Judges 1:22-29

Context

Partial Success

1:22 When the men¹ of Joseph attacked² Bethel,³ 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 spotted⁴ 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 He⁵ 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, Megiddo⁶ or their surrounding towns.⁷ The Canaanites managed⁸ to remain in those areas.⁹ 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.

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

[1:22] ²tn Heb “went up.”

[1:22] ³map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[1:24] ⁴tn Heb “saw.”

[1:26] ⁵tn Heb “the man.”

[1:27] ⁶map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.

[1:27] ⁷tn 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] ⁸tn Or “were determined.”

[1:27] ⁹tn Heb “in this land.”