Taking the remaining areas of Canaan
1
📚Now after the death of Joshua 📖 this took place: the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, “Who should first go up for us against the Canaanites 📖 to fight against them?”2 📚And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. See, I have delivered the land into his hand”.
3 📚And Judah said to his brother Simeon 📖, “Come up with me into my allotment to fight against the Canaanites; and likewise I will go with you into your allotment”. So Simeon went with him.
4 📚And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites 📖 into their hands, and in Bezek they killed ten thousand of them. 5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek and fought against him, and killed the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adonibezek 📖 fled, and they pursued him, caught him and cut off his thumbs and his large toes.
7 📚And Adonibezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their large toes cut off gathered their food under my table 📖. God has repaid me in accordance with what I have done”. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 📚Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem 📖 and had taken it and struck it with the edge of the sword and had set the city on fire.
9 📚And afterwards the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the mountains 📖 and in the south 📖 and in the lowlands. 10 📚And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now previously the name of Hebron 📖 was Kirjath-Arba), and they killed Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
Othniel Conquers Debir and Receives Achsah
11 📚And from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (now previously the name of Debir 📖 was Kirjath-Sepher). 12 📚And Caleb 📖 said, “The one who attacks Kirjath-Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage”. 13 📚And Othniel 📖 the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage. 14 📚And it happened when she came to him that she moved him to ask her father for a field. And she got down from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”
15 📚And she said to him, “Give me a blessing; for you have given me an area in the south. Give me springs of water also”. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 📚And the children of the Kenite 📖, Moses’ father-in-law 📖, went up out of the city of palm trees 📖 with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies to the south of Arad. And they went and lived among the people.
17 📚And Judah went with Simeon his brother and they killed the Canaanites who lived in Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.
1:17 Hormah means “destruction”.⚜
18 📚Also Judah took Gaza with its territory and Askelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory.
1:18 The Philistines lived in the Mediterranean coastal area west of Judah. Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron were three of their five principal cities, the other two being Ashdod and Gath. Judah took the three cities mentioned here but later the Philistines regained control of them (Jud 14:19; 16:21; 1 Sam 6:17; 7:14).⚜
19 📚And the LORD was with Judah, and Judah drove out the inhabitants of the mountains, but could not 📖 drive out the inhabitants of the lowlands, because they had chariots of iron 📖. 20 📚And they gave Hebron to Caleb 📖, as Moses had said; and he drove out the three sons of Anak 📖 from there. 21 📚But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; but the Jebusites 📖 live among the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
1:21 Even after the victory of Judah (v 8), Benjamin failed to hold Jerusalem which was in the territory allotted to them (Josh 18:21-28).⚜
22 📚Likewise the house of Joseph 📖 went up against Bethel; and the LORD was with them. 23 📚And the house of Joseph sent men to spy out Bethel (now previously the name of that city was Luz). 24 📚And the spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, “Please show us a way into the city, and we will show you mercy”. 25 📚And when he showed them a way into the city, they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and his whole family go. 26 📚And the man went into the land of the Hittites 📖 and built a city and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 📚And Manasseh did not drive out 📖 the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region. 28 But it happened when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labour 📖, but did not completely drive them out. 29 📚Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. 30 📚Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them and became forced labour. 31 📚Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob; 32 📚but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. 33 📚Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, but they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. However the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath became forced labour for them. 34 📚And the Amorites 📖 forced the children of Dan into the mountains, and would not let them come down into the lowlands. 35 📚For the Amorites were determined to live in Mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet the hand of the house of Joseph grew powerful, so that the Amorites became forced labour. 36 📚And the boundary of the Amorites was from the ascent to Akrabbim, from the rock, and continued upwards.