Lyrics · Judges
The Cycle Began
Judges 1:1-2:23
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About this song
About this song
This song belongs to the Judges collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.
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- Judges
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Named in this songHebronJericho
About the passage
Judges 1: A promising beginning weakened by incomplete obedience
Judges 1 opens with Israel doing the right first thing: asking the LORD who should advance after Joshua’s death. Judah goes with Simeon, victories follow, and Caleb’s household receives its inheritance, including Achsah’s practical request for springs that make southern land livable. Then the chapter’s vocabulary changes. Iron chariots remain in the valleys, Benjamin does not remove the Jebusites, and tribe after tribe leaves Canaanite populations in place. Some are made tributaries, which can look like control while still falling short of the commission. By the end, Dan is being forced into the hill country. A chapter that begins with direction and conquest therefore closes with accommodation, incomplete possession, and a striking reversal of who is pushing whom.
Study Judges 1 in depthJudges 2: The covenant charge and the cycle of the judges
Judges 2 supplies the interpretive key for the rest of the book. The angel of the LORD begins with God’s covenant faithfulness and asks Israel why it has not obeyed. The people weep at Bochim, but the chapter quickly shows that sorrow alone will not preserve covenant memory. Joshua’s generation passes away, another generation does not know the LORD or his works, and Israel turns to Baal and Ashtaroth. From there the cycle becomes explicit: rebellion brings oppression, distress leads to divine compassion, the LORD raises judges, and deliverance lasts while the judge lives. Afterward the people return to corruption, often worse than before. The remaining nations become a test, exposing whether Israel will walk in the way of the LORD rather than merely desire relief from its enemies.
Study Judges 2 in depth


