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Judges 1:1-18
Lexham English Bible

Israel Continues Its Conquest

1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites[a] inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites[b] to fight against them?” 2 And Yahweh said, “Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment.” And Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites[c] and the Perizzites[d] into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites[e] and the Perizzites.[f] 6 And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes.[g] 7 Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes[h] cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

8 The descendants[i] of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, put it to the sword,[j] and set the city on fire.[k] 9 Afterward the descendants[l] of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites[m] who were living in the hill country, the Negev,[n] and the Shephelah.[o] 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites[p] living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron was Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir was Kiriath Sepher). 12 And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife.” 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife. 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”[q] 15 And she said to him, “Give me a gift;[r] you have given me the land of the Negev,[s] and give me also a spring of water.” And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring.[t]

16 The descendants[u] of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the descendants[v] of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the Negev[w] near Arad. And they went[x] and settled with the people. 17 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites[y] inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah. 18 Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 1:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Judges 1:1 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  3. Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  4. Judges 1:4 Hebrew “Perizzite”
  5. Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  6. Judges 1:5 Hebrew “Perizzite”
  7. Judges 1:6 Literally “the thumbs of his hands and feet”
  8. Judges 1:7 Literally “the thumbs of their hands and feet”
  9. Judges 1:8 Or “sons/children”
  10. Judges 1:8 Literally “they struck it with the mouth of the sword”
  11. Judges 1:8 Literally “the city they sent away with fire”
  12. Judges 1:9 Or “sons/children”
  13. Judges 1:9 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  14. Judges 1:9 An arid region south of the Judean hills
  15. Judges 1:9 A geographical region associated with an area of low country on the western edge of the Judaean hills.
  16. Judges 1:10 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  17. Judges 1:14 Literally “What is for you?”
  18. Judges 1:15 Literally “blessing”
  19. Judges 1:15 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
  20. Judges 1:15 Judges 1:11–15 is almost identical to Joshua 15:13–19
  21. Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
  22. Judges 1:16 Or “sons/children”
  23. Judges 1:16 An arid region south of the Judaean hills
  24. Judges 1:16 Hebrew “he went”
  25. Judges 1:17 Hebrew “Canaanite”
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Judges 1:1-18
New English Translation

Judah Takes the Lead

1 After Joshua died, the Israelites asked[a] the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?”[b] 2 The Lord said, “The men of Judah should take the lead.[c] Be sure of this! I am handing the land over to them.”[d] 3 The men of Judah said to their relatives, the men of Simeon,[e] “Invade our allotted land with us and help us attack the Canaanites.[f] Then we[g] will go with you into your allotted land.” So the men of Simeon went with them.

4 The men of Judah attacked,[h] and the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They killed 10,000 men at Bezek. 5 They met[i] Adoni-Bezek at Bezek and fought him. They defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 When Adoni-Bezek ran away, they chased him and captured him. Then they cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick up[j] food scraps[k] under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them.”[l] They brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. 8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They put the sword to it and set the city on fire.

9 Later the men of Judah went down to attack the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev,[m] and the foothills.[n] 10 The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites living in Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 From there they attacked the people of Debir.[o] (Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher.) 12 Caleb said, “To the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher I will give my daughter Achsah as a wife.” 13 When Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother,[p] captured it, Caleb[q] gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife.

14 One time Achsah[r] came and charmed her father[s] so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?” 15 She answered, “Please give me a special present.[t] Since you have given me land in the Negev, now give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.[u]

16 Now the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of date palm trees[v] to Arad in the wilderness of Judah,[w] located in the Negev.[x] They went and lived with the people of Judah.[y]

17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon[z] and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath.[aa] So people now call the city Hormah.[ab] 18 The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the territory surrounding each of these cities.[ac]

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 1:1 tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, shaʾal) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”
  2. Judges 1:1 tn Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”
  3. Judges 1:2 tn Heb “Judah should go up.”
  4. Judges 1:2 tn The Hebrew exclamation הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally, “Behold”), translated “Be sure of this,” draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”
  5. Judges 1:3 tn Heb “Judah said to Simeon, his brother.”
  6. Judges 1:3 tn Heb “Come up with me into our allotted land and let us attack the Canaanites.”
  7. Judges 1:3 tn Heb “I.” The Hebrew pronoun is singular, agreeing with the collective singular “Judah” earlier in the verse. English style requires a plural pronoun here, however.
  8. Judges 1:4 tn Heb “Judah went up.”
  9. Judges 1:5 tn Or “found.”
  10. Judges 1:7 tn Elsewhere this verb usually carries the sense of “to gather; to pick up; to glean,” but “lick up” seems best here in light of the peculiar circumstances described by Adoni-Bezek.
  11. Judges 1:7 tn The words “food scraps” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
  12. Judges 1:7 tn Heb “Just as I did, so God has repaid me.” Note that the phrase “to them” has been supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.
  13. Judges 1:9 sn The Negev is the area of central, southern Judah, south of the hill country and Beer Sheba and west of the rift valley.
  14. Judges 1:9 sn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the region between the Judean hill country and the Mediterranean coastal plain.
  15. Judges 1:11 tn Heb “they went from there against the inhabitants of Debir.” The LXX reads the verb as “they went up,” which suggests that the Hebrew text translated by the LXX read וַיַּעַל (vayyaʿal) rather than the MT’s וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh). It is possible that this is the text to be preferred in v. 11. Cf. Josh 15:15.
  16. Judges 1:13 tn “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel was Caleb’s nephew; so CEV).
  17. Judges 1:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Caleb) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  18. Judges 1:14 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Achsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  19. Judges 1:14 tn Heb “him.” The pronoun could refer to Othniel, in which case one would translate, “she incited him [Othniel] to ask her father for a field.” This is problematic, however, for Achsah, not Othniel, makes the request in v. 15. The LXX has “he [Othniel] urged her to ask her father for a field.” This appears to be an attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency and probably does not reflect the original text. If Caleb is understood as the referent of the pronoun, the problem disappears. For a fuller discussion of the issue, see P. G. Mosca, “Who Seduced Whom? A Note on Joshua 15:18 // Judges 1:14, ” CBQ 46 (1984): 18-22. The translation takes Caleb to be the referent, specified as “her father.”
  20. Judges 1:15 tn Elsewhere the Hebrew word בְרָכָה (verakhah) is often translated “blessing,” but here it refers to a gift (as in Gen 33:11; 1 Sam 25:27; 30:26; 2 Kgs 5:15).
  21. Judges 1:15 tn Some translations regard the expressions “springs of water” (גֻּלֹּת מָיִם, gullot mayim) and “springs” (גֻּלֹּת) as place names here (cf. NRSV).
  22. Judges 1:16 sn The city of date palm trees refers to Jericho. See Deut 34:3.
  23. Judges 1:16 tc Part of the Greek ms tradition lacks the words “of Judah.”
  24. Judges 1:16 tn Heb “[to] the wilderness of Judah in the Negev, Arad.”
  25. Judges 1:16 tn The phrase “of Judah” is supplied here in the translation. Some ancient textual witnesses read, “They went and lived with the Amalekites.” This reading, however, is probably influenced by 1 Sam 15:6 (see also Num 24:20-21).
  26. Judges 1:17 tn Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”
  27. Judges 1:17 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  28. Judges 1:17 sn The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).
  29. Judges 1:18 tn Heb “The men of Judah captured Gaza and its surrounding territory, Ashkelon and its surrounding territory, and Ekron and its surrounding territory.”
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