The big picture
Joshua, the leader who brought Israel into its land, has died. Israel, the people God rescued, asks who should fight next. Judah and Simeon, two of its tribes, agree to help each other. Their gains include towns and fields, but the work remains uneven. Some enemies resist. Others are forced to pay tribute instead of being driven out. The opening chapter moves from shared action toward a record of unfinished tasks.
In this chapter
- Judah Takes the Lead in Battle Judges 1:1-7
God names Judah to lead and promises to give it the land.
- Victory Does Not Reach Every Town Judges 1:8-21
Judah burns Jerusalem and fights through hills, southern land and valleys.
- Many Peoples Remain Among the Tribes Judges 1:22-36
Joseph's tribes capture Beth-el after a man shows them an entrance.
Central truth
Israel gains towns through God's help, yet many tribes leave peoples in place and fail to complete the work assigned.
Scripture beside the summary
Judges · King James Version · 36Judges 1:1-7
Judah Takes the Lead in Battle
God names Judah to lead and promises to give it the land. Judah asks Simeon to help, offering the same help in return. Together they kill ten thousand Canaanites and Perizzites, peoples already living there. They capture Adoni-bezek, a ruler who flees the battle. They cut off his thumbs and big toes. He recalls doing that to seventy kings who ate scraps under his table. He sees his own pain as God's repayment. Taken to Jerusalem, a captured town, he dies there.
In everyday life
A prison chaplain listens as a fallen gang leader recalls people he once humiliated. The man now lacks the power that kept their suffering out of view. He begins to name harm he formerly dismissed. The chaplain hears remorse, not a reason to inflict new pain. Adoni-bezek actually suffers the mutilation he once ordered.
Notice
Judges 1:7 The captured ruler links his treatment with acts he ordered against others. The account gives his own view of the reversal without making the cruelty less severe.
Judges 1:1-7
King James Version1Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
2And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.
3And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.
4And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.
5And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
7And Adoni-bezek 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 hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
Judges 1:8-21
Victory Does Not Reach Every Town
Judah burns Jerusalem and fights through hills, southern land and valleys. Caleb, an Israelite leader, offers his daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who takes Debir. Othniel takes it and marries her. She asks Caleb for springs to make her land useful, and he grants them. Judah and Simeon gain more towns, while related Kenite families settle nearby. Yet iron chariots keep Judah from driving out the valley people. Benjamin, another tribe, also leaves Jerusalem's Jebusites in place. Gains do not mean the whole land is secured.
In everyday life
A housing inspector walks through newly completed flats, then stops beside a block still cut off from water. Many keys have been handed over, but the project is not finished. She marks the remaining work on the plan rather than counting every address as ready. Judah's gains involve conquest and bloodshed, not building contracts.
Notice
Judges 1:15 Achsah asks for water as well as land. The springs turn a place on a boundary list into ground that can actually support daily life.
Judges 1:8-21
King James Version8Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
9And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.
10And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.
11And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher:
12And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
13And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
14And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?
15And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.
16And the 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 lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
17And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.
18Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.
19And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
20And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.
21And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
Judges 1:22-36
Many Peoples Remain Among the Tribes
Joseph's tribes capture Beth-el after a man shows them an entrance. They spare his family, but kill the town's people. The man leaves and founds another town called Luz, Beth-el's former name. Other tribes fail to drive out local peoples from many towns. When Israel grows strong, it makes some pay tribute instead. Asher lives among the Canaanites, while the Amorites force Dan into the hills. The list shows different degrees of control, not one complete victory shared equally across all the tribes.
In everyday life
The drainage foreman reads a report marked complete, then finds that several blocked channels remain. Some crews have worked around the trouble and others collect fees from those using the old routes. The original task has quietly changed. Israel's unfinished duty concerns peoples and God's command, not a repair schedule.
Notice
Judges 1:28 Israel leaves people in place even after becoming strong. The failure is not always lack of power; tribute becomes an accepted alternative to the assigned task.
Judges 1:22-36
King James Version22And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el: and the LORD was with them.
23And the house of Joseph sent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)
24And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.
25And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.
26And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.
27Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean 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 that land.
28And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.
29Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
30Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.
31Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:
32But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.
33Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them.
34And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:
35But 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 tributaries.
36And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Judges 1:1 begins with “Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to…”
Where the chapter turns
Judges 1:14 forms a natural hinge: “And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What…”
The final note
Judges 1:36 leaves the reader with “And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words inhabitants, Canaanites, Judah, city, drive, children help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
