Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Judges
Chapter 1: They Did Not Drive Them Out
Joshua has died, and the tribes must finish taking the land. The chapter opens with promise: Judah goes up first, and the LORD gives the victory. But a sad refrain soon takes over, repeated tribe after tribe: they did not drive out the inhabitants. Judges 1 is a study in how incomplete obedience quietly plants the seeds of later ruin.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Judges chapter 1. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Judges tells the tragic cycle of a people who forget God, and chapter 1 shows where the trouble began: victories left unfinished. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
"Judges"
The Hebrew is shophetim, "judges" or, better, "deliverers," the leaders God raised up to rescue Israel. The book is named for them, but its real subject is the mercy of God to a people who kept failing.
Unknown
The book does not name its author. Jewish tradition associates it with Samuel, but the human writer is not stated; God's word stands on its own authority.
After Joshua
Joshua has died. The land is largely taken but not fully; pockets of Canaanites remain, and it falls to each tribe to finish the work.
Unfinished Obedience
Chapter 1 sets up the whole book: what Israel failed to drive out would become a snare. Half-obedience is the doorway to compromise.
Judah Goes Up First (Judges 1:1-2)
The people begin well, asking God who should lead, and God answers with a promise of victory.
Who Shall Go Up for Us?
"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? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 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. 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. And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adonibezek 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. 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. 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. And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher:"
Hebrew Study
God's answer to "who shall go up?" is "Judah" — Yehudah, whose name means "praise." The tribe of praise leads Israel into battle, a fitting picture, for praise goes before the LORD's victories. And the chapter's opening also shows God's exact justice: the tyrant Adonibezek, who had cut off the thumbs and great toes of seventy kings, has his own thumbs and toes cut off, and confesses, "as I have done, so God hath requited me." The measure a man metes is measured back to him.
Explanation
The book opens well. "After the death of Joshua," with no successor appointed, Israel does the right thing first: they "asked the LORD" who should lead the fighting. God names Judah and promises, "I have delivered the land into his hand." Judah invites Simeon to fight alongside, and together they win real victories, capturing Bezek and its king. This strong, obedient beginning — inquiry, divine appointment, partnership, and success — is set at the head of the chapter on purpose, to make the failures that follow all the more tragic by contrast.
Gospel Focus
It begins the right way: they inquire of the LORD before acting, and He answers with a promise. Judah, the tribe of praise and the tribe from which the Messiah would come, goes first, and God has already "delivered the land into his hand." When the chapter follows this obedience, there is victory. The tragedy that unfolds later is not that God failed to give the land, but that His people did not fully take what He had given.
Caleb, Othniel, and Achsah (Judges 1:11-15)
In the middle of the campaign shines a small family story of courage and blessing, a bright spot before the failures begin.
A Reward for Courage
"And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 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? 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. 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. 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. Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof. 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. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. 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. And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) 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. 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. 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."
Hebrew Study
The hero of this vignette is Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger kinsman, who takes Kirjath-sepher and wins Achsah. Remember his name: God would soon raise him up as the first of the judges to deliver Israel (Judges 3:9). The men God uses to save His people in the dark days ahead are already being formed here, in a family that "wholly followed the LORD." And Achsah's boldness matches her father's — given dry land, she asks outright for "springs of water," and receives both the upper and the nether springs.
Explanation
In a chapter sliding toward failure, this family shines. Old Caleb is still taking ground for God, offering his daughter to whoever captures Debir; Othniel rises to the challenge and wins both the city and his bride; and Achsah, refusing to settle for land she cannot water, asks her father for springs and gets them. Three generations of active, asking, ground-taking faith stand together here — a bright island of courage that only makes the surrounding tribes' half-hearted compromise look darker.
