Chapter One

An account of the events that took place immediately after the death of Joshua and an indication of how the tribe of Judah, as well as other tribes of the Hebrew people, fulfilled the commandment of Moses regarding the extermination of the Canaanite peoples from their allotments (Exod 23:29-33; Deut 7:1-5; Num 33:52).

Judges 1:1. After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel asked the Lord, saying: Which of us shall go up first against the Canaanites to fight against them? After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord which of the Israelite tribes should go first against the Canaanites. This inquiry was made through the Urim and Thummim, which, after the death of the high priest Eleazar, passed to his son Phinehas (Judg 20:28).

Judges 1:2. And the Lord said: Judah shall go; behold, I have given the land into his hand. In response to the Israelites’ question, the Lord said that the tribe of Judah should rise to battle against the Canaanites before all the others. The tribe of Judah was more populous and warlike compared to the others (Num 1:26-27, Gen 49:8-9, Deut 33:7), and therefore it was natural for it to go first into battle against the enemies of all the people, as this also occurred in the matter against the Benjaminites (Judg 20:18).

Judges 1:3. Then Judah said to Simeon his brother: Come up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; and I also will go with you into your allotment. And Simeon went with him. Going out to battle against the Canaanites according to the Lord’s command, the tribe of Judah invited the tribe of Simeon to go with it, as the one nearest to it and as having a portion of its allotment within the tribe of Judah (cf. Josh 19:1-8).

Judges 1:4. And Judah went, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they defeated ten thousand of them at Bezek. With God’s help, the warriors of the tribes of Judah and Simeon who went out together defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites living in Bezek, and killed ten thousand men of them. The Bezek mentioned here is identified by Conder with a small place called Ibzik, located to the northeast of Shechem (Nablus), cf. 1 Sam 11:8. Concerning the Canaanites and Perizzites see Exod 3:8 and parallel passages.

Judges 1:5. At Bezek they met Adoni-bezek, fought against him, and defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites. At Bezek they encountered and overpowered the very ruler of this city, Adoni-bezek, among the others, and he took flight. The name Adoni-bezek (lord of Bezek) was a common title for the rulers of the city of Bezek, just as “Pharaoh” was for the rulers of Egypt, “Abimelech” for the rulers of Gerar, and “Melchizedek” for the rulers of Jerusalem.

Judges 1:6. Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and captured him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Captured during the pursuit, Adoni-bezek suffered punishment at the hands of the Israelites: his thumbs and big toes were cut off. Such mutilation of the defeated was quite common in antiquity. According to Aelian’s testimony, the Athenians subjected the Aeginetans to similar injury, cutting off the thumbs on their right hand so they could not wield a spear (Var. hist. II, 9). Alexander the Macedonian, having taken Persepolis, found eight hundred Greek captives there whom the Persian kings had dismembered in various ways.

Judges 1:7. Then Adoni-bezek said: Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off gathered crumbs under my table; as I did, so God has repaid me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. In this severe punishment of Adoni-bezek, he himself rightly saw God’s retribution for his own cruelty toward the defeated rulers of cities and towns whom he had himself subjugated by cutting off their thumbs and big toes, and who, like dogs, fed on scraps from his table. Brought to Jerusalem, Adoni-bezek died there.

Judges 1:8. And the sons of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it, and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. In the time of Joshua, Jerusalem was not conquered by the Israelites (Josh 15:63). And in this case the conquest applies only to the lower part of the city, adjoining the allotment of the tribe of Judah, while the upper part, the fortress of Zion, adjoining the tribe of Benjamin, remained afterward in the possession of the Jebusites who lived there until King David (2 Sam 5:6-9).

Judges 1:9. Then the sons of Judah went to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the lowlands. After the capture of Bezek and the lower part of Jerusalem, the warriors of the tribes of Judah and Simeon directed themselves against the Canaanites living in the mountainous country situated between Jerusalem and Hebron (cf. Luke 1:39), to the south (Negeb) of it—toward Kadesh—and also in the lowlands (Shephelah) located to the west of the spurs of the hills of Judah, along the Mediterranean coast.

Judges 1:10. And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron—the name of Hebron was formerly Kirjath-arba—and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai of the sons of Anak. Judges 1:11. From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir; the name of Debir was formerly Kirjath-sepher. Judges 1:12. And Caleb said: Who strikes Kirjath-sepher and takes it, I will give him Achsah, my daughter, as a wife. Judges 1:13. And Othniel, son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, took it, and Caleb gave him Achsah his daughter as a wife. Judges 1:14. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field, and she alighted from the donkey. Caleb said to her: What is it that you want? Judges 1:15. She said to him: Give me a blessing; since you have given me the land of the Negev, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. See explanations to Josh 15:13-19. The account of the conquest of Hebron and Debir is repeated here on account of the importance of this event for history.

Judges 1:16. And the sons of Jethro the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, went up from the City of Palms with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is south of Arad, and went and settled among the people. After the tribe of Judah had conquered the territory situated to the south of Hebron, in this territory, the wilderness of Judah, south of the city of Arad (cf. Num 21:1), whose traces are preserved in the modern Tell Arad (to the south of Maon according to Robinson), along with the Israelites of the tribe of Judah there also settled the Kenites, descendants of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, who had migrated here from Jericho (the City of Palms). Concerning the Kenites see Num 10:29.

