The Book of Judges

After Joshua was dead, Judah was constituted captain. 6 Adoni-Bezek is taken. 14 The request of Achsah. 16 The children of Keni. 23 The Canaanites are made tributaries, but not destroyed.

After that Joshua was dead, the children of Israel [a]asked the Lord, saying, [b]Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites to fight first against them?

And the Lord said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have given the land into his hand.

And Judah said unto Simeon his [c]brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites: and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot: so Simeon went with him.

Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

And they found [d]Adoni-Bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and slew the Canaanites, and the Perizzites.

But Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued after him, and caught him, and [e]cut off the thumbs of his hands and of his feet.

And Adoni-Bezek said, Seventy Kings having the thumbs of their hands and of their feet cut off, gathered bread under my table: as I have done, so God hath rewarded me, so they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

(Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and hath taken it and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and had set the [f]city on fire.)

¶ Afterward also the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and toward the South, and in the low country.

10 And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron, which Hebron beforetime was called (A)Kirjath Arba: and they slew [g]Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

11 And from thence he went to the inhabitants of Debir, and the name of Debir in old time was Kirjath Sepher.

12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath Sepher, and taketh it, even to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz Caleb’s younger brother took it, to whom he gave Achsah his daughter to wife.

14 And when she came to him, she moved him to ask of her father a field, [h]and she lighted off her ass, and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?

15 And she answered him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a South country, give me also Springs of water: and Caleb gave her the springs above, and the springs beneath.

16 ¶ And the children of [i]Keni Moses’ father-in-law went up out of the city of the palm trees with the children of Judah, into the wilderness of Judah, that lieth in the South of Arad, and went and dwelt among the people.

17 But Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it, and called the name of the city (B)Hormah.

18 Also Judah took [j]Gaza with the coasts thereof, and Ashkelon with the coasts thereof, and Ekron with the coasts thereof.

19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he possessed the mountains: for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valleys, because they had chariots of iron.

20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as (C)Moses had said, and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.

21 But the children of Benjamin did not cast out the Jebusites, that [k]inhabited Jerusalem: therefore the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

22 ¶ They also that were of the house of Joseph, went up to Bethel, and the Lord was with them,

23 And the house of Joseph caused to view Bethel (and the name of the city beforetime was (D)Luz.)

24 And the spies saw a man come out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the way into the city, (E)and we will show thee mercy.

25 And when he had showed them the way into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his household depart.

26 Then the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day.

27 (F)Neither did Manasseh destroy Beth Shean with her towns, nor Taanach with her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor with her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam with her towns, neither the inhabitants of Megiddo with her towns: [l]but the Canaanites dwelled still in that land.

28 Nevertheless when Israel was strong, they put the Canaanites to tribute, and expelled them not wholly.

29 (G)Likewise Ephraim expelled not the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

30 ¶ Neither did [m]Zebulun expel the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

31 ¶ Neither did Asher cast out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob,

32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them [n]out.

33 ¶ Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath, but dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, and of Beth Anath became tributaries unto them.

34 And the Amorites [o]drove the children of Dan into the mountain: so that they suffered them not to come down to the valley.

35 And the Amorites [p]dwelt still in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and when the [q]hand of Joseph’s family prevailed, they became tributaries:

36 And the coast of the Amorites was from Maaleh-Akrabbim, even from [r]Sela and upward.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 1:1 By the judgment of Urim, read Exod. 28:30; Num. 27:21; 1 Sam. 28:6.
  2. Judges 1:1 Who shall be our captain?
  3. Judges 1:3 For the tribe of Simeon had their inheritance within the tribe of Judah, Josh. 19:1.
  4. Judges 1:5 Or, the lord of Bezek.
  5. Judges 1:6 This was God’s just judgment, as the tyrant himself confesseth, that as he had done, so did he receive, Lev. 24:19,20.
  6. Judges 1:8 Which was afterward built again, and possessed by the Jebusites, 2 Sam. 5:6.
  7. Judges 1:10 These three were giants, and the children of Anak.
  8. Judges 1:14 Read Josh. 15:18.
  9. Judges 1:16 This was one of the names of Moses’ father-in-law, read Num. 10:29.
  10. Judges 1:18 These cities and others were afterward possessed of the Philistines, 1 Sam. 6:17.
  11. Judges 1:21 For after that the tribe of Judah had burnt it, they built it again.
  12. Judges 1:27 Wherefore God permitted the Canaanites to dwell still in the land, read Judg. 3:5.
  13. Judges 1:30 That is, the tribe of Zebulun as is also to be understood of the rest.
  14. Judges 1:32 But made them pay tribute as the others did.
  15. Judges 1:34 Or, afflicted them.
  16. Judges 1:35 Or, would dwell.
  17. Judges 1:35 Meaning, when he was stronger than they.
  18. Judges 1:36 Which was a city in Arabia, or as some read, from the rock.

Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites(A)

After the death(B) of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first(C) to fight against the Canaanites?(D)

The Lord answered, “Judah(E) shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.(F)

The men of Judah then said to the Simeonites their fellow Israelites, “Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.” So the Simeonites(G) went with them.

When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites(H) into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.(I) It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek(J) and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back(K) for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem,(L) and he died there.

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem(M) also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

After that, Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country,(N) the Negev(O) and the western foothills. 10 They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron(P) (formerly called Kiriath Arba(Q)) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.(R) 11 From there they advanced against the people living in Debir(S) (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).

12 And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.

14 One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him[a] to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”

15 She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.(T)

16 The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law,(U) the Kenite,(V) went up from the City of Palms[b](W) with the people of Judah to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.(X)

17 Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites(Y) their fellow Israelites and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed[c] the city. Therefore it was called Hormah.[d](Z) 18 Judah also took[e] Gaza,(AA) Ashkelon(AB) and Ekron—each city with its territory.

19 The Lord was with(AC) the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country,(AD) but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron.(AE) 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron(AF) was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak.(AG) 21 The Benjamites, however, did not drive out(AH) the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem;(AI) to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

22 Now the tribes of Joseph(AJ) attacked Bethel,(AK) and the Lord was with them. 23 When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz),(AL) 24 the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.(AM) 25 So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared(AN) the man and his whole family. 26 He then went to the land of the Hittites,(AO) where he built a city and called it Luz,(AP) which is its name to this day.

27 But Manasseh did not(AQ) drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor(AR) or Ibleam(AS) or Megiddo(AT) and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites(AU) were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely.(AV) 29 Nor did Ephraim(AW) drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer,(AX) but the Canaanites continued to live there among them.(AY) 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them, but Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher(AZ) drive out those living in Akko or Sidon(BA) or Ahlab or Akzib(BB) or Helbah or Aphek(BC) or Rehob.(BD) 32 The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh(BE) or Beth Anath(BF); but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites(BG) confined the Danites(BH) to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain.(BI) 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres,(BJ) Aijalon(BK) and Shaalbim,(BL) but when the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass(BM) to Sela(BN) and beyond.(BO)

Footnotes

  1. Judges 1:14 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate Othniel, he urged her
  2. Judges 1:16 That is, Jericho
  3. Judges 1:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  4. Judges 1:17 Hormah means destruction.
  5. Judges 1:18 Hebrew; Septuagint Judah did not take