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.”
Judges 1:19-36
New Living Translation
Israel Fails to Conquer the Land
19 The Lord was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains, who had iron chariots. 20 The town of Hebron was given to Caleb as Moses had promised. And Caleb drove out the people living there, who were descendants of the three sons of Anak.
21 The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin.
22 The descendants of Joseph attacked the town of Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 They sent men to scout out Bethel (formerly known as Luz). 24 They confronted a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Show us a way into the town, and we will have mercy on you.” 25 So he showed them a way in, and they killed everyone in the town except that man and his family. 26 Later the man moved to the land of the Hittites, where he built a town. He named it Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people living in Beth-shan,[a] Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all their surrounding settlements, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region. 28 When the Israelites grew stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they never did drive them completely out of the land.
29 The tribe of Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites continued to live there among them.
30 The tribe of Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites continued to live among them. But the Canaanites were forced to work as slaves for the people of Zebulun.
31 The tribe of Asher failed to drive out the residents of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob. 32 Instead, the people of Asher moved in among the Canaanites, who controlled the land, for they failed to drive them out.
33 Likewise, the tribe of Naphtali failed to drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. Instead, they moved in among the Canaanites, who controlled the land. Nevertheless, the people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were forced to work as slaves for the people of Naphtali.
34 As for the tribe of Dan, the Amorites forced them back into the hill country and would not let them come down into the plains. 35 The Amorites were determined to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but when the descendants of Joseph became stronger, they forced the Amorites to work as slaves. 36 The boundary of the Amorites ran from Scorpion Pass[b] to Sela and continued upward from there.
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