And it came to pass after the death of Joshua that the children of Israel asked Jehovah, saying, Which of us shall go up against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.
Joshua has died. Israel's first act is not to name a successor but to ask God who should lead the fight for the land they have not yet taken. His answer names one tribe and settles the outcome before a blow is struck.
Israel had just lost their leader. One writer notes what they did instead of despairing.
What we find at the beginning of the first chapter of Judges is very encouraging. Two tribes, Judah and Simeon, wanted to gain their inheritance, and they showed two features we would do well to want today. First, they depended on God — they asked the Lord what they were to do. Second, they worked together to get what they wanted. Notice in verse 1: the people of Israel asked the Lord who should go up first against the Canaanites to fight against them. This is the secret of true prosperity before God — there was dependence on God. The great leader had gone, Joshua had departed. They might have thrown up their hands in despair and said, "There is no one to lead us, no one to guide us, no one to help us," but they did not; they turned to God.
God names one tribe to lead. One writer sees a reason behind the choice, and a power in it.
At first Israel is one, and in that subjection to God which is true unity. They ask who should go up first against the Canaanites to fight against them. The Lord not only names the champion, but assures success: "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand." We have already seen the spiritual reason for putting Judah in front. The spirit of "praise" is the spirit of power. It must be so, for it puts God first and implies devotedness to Him — a joy in obedience that gives courage and enthusiasm. The cause is God's, and it must prosper. If Judah is weak, Israel as a whole must languish.
Another writer asks what praise really is, and recalls the place this tribe held.
Judah means, as you know, "praise." But what is praise? What is the ground on which praise flourishes? It is not a burst of feeling, as many of us think. How often we make that mistake! How often we try to work up a state of feeling and call it praise and worship, when it is not. Judah was the leader all through the wilderness. He was the leading tribe in the land, and more than that, Christ was to come out of the tribe of Judah.
The same writer traces praise back to the truth of God, and warns what follows when people let that truth go.
Judah's inheritance was the whole southern part of the land, the land that lay toward the sun. In the same way the word of God lights up that heritage which is of first value. I have no question at all that, just as the basis of all true praise must be the truth of God, so Judah stands for the whole sum of doctrinal truth. That is the basis on which worship alone can stand. Wherever people give up the truth, praise languishes and Judah stops being a victor. The same happens wherever the Word of God is set aside, or, just as bad, wherever its truths lose their power in the soul.
God speaks of the land as already given, before the fighting starts. One writer presses who that promise was for.
But Judah is in fact already weak. The land is pledged to him by God, and to him alone. The word is precise, and no one may add to it any more than take from it — to add to it is really to take from it. Yet Judah turns to Simeon, his brother, for help, as if the promise of God were not enough.
So commentators differ over Judah's call to Simeon. One counts that teamwork among Israel's good features; another reads it as a quiet failure of trust.
The answer was plain. Judah could count fully on God's faithfulness to His promise; but already we see that the simplicity of faith was lacking in him, and that his dependence on Jehovah was not as real as it appeared to be… Judah seems to mistrust his own strength; but instead of finding his resource in the God of Israel, he seeks it in Simeon, and in reality lacks confidence in Jehovah.
The verse sets the tone for everything that follows, and the tone is bright before it darkens.
Here we really have a miniature history of the whole book of Judges. It begins right… The first part begins with victory. You will find that it is God's power in His people as they go up and take possession of their inheritance. To be sure, there are features here that are not hopeful signs. We already have a hint of departure from the simple and clear word of God. Yet the brightest side comes first.
- Ask first. Israel lost their leader and turned to God, not to panic. Dependence on God is the secret of true prosperity.
- Praise leads. Judah means praise, and praise puts God first. God sends to the front the tribe that led Israel and the tribe Christ came from.
- Truth feeds praise. Praise stands on the truth of God; where His Word loses its power in the soul, praise fades and Judah stops winning.
- The word is enough. God pledged the land to Judah alone, and no one may add to that word. Commentators differ on whether calling Simeon showed teamwork or weak trust.
- Victory first. The book opens with God's power in His people as they take possession. The brightest side comes first, before the decline.
And Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, and let us fight against the Canaanites, and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot; and Simeon went with him.
Judges opens with Israel asking God who should lead the fight, and God names Judah alone. Was Judah's call to his brother Simeon wise teamwork, or the first crack in Israel's confidence in God?
God's answer named one tribe and gave it a guarantee. Judah then adds a partner God had not named.
But Judah is, in fact, weak already. God pledged the land to him, and to him alone. The word is precise. No one may add to it any more than take from it — and to add to it is really to take from it. Yet Judah turns to Simeon, his brother, for help, as if the promise of God were not enough.
Judah does not turn to Israel's enemies. He turns to family — and one writer traces where that leads.
Judah seems to mistrust his own strength. But instead of finding his resource in the God of Israel, he seeks it in Simeon. In reality he lacks confidence in the LORD. True, he does not ally himself with the enemies of God. If his faith fails, he turns to his brother Simeon, only to his brother. But still, under the excuse of pushing forward the work of God, we see the beginning, in principle, of human associations and alliances. These have become the ruling feature of all the present activity in Christendom. Did God need Simeon to give Judah the lot of his inheritance?
Commentators differ here. Some see the opening of Judges as a model rather than a warning — a people who asked God first and then went together.
What we find at the beginning of the first chapter of the book of Judges is very encouraging. Two tribes, Judah and Simeon, wanted to get their inheritance. They showed two features we might well long for today. First, they depended on God — they asked the LORD what they were to do. Second, they shared together in getting what they wanted.
Asking a brother for help is not wrong in itself. The question is whether God has directed it.
We may not be able to say whether or not Judah's failure was because he sought his brother Simeon's help. In some circumstances it is right and proper to seek the help of fellow believers. But we should be sure it is the Lord's mind for us to do so. There was certainly nothing in the LORD's answer to suggest that He meant Simeon to go with Judah.
One writer reads the names for what they picture, and finds a warning in Simeon's.
Simeon is Judah's brother in a special way. He may be the most suitable of all companions for him, and God has even linked their inheritance together. But none of this is an argument, if God's word is to be followed as the perfect word it truly is. Simeon, "hearing," stands for communion, which all right hearing surely is... And do we not need the reminder that communion and the authority of the Word must go together? What claims to be communion can never make up for a worship that has lost the simple obedience which proves it genuine. In due time we shall find the loss of power that follows.
