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 violated God's orders. They should have put him to death along with the rest of the Bethelites whom they did kill. This incomplete obedience is what the writer again emphasized in this passage alluding to Bethel's illustrious history (Gen. 28:18-22; 35:1-15; 48:3) and tragic future (1 Kings 12:25-33; 13:1-19; 2 Kings 23:15-17).
1:27-28 Manasseh failed to be strong in faith and trust too. Rather than exterminating the Canaanites, as God had commanded, the Israelites made them their servants.
1:29 The writer mentioned Ephraim again here because he was emphasizing the Israelites' treatment of the Canaanites as well as the failure of each tribe.
1:30-33 The tribes of Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali also failed to drive the Canaanites out of their territories but compromised with these enemies.
1:34-36 The Amorites in the Shephelah in the territory of Dan did not even allow the Danites to occupy the coastal areas of their possession. They forced them to stay in the eastern hill country of their territory.
"One does not have to look far for an explanation of Dan's difficulties in settling its tribal allotment. The International Coastal Highway passed directly through its territory. This meant that any attempt to take control of the region automatically cut the main land link between Africa (Egypt) and Asia (Mesopotamia). Local centers and peoples in the area would be expected to resist any Danite offensive action. This is brought out vividly in the first chapter of the book of Judges, which in a few sentences [vv. 34-35] accurately describes this region of valleys (Sorek and Aijalon) and nearby Hill Country (just east of the Aijalon-Eshtaol route)."33
The Amorites retained domination of a section of territory in southern Canaan as far south as Sela (Petra), a stronghold in the land of Edom (v. 36). Like the earlier reference to the Benjamites' failure (v. 21), this mention of the Danites' weakness anticipates that tribe's tragic role in chapters 17-18.
The writer's primary purpose in this chapter is obvious. It was to relate his selective narrative of Israel's victories and defeats to impress the reader with the failure of God's people to drive out their enemies increasingly as the passage unfolds.
"The lesson of Judges 1 is very clear. The people of Israel chose deliberately to obey God only partly. Rather than following the Lord wholeheartedly, they compromised. They went part way, and that compromise meant inevitable catastrophe."34
In the Pentateuch we saw God preparing the chosen people to live under His theocracy in the Promised Land. In Joshua we saw Him establishing them in the land so they could function as a theocracy. In Judges we see Israel for the first time in position to live under theocratic rule. From the very beginning of Judges we see that they failed to take advantage of their great privilege to be a unique nation in the world. They failed because they would not trust and obey God consistently but allowed the Canaanites to remain in the land God wanted them to occupy exclusively. Theocratic rule began to break down as soon as Joshua's generation died. Consequently God raised up judges to act as His spokesmen in the theocracy. Eventually He replaced them with the kings. The only time in Israel's history when the theocracy functioned as God intended it to was in the later years of Joshua and in the early years of the next generation.35The first part of this chapter describes that period.
"Its [the Book of Judges'] primary purpose is to let the readers know why Israel did not experience the blessings that were available."36
