Judges 1:16-18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
16 (A)The descendants of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law,[a] came up with the Judahites from the City of Palms to the wilderness of Arad, which is in the Negeb, and they settled among the Amalekites. 17 (B)Then Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They put the city under the ban and renamed it Hormah.[b](C) 18 Judah captured Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, Ekron with its territory, and Ashdod[c] with its territory.(D)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1:16 Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law: as in 4:11. However, in Nm 10:29 Hobab is identified as Moses’ brother-in-law, while Reuel is identified as Moses’ father-in-law (see also Ex 2:18). The more common name of Moses’ father-in-law is Jethro, also a Midianite (e.g., Ex 3:1). It is impossible to sort out the relationships among these three men in the ancient traditions. City of Palms: Jericho (cf. Dt 34:3) or a town in the Negeb.
- 1:17 The ban…Hormah: the narrator relates the city-name “Hormah” to “the ban” (Hebrew herem), which commanded the Israelites to devote to the Lord—and thus to destroy—whatever was captured within the land (cf. Dt 20:10–18).
- 1:18 Gaza…Ashkelon…Ekron…Ashdod: four of the five major cities of the Philistines (see note on 3:3). Since these cities were on the coastal plain, the statement that Judah captured them is contrary to v. 19, which notes Judah’s failure to drive out the inhabitants of the lowlands. In the Septuagint the problem is removed by changing the beginning of this verse to read “Judah did not dispossess….”
Judges 1:16-18
New International Version
16 The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law,(A) the Kenite,(B) went up from the City of Palms[a](C) with the people of Judah to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.(D)
17 Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites(E) their fellow Israelites and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed[b] the city. Therefore it was called Hormah.[c](F) 18 Judah also took[d] Gaza,(G) Ashkelon(H) and Ekron—each city with its territory.
Footnotes
- Judges 1:16 That is, Jericho
- Judges 1:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Judges 1:17 Hormah means destruction.
- Judges 1:18 Hebrew; Septuagint Judah did not take
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