--- title: "Judges 1 - Study King James Bible with ellicotts commentary for english readers" description: "Read Judges 1 with ellicotts commentary for english readers commentary. 1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first," image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1" --- [ Read](/kjv/judges/1)[ Commentary](/study/judges/1)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/judges/1) Audio 1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 2 And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 3 And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered *their meat* under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.** 8 Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9 ¶ And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.* 10 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. 11 And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before *was* Kirjath-sepher: 12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 14 And it came to pass, when she came *to him*, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off *her* ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? 15 And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether 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 *lieth* in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof. 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.* 20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. 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. 22 ¶ And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Beth-el: and the LORD *was* with them. 23 And the house of Joseph sent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before *was* Luz.) 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. 25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which *is* the name thereof unto this day. 27 ¶ Neither did Manasseh drive out *the inhabitants of* Beth-shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. 29 ¶ Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 ¶ Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 ¶ Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. 33 ¶ Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them. 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: 35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.* 36 And the coast of the Amorites *was* from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.* [Joshua 24](/study/joshua/24) [Judges 2](/study/judges/2) ## Commentary To verse 1 (1) **Now.**—The “now” should rather be rendered *And,*as in [Leviticus 1:1](/kjv/leviticus/1/1), [Numbers 1:1](/kjv/numbers/1/1), [Joshua 1:1](/kjv/joshua/1/1), [1 Samuel 1:1](/kjv/1-samuel/1/1), [2 Samuel 1:1](/kjv/2-samuel/1/1), [2 Kings 1:1](/kjv/2-kings/1/1). The word connects this book with the last, “as a link in the chain of books which relate in unbroken connection the sacred history of the world from the Creation to the Exile” (Bertheau). **Alter the death of Joshua.**—In these first words we are met by a difficulty, for there can be little reasonable doubt that most, at any rate, of the events narrated from this verse to [Judges 2:5](/kjv/judges/2/5) took place *before*the death of Joshua, whose death and burial are accordingly mentioned in [Judges 2:8-9](/kjv/judges/2/8-9). For (1) the whole passage ([Judges 1:1](/kjv/judges/1/1) to [Judges 2:5](/kjv/judges/2/5)) evidently describes the first movements of the Israelites after their establishment on the western side of the Jordan. (See [Joshua 18:1-3](/kjv/joshua/18/1-3); [Joshua 21:43](/kjv/joshua/21/43); [Joshua 22:32](/kjv/joshua/22/32); [Joshua 24:28](/kjv/joshua/24/28).) (2) It is inconceivable that the Israelites should have remained inactive during the long life of Joshua, who attained the age of 110 years. (3) The events in [Judges 1:10-36](/kjv/judges/1/10-36) are evidently identical with those in [Joshua 12:9-24](/kjv/joshua/12/9-24); [Joshua 12:14](/kjv/joshua/12/14); [Joshua 12:19](/kjv/joshua/12/19) (4) The angel’s message ([Judges 2:1-5](/kjv/judges/2/1-5)) and the subsequent notices (6-18) are closely parallel with, and sometimes verbally the same as, those in [Joshua 24:24-33](/kjv/joshua/24/24-33). That these should be records of different and yet most closely analogous series of circumstances is all but impossible. Various ways of accounting for the difficulty have been suggested. (1) Some suppose that many events narrated or touched upon in the Book of Joshua (especially [Judges 15:14-19](/kjv/judges/15/14-19); [Judges 15:16-17](/kjv/judges/15/16-17), *&c.*)**are narrated by anticipation. (2) Clericus arbitrarily supplies the words, “After the death of Joshua *the Canaanites recovered strength,*but in his lifetime *the children of Israel.”*(3) Schmidt renders the verbs as pluperfects: “It came to pass after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel had consulted Jehovah,” &c. (4) A more recent conjecture is that the name*“Joshua”*has here crept in by an error of the scribes. If we read, “After the death of Moses,” all becomes clear and coherent; and if the book, in its *original*form, possibly began at [Judges 3:7](/kjv/judges/3/7), with the words, “And it came to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,” &c., the clerical error may have been caused by the addition of prefatory matter to the book at the same time that the appendix (Judges 17-21) was added. It is in favour of the possibility of this suggestion that there are close resemblances between the style and the allusions of the preface, or perhaps we may say of the two prefaces ([Judges 1:1](/kjv/judges/1/1) to [Judges 2:10](/kjv/judges/2/10); [Judges 2:11-23](/kjv/judges/2/11-23)), and the style and allusions of the last five chapters: e.