The joint campaign looked like a success. One writer weighs what each tribe received.
The result of this combined action looked magnificent. But we learn from Joshua 19:9 that Judah's portion was too large for them, and Simeon's inheritance was not the best. It was taken from what Judah could not keep. So they received their portion out of what was surplus to another, at the southern edge of the land, on the border facing the desert. It was not that God disowned either tribe, for verse 4 says the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. But warfare undertaken on the footing of a human alliance bears more or less the stamp of its origin.
The same instinct repeats wherever God's people serve. God gives a promise, and we still look for something we can see.
Of course we see human wisdom in this, but it was not God's wisdom, for God had promised the victory to Judah. Would he not have gained the victory without other help? But this shows our own weakness, which the Church of God has repeated so often. Instead of acting simply by faith in the clear Word of God, we seem to need some visible support to go with it.
- Word. God named Judah alone and pledged the land to him. Adding to a precise promise takes from it.
- Wobble. Judah mistrusted his own strength and turned to his brother, not to God. Human alliance in God's work starts here.
- Weighing. Commentators differ. Some see real dependence and fellowship here. Asking a brother for help can be right; the test is whether the Lord has directed it.
- Warning. Communion and the authority of the Word must travel together. Fellowship can never replace simple obedience.
- Wound. God still gave the victory, yet the campaign carried the stamp of its origin — Simeon's inheritance came out of the land Judah could not hold.
And Judah went up; and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they smote them in Bezek, ten thousand men.
After Joshua died, Israel asked the LORD who should lead the attack on the Canaanites, and He named Judah. Verse 4 gives the result: ten thousand enemies fell at Bezek, and the LORD was the one who handed them over.
God chose the leading tribe Himself. One writer finds the reason in what Judah stands for — praise.
The LORD not only names the champion, but assures success: "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand." We have seen before why Judah is in front. The spirit of "praise" is the spirit of power. It must be so. Praise puts God first. It means devotion to Him, and a joy in obedience that gives courage and enthusiasm. The cause is God's, and it must prosper. If Judah is weak, the whole of Israel must grow weak.
The verse names two of the peoples living in the land. One writer treats their names as pictures of dangers we still meet.
The names here, as everywhere, are surely significant. They stand for those powers of evil which take the ground first and would keep us from enjoying the inheritance God has given us in Christ… The Canaanite is "the trafficker," companion to the talker, who turns the very truth of God into merchandise. The Perizzite is "the countryman," which may suggest great power, nobility, false pride… All these must be cast out. Every alliance with them must be refused outright.
One writer notes that the Perizzites are missing from the list of Canaan's descendants, and draws a conclusion:
This seems to mean that they were not a separate race. They were people who kept away from town life, which the Canaanites mostly loved, and stayed villagers.
God promised the land into Judah's hand, yet Judah asked Simeon to come along. The victory still came. One writer weighs both facts.
God did not disown either tribe. Verse 4 says, "the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand." But war fought on the footing of a human alliance carries, more or less, the mark of where it came from.
Commentators differ on this partnership. Another writer reads the start of the chapter as full of encouragement, and points to what the two tribes did before any fighting began:
Two tribes, Judah and Simeon, wanted to gain their inheritance, and they showed two features we might well want today. First, they depended on God — they asked the LORD what they were to do. Second, they shared together in getting what they wanted… This is the secret of true prosperity before God — there was dependence upon God.
One writer draws the lesson out of the place name and out of the king who ruled there.
Judah and Simeon go together, and God delivers the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hand. They strike down a host ten thousand strong in Bezek. In Bezek they also find Adoni-bezek, whom they pursue and maim, carrying out God's judgment on him for the cruelties he had inflicted on others. He admits it himself — a striking witness to Israel of how and why God was against the Canaanites, and that the One whose judgments they were carrying out was over all. His name goes with the lesson. Bezek means "fettered," and so were the hosts they destroyed. Adoni-bezek means "lord of Bezek," which was no doubt his chief city; but it also means, literally, "a lord in fetters." So it is with the freest of men when they stand against God, and with the mightiest when they are in His hand.
after-note-none:
The Canaanites were more than a political enemy. One writer connects them to a fight that goes on today.
The Canaanites, as anyone with a little teaching knows, were the future enemies of God's chosen people. They were already in the land. They were Satan's tool to shut out those whom God had called, if that were possible, or at least to expose and corrupt them. According to Ephesians 6, they picture our own enemies: the world-rulers of this darkness, the spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Our fight is against them.
- Asked — Israel asked the LORD first instead of acting on their own. Writers call this dependence the secret of real prosperity before God.
- Appointed — God named Judah, the tribe that stands for praise, and promised the land into his hand before the fighting began.
- Allied — Judah still called on Simeon. The victory came, but writers note that war built on a human alliance carries the mark of where it came from.
- Delivered — The verse gives the credit to the LORD. Ten thousand fell at Bezek, and the king called "lord of Bezek" ended up a lord in fetters.
- Applied — The Canaanites picture the spiritual powers believers still face. Even the mightiest enemy is in God's hand.
And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him, and they smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
Here the war for the land narrows to one man. Judah and Simeon hunt down the ruler of Bezek and defeat his Canaanite and Perizzite forces. Commentators read the verse on two levels: a real battle won by God's power, and a lesson hidden in two names.
The name "Adoni-bezek" means the lord, or master, of Bezek. One writer finds a second sense in the word, one that turns the title upside down:
His name goes with the lesson. Bezek means "fettered," and so were these armies they destroyed. Adoni-bezek means "lord of Bezek," no doubt his chief city — but it also means, literally, "a lord in fetters." So it is with the freest, when in opposition to God, and with the mightiest, in His hand.
Commentators differ on the meaning of the name. Another reads Bezek as "lightning," which changes the picture of the enemy but not the outcome:
Bezek, meaning "lightning," looks like a fearsome enemy, but the power of God is greater.
Before the fighting began, Judah had asked his brother tribe Simeon to come with him. One writer sees that move as a small crack in his confidence:
Judah seems to mistrust his own strength. Instead of finding his resource in the God of Israel, he seeks it in Simeon, and in reality lacks confidence in the Lord. True, he does not ally himself with the enemies of God. If his faith fails, he turns to his brother Simeon, only to his brother. But still, under the excuse of pushing forward the work of God, we see in principle the first sign of human associations and alliances.
