CHAPTER 1. SUCCESS AND FAILURE. THE SUCCESS AND OBEDIENCE OF JUDAH AND SIMEON (JUDGES 1:1). After the death of Joshua the children of Israel enquired of Yahweh which tribes should first go up against the remaining Canaanites. Judah was ordered to go up, and with Simeon had success against the Cana... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SUCCESS AND OBEDIENCE OF JUDAH AND SIMEON (JUDGES 1:1). After the death of Joshua the children of Israel enquired of Yahweh which tribes should first go up against the remaining Canaanites. Judah was ordered to go up, and with Simeon had success against the Canaanites under Adonibezek, whom the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Yahweh said, “Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand ” ' “AND YAHWEH SAID.” This would be through the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21). Questions would be phrased and then the Urim and Thummim used to obtain the answer ‘yes' or ‘no reply'. There is no... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And in the same way I will go with you into your lot.” So Simeon went with him.' “AND JUDAH SAID TO SIMEON HIS BROTHER.” The leaders of Judah sought an alliance with Simeon for their task... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Judah went up. And Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hand. And they smote of those in Bezek ten eleph men.' “AND JUDAH WENT UP.” Judah was obedient to Yahweh's command ‘go up' (Judges 1:2). God had said ‘go up' and they ‘went up'. Simeon went along with them. “AND YAHW... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they found Adonibezek in Bezek, and they fought against him, and they smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites.' Adonibezek (‘my lord is Bezek') was a powerful local king, mentioned because he was seen as a dangerous foe. But like the others he could not stand up to the onslaught of Judah and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ But Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.' Adonibezek fled but was captured, and then they cut off his thumbs and his great toes. This was to disable him to prevent him from causing further trouble, for he was a formidable foe. But... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Adonibezek said, “Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table. As I have done, so God has requited me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem and there he died.' He received what was his due for he had done this to his enemies and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.' This may have been the lower city, or a temporary occupation of the whole. Contrast Joshua 15:63. But that was a statement of the general position with regard to th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And afterwards the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the hill country, and in the south, and in the lowland.' The invasion under Joshua had defeated the forces that had come against it, had weakened the Canaanites, and had subdued parts of the land, especial... [ Continue Reading ]
REFERRAL BACK TO PREVIOUS CONQUESTS BY JUDAH IN THE TIME OF JOSHUA (JUDGES 1:10). Judges 1:10 ‘ And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron. Now the name of Hebron was previously Kiriath-arba. And they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai ' The first attack was on the hill country.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir before was Kiriath-sepher.' After Hebron Caleb's next object was Debir, a city at the southern end of the Judean hills. It is called Kiriath-sannah (city of palm leaf) in Joshua 15:49. Here it is called Kiriath-sepher... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Caleb said, “He who smites Kiriath-sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife”.' This was a kind of test of suitability. Chief's daughters were given to mighty champions to ensure continual strong leadership. Compare Saul's offer in 1 Samuel 17:25. It is understandabl... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it, and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.' It was probably Kenaz who was Caleb's younger brother. The son and daughter were thus cousins. Othniel was probably Caleb's hope in the first place. ‘Son of Kenaz' might simply indicate t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And it happened that when she came to him, she moved him to ask of her father a field, and she lighted from her ass, and Caleb said to her, “What is it you want?” And she said to him, “Give me a blessing, for you have set me in the land of the South. Give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of the Kenite, Moses' brother-in-law (or ‘father-in-law'), went up from the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, and they went and dwelt with the people.' “THE CHILDREN OF THE KENITE, MOSES” brother-in-law' (the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it, and the name of the city was called Hormah.' The alliance continued their work by capturing Zephath. The impression given is that it was in Simeonite territory as ‘Judah went wit... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Also Judah took Gaza, with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border.' These were city states in the coastal plain, from Gaza in the south to Ekron in the north, a distance of thirty to forty miles. No mention is made of Gath or Ashdod, which along with Gaza was where Ana... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Yahweh was with Judah, and he drove out inhabitants of the hill country, for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron.' The hill country was permanently and solely possessed, but not the coastal plain. The idea is not that Yahweh could not, no such... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.' This repeats what has already been described in Judges 1:10 with the addition that Hebron and its surrounding area was specifically allotted to Caleb and his family in accordance with the word o... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD'S ACTIVITIES THROUGH THE OTHER TRIBES AND THEIR DISOBEDIENCE (JUDGES 1:21). Judges 1:21 ‘ And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem. But the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.' This seems to mean that they could... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them.' It appears that Bethel, having possibly (but not necessarily) been taken along with Ai in the days of Joshua 8, had again been occupied by Canaanites after the Israelites moved on. It lay on the borders of the s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. Now the name of the city was previously Luz ' Scouts were sent out to weigh up the situation and bring back information that would aid in the attack. The fact that Yahweh was with them did not excuse them from sensible behaviour. “NOW THE NAME OF T... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the spies saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Show us, we pray you, the way in to the city, and we will deal with you with kindness”.' The spies managed to capture a man who had left the city, innocent of the fact that an enemy was so close. Then he was taken for questionin... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And he showed them the way in to the city, and they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man go and all his family.' “AND HE SHOWED THEM THE WAY IN TO THE CITY.” He betrayed his fellow Canaanites and showed them a means by which they could enter the city. “AND THEY SMOTE T... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.' The man left Canaan with his family and reaching the land of the Hittites built a new city, calling it Luz, possibly as a kind of guilt offering for what he had done. The Hitt... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Manasseh, did not drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns. But the Canaanites would dwell in the land.' The tribe of Man... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And it happened that when Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to taskwork and did not utterly drive them out.' At one stage or another Israel obtained control of these cities and their surrounding villages, but when they did so they did not drive the Canaanites out, but allowed them... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.' Gezer was in the hill country and easier to subdue. It was on the road from Jerusalem to Joppa, on the most northern ridge of the Shephelah, overlooking the Ayyalon valley. But when the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributary.' These cities are probably the Kattath and Nahalal of Joshua 19:15 and were probably sited at the northern end of the plain of Jezreel. But they have not... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob.' These cities were mainly in the plain of Acco. Rehob means ‘open place, market place' and is mentioned in a list of Raamses II placing it in the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.' Note the significance of the words. They ‘dwelt among the Canaanites'. It may be that they simply went and dwelt amongst them and made no attempt to drive them out.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath, but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, and of Bethanath became tributary to them.' Like Asher, Naphtali lived among the Canaanites, bu... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley.' These Amorites were a strong group occupying, (but not solely), extensive land. Unfortunately for Dan they were in Dan's territory around Aijalon and resisted all attempts... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ But the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributary.' These Amorites occupied extensive lands (but not as sole occupants) going from Aijalon in the north to Akkrabim, below the Dead Sea, in the south... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upwards.' Akkrabim was a mountain pass at the southern end of the Dead Sea (Numbers 34:4; Joshua 15:3), between the Arabah (the rift valley of Jordan) and the hill country of Judah. Sela means ‘the rock' and could be us... [ Continue Reading ]