*g*., in the references to Judah, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem ([Judges 1:1-21](/kjv/judges/1/1-21); [Judges 1:19](/kjv/judges/1/19); [Judges 20:18](/kjv/judges/20/18)), Dan ([Judges 1:34](/kjv/judges/1/34); [Judges 18:1-31](/kjv/judges/18/1-31)) and the Twelve Tribes (*passim*)*;*the consultations of the Lord by Urim ([Judges 1:1-2](/kjv/judges/1/1-2); [Judges 20:26-28](/kjv/judges/20/26-28)); the silence as to the existence of Judges; and the recurrence of various phrases, such as “set on fire,” and “with the edge of the sword” ([Judges 1:8](/kjv/judges/1/8); [Judges 20:48](/kjv/judges/20/48)), “unto this day” ([Judges 1:21](/kjv/judges/1/21); [Judges 19:30](/kjv/judges/19/30)), “give his daughter to wife” ([Judges 1:12](/kjv/judges/1/12); [Judges 21:1](/kjv/judges/21/1); [Judges 21:14](/kjv/judges/21/14); [Judges 21:18](/kjv/judges/21/18)), &c. (5) On the other hand, the conjecture can only be regarded as *possible,*since it is not supported by a single MS. or suggested by any ancient commentator. It is perhaps simpler to suppose that the book originally began with the words, “Now after the death of Joshua,” and that this beginning was left unaltered as a *general*description of the book when the prefatory matter and appendix were attached to it. **The children of Israel.**—Mainly, it would seem, the western tribes. **Asked the Lord.**—The phrase is peculiar, meaning, literally, *enquired in Jehovah*(as we find it in the LXX.). The usual construction is “*Shaal eth-Jehovah”*(“asked the Lord”). This phrase (*shaal be*)*is*only found again in. [Judges 20:23-27](/kjv/judges/20/23-27). Rabbi Tanchum (whose commentary on this book has been edited by Schnurrer and Haarbürcker) says that the phrase implies the consultation of Jehovah through the high priest by means of the Urim and Thummim. “To ask of *Elohim”*occurs in [Judges 18:5](/kjv/judges/18/5); [Judges 20:18](/kjv/judges/20/18). Similarly in Greek, “to ask God” (Xen. *Mem. viii.* 3) means to consult an oracle. If the narrative of this chapter be *retrospective,*the high priest must have been Eleazar, the son of Aaron ([Joshua 14:1](/kjv/joshua/14/1)); if not, it must have been his son Phinehas ([Joshua 24:33](/kjv/joshua/24/33)), as Josephus seems to imply (Jos. *Antt. v.* 2, § 1). On this method of inquiring of God, in the absence of any authoritative declaration on the part of a prophet, see [Numbers 27:21](/kjv/numbers/27/21), [Joshua 9:14](/kjv/joshua/9/14). On the Urim and Thummim, which was *not*the jewelled “breastplate of judgment,” but something which was put “in it,” see [Exodus 28:30](/kjv/exodus/28/30). It is probably useless to inquire as to the method by which the will of God was revealed by the Urim and Thummim. The words mean “lights and perfections,” or something closely resembling those conceptions. The Rabbis were themselves ignorant as to the exact nature of the Urim and Thummim, and the mode in which they were used. One favourite theory is that adopted by Milton, when he speaks of Aaron’s breastplate as having been “ardent with gems oracular.” It identifies the Urim with the twelve gems, and supposes that the answers of God were spelt out by a mystic light which gleamed over these gems. But not to dwell on the fact that the names of the tribes did not contain all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, this explanation is not consistent with the distinction made between the breastplate which was on the ephod, and the Urim and Thummim that were placed *inside*it ([Exodus 28:30](/kjv/exodus/28/30)). Another theory supposes that the mind of the high priest was abstracted from earthly things by gazing on the gems until the will of God was revealed to him. A third regards the Urim and Thummim as cut and uncut gems, kept in the folds of the breastplate, and used almost like lots. These are but theories, and in all probability the exact truth, which has now been forgotten for thousands of years, will never be discovered. **Who shall go up for us . . .?**—At the solemn investiture of Joshua, as the successor of Moses, Moses is directed to “set him before Eleazar the priest,” who was “to ask consent for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: *at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in*” ([Numbers 27:18-21](/kjv/numbers/27/18-21)). ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1","name":"Judges 1 - Study King James Bible with ellicotts commentary for english readers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Judges 1 with ellicotts commentary for english readers commentary. 1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers","name":"ellicotts commentary for english readers"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges","name":"Judges"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/judges/1","name":"1"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```