Judges1
English Standard Version
1 the of , the of of the Lord, shall for us against the , to against them?
2The Lord , shall ; , I have the into his .
3And to his , Come with me into the territory me, that we may against the . And I likewise will with you into the territory . So with him.
4Then and the Lord the and the into their , and they at .
5They Adoni-bezek at and against him and the and the .
6 , but they him and him and his and his .
7And , with their and their used to pick up under my . As I have , has me. And they him to , and he there.
8And the of against and it and it with the of the and the on .
9And the of to against the who in the , in the , and in the .
10And against the who in (now the of was ), and they and and .
11From there they against the of . The of was .
12And , He who and it, I will him my for a .
13And the of , , it. And he him his for a .
14When she to him, she him to her for a . And she from her , and to her, do you want?
15She to him, me a . you have me in the of the , me also of . And her the and the .
16And the of the , ’ , with the of from the of into the of , which lies in the , and they and with the .
17And with his , and they the who and devoted it to . So the of the was .
18 also with its , and with its , and with its .
19And the Lord was with , and he took possession of the , he could the of the they had of .
20And was to , had . And he drove from it the of .
21But the of did the who in , so the have with the of in to .
22The of also against , and the Lord was with them.
23And the of . ( Now the of the was .)
24And the a out of the , and they to him, us the into the , and we will with you.
25And he them the into the . And they the with the of the , but they let the and his .
26And the to the of the and a and its . is its to .
27 did the inhabitants of and its , or and its , or the of and its , or the of and its , or the of and its , for the in in that .
28When grew , they the to , but did .
29And did the who in , so the in them.
30 did the of , or the of , so the them, but became subject to .
31 did the of , or the of or of or of or of or of or of ,
32so the the , the of the , they did .
33 did the of , or the of , so they the , the of the . Nevertheless, the of and of became subject to for them.
34The the of back into the , they did them to to the .
35The in in , in , and in , but the of the of on them, and they became subject to .
36And the of the ran from the of , from and .
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Judges 1.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Proceedings of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. (1–8). Hebron and other cities taken. (9–20). The proceedings of other tribes. (21–36).
vv1-8
The Israelites were convinced that the war against the Canaanites was to be continued; but they were in doubt as to the manner in which it was to be carried on after the death of Joshua. In these respects they inquired of the Lord. God appoints service according to the strength he has given. From those who are most able, most work is expected. Judah was first in dignity, and must be first in duty. Judah's service will not avail unless God give success; but God will not give the success, unless Judah applies to the service. Judah was the most considerable of all the tribes, and Simeon the least; yet Judah begs Simeon's friendship, and prays for aid from him. It becomes Israelites to help one another against Canaanites; and all Christians, even those of different tribes, should strengthen one another. Those who thus help one another in love, have reason to hope that God will graciously help both. Adoni-bezek was taken prisoner. This prince had been a severe tyrant. The Israelites, doubtless under the Divine direction, made him suffer what he had done to others; and his own conscience confessed that he was justly treated as he had treated others. Thus the righteous God sometimes, in his providence, makes the punishment answer the sin.
vv9-20
The Canaanites had iron chariots; but Israel had God on their side, whose chariots are thousands of angels, Ps 68:17. Yet they suffered their fears to prevail against their faith. About Caleb we read in Jos 15:16–19. The Kenites had settled in the land. Israel let them fix where they pleased, being a quiet, contented people. They that molested none, were molested by none. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
vv21-36
The people of Israel were very careless of their duty and interest. Owing to slothfulness and cowardice, they would not be at the pains to complete their conquests. It was also owing to their covetousness: they were willing to let the Canaanites live among them, that they might make advantage of them. They had not the dread and detestation of idolatry they ought to have had. The same unbelief that kept their fathers forty years out of Canaan, kept them now out of the full possession of it. Distrust of the power and promise of God deprived them of advantages, and brought them into troubles. Thus many a believer who begins well is hindered. His graces languish, his lusts revive, Satan plies him with suitable temptations, the world recovers its hold; he brings guilt into his conscience, anguish into his heart, discredit on his character, and reproach on the gospel. Though he may have sharp rebukes, and be so recovered that he does not perish, yet he will have deeply to lament his folly through his remaining days; and upon his dying bed to mourn over the opportunities of glorifying God and serving the church he has lost. We can have no fellowship with the enemies of God within us or around us, but to our hurt; therefore our only wisdom is to maintain unceasing war against them.
Key Words
אַחַר: properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses)
מָוֶת: death (natural or violent); concretely, the dead, their place or state (hades); figuratively, pestilence, ruin
יְהוֹשׁוּעַ: Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
מִי: who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix
עָלָה: to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative
תְּחִלָּה: a commencement; rel. original (adverb, -ly)
כְּנַעַנִי: a Kenaanite or inhabitant of Kenaan; by implication, a pedlar (the Canaanites standing for their neighbors the Ishmaelites, who conducted mercantile caravans)
לָחַם: to feed on; figuratively, to consume; by implication, to battle (as destruction)
Cross References
Judges 1Parallels Caleb's acquisition of Hebron, Debir, and the narrative of Achsah's springs.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Explains why Judah and Benjamin could not fully dispossess the Jebusites from Jerusalem.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Moses' invitation to the Kenite family to journey with Israel to Canaan.
Supported by JFB
The ordained method of inquiring of the Lord via Urim and Thummim.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Another instance of Israel asking who goes first, with Judah chosen.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Explains why Judah asks Simeon; Simeon's inheritance was within Judah's territory.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Fulfillment of Israel's early vow to utterly destroy Zephath, naming it Hormah.
Supported by JFB
Documents Moses' promise and the giving of Hebron to Caleb.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels Manasseh's failure to drive out Canaanites from Beth-shean, Megiddo, and their towns.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jacob's prophecy conferring leadership and pre-eminence upon the tribe of Judah.
Supported by JFB
Names the three giant sons of Anak whom Caleb drove out from Hebron.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Identifies Othniel as Caleb's younger brother and Israel's first judge.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Mentions the dreaded iron chariots of the Canaanites in the valleys.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels Ephraim's failure to drive out the Canaanites dwelling in Gezer.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Lex Talionis law corresponding to Adoni-bezek's confession of divine requital.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Contrasts sparing Rahab (who stayed in Israel) with sparing this Bethel informant.
Supported by Matthew Poole