1And it happened after the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel inquired of Jehovah, saying, Who shall first go up for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them? 2And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up. Behold, I have given the land into his hand. 3And Judah said to his brother Simeon, Go up with me into my lot, and we shall fight against the Canaanites. And I also will go with you into your lot. And Simeon went with him. 4And Judah went up, and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. And they struck them in Bezek, ten thousand men. 5And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, and fought against him, and struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6And Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7And Adoni-bezek said, Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to be gathering scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8And the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and captured it, and struck it with the mouth of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the mountains, and the Negeb, and the lowlands. 10And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (and the name of Hebron was formerly City of Arba) and they struck Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. 11And from there he went against the ones living in Debir, and the name of Debir formerly was City of Sepher. 12And Caleb said, He who strikes the City of Sepher and captures it, I shall give my daughter Achsah to him for a wife. 13And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, the younger one, captured it. And he gave his daughter Achsah to him for a wife. 14And it happened as she came, she persuaded him to ask a field from her father. And she dismounted from the ass. And Caleb said to her, What do you desire? 15And she said to him, Give a blessing to me. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, also you shall give springs of water to me. And Caleb gave the upper springs and the lower springs to her. 16And the sons of the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses, had 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 went and lived with the people. 17And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath and destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. 18And Judah captured Gaza and its border, and Ashkelon and its border, and Ekron and its border. 19And Jehovah was with Judah, and he dispossessed the hills, but did not dispossess the ones living in the valley, for they had chariots of iron. 20And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. And He dispossessed the three sons of Anak from there. 21And the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. And the Jebusites live with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem until this day. 22And the house of Joseph went up, they also against Bethel. And Jehovah was with them. 23And the house of Joseph sent to spy around Bethel, and the name of the city formerly was Luz. 24And those keeping watch saw a man coming out from the city and said to him, Let us see the entrance of the city, and we will deal with you with mercy. 25And he showed them the entrance of the city. And they struck the city with the mouth of the sword; and they sent away the man and all his family. 26And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and called its name Luz; it is its name to this day. 27And Manasseh had not dispossessed Beth-shean and its daughter-villages, or Taanach and its daughter-villages, nor struck the ones living in Dor and its daughter-villages, nor the ones living in Ibleam and its daughter-villages; or the ones living in Megiddo and its daughter-villages. For the Canaanites desired to live in that land. 28But it happened when Israel became strong, it happened that they put the Canaanites to tribute, but did not completely dispossess them. 29And Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, and the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer. 30Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and they became forced-laborers. 31And Asher did not dispossess the ones living in Accho, and the ones living in Sidon, and Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob. 32And the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the ones living in the land, for they did not dispossess them. 33Naphtali did not dispossess the ones living in Beth-shemesh, and the ones living in Beth-anath, and they lived among the Canaanites, the ones living in the land. But the ones living in Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced-laborers to them. 34And the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan into the hills, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley. 35But the Amorites were determined to live in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became forced-laborers. 36And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock and upward.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE ACTS OF JUDAH AND SIMEON. (
Judg 1:1-
Judg 1:3)
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 (
Gen 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 (
Josh 19:1-
Josh 19:2), they had a common interest, and were naturally associated in this enterprise.
5 ADONI-BEZEK JUSTLY REQUITED. (Jdg. 1:4-21)
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 (
Josh 15:63), is here noticed to account for its being in the possession of the Judahites; and they brought Adoni-bezek thither [
Judg 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 [
Judg 1:9-
Judg 1:11]. The story of Caleb's acquisition of Hebron is here repeated (
Josh 15:16-
Josh 15:19). [See on
Josh 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 (
Num 24:21-
Num 24:22). If he might not himself, his posterity did accept the invitation of Moses (
Num 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 (
Gen 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 (
Num 21:1). On the conquest of that district, some of this pastoral people pitched their tents there, while others migrated to the north (
Judg 4:17).
17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother--The course of the narrative is here resumed from
Judg 1:9, and an account given of Judah returning the services of Simeon (
Judg 1:3), by aiding in the prosecution of the war within the neighboring tribes.
slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath--or Zephathah (
2Chr 14:10), a valley lying in the southern portion of Canaan.
Hormah--destroyed in fulfilment of an early vow of the Israelites (see on
Num 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
Josh 11:4-
Josh 11:9).
21 the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem--Judah had expelled the people from their part of Jerusalem (
Judg 1:8). The border of the two tribes ran through the city--Israelites and natives must have been closely intermingled.
22 SOME CANAANITES LEFT. (
Judg 1:22-
Judg 1:26)
the house of Joseph--the tribe of Ephraim, as distinguished from Manasseh (
Judg 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 (
Josh 2:12-
Josh 2:14); 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
Gen 12:7;
Gen 28:18).
27 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.