Judges 1:17. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath and devoted it to destruction; so the city was called Hormah. In their victorious expedition, the warriors of the tribes of Judah and Simeon also conquered the Canaanite city of Zephat, subjecting its inhabitants to slaughter, and placing the settlement itself under a curse (herem), on account of which it was called Hormah (cf. Num 21:3). The ruins of Zephat many think to see in the locality of Sebeta, in the northern part of the Wilderness of Sin.

Judges 1:18. Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory, and Ashdod with its surroundings. The tribe of Judah during this war subdued even Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron with their territories, although it did not possess them permanently.

Judges 1:19. The Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country; but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had iron chariots. The tribe of Judah took possession of the mountainous country, but could not overcome the dwellers in the valleys and the Canaanites who lived there, because they possessed iron chariots, which were impractical in rocky terrain but very useful for military operations in the valleys.

Judges 1:20. They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak. Cf. Josh 15:13-14; Num 14:24; Deut 1:36.

Judges 1:21. But the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem the sons of Benjamin did not drive out; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. Cf. Josh 15:63, and verse 8 above. Jerusalem was located on the border of two tribes: Judah and Benjamin. While the tribe of Judah, as is clear from verse 8, managed to reconquer the part adjoining its allotment, the tribe of Benjamin could not achieve this with respect to its part, and therefore was forced to tolerate the Jebusites living there until the time of King David (2 Sam 5:6-9).

Judges 1:22. And the sons of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. The sons of Joseph, namely the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, set out against Bethel, which was part of the allotment of the tribe of Benjamin (Josh 18:21-22), but was adjacent to the tribe of Ephraim on the south. According to Eusebius of Caesarea (Onomasticon, 209, 55 etc.), Bethel was located at a distance of twelve miles from Jerusalem, at the site of modern Beitin.

Judges 1:23. And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel—the name of the city was formerly Luz. Concerning the former name of Bethel—Luz—see Gen 28:19 and Josh 16:2.

Judges 1:24. And the men of the city saw a man coming out of the city, and they took him and said to him: Show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you. Judges 1:25. And he showed them the way into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. Judges 1:26. And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and called its name Luz. This is its name to this day. The warriors of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh made use of the services of a traitor when taking the city of Bethel (formerly Luz). After the capture of the city and the destruction of its population, they set this man and his relatives free in gratitude for the help rendered, after which he withdrew to the land of the Hittites, situated between the Euphrates and the Orontes, and there built a city, naming it after the former name of Bethel—Luz. The remains of this city are thought to be seen in the locality of Luweizia, near El-Gajar, to the northeast of Tell el-Kadi.

Judges 1:27. And Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, nor Taanach and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; but the Canaanites were resolved to dwell in this land. The tribe of Manasseh could not drive out the Canaanites from certain cities and their surroundings, so that the Canaanites continued to live there. Cf. Josh 17:11-12.

Judges 1:28. But when Israel grew strong, then they made the Canaanites serve as laborers, but they did not utterly drive them out. The zeal of the Israelites in driving out the Canaanites from their allotments, which manifested itself in the first period after the death of Joshua, subsequently waned; instead of driving out the Canaanites, the Israelites made them their tribute-payers, thereby violating the testament of Moses (Deut 20:17-18). Cf. the beginning of Chapter 1 above.

Judges 1:29. And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer, so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them and served them as laborers. Judges 1:30. And Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites dwelt among them and became their laborers. Judges 1:31. And Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or Ahlab, or Achzib, or Helbah, or Aphik, or Rehob. Judges 1:32. And Asher dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for he did not drive them out. Judges 1:33. And Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became their forced laborers. The names are given of the cities belonging to the allotments of different tribes in which unconquered Canaanites remained: Gezer (Tell Jezer), cf. Josh 16:10, Kitron, identified with the one mentioned in Josh 19:15, Kittat, Nahalol, identified with the one mentioned in Josh 19:15, Nahalal (probably the modern Malul to the west of Nazareth), Acco—a city with a harbor at the mouth of the Wadi Bella on the Mediterranean Sea, later Ptolemais, now Saint-Jean-d’Acre, Sidon—lying on the seashore (cf. Josh 19:28), Ahlab—called in the Talmud Gush-Halav, by Josephus—Giscala, now El-Gis; Achzib, cf. Josh 19:29, Helbah, mentioned in Josh 19:29 under the name Hevela (cf. the Russo-Viennese translation of the Book of Joshua, as well as the Oxford revised Bible translation), is identified with the place Makhaliba mentioned in Sennacherib’s inscription (campaign against Hezekiah), Aphik and Rehob, cf. Josh 19:30, Num 13:22, Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath, cf. Josh 19:38. The abundance of Canaanites remaining in these cities led to this part of the Israelite land being called “heathen Galilee” (Matt 4:15).

Judges 1:34. And the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan back to the hill country; they would not allow them to come down to the plain. Judges 1:35. And the Amorites remained to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, and they became their forced laborers. Judges 1:36. And the border of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and beyond. If in the northern tribes the passivity of the Israelites with respect to the former inhabitants of the conquered territory manifested itself only in the waning of their zeal in driving them out, then in the tribe of Dan it took the character of even a certain straitness of the Israelites themselves. The Amorites who had lived there previously remained in this territory after the settlement of the tribe of Dan, occupying Mount Heres, identified with Ir-Shemesh (Josh 19:41), Aijalon, Shaalbim (cf. Josh 19:42), and in general the territory lying between Idumea and the tribe of Dan, from the Ascent of Akrabbim, south of the Dead Sea (cf. Num 34:4) to Sela, that is, Petra (cf. Josh 19:47-48), and thus confining the Danites. Only later did the Amorites become the forced laborers of the tribe of Ephraim.