God still gave the victory. Yet the same writer sees the method leave its mark on the result:
It was not that God disowned either tribe. Verse 4 says, "the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand." But a war fought on the basis of a human alliance carries more or less the mark of where it came from.
They caught Adoni-bezek but did not kill him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes instead — the very thing he had done to others. One writer weighs this against God's command, and draws a lesson about sin in ourselves:
They captured its king, Adoni-Bezek ("lord of Bezek"), as he was fleeing. But instead of putting him to death as God had ordered, they compromised: they cut off his thumbs and big toes. … God had decreed this because of the demon worship these Canaanites had given themselves up to. That demonic influence would not be stamped out by merely maiming the ungodly king. These things teach us to show no mercy to sin. We are to "put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5).
This half-measure sets the pattern for the rest of the chapter. Another writer traces the slide step by step:
It is only a partial maiming of an enemy instead of his complete destruction. As you go on you find everything done in part only. At first they simply put the enemy to flight. Then they can no longer do that, and the enemy is driven into the mountain strongholds to live there alone. Then, a little further on, they cannot do even that; they make the enemies of God pay them tribute. … The next step shows no power even for this; they live among them. And lastly, they could not drive them out of the rich valleys, the choice pastures.
Adoni-bezek's own words explain his defeat. He had maimed other kings the same way, and he named what happened to him as God's repayment:
In Jerusalem and its people has been shown, and will yet be shown, that stern law: "whatever one sows, that will he also reap." … Such treatment of a beaten enemy seems dishonourable and cruel. But the reason for it is not hidden from us: as he had treated others, so he was treated. He at once admits that his punishment is just, and in that state of self-judgment they bring him to Jerusalem.
Another writer turns that admission on a long-standing objection:
Unbelievers have often found fault with the wiping out of the Canaanites. The confession of Adoni-Bezek answers these objections. "As I have done, so God has repaid me." Their punishment was just and well deserved.
- Promise — The Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand. The win at Bezek was God's doing, not proof of Judah's strength.
- Alliance — Judah still reached for Simeon's help. God gave the victory anyway, but the way a battle is fought leaves its mark.
- Compromise — A maimed king is not a dead king. Sin left crippled but alive is sin left alive.
- Harvest — Adoni-bezek had cut off thumbs and toes; he lost his own, and said God had repaid him. He reaped what he sowed — and his own confession answers the charge that God was cruel.
- Decline — Half-finished work sets the pattern for what follows. First flight, then tribute, then living among the enemy, then losing the best of the land.
And Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.
A Canaanite king runs from a lost battle. Israel's men catch him and, instead of killing him, cripple his hands and feet. Two questions follow: why this punishment, and why did Israel choose it when God had commanded something else?
His name is a title, and it ends up describing what happened to him.
In Bezek they find Adoni-bezek. They chase him down and maim him, carrying out God's judgment on him for the same kind of cruelties he had inflicted on others. He himself admits this is what it is. That is a remarkable witness to Israel of how and why God was against the Canaanites, and that He whose judgments they were carrying out was over all. His name goes with the lesson. Bezek means "fettered," and so were these armies that they destroyed. Adoni-bezek means "lord of Bezek," no doubt his chief city, but the name also means, literally, "a lord in fetters." So it is with the freest man when he stands against God, and with the mightiest man in His hand.
The mutilation looks arbitrary until you see what it took from a soldier.
In ancient times people fully recognised the special place and usefulness of the thumb of the hand and the big toe of the foot. The Bible tells us about a great king, Adoni-bezek. He lost a battle, and as he tried to escape they caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes... Without thumbs and big toes a warrior could not fight, and getting away from the enemy became very hard.
The punishment fit the crime, but it did not fit God's command.
The allies seize Adoni-bezek and "cut off his thumbs and his big toes" (v. 6). This was not what God had commanded long ago. It was not what Joshua did to the kings of Jericho, Ai, Jerusalem and Makkedah, or to all the kings of the mountain and the plain. To mutilate the enemy was simply human retaliation. Adoni-bezek had done the same to humble his own enemies. He kept them at his court, because their presence added to his glory as conqueror.
Another writer explains why maiming could never be enough.
They captured its king, Adoni-Bezek ("lord of Bezek") as he fled. God had ordered them to put him to death, but they compromised and cut off his thumbs and big toes (vv. 5-6). He had done the same to 70 kings whom he had brought under his rule, and now he says that God has repaid him in kind... God had decreed his death because of the demon worship these Canaanites had given themselves up to. Maiming this wicked king would not stamp out that demon influence. These things teach us to show no mercy to sin. We are to "put to death what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5). Yet Adoni-Bezek died, so God intervened to carry out the proper sentence against him.
Half-measures at the start of the book set the pattern for everything that follows.
It is only a partial mutilation of an enemy instead of his absolute destruction. As you go on you find everything done in part only. At first they simply put the enemy to flight. Then they can no longer do even that, and they only drive the enemy into the mountain strongholds to live there alone. Then you find, a little further on, that they are not able to do even that; they actually make the enemies of God pay them tribute. The next step shows no power even for this: they live among them. Last of all, they cannot drive them out of the rich valleys, the choice pastures. The children of Israel have to live in the mountains, and the enemy has the best of all the land. What a progress that is!
The maimed king had his own explanation for what had happened to him.
Such treatment of a fallen foe seems both unchivalrous and cruel, but the reason for it is not hidden from us: as he had treated others, so was he treated. He immediately acknowledges the justice of his punishment, and in that state of self-judgment is brought to Jerusalem.
Notice who he credits for it — not Judah, and not bad luck.
Note this. Adoni-bezek went through the ordeal of having his thumbs and his big toes cut off, which left him badly crippled. He traced what had happened to him back to God: "as I have done, so God has repaid me." The boomerang he had often thrown at others had hit himself. It is always so.
- Lord in fetters — his name meant "lord of Bezek," and Bezek means "fettered." The mightiest man becomes a captive once he stands against God.
- Boomerang — he had crippled seventy kings. The weapon he threw at others came back on him, and he named God as the one repaying him.
- Compromise — God had ordered death. Israel cut off thumbs and toes instead: human retaliation in place of obedience.
- Half-measures fail — maiming leaves the evil alive. Sin in us needs the same treatment: put it to death, do not just disable it.
- The slide — this half-job starts a long decline. Israel first routs the enemy, then only taxes them, then lives among them, and ends up in the hills while the enemy keeps the best land.