One line in this section troubles readers: "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." If God was with them, how could iron chariots stop Him? They could not, and that is the point. The God who had cast Pharaoh's chariots into the sea (Exodus 15:4), and who would soon sweep away Sisera's nine hundred chariots of iron before Deborah and Barak (Judges 4:3, 15), was not baffled by Canaanite iron. The failure lay not in God's arm but in Judah's faith. "Could not" here means could not while shrinking back at the sight of the chariots -- just as an earlier generation "could not enter in because of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:19). The valley was harder than the hill, the enemy stronger, the odds worse; and there faith faltered. The lesson is sobering: God's presence does not cancel the call to courage. The same LORD who gives the victory still summons His people to go up and take it, iron chariots and all.
Gospel Focus
Caleb, the old warrior who wholly followed the LORD, is still taking ground for God in his later years, and his courage rubs off on the next generation. Othniel steps up, wins the victory, and gains a bride and an inheritance; he will later become the first of the judges (Judges 3:9-11). Faith is contagious, and God honors those who press in to take Him at His word. The bright examples of Judges 1 are the ones who kept fighting.
They Did Not Drive Them Out (Judges 1:27-33)
Now the chapter turns, and one phrase repeats like a funeral bell over tribe after tribe.
The Canaanites Remained
"Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean 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. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 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: But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them. And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: 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. And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward."
Hebrew Study
The key word is "tribute," mas (מַס) — forced labor. Tribe after tribe "did not drive out" (horish, הוֹרִישׁ, from yarash, "to possess, to dispossess" — the exact command word repeated throughout Deuteronomy and Joshua for the conquest) the Canaanites but "put the Canaanites to tribute," enslaving them rather than removing them. God had commanded yarash; Israel settled for mas — obedience traded for profit. It looked like the shrewd, profitable option: free labor instead of hard war. But God had commanded them to dispossess these peoples, not to live off them, and the pagans they kept for their usefulness would become the very snare that dragged Israel into idolatry through the whole book of Judges.
Explanation
The phrase "did not drive out" tolls again and again through the rest of the chapter, over Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali. When Israel grew strong, they did not remove the Canaanites; they merely taxed them and let them stay. It looked like a practical compromise. It was a spiritual disaster in the making.
Gospel Focus
God had told Israel to drive the Canaanites out completely, because their idolatry would corrupt His people. The very next chapter delivers the verdict: because they did not obey, "they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you" (Judges 2:3), and the whole book of Judges is the bitter fruit of that half-obedience. There is a plain warning here for us. The sin we tolerate rather than put to death does not stay quiet; it becomes a thorn and a snare. Scripture calls us to "put to death" the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13) and to make "not provision for the flesh" (Romans 13:14). Partial obedience, the sin we decide to merely manage instead of drive out, is the seedbed of every downfall that follows.
Chapter 1 in Review
Judges 1 begins with obedience and victory, Judah inquiring of the LORD and taking the ground God had given, and bright examples like Caleb and Othniel who kept pressing in. But the chapter ends under a repeated, sorrowful refrain: tribe after tribe "did not drive out" the Canaanites. What God commanded to be removed was allowed to remain.
For the Apostolic reader, this is a mirror and a warning. God gives the victory, but we must take hold of all of it. The sin we make peace with instead of putting to death will not stay in its corner; it becomes a thorn in the side and a snare to the soul. Judges 1 teaches us to finish what obedience begins, and to drive out what God tells us to drive out.
- They began well, inquiring of the LORD, and where they obeyed, God gave victory.
- Faith is contagious; Caleb's courage stirred Othniel to take ground for God.
- The repeated failure was not God's, but Israel's incomplete obedience.
- Sin tolerated instead of driven out becomes a thorn and a snare (Judges 2:3).
Questions for Reflection
- Where have you settled for managing a sin that God told you to drive out completely?
- Caleb's faith stirred others. Whose faith has strengthened yours, and whose might you strengthen?
- Israel began by asking the LORD who should go first. Do you inquire of God before you act?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Inquiring of the LORD; Judah goes up: Judges 1:1-4.
- Caleb, Othniel, and Achsah: Judges 1:11-15; 3:9-11.
- The refrain of failure to drive out the Canaanites: Judges 1:19-33.
- The consequence of incomplete obedience: Judges 2:1-3.
- Putting sin to death, making no provision for the flesh: Romans 8:13; 13:14.