The Tribes Continue in Canaan

After Joshua died, the Israelites asked Yahweh which tribe should go first against the Canaanites. Yahweh answered that Judah should go. Judah invited Simeon to join them. At Bezek they fought the Canaanites and Perizzites, captured Adoni-Bezek, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Adoni-Bezek said he had done the same to other kings, and he died in Jerusalem.

Judah fought against Jerusalem and burned the city. After that they fought in the hill country, the South, and the lowland. Judah also went against Hebron and Debir. Caleb promised his daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who captured Debir, and Othniel took it. Later Achsah asked Caleb for springs of water, and he gave her both the upper and lower springs.

The Kenites, connected with Moses' brother-in-law, went up with Judah into the wilderness of Judah and settled there. Judah and Simeon struck Zephath and called it Hormah. Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron. Yahweh was with Judah in the hill country, but the inhabitants of the valley were not driven out because they had iron chariots. Hebron was given to Caleb, and he drove out the three sons of Anak.

Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, so they lived there together. The house of Joseph went up against Bethel, where scouts watched the city. They asked a man to show them the entrance and promised kindness to him. He showed them the way in, the city was struck, and the man and his family were allowed to go free. Later he built a city in the land of the Hittites and named it Luz.

The rest of the chapter tells of many tribes that did not drive out the people living in their territories. Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali all left Canaanite peoples in place, and some were put to forced labour. Dan was pressed back into the hill country by the Amorites until the house of Joseph became strong. This opening chapter begins Judges with both success and serious unfinished obedience.