And Adoni-Bezek said, Seventy kings, with their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gleaned under my table as I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
Adoni-bezek was a Canaanite king, caught as he fled. His only recorded words are a confession: his punishment matched his own cruelty to seventy other kings. The verse raises two hard questions at once — was God behind this, and was Israel right to do it?
The striking thing is not the cruelty but who names God in it.
Adoni-bezek went through the ordeal of having his thumbs and his great toes cut off. It left him badly crippled. Yet he traced what had happened to him back to God — "God has repaid me." The boomerang he had often thrown at others had struck him. This is always so.
Why the thumbs and big toes? They were what a fighting man needed most:
In ancient times people knew well the special place and usefulness of the thumb of the hand and the big toe of the foot… Without thumbs and big toes a warrior could not fight, and escape from the enemy would be extremely difficult.
One commentator answers a long-standing charge against God with the words of a Canaanite himself.
Adoni-Bezek suffers the same treatment that he in his wickedness had given to others. Unbelievers have often found fault with the extermination of the Canaanites. The confession of Adoni-Bezek answers these objections: "As I have done, so God has repaid me." Their punishment was just and well deserved.
Judah and Simeon were not only winning a war. One commentator finds a witness to Israel in the whole scene, down to the king's name.
They pursue and maim him, carrying out God's judgment on him for cruelties of this same kind inflicted on others. He himself admits this is what it is. It was a remarkable witness to Israel of how and why God was against the Canaanites. It also showed that the One whose judgments they were carrying out was over all. His name goes with the lesson. Bezek means "fettered," and so were the hosts they destroyed. Adonibezek means "lord of Bezek," which was his chief city — but the name also means "a lord in fetters." So it is with the freest of men when they oppose God, and with the mightiest, in His hand.
Not everyone reads Israel's action as obedience. One writer calls the maiming a human choice, not God's command. He also finds the beaten king more open than God's own people.
This was not what God commanded long ago… To mutilate the enemy was nothing more than human retaliation. Adoni-bezek had likewise used this way of humbling his enemies. But he kept them at his court, since their presence added to his glory as conqueror. We see similar things in the history of the church. How often she has made a display of past victories to exalt herself in her own eyes and in the eyes of others. The conscience of a humbled enemy is often more open than that of the people of God in prosperity.
Another writer sees a compromise. Judah settled for less than God had ordered, and God finished what Israel left half done.
Instead of putting him to death, as God had ordered, they compromised by cutting off his thumbs and big toes. His own words in verse 7 are his condemnation… God had decreed this death because of the demon worship these Canaanites had given themselves over to. Maiming the ungodly king would never stamp out that demon influence. These things teach us that we are to show no mercy to sin… Yet Adoni-Bezek died, so God stepped in to carry out the proper sentence against him.
They take him to Jerusalem to die. That city's own history shows the same rule.
In the history of Jerusalem and its people we see that stern law shown, and it will be shown again: "whatever one sows, that will he also reap."… Such treatment of a fallen enemy seems both dishonourable and cruel. But the reason for it is not hidden from us: as he had treated others, so he was treated. He admits at once that his punishment is just. In that state of self-judgment they bring him to Jerusalem.
- Sown — Seventy maimed kings under his table were seed; the harvest came back to the sower's own hands and feet.
- Owned — He names God as the one repaying him. The condemned man agrees with his own sentence.
- Answered — A Canaanite king's own words answer the charge that God was unjust to the Canaanites.
- Fettered — "Lord of Bezek" ends as a lord in fetters. The freest and mightiest man is still in God's hand when he sets himself against Him.
- Half-done — Commentators differ on Judah's part: human retaliation, or a compromise short of God's order. Both warn that a maimed enemy left alive is no finished victory.
And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
In this verse Judah takes Jerusalem and burns it. Yet by verse 21 the Jebusites still live there — so why did this victory leave no lasting mark?
One writer ties the end of the captured king, Adoni-bezek, to the end of the city itself.
He is brought to Jerusalem, only to die there; and the city itself is struck with the sword and burnt; for the "foundation of peace" must be righteousness, and the Jebusite city is only a hypocrisy, though few may believe this now.
Another writer looks at the campaign as a whole. Something in it is unfinished.
There was victory, to be sure. But read on. You will find there was not that complete wholeness of heart which would secure fuller development and a complete triumph for God. There does not seem to be the dignity of a complete victory over the forces of Adoni-Bezek. A mutilated enemy is not one completely overthrown. He dies later on, and Jerusalem is taken and burned for the time; yet the conquest is not permanent.
How can the same book report a capture and then a Jebusite population? One writer points to the map.
Judah also fought against Jerusalem and captured it, setting the city on fire (v. 8). But this evidently covered only the southern part of the city. Jerusalem lay on the border between Judah and Benjamin. In verse 21 we read that Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem.
The gap between verse 8 and verse 21 is not only about two tribes. It shows the same people strong, and then weak.
Judah, in days of prosperity (v. 8), had struck this city with the edge of the sword, and set it on fire. But the defeated enemy's forces are skilful at regrouping. They never consider themselves beaten. Israel's low state gave them a favourable opportunity, and so "the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day."
Commentators differ here. One reads the fire as right and just. Another asks what Israel threw away by lighting it.
In the first five books of the Bible we see how God had set His heart on Jerusalem. He had chosen it as the place of His Name, and gave Israel very exact instructions about it. Later, in Judges 1:4-8, we read of the defeat of Adoni-bezek at Bezek. He was punished, and died at Jerusalem. But Israel, instead of establishing the city as God's chosen centre, set fire to it, and went off to settle on the good land for themselves! This is always the tendency. It is so with believers today. The city was not established until God raised up the King of His choice — David the son of Jesse. Man fails; but God never fails. He had chosen Jerusalem, and He must gloriously bring to pass what He chose it for.
This burning is not an isolated episode. One writer traces the same pattern through the city's whole story.
Joshua 10:1 mentions Jerusalem for the first time in the Bible, and that in connection with war. Here the sword strikes the city, and fire burns it. This has been her history over and over again, and will be again in the future, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Taken. Judah struck Jerusalem and burned it. A place whose name means "foundation of peace" cannot rest on anything but righteousness, and the Jebusite city was a hypocrisy.
- Partly. The capture covered only the southern part of the city. Jerusalem lay on a tribal border, and Benjamin never drove the Jebusites out.
- Briefly. A mutilated enemy is not an overthrown one — the victory was real, but the conquest was not permanent.
