What does Judges 1:32 mean?

Describing one territory after another, the writer of Judges has reported that the tribes of Israel failed to drive the Canaanites out of their land, allowing the Canaanites to live among them (Judges 1:19–31). This time, reporting on the tribe of Asher, the writer says the Asherites lived among the Canaanites. The people of Asher became the minority group, at least in terms of power, in their own God-given territory.

Whether the issue is lack of will or lack of strength or lack of interest, one tribe after another fails to do what God has commanded them to do. God's command was not spiteful—it was about Israel's survival (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). By leaving the notably wicked Canaanites in the land, Israel planted the seeds of future suffering. Much of the book of Judges is taken up with explaining these hardships.