1:17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon 1 and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath. 2 So people now call the city Hormah. 3 1:18 The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the territory surrounding each of these cities. 4
1:19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered 5 the hill country, but they could not 6 conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. 7
1 tn Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”
2 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 sn The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).
4 tn Heb “The men of Judah captured Gaza and its surrounding territory, Ashkelon and its surrounding territory, and Ekron and its surrounding territory.”
7 tn Or “seized possession of”; or “occupied.”
8 tc Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.
9 tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.