Judges 1 · WEB
Incomplete Conquest
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After the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked Yahweh, saying, "Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them?"
2Yahweh said, "Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand."
3Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot." So Simeon went with him.
4Judah went up, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they struck ten thousand men in Bezek.
5They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him; and they struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6But Adoni-Bezek fled; and they pursued after him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.
7Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, gathered food under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
9Afterward, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the South, and in the lowland.
10Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba); and they struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher.
12Caleb said, "He who strikes Kiriath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife."
13Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.
14When she came, she moved him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?"
15She said to him, "Give me a blessing; since you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16The children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of 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 lived with the people.
17Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.
18Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border.
19Yahweh was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
20They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he drove out the three sons of Anak.
21The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them.
23The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. Now the name of the city before was Luz.
24The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you."
25He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.
26The man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.
27Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites persisted in living in that land.
28When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn't utterly drive them out.
29Ephraim didn't drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30Zebulun didn't drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor.
31Asher didn't drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor Ahlab, nor Achzib, nor Helbah, nor Aphik, nor Rehob;
32but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they didn't drive them out.
33Naphtali didn't drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became subject to forced labor for them.
34The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country; for they would not allow them to come down to the valley.
35But the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor.
36The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
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Summary
After Joshua's death, the tribe of Judah leads the initial military campaign into Canaan, achieving significant victories in the south. However, the chapter reveals a pattern of incomplete obedience — tribe after tribe fails to fully drive out the Canaanites, instead settling for coexistence or forced labor arrangements. This failure to complete the conquest sets the stage for the spiritual and moral problems that will dominate the rest of the book.
Themes
- Partial obedience and its consequences
- The tension between divine promise and human faithfulness
- Tribal identity and cooperation (or lack thereof)
- The danger of compromise with surrounding cultures
Key verses
- Judg 1:19 — “Yahweh was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.”
- Judg 1:2 — “Yahweh said, 'Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.'”
- Judg 1:28 — “When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn't utterly drive them out.”
Context & background
The events of Judges take place throughout Canaan — modern Israel, West Bank, and parts of Jordan and Lebanon. Chapter 1 covers the military campaigns of Judah in the south (modern West Bank/Negev region) and the failures of northern tribes in the Jezreel Valley and coastal plain. Hebron (modern West Bank) was assigned to Caleb as promised in Numbers 14. The Philistine cities of Gaza and Ashkelon mentioned here are in the modern Gaza Strip and southwestern Israel. The mention of iron chariots reflects the technological advantage of Canaanite city-states in the valleys during the Late Bronze Age.
Cross-references
- Deut 7:1-5 — God's command to utterly drive out the Canaanites, which Israel failed to obey
- Josh 15:16-19 — Caleb's offer of Achsah parallels the account of Othniel capturing Debir
- Josh 17:16 — Iron chariots also hindered Manasseh and Ephraim from full conquest
- Josh 1:1-3 — God's original commission after Joshua, which Judges 1 follows
- Num 13:22 — The sons of Anak at Hebron were among the spies' greatest fears