- Lost. Judah won the city in a day of strength. A beaten enemy took it back when Israel grew weak, and the Jebusites lived on beside Benjamin.
- Until the King. Fire alone never made the city God's centre. That waited for David, the king of God's own choosing. Man fails, but God's purpose for Jerusalem stands.
And afterwards the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the hill-country, and in the south, and in the lowland.
After Joshua's death, Israel held a land that was theirs by promise but not yet theirs in fact. Here Judah presses south against Canaanites who still held the high ground and the valleys. So why did a people already given a land have to fight for every part of it?
The book of Joshua ends with the land divided among the tribes, but not emptied of enemies. One writer explains why the record can sound like it contradicts itself:
The land was fully divided, but not yet fully conquered. This was so because Israel had to be tested. The God of their fathers put them in possession of the land by His grace, but they were to keep it as a people bound to obedience.
Another writer reads the same pattern as a picture of the believer's life. Title is one thing; enjoyment is another:
As to our title, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ, eating the grain of that land. But then the conflict begins. We hold our ground against the enemy, and we come to know the full sum of our privileges through every attack he makes on us.
The campaign in this chapter began with a question put to God, and God named the tribe. Commentators find meaning in the name itself:
The answer is "Judah shall go up," and God gives the decisive promise that He has delivered the Canaanites into Judah's hand (v. 2). Judah means "praise," and a spirit of praise to God is surely what should lead against any enemy, for it gives God the honour for winning the victory.
Before going down against the mountain, the south and the valley, Judah had asked Simeon to come along. Some writers see the first crack there. The fault was not an alliance with enemies. It was that a plain promise seemed to need help:
Judah seems to mistrust his own strength. Instead of finding his resource in the God of Israel, he seeks it in Simeon, and so he really lacks confidence in Jehovah. True, he does not join with the enemies of God; when his faith fails he turns to his brother Simeon, and only to his brother. Yet under the excuse of pushing forward the work of God, we see, in principle, the dawn of human associations and alliances.
Commentators differ on how far to press this. Another is more careful:
We may not be able to say whether or not the failure of Judah was because he sought the help of his brother Simeon. In certain circumstances it is right and proper to seek the help of our fellow believers, but we should be sure that it is the Lord's mind for us to do so.
The verse names three regions: hill country, south and lowland. The chapter goes on to tell how far Judah got in each:
However, Judah did drive out the people of the hill country, yet could not drive out the people of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron (v. 17). This was a poor excuse, for is God inferior to iron chariots? What Judah needed was the faith of a Caleb.
Another writer traces that limit back to Judah's own trust:
It seemed that chariots of iron stopped almighty power. It often does seem so, and in a sense it is even true. The removal of difficulties often depends on a simple faith, and our faith is, sadly, so seldom simple… Judah has measured the might of Jehovah, and Jehovah measures the strength He puts out for him. So God's ways are even, and Judah loses the fullness of a blessing he cannot grasp.
Judah's next victory was at Hebron, and one man stood behind it:
Caleb's energy, perseverance and faith on this occasion were such that his whole tribe bore the imprint of it… What an honour for Caleb, that Judah should have gained the victory! On the other hand, let us not forget that each one of us may help to imprint weakness on the people of God as a whole.
And what Caleb gained was not merely a hill town. Hebron carries its own meaning:
He therefore took possession of Hebron, typically possessing the communion with God to which every believer is entitled, but which many do not enjoy.
One writer turns this straight on the reader:
It may be that we, like Judah and the other tribes who had their inheritance in the land, have been content to let the enemy rob us of what God meant us to have. It takes spiritual energy to enter into what God has given us in His grace. And He has given us the full armour that makes us victorious over all our foes (Eph. 6:10-18).
- Given — God divided the land before Israel had conquered it, so He could test them in holding what grace had already given.
- Led — God named Judah, the tribe whose name means "praise," to go first, giving Him the honour for the victory.
- Weakened — Judah leaned on Simeon when God's promise needed no help. Commentators differ on whether that choice cost him later.
- Halted — Judah took the mountain but not the valley. The chariots of iron measured Judah's faith, not God's power.
- Possessed — Caleb's faith took Hebron and marked his whole tribe. One person's faith still decides how much of God's gift is enjoyed.
And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron -- the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-Arba; and they slew Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
Judah's campaign now reaches Hebron, one of the oldest cities in the world. The verse gives the city's older name and names the three giants Judah struck down there.
The verse notes that Hebron once had a different name. The place had a long history before Judah ever arrived:
Hebron was the city and district where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived. It lies about twenty-two miles south of Jerusalem. Sarah died there and was buried in the cave of Machpelah, as were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah. The city was built seven years before "Zoan in Egypt" and earlier bore the name Kiriath-arba. It was one of the most ancient cities known in the world. The Canaanites held it until Joshua conquered it. Caleb then received the city, in the portion of Judah.
The name Hebron carries a meaning, and the older name points to a man. One writer takes both, and shows what God does with such men:
Hebron, going by the root of its name, speaks of companionship. It stands all through Scripture as the symbol of communion… Fuerst supposes "Arba" to mean "hero of Baal," and many accept this. But it seems too much like guesswork. The word is the common Hebrew for the numeral four, which more easily carries the sense of "square, four-square," suited to the father of a giant race. Four is also the number of the creature, and of weakness. That is in no way against this reading, but a divine comment on the other side. It is on what is loftiest in nature that God puts the mark of nothingness and brings it down.
Joshua 15 gives this same conquest to Caleb. Here the credit goes to the whole tribe. One writer explains the difference by the weight of one man's faith:
Joshua 15:14-15 credits to Caleb what our chapter credits to Judah. Caleb's energy, perseverance and faith on this occasion were such that his whole tribe carried the mark of it… What an honour for Caleb, that Judah should have gained the victory! On the other hand, let us not forget that each one of us may help to stamp weakness on the people of God as a whole. God grant that the church, though unfaithful, may have many Calebs in her midst today.
Why is the story told twice? One writer answers from God's side:
Here we have the repetition of a story familiar to us, mostly in the same words as before… Scripture is not afraid of a repetition that underlines God's delight in the achievements of His people.
