bezek—This place lay within the domain of Judah, about twelve miles south of Jerusalem.
found Adoni-bezek—that is, "lord of Bezek"—he was "found," that is, surprised and routed in a pitched battle, whence he fled; but being taken prisoner, he was treated with a severity unusual among the Israelites, for they "cut off his thumbs and great toes." Barbarities of various kinds were commonly practised on prisoners of war in ancient times, and the object of this particular mutilation of the hands and feet was to disable them for military service ever after. The infliction of such a horrid cruelty on this Canaanite chief would have been a foul stain on the character of the Israelites if there were not reason for believing it was done by them as an act of retributive justice, and as such it was regarded by Adoni-bezek himself, whose conscience read his atrocious crimes in their punishment.
7. Threescore and ten kings—So great a number will not appear strange, when it is considered that anciently every ruler of a city or large town was called a king. It is not improbable that in that southern region of Canaan, there might, in earlier times, have been even more till a turbulent chief like Adoni-bezek devoured them in his insatiable ambition.
8. Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it—The capture of this important city, which ranks among the early incidents in the war of invasion (Jos 15:63), is here noticed to account for its being in the possession of the Judahites; and they brought Adoni-bezek thither [Jud 1:7], in order, probably, that his fate being rendered so public, might inspire terror far and wide. Similar inroads were made into the other unconquered parts of Judah's inheritance [Jud 1:9-11]. The story of Caleb's acquisition of Hebron is here repeated (Jos 15:16-19). [See on Jos 15:16.]
16. the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah—called "the Kenite," as probably descended from the people of that name (Nu 24:21, 22). If he might not himself, his posterity did accept the invitation of Moses (Nu 10:32) to accompany the Israelites to Canaan. Their first encampment was in the "city of palm trees"—not Jericho, of course, which was utterly destroyed, but the surrounding district, perhaps En-gedi, in early times called Hazezon-tamar (Ge 14:7), from the palm-grove which sheltered it. Thence they removed for some unknown cause, and associating themselves with Judah, joined in an expedition against Arad, in the southern part of Canaan (Nu 21:1). On the conquest of that district, some of this pastoral people pitched their tents there, while others migrated to the north (Jud 4:17).
17-29. And Judah went with Simeon his brother—The course of the narrative is here resumed from Jud 1:9, and an account given of Judah returning the services of Simeon (Jud 1:3), by aiding in the prosecution of the war within the neighboring tribes.
slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath—or Zephathah (2Ch 14:10), a valley lying in the southern portion of Canaan.
Hormah—destroyed in fulfilment of an early vow of the Israelites (see on Nu 21:2). The confederate tribes, pursuing their incursions in that quarter, came successively to Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron, which they took. But the Philistines seem soon to have regained possession of these cities.
19. the Lord was with Judah; … but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley—The war was of the Lord, whose omnipotent aid would have ensured their success in every encounter, whether on the mountains or the plains, with foot soldiers or cavalry. It was distrust, the want of a simple and firm reliance on the promise of God, that made them afraid of the iron chariots (see on Jos 11:4-9).
21. the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem—Judah had expelled the people from their part of Jerusalem (Jud 1:8). The border of the two tribes ran through the city—Israelites and natives must have been closely intermingled.
Jud 1:22-26. Some Canaanites Left.
22, 23. the house of Joseph—the tribe of Ephraim, as distinguished from Manasseh (Jud 1:27).
24. the spies … said, … Show us, … the entrance into the city—that is, the avenues to the city, and the weakest part of the walls.
we will show thee mercy—The Israelites might employ these means of getting possession of a place which was divinely appropriated to them: they might promise life and rewards to this man, though he and all the Canaanites were doomed to destruction (Jos 2:12-14); but we may assume the promise was suspended on his embracing the true religion, or quitting the country, as he did. If they had seen him to be firmly opposed to either of these alternatives, they would not have constrained him by promises any more than by threats to betray his countrymen. But if they found him disposed to be serviceable, and to aid the invaders in executing the will of God, they might promise to spare him.
26. Luz—(See on Ge 12:7; Ge 28:18).
27-36. The same course of subjugation was carried on in the other tribes to a partial extent, and with varying success. Many of the natives, no doubt, during the progress of this exterminating war, saved themselves by flight and became, it is thought, the first colonists in Greece, Italy, and other countries. But a large portion made a stout resistance and retained possession of their old abodes in Canaan. In other cases, when the natives were vanquished, avarice led the Israelites to spare the idolaters, contrary to the express command of God; and their disobedience to His orders in this matter involved them in many troubles which this book describes.