Judges 1:9 - Meaning and Application

Here we have another part of Judah and Simeon’s glorious and successful campaign. Judah’s share of the land was fairly cleared of the Canaanites, but not completely. The people who lived in the hill country, the mountains around Jerusalem, were driven out (Judges 1:9, Judges 1:19). But those in the valley held their ground because they had iron chariots, as we also read in (Joshua 17:16).

Here the men of Judah failed, and that weakened the good effect their example had been having on the other tribes. Up to this point, the other tribes had followed Judah in courage, but now they followed Judah in fear. The enemy had iron chariots, so Judah thought it was too dangerous to attack. But had Israel forgotten God, who has thousands of angels like war chariots on his side (Psalm 68:17)? Before him, those iron chariots would have been like dry straw in a fire. God had already promised success by the oracle, that is, by his direct word, in this very campaign (Judges 1:2), and he had not made any exception for iron chariots. Yet fear overpowered faith. They did not trust God when the odds looked bad, so they backed away from the iron chariots instead of finishing the victory in one bold effort. That failure had harmful results. They were running well, so what held them back? (Galatians 5:7).

Caleb, the faithful spy and servant of God, was then put in possession of Hebron. Joshua had given him that city ten or twelve years earlier, as Dr. Lightfoot reckons, but Caleb had delayed taking it because he was busy with public service and the settling of the tribes. He cared more for the good of others than for his own private gain, and he was content to be served last. Few people are like that, since most look out for their own interests (Philippians 2:20-21). Now the men of Judah came together to help him take Hebron (Judges 1:10), and they killed the sons of Anak, the giant descendants who lived there, so Caleb could finally receive it (Judges 1:20). They gave Hebron to Caleb.

Now Caleb wanted to repay his countrymen’s kindness, so he was eager to see Debir taken and handed over to the men of Judah. To speed that along, he offered his daughter to the man who would lead the attack on that important city (Judges 1:11-12). Othniel courageously took up the challenge and won both the town and the lady (Judges 1:13). Then, through his wife’s good judgment and her appeal to her father, he gained a very good inheritance for himself and his family (Judges 1:14-15). This same story was already given in (Joshua 15:16-19), where it was explained more fully.

Simeon also gained ground over the Canaanites in his own border (Judges 1:17-18). In the eastern part of Simeon’s land, they destroyed the Canaanites in Zephath and renamed it Hormah, meaning “destruction.” They added this to other devoted cities nearby that had already been given that name for good reason (Numbers 21:2-3). This may have been the full carrying out of their earlier vow that they would utterly destroy the Canaanite cities in the south. In the western part, they took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, cities of the Philistines. They gained control of them for the moment, but because they did not destroy the people living there, the Philistines later recovered the cities and became bitter enemies of Israel. Nothing good could come from doing God’s work only halfway.

The Kenites also found a home in the tribe of Judah, choosing that tribe rather than any other because it was the strongest and seemed safest (Judges 1:16). They were the descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, who either went with Israel when Moses invited him (Numbers 10:29), or met them later and joined them then, as Moses had promised they would share in Israel’s blessing (Numbers 10:32). At first they settled in the city of palm trees, Jericho, a city that was never to be rebuilt, which suited them since they lived in tents and did not care much for building. Later they moved into the wilderness of Judah, perhaps because they loved that quiet, lonely place, or because they felt affection for that tribe, which may have shown them special kindness.

Still, we later find Jael, who came from that same family, far to the north in the land of Naphtali, when Sisera took shelter in her tent (Judges 4:17). Israel showed kindness to the Kenites by letting them settle where they pleased. They were a peaceful people, content with little wherever they lived. Those who troubled no one were troubled by no one. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.