Judges 1:19-24
Judges 1:19
And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain;
but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots
of iron.
Joshua 15:48 (KJV) And in the
mountains, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh,
Joshua 15:54 (KJV) And
Humtah, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities with their
villages:
They were able to drive out the inhabitants which included the city of
Hebron. Then once again the
Israelites showed fear because the Canaanites had chariots of iron which
probably had wheels of iron with protruding knives or other sharp implements.
God was with them and promised this land to them but they now showed more
fear of the inhabitants than trust in God to give them victory.
Judges 1:20
And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three
sons of Anak.
Joshua 14:13 (KJV) And Joshua
blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.
Joshua 21:12 (KJV) But
the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of
Jephunneh for his possession.
Caleb now had in his possession the
promise that was made to him that he would inherit the land.
He and Joshua were the only two of the crowd that came out of Egypt that
saw the Promised Land and was given a possession.
Caleb was a member of the tribe of Judah.
The three sons of Anak are given in Judges 1:10:
Judges 1:10 (KJV)
And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name
of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and
Talmai.
Judges 1:21
And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited
Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem
unto this day.
Jebus was the ancient name of Jerusalem and the children of Benjamin did not
drive the Jebusites out instead they had lived with the children of Benjamin and
they even had their own king. 2
Samuel 24:18 (KJV) And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up,
rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
The Jebusites had the part of Jerusalem known as Zion even until the time
of David and eventually had to be won by battle in the future.
Judges 1:22
And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el: and the LORD was
with them.
Now the scene switches from the southern part of Palestine to the central part.
Beth-el was about 10 miles north (16 km) of Jerusalem and about 30 miles
(48 km) north from Hebron. The
house of Joseph consisted of the tribe of Ephraim and the half tribe of
Manasseh.
Judges 1:23
And the house of Joseph sent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before
was Luz.)
The leaders of the tribe of Joseph were wise in that they did not go against the
city without knowing the power of the enemy, so what they did was to send in
some spies to reconnoiter. They
would get knowledge of the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses and then afterward
plan their assault on the city. The
word “descry” is used only once in the King James Bible and it carries with it
the meaning of “write out, map out, write down, or discover.”
So their plans were to discover the best way into the city which would
produce the least amount of casualties.
Judges 1:24
And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew
us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.