Judges 1:34 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.

NIV: The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain.

NASB: Then the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley;

CSB: The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to go down into the valley.

NLT: As for the tribe of Dan, the Amorites forced them back into the hill country and would not let them come down into the plains.

KJV: And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:

NKJV: And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley;

The reports on the failure of the tribes of Israel to drive out the Canaanites from their territories continue (Judges 1:27–33). Dan's small territory was situated on the Mediterranean coast, with the larger tribes of Manasseh to the north, Judah to the south, and Ephraim to the east.

The fighting men of Dan seem to have at least engaged in battle with the inhabitants of the land. The text here calls the enemy forces "Amorites," rather than Canaanites. Scholars report that, during the period Judges was written, the names Canaanite and Amorite may have been used interchangeably and somewhat generically of the occupants of Palestine (Joshua 24:15).

As was the case with Judah (Judges 1:19), the people of Dan failed to overcome the Amorites on the plain. They were forced to retreat to the hill country and out of reach of the Amorites.

Judges 1:27–36 gives nearly the same report about six separate tribes of Israel: Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. Each fails to drive out the inhabitants of the cities in their allotted territories. Some succeed, eventually, in subjugating portions of the Canaanites or Amorites. None succeeds in obeying God's command to completely purge the land of those depraved cultures (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). Instead, the people mingle among the Israelites, with terrible consequences in the chapters to come.

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.

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.

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 9/20/2024 8:59:43 PM