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Texts -- Judges 1:1-20 (NET)

Context
Judah Takes the Lead
1:1 After Joshua died , the Israelites asked the Lord , “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack ?” 1:2 The Lord said , “The men of Judah should take the lead . Be sure of this! I am handing the land over to them.” 1:3 The men of Judah said to their relatives , the men of Simeon , “Invade our allotted land with us and help us attack the Canaanites . Then we will go with you into your allotted land.” So the men of Simeon went with them. 1:4 The men of Judah attacked , and the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They killed ten thousand men at Bezek . 1:5 They met Adoni-Bezek at Bezek and fought him. They defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites . 1:6 When Adoni-Bezek ran away , they chased him and captured him. Then they cut off his thumbs and big toes . 1:7 Adoni-Bezek said , “Seventy kings , with thumbs and big toes cut off , used to lick up food scraps under my table . God has repaid me for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem , where he died . 1:8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They put the sword to it and set the city on fire . 1:9 Later the men of Judah went down to attack the Canaanites living in the hill country , the Negev , and the lowlands . 1:10 The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites living in Hebron . (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba .) They killed Sheshai , Ahiman , and Talmai . 1:11 From there they attacked the people of Debir . (Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher .) 1:12 Caleb said , “To the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher I will give my daughter Acsah as a wife .” 1:13 When Othniel son of Kenaz , Caleb’s younger brother , captured it, Caleb gave him his daughter Acsah as a wife . 1:14 One time Acsah came and charmed her father so she could ask him for some land . When she got down from her donkey , Caleb said to her, “What would you like?” 1:15 She answered , “Please give me a special present . Since you have given me land in the Negev , now give me springs of water .” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs . 1:16 Now the descendants of the Kenite , Moses ’ father-in-law , went up with the people of Judah from the City of Date Palm Trees to Arad in the desert of Judah , located in the Negev . They went and lived with the people of Judah. 1:17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath . They wiped out Zephath. So people now call the city Hormah . 1:18 The men of Judah captured Gaza , Ashkelon , Ekron , and the territory surrounding each of these cities. 1:19 The Lord was with the men of Judah . They conquered the hill country , but they could not conquer the people living in the coastal plain , because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. 1:20 Caleb received Hebron , just as Moses had promised . He drove out the three Anakites .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Jacob blessed all 12 of his sons and foretold what would become of each of them and their descendants. He disqualified Reuben, Simeon, and Levi from leadership and gave that blessing to Judah. He granted the double portion to...
  • The Israelites had been at Mt. Sinai for almost one year (Exod. 19:1; Num. 10:11). All that Moses recorded as occurring between Exodus 19:1 and Numbers 10:11 took place during those twelve months.Even though this region conta...
  • "Chapters 23 and 24 are two of the brightest chapters in the book of Numbers. Scores of wonderful things are said about Israel, mainly prophetical. The dark sins of the past were forgotten; only happy deliverance from Egypt w...
  • Having received his marching orders from Yahweh, Joshua prepared to mobilize the nation.1:10-11 Joshua expected to be able to cross the Jordan within three days."The Jordan River wanders about two hundred miles to cover the s...
  • 5:13-15 "Despite Joshua's long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. T...
  • The writer referred to Canaan as "the land of the sons of Israel"first here in Scripture (v. 22). The Anakim were the mighty warriors that the 10 spies had feared (Num. 13:28). Israel destroyed most of these."The hardening of...
  • 15:1-12 The writer recorded the boundaries of the whole tribal territory first. The description proceeds counterclockwise from south (vv. 2-4) to east (v. 5) to north (vv. 5-11) to west (v. 12).15:13-19 The writer probably in...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan. "The Province-List of Judah."Vetus Testamentum9 (1959):225-46.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwel...
  • In contrast to Joshua, which spans only about 35 years, Judges covers a much longer period of Israel's history.The book opens shortly after the death of Joshua (1:1). God did not give us sufficient information to enable us to...
  • I. The reason for Israel's apostasy 1:1-3:6A. Hostilities between the Israelites and the Canaanites after Joshua's death 1:1-2:51. Initial successes and failures ch. 12. The announcement of God's discipline 2:1-5B. Israel's c...
  • The first major section in the book (1:1-3:6) explains very clearly why the period of the judges was a dark chapter in Israel's history. God revealed the reasons for Israel's apostasy and consequent national problems in terms...
  • 1:1 The Book of Judges begins with a conjunction translated "now"or "and."God intended Judges to continue the narrative of Israel's history where the Book of Joshua ended (cf. Josh. 1:1). This verse provides a heading for the...
  • 1:22-26 The writer described Ephraim and Manasseh together as "the house of Joseph"(vv. 22-29). First, he narrated Ephraim's activity (vv. 22-26). The Ephraimites' treatment of the man of Bethel who gave them information viol...
  • The events of this pericope tie in directly with those of the previous one. Israel's failure recorded there led to the discipline announced here."The narrator moves from chap. 1 to chap. 2 like a modern preacher moves from te...
  • This section of the book provides a theological introduction to the judges' deeds, whereas 1:1-2:5 is a historical introduction. It also explains further the presence of Canaanites in the Promised Land....
  • The first of six periods of oppression by Israel's enemies began while Othniel, Caleb's younger brother, was still alive and strong (cf. Josh. 15:17; Judg. 1:13). The writer identified each of these periods with the phrase "t...
  • The writer of Judges structured this book so the story of Gideon would be its focal center."Within the main body of the book, seven major narrative blocks can be noted. Moreover, there are certain parallel features between th...
  • The only unusual feature of Jair's life, other than that he came from Transjordan, was that he maintained a network of 30 cities over which his 30 sons ruled in Gilead. His name means "may [God] enlighten."An ancestor named J...
  • The Israelites felt the main influence of the Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan River that bordered Ammon (v. 8). However the Ammonites also attacked the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim west of the Jordan (v. 9)...
  • The Philistines pursued Samson into the territory of Judah that they controlled (v. 9; cf. 14:4). The exact location of Lehi is still uncertain.We get a glimpse into the spiritual condition in Judah at this time from how the ...
  • The following two extended incidents (ch. 17-21) differ from the records of the judges just completed (chs. 3-16). They are not accounts of the activities of any of Israel's judges. They are the record of events that took pla...
  • The Book of Joshua recorded Israel's victory over her enemies through trust in and obedience to God. The Book of Judges shows the defeat of the nation by its enemies from without and within due to refusal to trust and obey Go...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan. Land of the Bible. Phildelphia: Westminster Press, 1962.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The...
  • Probably the practice of standing on land one possessed led to the custom of using the sandal as a symbol of possession in land transactions (v. 7; cf. Gen. 13:17; Deut. 1:36; 11:24; Josh. 1:3; 14:9).80Most scholars believe t...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • God's Spirit came on Saul in the sense that He stirred up his spirit (cf. 10:6, 10). His response to the messengers' news was appropriate indignation since non-Israelites were attacking God's covenant people (Gen. 12:3). Saul...
  • 35:1 This oracle came to Jeremiah during King Jehoiakim's reign (609-598 B.C.) after the Babylonians had begun to invade Judah (v. 11). Second Kings 24:1-2 reads, "In his [Jehoiakim's] days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came...
  • "The setting of the Mesopotamian dream-visions--which occurred in both the Assyrian period and the Babylonian period . . . --consisted of four elements: (1) the date, (2) the place of reception, (3) the recipient, and (4) the...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Judges 2:1-10The Book of Judges begins a new era, the development of the nation in its land. Chapters 1 through chapter 3:6 contain two summaries: first, of the progress of the conquest; and second, of the history about to be...
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