^1:1After Joshua died, the Israelites asked¹ the Lord, “Who should lead the invasion against the Canaanites and launch the attack?”²^1:2The Lord said, “The men of Judah should take the lead.³ Be sure of this! I am handing the land over to them.”⁴^1:3The men of Judah said to their relatives, the men of Simeon,⁵ “Invade our allotted land with us and help us attack the Canaanites.⁶ Then we⁷ will go with you into your allotted land.” So the men of Simeon went with them.

^1:4The men of Judah attacked,⁸ and the Lord handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They killed ten thousand men at Bezek. ^1:5They met⁹ Adoni-Bezek at Bezek and fought him. They defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites. ^1:6When Adoni-Bezek ran away, they chased him and captured him. Then they cut off his thumbs and big toes. ^1:7Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to lick up¹⁰ food scraps¹¹ under my table. God has repaid me for what I did to them.”¹² They brought him to Jerusalem,¹³ where he died. ^1:8The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They put the sword to it and set the city on fire.

^1:9Later the men of Judah went down to attack the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev, and the lowlands.¹⁴^1:10The men of Judah attacked the Canaanites living in Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. ^1:11From there they attacked the people of Debir.¹⁵ (Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher.) ^1:12Caleb said, “To the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher I will give my daughter Acsah as a wife.” ^1:13When Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother,¹⁶ captured it, Caleb¹⁷ gave him his daughter Acsah as a wife.

^1:14One time Acsah¹⁸ came and charmed her father¹⁹ so she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?” ^1:15She answered, “Please give me a special present.²⁰ 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.²¹

^1:16Now 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,²² located in the Negev.²³ They went and lived with the people of Judah.²⁴

^1:17The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon²⁵ and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath.²⁶ So people now call the city Hormah.²⁷^1:18The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the territory surrounding each of these cities.²⁸

^1:19The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered²⁹ the hill country, but they could not³⁰ conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels.³¹^1:20Caleb received³² Hebron, just as Moses had promised. He drove out the three Anakites. ^1:21The men of Benjamin, however, did not conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem.³³ The Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this very day.³⁴

Partial Success

^1:22When the men³⁵ of Joseph attacked³⁶ Bethel,³⁷ the Lord was with them. ^1:23When the men of Joseph spied out Bethel (it used to be called Luz), ^1:24the spies spotted³⁸ a man leaving the city. They said to him, “If you show us a secret entrance into the city, we will reward you.” ^1:25He 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. ^1:26He³⁹ moved to Hittite country and built a city. He named it Luz, and it has kept that name to this very day.

^1:27The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shan, Taanach, or their surrounding towns. Nor did they conquer the people living in Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo⁴⁰ or their surrounding towns.⁴¹ The Canaanites managed⁴² to remain in those areas.⁴³^1:28Whenever Israel was strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.

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

^1:30The men of Zebulun did not conquer the people living in Kitron and Nahalol.⁴⁴ The Canaanites lived among them and were forced to do hard labor.

^1:31The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco or Sidon,⁴⁵ nor did they conquer Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.⁴⁶^1:32The people of Asher live among the Canaanites residing in the land because they did not conquer them.

^1:33The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath.⁴⁷ They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites⁴⁸ living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.

^1:34The Amorites forced the people of Dan to live in the hill country. They did not allow them to live in⁴⁹ the coastal plain. ^1:35The Amorites managed⁵⁰ to remain in Har Heres,⁵¹ Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily,⁵² the Amorites were forced to do hard labor. ^1:36The border of Amorite territory ran from the Scorpion Ascent⁵³ to Sela and on up.⁵⁴

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, sha’al) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. “consulted.”
2 Heb “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites to attack them?”
3 Heb “Judah should go up.”
4 The Hebrew exclamation הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally, “Behold”), translated “Be sure of this,” draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the Lord speaks of it as a “done deal.”
5 Heb “Judah said to Simeon, his brother.”
6 Heb “Come up with me into our allotted land and let us attack the Canaanites.”
7 Heb “I.” The Hebrew pronoun is singular, agreeing with the collective singular “Judah” earlier in the verse. English style requires a plural pronoun here, however.
8 Heb “Judah went up.”
9 Or “found.”
10 Elsewhere this verb usually carries the sense of “to gather; to pick up; to glean,” but “lick up” seems best here in light of the peculiar circumstances described by Adoni-Bezek.
11 The words “food scraps” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
12 Heb “Just as I did, so God has repaid me.” Note that the phrase “to them” has been supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.
13 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
14 Or “foothills”; Heb “the Shephelah.”
15 Heb “they went from there against the inhabitants of Debir.” The reads the verb as “they went up,” which suggests that the Hebrew text translated by the read וַיַּעַל (vayya’al) rather than the ’s וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh). It is possible that this is the text to be preferred in v. 11. Cf. Josh 15:15.
16 “Caleb’s younger brother” may refer to Othniel or to Kenaz (in which case Othniel was Caleb’s nephew; so ).
17 Heb “he”; the referent (Caleb) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 Heb “she”; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 Heb “him.” The pronoun could refer to Othniel, in which case one would translate, “she incited him [Othniel] to ask her father for a field.” This is problematic, however, for Acsah, not Othniel, makes the request in v. 15. The has “he [Othniel] urged her to ask her father for a field.” This appears to be an attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency and probably does not reflect the original text. If Caleb is understood as the referent of the pronoun, the problem disappears. For a fuller discussion of the issue, see P. G. Mosca, “Who Seduced Whom? A Note on Joshua 15:18//Judges 1:14,” 46 (1984): 18–22. The translation takes Caleb to be the referent, specified as “her father.”
20 Elsewhere the Hebrew word בְרָכָה (vérakhah) 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).
21 Some translations regard the expressions “springs of water” (גֻּלֹּת מָיִם, gullot mayim) and “springs” (גֻּלֹּת) as place names here (cf. ).
22 Part of the Greek tradition lacks the words “of Judah.”
23 Heb “[to] the Desert of Judah in the Negev, Arad.”
24 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).
25 Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”
26 Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).
28 Heb “The men of Judah captured Gaza and its surrounding territory, Ashkelon and its surrounding territory, and Ekron and its surrounding territory.”
29 Or “seized possession of”; or “occupied.”
30 Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.
31 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,” 45 (1989): 15–23.
32 Heb “they gave to Caleb.”
33 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
34 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).
35 Heb “house.” This is a metonymy for the warriors from the tribe.
36 Heb “went up.”
37 For location see ; ; ; ; .
38 Heb “saw.”
39 Heb “the man.”
40 For location see ; ; ; ; .
41 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.”
42 Or “were determined.”
43 Heb “in this land.”
44 Heb “the people living in Kitron and the people living in Nahalol.”
45 For location see ; ; .
46 Heb “The men of Asher did not conquer the people living in Acco, the people living in Sidon, Ahlab, Acco, Helbah, Aphek, or Rehob.”
47 Heb “the people living in Beth Shemesh or the people living in Beth Anath.”
48 The term “Canaanites” is supplied here both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
49 Heb “come down into.”
50 Or “were determined.”
51 Or “Mount Heres”; the term הַר (har) means “mount” or “mountain” in Hebrew.
52 Heb “Whenever the hand of the tribe of Joseph was heavy.”
53 Or “the Ascent of Scorpions” (עַקְרַבִּים [’aqrabbim] means “scorpions” in Hebrew).
54 Or “Amorite territory started at the Pass of the Scorpions at Sela and then went on up.”