Judges 1:15-36

1:15 She answered, “Please give me a special present. ¹  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. ² 

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, ³  located in the Negev. ⁴  They went and lived with the people of Judah. ⁵ 

1:17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon ⁶  and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath. ⁷  So people now call the city Hormah. ⁸  1:18 The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the territory surrounding each of these cities. ⁹ 

1:19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered ¹⁰  the hill country, but they could not ¹¹  conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. ¹²  1:20 Caleb received ¹³  Hebron, just as Moses had promised. He drove out the three Anakites. 1:21 The men of Benjamin, however, did not conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. ¹⁴  The Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day. ¹⁵ 

Partial Success

1:22 When the men ¹⁶  of Joseph attacked ¹⁷  Bethel, ¹⁸  the Lord was with them. 1:23 When the men of Joseph spied out Bethel (it used to be called Luz), 1:24 the spies spotted ¹⁹  a man leaving the city. They said to him, “If you show us a secret entrance into the city, we will reward you.” 1:25 He showed them a secret entrance into the city, and they put the city to the sword. But they let the man and his extended family leave safely. 1:26 He ²⁰  moved to Hittite country and built a city. He named it Luz, and it has kept that name to this very day.

1:27 The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shan, Taanach, or their surrounding towns. Nor did they conquer the people living in Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo ²¹  or their surrounding towns. ²²  The Canaanites managed ²³  to remain in those areas. ²⁴  1:28 Whenever Israel was strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.

1:29 The men of Ephraim did not conquer the Canaanites living in Gezer. The Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.

1:30 The men of Zebulun did not conquer the people living in Kitron and Nahalol. ²⁵  The Canaanites lived among them and were forced to do hard labor.

1:31 The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco or Sidon, ²⁶  nor did they conquer Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob. ²⁷  1:32 The people of Asher live among the Canaanites residing in the land because they did not conquer them.

1:33 The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath. ²⁸  They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites ²⁹  living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.

1:34 The Amorites forced the people of Dan to live in the hill country. They did not allow them to live in ³⁰  the coastal plain. 1:35 The Amorites managed ³¹  to remain in Har Heres, ³²  Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily, ³³  the Amorites were forced to do hard labor. 1:36 The border of Amorite territory ran from the Scorpion Ascent ³⁴  to Sela and on up. ³⁵ 

[1:15]  ¹ tn Elsewhere the Hebrew word בְרָכָה (vÿrakhah) is often translated “blessing,” but here it refers to a gift (as in Gen 33:11; 1 Sam 25:27; 30:26; and 2 Kgs 5:15).

[1:15]  ² tn Some translations regard the expressions “springs of water” (גֻּלֹּת מָיִם, gullot mayim) and “springs” (גֻּלֹּת) as place names here (cf. NRSV).

[1:16]  ³ tc Part of the Greek ms tradition lacks the words “of Judah.”

[1:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “[to] the Desert of Judah in the Negev, Arad.”

[1:16]  ⁵ tn The phrase “of Judah” is supplied here in the translation. Some ancient textual witnesses read, “They went and lived with the Amalekites.” This reading, however, is probably influenced by 1 Sam 15:6 (see also Num 24:20-21).

[1:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”

[1:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ⁸ sn The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).

[1:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “The men of Judah captured Gaza and its surrounding territory, Ashkelon and its surrounding territory, and Ekron and its surrounding territory.”

[1:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “seized possession of”; or “occupied.”

[1:19]  ¹¹ tc Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.

[1:19]  ¹² 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.

[1:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “they gave to Caleb.”

[1:21]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:21]  ¹⁵ sn The statement to this very day reflects the perspective of the author, who must have written prior to David’s conquest of the Jebusites (see 2 Sam 5:6-7).

[1:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “house.” This is a metonymy for the warriors from the tribe.

[1:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “went up.”

[1:22]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[1:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “saw.”

[1:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the man.”

[1:27]  ²¹ map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.

[1:27]  ²² tn Heb “The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shan and its surrounding towns, Taanach and its surrounding towns, the people living in Dor and its surrounding towns, the people living in Ibleam and its surrounding towns, or the people living in Megiddo and its surrounding towns.”

[1:27]  ²³ tn Or “were determined.”

[1:27]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in this land.”

[1:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the people living in Kitron and the people living in Nahalol.”

[1:31]  ²⁶ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[1:31]  ²⁷ tn Heb “The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco, the people living in Sidon, Ahlab, Acco, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.”

[1:33]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the people living in Beth Shemesh or the people living in Beth Anath.”

[1:33]  ²⁹ tn The term “Canaanites” is supplied here both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[1:34]  ³⁰ tn Heb “come down into.”

[1:35]  ³¹ tn Or “were determined.”

[1:35]  ³² tn Or “Mount Heres”; the term הַר (har) means “mount” or “mountain” in Hebrew.

[1:35]  ³³ tn Heb “Whenever the hand of the tribe of Joseph was heavy.”

[1:36]  ³⁴ tn Or “the Ascent of Scorpions” (עַקְרַבִּים [’aqrabbim] means “scorpions” in Hebrew).

[1:36]  ³⁵ tn Or “Amorite territory started at the Pass of the Scorpions at Sela and then went on up.”