Judges 1:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

NIV: It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites.

NASB: They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

CSB: They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek, fought against him, and struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites.

NLT: While at Bezek they encountered King Adoni-bezek and fought against him, and the Canaanites and Perizzites were defeated.

KJV: And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

NKJV: And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

Israel's campaign to clear the Canaanites out of the Promised Land has begun. Their goal is to take full possession of the territories apportioned to each tribe. At God's direction and with His blessing, Judah has attacked first, defeating 10,000 soldiers at a place called Bezek (Judges 1:1–4).

During the attack, the Israelites located the enemy leader. The Hebrew term adōni means "lord" or "master," so Adoni-bezek is likely a title, rather than a given name. This is parallel to how the ruler of Egypt was called by the title Pharaoh. Though the city's Canaanites and Perizzites are defeated by the hand of the Lord, this enemy leader makes an escape—which is only temporary (Judges 1:6). This served as rousing evidence that Yahweh was still with Israel even after the death of their leader Joshua.

Judges 1:1–20 describes the campaign of the tribes of Judah and Simeon, to drive out or destroy all the Canaanites from their large territory in southern Israel. It begins with victories over Bezek and Jerusalem. The report rehearses the former victories by Caleb and his family in the hill country. The campaign continues into the desert wilderness of the Negeb, where a group of descendants of Moses' father-in-law settles. Judah dominates the hill country but doesn't entirely evict the wicked Canaanites because of their iron chariots.

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 5/6/2024 9:23:36 PM