The three men Judah struck down belonged to the Anakim, a giant race. One writer reads their names as pictures of pride, and calls it only a suggestion:
The names of the three children of Anak are not easy to interpret, and one can only venture to suggest their meaning. They were Anakim, "the long-necked," the men of whom it was said, "Who can stand before the sons of Anak?" They may well stand for the different forms of pride of heart. God is far off from such pride, and it is therefore the most terrible hindrance to the believer's possession of Hebron, that is "communion." Sheshai most probably means "white," and may in this way speak of self-righteousness, the pride of personal character. Ahiman, if we may take it with Fausset to mean "who is my brother?", speaks of the pride of position, birth, or worldly standing. Talmai, "my furrows," speaks of the pride of work accomplished, of one's own doings.
Another writer weighs the giants against the God who was with Caleb:
Giants meant no more to Caleb than weak men did, for God was with him. So he took possession of Hebron. This pictures the communion with God that every believer is entitled to, but which many do not enjoy.
- Ancient ground. Hebron, once Kiriath-arba, is where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived and where they lie buried. Judah won back old family ground.
- One man's mark. Joshua credits Caleb; Judges credits Judah. One believer's faith can stamp a whole company — and so can one believer's weakness.
- Retold on purpose. Scripture repeats the conquest because God delights to record what His people achieved.
- Named giants. Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai picture three forms of pride: self-righteousness, position, and achievement. One writer offers this as a suggestion, not a certainty.
- Communion is the prize. Hebron speaks of communion, and pride is what blocks it. Where God is with a man, giants count for nothing.
And from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher.
Judges 1:11 records one step in Judah's campaign. The army moves from Hebron to a town called Debir, and the verse pauses to note the town's older name, Kiriath-sepher (also written Kirjath-sepher). Commentators find the weight of this short verse in that small note.
The book of Joshua tells this campaign too, and there the credit goes to Caleb, not to the tribe. One writer treats that difference as a compliment to one man's influence.
Joshua 15:14-15 credits Caleb with what our chapter credits to Judah. Caleb's energy, perseverance and faith at this time were so great that his whole tribe carried the mark of it... Individual faith coming to the front shows itself far more clearly in the history of the judges God raised up to deliver Israel. We see it too in the revivals God works in our days. It is encouraging for the individual, but humbling for the rest.
Both names mean something. One commentator sees the change of name as the point of the whole capture.
Debir, we find, had a Canaanite name just as Hebron did: it was Kirjath-sepher, the "city of the book". How striking that in Caleb's hands the city of the book becomes the place of a divine oracle! A written word alone gives way to a living Voice — the voice of Him who, when the heart is right with Him, delights to draw near and speak to the heart of the worshipper... For the Christian, of course, the "oracle" is not separated from the "book": it neither replaces nor overrules it. In fact, "the living oracles" is a title of Scripture itself, which faith owns and finds true. God never sets aside His Word. The Spirit of God works with it and gives it power, giving us the full reality of God's presence.
Before it was Debir, the city belonged to the enemy. One writer reads its old name as a picture of everything human learning has piled up without God.
The name of this city means the "city of a book". Without stretching the imagination, we could say it represents all the wisdom and knowledge man has gathered through all the ages of his culture. It is everything he boasts in, everything he has piled up in opposition to God — the libraries are full of this today. But there is nothing there to help the soul, nothing to lead us to God. Indeed, it would all take us away from God.
Judges is a book of victories that did not last. One commentator reads this episode against that background. He says knowledge of God's word makes the difference between gaining ground and keeping it.
From verse nine to verse fifteen you see faith in very bright exercise in Caleb, Othniel and Achsah. It emphasises the supremacy of God's word, the supremacy of truth. If Judah is to gain and keep his victories, it must be by the truth. If the people of God are to go on winning their triumphs, it must be by gaining more and more knowledge of the Word of God... The city of the book brings to mind the Bible we hold in our hands, and it is the Bible we are to conquer — to take possession of it, to take it out of the hands of its enemies, to make it for ourselves a Book of delight, a Book that speaks to us of God. So when Kirjath-sepher was taken, its name was changed to Debir, which means the "Word of God".
The same writer applies the picture to later generations of God's people.
The church did not turn Kirjath-sepher into Debir, a living oracle. Instead it took the book out of the people's hands, put it in the monasteries, and forbade them its use. Instead of giving the people the living oracles of God, it took those oracles away. Nothing but darkness and failure could come of that.
If Debir means a place where God speaks, then taking it has a result: the one who has laid hold of the truth can pass it on.
They continued to Debir (meaning "oracle", but called Kirjath Sepher before, meaning "city of the book"). For if we lay hold of the truth of God in our souls, we shall have grace to speak "as the oracle of God"... How lovely a picture this is of one who takes the Word of God as his own possession and greatly profits by it.
- Repeated — Joshua credits Caleb with this conquest; Judges credits the tribe. Commentators read this as one man's faith marking a whole people.
- Renamed — Kirjath-sepher means "city of the book"; Debir means "oracle". The capture turns a written word into a living voice.
- Recaptured — the old name pictures human wisdom piled up against God. There is nothing in it to help the soul.
- Retained — only the truth keeps a victory; the people of God go on winning as they go on knowing His word.
- Relayed — those who lay hold of the truth get grace to speak it; where the church took the book from people's hands, darkness followed.
And Caleb said, He that smites Kirjath-sepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.
Caleb already held Hebron. Now he offers his own daughter to the man who can take one more city — and the offer raises three questions: what kind of man does faith produce, what does this city stand for, and why does a marriage belong beside a battle?
This offer shows the man as clearly as any battle did.
Here again we may notice that the distinguishing marks of Caleb showed in his private and family life as much as in public. Having no sons, he decides that whoever marries his daughter must prove himself worthy of her and of Hebron. And Othniel proved himself to be just that.
The challenge did more than find an heir. Caleb's faith took hold in his own family.
Caleb was especially blessed in his family circle, since they followed him in his path of faith... The nephew steps worthily into the footprints of the uncle. The object of such priceless value in his eyes is Caleb's daughter, and, set on having her, he enters the conflict. And we — are we set on having Christ at all cost? In Judges 3 Othniel becomes the first judge in Israel. An overcomer for himself, he is raised up to deliver others, and in this new character he perseveres to the end.
One writer reads the two city names together, and turns them into a task for the reader.
If the people of God are to go on winning their triumphs, they must gain more and more knowledge of the Word of God... Hebron means communion, and Kiriath-sepher, the city closely connected with it, means the city of the book. It brings to mind at once this precious book, the Bible, which we hold in our hands. And it is the Bible that we are to conquer. You say, "Conquer the Bible?" Yes — take possession of it, take it out of the hands of its enemies, make it for ourselves a book of delight, a book that speaks to us of God.
