What does Judges 1:25 mean?
ESV: And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.
NIV: So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family.
NASB: So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free.
CSB: When he showed them the way into the town, they put the town to the sword but released the man and his entire family.
NLT: So he showed them a way in, and they killed everyone in the town except that man and his family.
KJV: 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.
NKJV: So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.
Verse Commentary:
The tribe of Ephraim wants to capture the city of Bethel. To do so, they seem to be following a plan that worked for capturing and destroying the city of Jericho. They send in spies (Joshua 2:1–7). Those spies contact a man leaving the city. They offer to "deal kindly" with the man, likely by agreeing to let him live, if he will show them a way into the city.
The spies of Jericho made a similar offer to the prostitute Rahab, but she had already expressed faith and loyalty to the God of Israel. This Bethelite has not done so. He shows them a way into the city simply to avoid being killed by the spies of Ephraim. He betrays his own people to save his life and that of his family.
Ephraim's tribe is successful to a point. They conquer Bethel and destroy the city. However, they fail to obey God's command to utterly destroy all the region's inhabitants (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). They let the traitor live and do not even require him and his family to join them. They simply let him go (Judges 1:26).
Verse Context:
Judges 1:21–26 follows a long description of Judah's conquest with reports on two other tribes and their attempts to drive out the Canaanites from their territories. The tribe of Benjamin fails to remove the Jebusites from Jerusalem and so the Jebusites remained living among the people. Scouts from the tribe of Ephraim, here called "the house of Joseph," unwisely agree to allow one citizen of the Canaanite city of Bethel, also known as Luz, to live in exchange for providing them a way into the city. That man starts a new Canaanite city with the same name.
Chapter Summary:
Judges 1 summarizes the early efforts of the tribes of Israel to drive the Canaanites from the land or to destroy them entirely (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). The process starts well with a string of successes by Judah and Simeon in the south. Then the news turns sour as one tribe after another is said to have failed to drive the Canaanites out of their allotted territories. Instead, they occupy certain territories, often allowing inhabitants of the land to live among them.
Chapter Context:
Judges 1 continues immediately from the death of Joshua (Joshua 24:29–30). It begins a new era for Israel, now referred to as the time of "the judges." In a series of reports, tribe by tribe, the narrator describes Israel's success or failure to drive the deeply wicked Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4) from the land or to destroy them. Judah experiences much success, but it is unable to drive the inhabitants out of one region, at least. Every other tribe either fails utterly to remove the Canaanites, or only gradually grows strong enough to capture the territory.
Book Summary:
The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).
Accessed 4/28/2024 8:03:24 PM
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