Military and Political Conditions During the Time of the Judges

1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel asked the Lord, “Who should go up against the Canaanites for us? Who of us should be the first to wage war against them?”

² The Lord said, “Judah should go up. I have handed over the land to them.”

³ So the tribe of Judah said to the tribe of Simeon, their brothers, “Go up with us to the territory that has been allotted to us, and together we will wage war against the Canaanites. We also will come with you into your allotment.” So Simeon went with Judah.

⁴ When Judah went up, the Lord delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hand. At Bezek the Israelites struck down ten thousand men. ⁵ They encountered Adoni-Bezek at Bezek, and they waged war against him and struck down the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶ Adoni-Bezek fled, but they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.

⁷ So Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with their thumbs and their big toes cut off, had to scrounge for scraps of food under my table. God has repaid me with exactly what I did to them.” Israel brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ The men of Judah waged war against Jerusalem and captured it. They struck the city with the edge^[a] of the sword and set it on fire.

⁹ After that, the men of Judah went down to wage war against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the Shephelah.^{[b] 10} Judah went up against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron before this was Kiriath Arba). There they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

¹¹ From there they went up against those who lived at Debir (the name of Debir before this was Kiriath Sepher). ¹² Then Caleb said, “To the one who attacks Kiriath Sepher and takes it, I will give my daughter Aksah as his wife.”

¹³ Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother,^[c] captured it. So Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him as his wife.

¹⁴ She came to Othniel and pressured him to ask her father for pastureland.^[d] As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” ¹⁵ She said to him, “Give me this blessing: Since you gave me land in the dry Negev, give me springs of water also.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶ The descendants of the Kenite father-in-law of Moses went up with the people of Judah from the City of Palms^[e] to the part of the Wilderness of Judah that was in the Negev near Arad. They went and lived there among the people.

¹⁷ The tribe of Judah went along with the tribe of Simeon, its brother tribe. Together they struck down the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They devoted the city to destruction and named the city Hormah.^{[f] 18} Judah also captured Gaza with its border region, Ashkelon with its border region, and Ekron with its border region.