The city got a new name when it fell.
Debir had, like Hebron, a Canaanite name: it was Kiriath-sepher, the "city of the book." How striking that in Caleb's hands the city of the book becomes the place of a divine oracle! A written word alone gives way to a living Voice — the voice of Him who delights to draw near and speak to the heart of the worshipper, when the heart is right with Him... For the Christian, of course, the "oracle" is not separated from the "book." It neither displaces nor overrides it.
Commentators differ on what the book pictures. One reads the city as man's own wisdom, piled up against God:
It could be suggested that this city represents all the wisdom and knowledge that man has gathered through all the ages of his culture — all the things he boasts in, all the things he has piled up against God. The libraries are full of it today. But there is nothing there to help the soul, nothing to lead us to God.
Othniel's name carries the secret of his victory.
Othniel means the lion of God — the power of God, not the power of man. He is the one who takes this book, which we believe to be the inspired Scriptures, and makes it in practice the word of God. The man who judges Israel stands for the principle that brings God's people to self-judgment: the principle that recognises that in this precious book we have God's word, which searches and tries our hearts.
Why does Scripture record a marriage beside a siege? One writer answers that the two belong together.
Scripture is not afraid of a repetition that shows God's delight in what His people achieve. Achsah's request for the water springs stands beside Othniel's capture of Debir... Othniel, the "lion of God," pictures the heroism of faith. Like the son of Kenaz, that faith finds its strength in Another. It finds its partner in the simplicity that claims and receives the fullness of the Spirit, to make good its portion in the land. These two must come together in the one who lives in Canaan even now... And the rule is still, "Conquer, and work the land." But today there are few Othniels, fewer Achsahs, and fewest of all those in whom the two are united.
- Challenge. Caleb had no sons. He made the capture of a city the test of who deserved his daughter. His standard at home matched his courage in the field.
- City. Kiriath-sepher means "city of the book." Hebron, beside it, means communion. God's people keep their victories only by growing in knowledge of His word.
- Conqueror. Othniel means "lion of God" — strength drawn from Another, not from man. That same courage later made him Israel's first judge and deliverer.
- Change. When the city fell, its name became Debir, "oracle." A written word gave way to a living Voice — and the oracle never displaces the book.
- Consequence. The prize was a marriage, not a monument. Conquer and work the land — and the rarest person of all is the one who does both.
And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.
A city falls, a young warrior wins a bride, and a single verse records both. Commentators return to three questions here. Who was Othniel? Why did this city matter? And why is so small an episode told twice?
Was he Caleb's brother or his nephew? The commentators leave the question open.
Caleb himself does not take Debir. Othniel does — either his nephew, or a much younger brother. As promised, he gets Achsah, Caleb's daughter, as his wife. Achsah seems to mean "anklet," just as Othniel is said to be "lion of God."
Othniel's name carried a meaning, and his life matched it.
His name means "lion of God," or "force of God." Whichever meaning you take, we can see that there was strength and power with this man. And as we look at the few details we have of his life, the meaning of his name is fully proved out. First of all, we can see what a favoured young man he was. He belonged to the royal tribe of Judah, the tribe our Lord Jesus Christ came from. Here was a man who was ready to fight to overcome the enemy. He was ready to fight to win a wife for himself.
The city carried two names, and both point to God's word.
They went on to Debir, meaning "oracle." Before that it was called Kirjath Sepher, meaning "city of the book."... Caleb then offers his daughter to the man who would conquer Kirjath Sepher. Caleb's younger brother Othniel accepted the challenge and conquered the city. His courage matched his name. What a lovely picture this is of someone who takes the Word of God as his own possession and profits greatly from it.
Winning ground is one thing. Keeping it is another.
From the ninth verse to the fifteenth you see faith shining brightly in Caleb, Othniel and Achsah. This puts God's word above everything, and truth above everything. If Judah is to gain and keep his victories, it must be by the truth. And if the people of God are to go on winning their triumphs, it must be by gaining more and more knowledge of the Word of God.
Perseverance in one person does not stop there.
Perseverance produces perseverance, or purpose of heart, in others. Caleb was blessed in this way in his own family, for they followed him in his path of faith... The nephew steps worthily in his uncle's footsteps. The prize he values so highly is Caleb's daughter, and, set on winning her, he enters the conflict. And we, are we set upon having Christ at all cost? In Judges 3 Othniel becomes the first judge in Israel. He overcame for himself, and then was raised up to deliver others, and in this new role he perseveres to the end.
The reward came after the fight, not before it.
This is the whole point of this passage here, that conflict is worthwhile. It is easy to give up when there is a problem in our life, some spiritual matter we need to take up with God in conflict. If we are not finding the blessing, if we are not finding the victory, then it is so easy to say, "What is the use?"... But Othniel said, "I am going to win. I am determined to win"; and he did.
Why give so small an episode this much space?
The place and the repetition of this seemingly small episode make me think it was designed as a picture. Othniel ("Lion of God," of Judah, Christ the Deliverer) captures Kirjath-Sepher, "the city of the book," and wins Achsah, the Bride. She receives from the Father those hidden spiritual blessings, both heavenly and earthly, upper and lower. Without them, every other gift of God's provision is barren and worthless.
- Challenge — Caleb offered his daughter to whoever would take Kirjath-sepher. One man's faith stirred faith in a younger one.
- Courage — Othniel's actions proved his name, "lion of God." Commentators differ on whether he was Caleb's brother or his nephew.
- Conquest — the city of the book became Debir, the oracle: a picture of taking God's Word as your own possession.
- Continuance — truth both wins victories and keeps them. The people of God go forward by knowing His Word more and more.
- Consequence — the conflict was worth it. The man who overcame for himself was later raised up to deliver others. The whole scene is a picture of Christ winning His bride.
And it came to pass as she came, that she urged him to ask of her father the field; and she sprang down from the ass. And Caleb said to her, What wouldest thou?
Achsah, Caleb's daughter, has just been given in marriage to Othniel, and she wants land. She goes after it — first through her husband, then in person before her father — in a scene so small that readers ask why Scripture records it at all.
Scripture tells this small story twice, and sets it down here between battles. One writer takes that repetition as proof that more is going on.
Surely anyone can see that if these are "living oracles," there must be something deeper here. If it were only history, it would not seem very remarkable or worth keeping. Yet it is singled out from among things that seem much more important, and repeated in the book of Judges. What is there so noteworthy in a young woman asking her father for a field and water?
