Judah Fights the Canaanites

1 After Joshua died, the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] asked the ·Lord [or Yahweh; ^Cthe translation “Lord” (all caps) represents the divine name YHWH, usually pronounced “Yahweh”], “Who will ·be first to go and [lead the] fight for us against the Canaanites?”

² The Lord said to them, “·The tribe of Judah [^LJudah] will go. [^LLook; ^TBehold] I have ·handed the land over to them [^Lgiven the land into his hand].”

³ ·The men of Judah [^LJudah] said to ·the men of Simeon, their relatives [^Lhis brother Simeon], “Come and help us fight the Canaanites for our ·land [allotment]. If you do, we will go and help you fight for your ·land [allotment].” So ·the men of Simeon [^LSimeon] went with them [^CSimeon’s land lay within Judah; Josh. 19:1].

⁴ When Judah attacked, the Lord handed over the Canaanites and the Perizzites to them, and they defeated ten thousand men at the city of Bezek. ⁵ ·There [^LAt Bezek] they found Adoni-Bezek [^Cthe ruler of the city], and fought him. The men of Judah defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites, ⁶ but Adoni-Bezek ran away. The men of Judah chased him, and when they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes [^Csuch mutilation was common in the ancient Near East, rendering a king unfit for military service or priestly functions; Lev. 8:23–24].

⁷ Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings whose thumbs and big toes had been cut off used to eat scraps that fell from my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” The men of Judah took Adoni-Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ Then the ·men [^Lsons] of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They ·attacked with their swords [^Lstruck it with the edge of the sword] and burned the city [^Ca temporary conquest; David later captured the city; 2 Sam. 5:7].

⁹ Later, they went down to fight the Canaanites who lived in the mountains, in the ·dry [or hill] country ·to the south [^Lin the Negev], and in the ·western hills [or lowland]. ¹⁰ ·The men of Judah [^LJudah] went to fight against the Canaanites in the city of Hebron (which used to be called Kiriath Arba [Gen. 13:18; 23:2; Josh. 14:15]). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai [Num. 13:22; Josh. 15:14].

Caleb and His Daughter

¹¹ Then they left there and went to fight against the people living in Debir. (In the past Debir had been called Kiriath Sepher.) ¹² Before attacking the city, Caleb said, “I will give Acsah, my daughter, as a wife to the man who attacks and captures the city of Kiriath Sepher.” ¹³ Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured the city, so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife. ¹⁴ When Acsah came to ·Othniel [^Lhim; ^Ccould be Othniel or Caleb], she ·told him to ask [or asked] her father for a field. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?” [Josh. 15:16–18]

¹⁵ Acsah answered him, “·Do me a special favor [^LGive me a blessing]. Since you have given me land in ·southern Canaan [^Lthe Negev], also give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs [Josh. 15:19].

Fights with the Canaanites

¹⁶ The ·Kenite people, who were from the family of [^Lsons/descendants of the Kenite] Moses’ father-in-law [Ex. 2:16], left the city of palm trees [^CJericho]. They went with the men of Judah to the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Judah to live with them there in ·southern Judah [^Lthe Negev] near the city of Arad.

¹⁷ The men of Judah and the men of Simeon [1:3], their ·relatives [brothers], defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They ·completely destroyed the city [devoted it to the Lord for destruction; see Josh. 2:10; 6:17–19], so they called it Hormah [^Csounds like Hebrew for “total destruction”]. ¹⁸ The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron [^CPhilistine cities along the coast], and the lands around them.