UNROLL
Dawn over the terraced hill country of Judah: ridge behind ridge in mist, and on the nearest ridge a short column of men with spears walking down a stony path, seen from behind.

The Book of

Judges 1

Joshua is dead. The tribes ask who will go first, and the land is taken, then half-taken, then left.

36 verses≈ 6 min4 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–2Not finishedThe land left half-takenChapter 1
  2. 3–5The cycleSin, oppression, a deliverer
  3. 6–10Gideon and afterA weak man, a strong God
  4. 11–16Jephthah and SamsonFlawed deliverers
  5. 17–21No king in IsraelEveryone did as he saw fit

The Conquest of Canaan Proceeds

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?”

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“Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.”

Judges 1:2

The men of Judah
The men of Judah

Then the men of Judah said to their brothers the Simeonites, “Come up with us to our allotted territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. And we likewise will go with you to your territory.” So the Simeonites went with them.

When Judah attacked, the LORD delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. And there they found Adoni-bezek and fought against him, striking down the Canaanites and Perizzites. As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

The Capture of Jerusalem and Hebron

The low foothills of Judah in spring: rounded hills with olive groves and wheat, a broad green valley between them with a dry streambed of white stones, and a small town on a hill at its head.

The tribes

Judah goes up

  1. Judah

    Jerusalem captured

    Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it.

  2. Put to the sword and burned

    They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

  3. Hills, Negev and foothills

    Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills.

  4. Hebron: Sheshai, Ahiman, Talmai

    Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

  5. On to Debir, once Kiriath-sepher

    From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher).

Caleb
Caleb

And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.” So Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz captured the city, and Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

One day Acsah came to Othniel and urged him to ask her father for a field.

Caleb

When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you desire?”

Acsah

“Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.”

So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

In the dry, stony southern hills at morning, a spring rises among rocks into a clear pool ringed with reeds and grass, a second pool lower down the valley, and a donkey with a woven saddle blanket drinks at the edge.

Question

Quick question

Caleb promised his daughter to the man who would take Kiriath-sepher, and a young man of his own family stepped up.

Who captured Kiriath-sepher and later became Israel’s first judge?

The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron.

The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country

Judges 1:19

Seen from behind on a hillside path in the morning, old Caleb with his staff looks down at Hebron, a small walled town on a rounded hill among terraced vineyards, quiet and whole.

Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.

The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites.

The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),

At first light below Bethel’s stony ridge, two Israelite men crouch behind an olive terrace wall, watching a lone man with a water jar step out of a small side gate in the town’s mud-brick wall above.

and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”

Sunrise on a long road through bare northern hills: a man and his family with laden donkeys and a few goats walk away north, small in the lower third, under a calm pale sky.

So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that man and all his family. And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

0:14

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Reflect

Could not, or would not?

“The LORD was with Judah,” and still they stopped at the edge of the plain, “because they had chariots of iron.” God had already said chariots would not stop His people. Where have you stopped short of something God plainly told you to do? Write it down, and be honest about whether it is really ‘could not’ or ‘would not’.

JerusalemHebronDebir (site uncertain)Arad (site uncertain)Hormah (site uncertain)GazaBethelGezerMegiddoBeth-shean

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Taken, and not taken

Judah took the hills around Jerusalem, Hebron and Debir and the south toward Arad and Hormah, and Gaza for a time; Joseph took Bethel. But Gezer, Megiddo and Beth-shean stayed Canaanite, and so did Acco and Sidon on the coast, north of this map. Jerusalem itself was burned but not held. The site of Bezek is uncertain, and so are those of Debir, Arad and Hormah.

The Failure to Complete the Conquest

Evening above the Jordan valley: the high mound of Beth-shean with its plain mud-brick wall and shut gate, two Canaanite guards with bronze spears standing at ease on the wall, the hill country far off.

The tribes

Failed to drive out

  1. Manasseh

    Manasseh: Beth-shean, Megiddo and more

    At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

  2. Forced labor, never driven out

    When Israel became stronger, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but they never drove them out completely.

  3. Ephraim

    Ephraim: Gezer

    Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.

  4. Zebulun

    Zebulun: Kitron and Nahalol

    Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers.

  5. Asher

    Asher: Acco, Sidon and five more

    Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.

  6. Asher lives among the Canaanites

    So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.

  7. Naphtali

    Naphtali: Beth-shemesh, Beth-anath

    Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath.

  8. Living among them; forced labor

    So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers.

Midday on a wide bay: the small Canaanite harbor town of Acco on its mound by the shore, fishing boats drawn up on the sand, and the long wooded ridge of Mount Carmel across the water.

The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor.

And the border of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim to Sela and beyond.

South to north, less and less

Judah takesthe hillsbut not the plains(1:19)Benjamin: Jebusstays“to this day” (1:21)Joseph takesBethelthe LORD with them(1:22)Canaanitesamong themManasseh to Zebulun(1:27–30)Among theCanaanitesAsher, Naphtali(1:31–33)Dan pushed backinto the hill country(1:34)

Whiteboard

Read from south to north, the list goes downhill. Judah takes the hill country but not the plains. Benjamin leaves the Jebusites in Jerusalem. Then the Canaanites live among Israel, then “the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land,” and at last the Amorites “did not allow them to come down into the plain.” The LORD had not changed. Israel’s obedience had.

Pray

Not halfway

Judah went up because the LORD said, “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands,” and then tribe after tribe settled for less. Thank God that He stays with His people even when they stop short. Then ask Him for a whole heart: Lord, keep me from making peace with what You told me to drive out. Give me faith to take You at Your word, all the way. Amen.

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Judges 1

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A verse to carry with you

“Judah shall go up,” answered the LORD. “Indeed, I have delivered the land into their hands.”

Judges 1:2

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