Judges 1:19-36
New American Standard Bible
19 Now the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not [a]drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had (A)iron chariots. 20 Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, (B)as Moses had [b]promised; and he drove out from there (C)the three sons of Anak. 21 (D)But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the (E)Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 Likewise the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 The house of Joseph had men spy out Bethel ((F)the name of the city previously was Luz). 24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and (G)we will treat you kindly.” 25 So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, (H)but they let the man and all his family go free. 26 Then the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and named it Luz, [c]which is its name to this day.
Places Not Conquered
27 (I)But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so (J)the Canaanites persisted in living in this land. 28 And it came about, when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor; but they did not drive them out completely.
29 And (K)Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of [d]Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or of Rehob. 32 So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.
34 Then the Amorites [e]forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 yet the Amorites persisted in living on Mount Heres, in Aijalon and Shaalbim; but when the [f]power of the house of Joseph [g]grew strong, they became forced labor. 36 The border of the Amorites ran from the (L)ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 1:19 Or dispossess
- Judges 1:20 Lit spoken
- Judges 1:26 Lit it
- Judges 1:30 Perhaps same as Nahalal
- Judges 1:34 Lit pushed
- Judges 1:35 Lit hand
- Judges 1:35 Lit was heavy
Judges 1:19-36
New English Translation
19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered[a] the hill country, but they could not[b] conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels.[c] 20 Caleb received[d] Hebron, just as Moses had promised. He drove out the three Anakites. 21 The men of Benjamin, however, did not conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day.[e]
Partial Success
22 When the men[f] of Joseph attacked[g] Bethel, the Lord was with them. 23 When the men of Joseph spied out Bethel (it used to be called Luz), 24 the spies spotted[h] a man leaving the city. They said to him, “If you show us a secret entrance into the city, we will reward you.” 25 He showed them a secret entrance into the city, and they put the city to the sword. But they let the man and his extended family leave safely. 26 He[i] moved to Hittite country and built a city. He named it Luz, and it has kept that name to this very day.
27 The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shean, Taanach, or their surrounding towns. Nor did they conquer the people living in Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo or their surrounding towns.[j] The Canaanites managed[k] to remain in those areas.[l] 28 Whenever Israel was strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.
29 The men of Ephraim did not conquer the Canaanites living in Gezer. The Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.
30 The men of Zebulun did not conquer the people living in Kitron and Nahalol.[m] The Canaanites lived among them and were forced to do hard labor.
31 The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco or Sidon, nor did they conquer Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.[n] 32 The people of Asher live among the Canaanites residing in the land because they did not conquer them.
33 The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath.[o] They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites[p] living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.
34 The Amorites forced the people of Dan to live in the hill country. They did not allow them to live in[q] the coastal plain. 35 The Amorites managed[r] to remain in Har Heres,[s] Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily,[t] the Amorites were forced to do hard labor. 36 The border of Amorite territory ran from the Scorpion Ascent[u] to Sela and on up.[v]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 1:19 tn Or “seized possession of”; or “occupied.”
- Judges 1:19 tc Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.
- Judges 1:19 tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.
- Judges 1:20 tn Heb “they gave to Caleb.”
- Judges 1:21 sn The statement to this very day reflects the perspective of the author, who must have written prior to David’s conquest of the Jebusites (see 2 Sam 5:6-7).
- Judges 1:22 tn Heb “house.” This is a metonymy for the warriors from the tribe.
- Judges 1:22 tn Heb “went up.”
- Judges 1:24 tn Heb “saw.”
- Judges 1:26 tn Heb “the man.”
- Judges 1:27 tn Heb “The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shean and its surrounding towns, Taanach and its surrounding towns, the people living in Dor and its surrounding towns, the people living in Ibleam and its surrounding towns, or the people living in Megiddo and its surrounding towns.”
- Judges 1:27 tn Or “were determined.”
- Judges 1:27 tn Heb “in this land.”
- Judges 1:30 tn Heb “the people living in Kitron and the people living in Nahalol.”
- Judges 1:31 tn Heb “The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco, the people living in Sidon, Ahlab, Acco, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.”
- Judges 1:33 tn Heb “the people living in Beth Shemesh or the people living in Beth Anath.”
- Judges 1:33 tn The term “Canaanites” is supplied here both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
- Judges 1:34 tn Heb “come down into.”
- Judges 1:35 tn Or “were determined.”
- Judges 1:35 tn Or “Mount Heres”; the term הַר (har) means “mount” or “mountain” in Hebrew.
- Judges 1:35 tn Heb “Whenever the hand of the tribe of Joseph was heavy.”
- Judges 1:36 tn Or “the Ascent of Scorpions” (עַקְרַבִּים [ʿaqrabbim] means “scorpions” in Hebrew).
- Judges 1:36 tn Or “Amorite territory started at the Pass of the Scorpions at Sela and then went on up.”
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