Achsah's first move is to work on her husband. But one writer notices that her father needed no persuading at all.
I think Othniel and Achsah were of one mind about the land of Canaan. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. But there was no need for Othniel to ask on her behalf. The father himself loved her, and it was pure joy to him that he had a daughter who loved the land that he loved.
She does not stay on her donkey and call out. She gets down first, and one writer treats that move as more than politeness.
Achsah, Caleb's daughter, is a fresh example of perseverance. Caleb had given her to Othniel, and she moves her husband to ask yet more. She would have a field and, besides, springs of water. So she earnestly asks for a blessing on the field she owns. To get it, she climbs down off her donkey and makes her request. She is an example of perseverance in prayer and pleading.
What she wants is not a prize but ground she can work. One writer finds her character in the meaning of her name.
Achsah means "Anklet." Her name suggests a life and walk that adorn the teaching, which is such a necessary complement to the faith of Othniel, the "lion," or "strength of God." She desires a field, fruitfulness, and for this she knows she must have springs of water.
Caleb opens the door with a question. Achsah still has to walk through it and ask.
Achsah persuaded Othniel to ask her father for a field. In the same way, believers should desire an inheritance they can work. She had to do the asking before she received, for God often waits for us to have concern enough to ask.
The land she is given is dry. She could have stopped there and called it modesty.
If only we were bold enough to add prayer to prayer, making one gift the argument for another, until we had real blessing! Here we may even lose sight of large-hearted Caleb and think of One who surely gives with His "whole heart." Suppose Achsah had argued, "My father has already given me what he wished to give. I must not want too much, or reproach him as if his gift were not good enough." What would she have done then with her south land and no water? And just so God often gives what He knows will need more. He delights in the faith that says, not "It is enough," but "It is not enough."
Everything depends on what she is thirsty for. The same appetite can ruin a person or please God.
Achsah is a thirsty soul, but she thirsts for Canaan's blessings. A Christian who covets the world is in a terrible condition. But God approves of and delights in the one who thirsts for heaven. He satisfies such longings with abundant springs — spiritual blessings that come down on us and flow out from us.
- Desire. Achsah and Othniel are of one mind about the land. She wants the inheritance her father loved, and that desire starts everything.
- Ask. She urged her husband to ask, then asked for herself. Asking comes before receiving, because God often waits until we care enough to ask.
- Dismount. She got down off her donkey to ask face to face. That is what persistent prayer looks like.
- More. Her field was dry, so she had to ask again. God delights in the faith that says "it is not enough."
- Welcome. Caleb's "What do you want?" meets a thirst for Canaan's blessings, not for the world. God welcomes that thirst and fills it with springs.
And she said to him, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a southern land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
Caleb has given his daughter Achsah to Othniel in marriage, along with a field in the dry south of Canaan. Now she asks for a second gift — water for that land, which the ESV calls "the land of the Negeb" and the writers below call the "south land."
The land was already hers. But dry ground grows nothing without water, and she names what is missing.
The south land sloping towards the sun's rays was not necessarily pleasant and fruitful. The hot Eastern sun beating on it might turn it into a dry and thirsty land. So Achsah asks for springs of water. Streams and springs turn wilderness into gardens. Such is the inheritance of the saints, but what gives character to the inheritance is that it is "well-watered." ... Water in cisterns and pools tends to be muddy and impure. Human delights are like that water, and in the end it dries up. Sparkling spring water leaps up and refreshes without a break.
She treats the first gift as her reason to ask for a second, not as a reason to stop.
Would that we had her eagerness for a good portion, with everything needed for its enjoyment! Would that we might be bold also to add prayer to prayer, making one gift the argument for another, until we had blessing indeed! ... Suppose Achsah had argued, "My father has already given me what he wished to give. I must not want too much, nor reproach him as if his gift were not good enough" — what would she have done with her south land and no water? And just so God often gives what He knows will create the need for more. He delights in the faith that says, not "It is enough," but "It is not enough."
She asked for springs. Caleb gave two sets of them. One writer imagines how the request looked to the father:
Do you think he was annoyed at the boldness of her request, "Give me a blessing; for you have given me a south land; give me also springs of water"? Did he reply, "I have given you a south land already; is that not enough? Why should I give you any more?" No, no. Achsah was a daughter after his own heart. She valued the land of Canaan, and she wanted some of the springs of Canaan. He gave her double as much as she asked for! That is just like our own Lord! "I have also given you what you have not asked." (1 Kings 3:13)
Caleb did not give one spring but two. One writer takes the pair as a picture of two sides of Christian truth:
The upper springs remind us of truth of the higher, most exalted character, such as Ephesians gives about our blessings and position in heavenly places in Christ. The lower springs supply refreshment for a consistent, devoted walk on earth. How good it is if we can be well balanced in valuing both of these sides of the truth.
The springs did not farm the field for her. The gift still called for work, and one writer applies that to how we handle the Bible:
Our portion is workable land: it calls for diligence, for labour on it; and it will repay labour richly too. Would that the people of God realised this more! ... And so the precious Word of God, by which alone our portion is made our own — how we should search it, dig into it.
She got down off her donkey to ask. One writer sees perseverance in that small detail, and turns it into a question for the reader.
She asks a blessing on the field she owns. To get it, she climbs down off her donkey to make her request — an example of perseverance in prayer and pleading. ... When we take the Word of God in our hands, do we earnestly ask God for springs to water it? To many Christians this living Word is like a parched midday land in which their souls find no food. If that is your case, have you, like Achsah, taken the place of the one who asks? Have you sought from God the spiritual help that alone can make it fruitful for your soul?
One writer explains what a well-watered portion does to the heart that has it.
It is God's way in these bright days of grace to work by the law of attraction. He would draw us away from what is evil by the mighty magnetism of His goodness and love. He would drive the world out of our hearts by the expelling power of something better. This better thing is the south land with its upper and lower springs.
- Lack. A sunny south land with no water grows nothing. An inheritance shows its true character only when it is well-watered.
- Ask. Achsah makes one gift her reason for asking the next. God delights in the faith that says not "It is enough," but "It is not enough."
- Receive. Caleb gives double what she asked — a faint picture of the Lord who gives even what we have not asked for.
- Both springs. Upper and lower together: truth about our place in heavenly places, and refreshment for a steady walk on earth.
- Work. The watered field still needs working, and so does the Word by which our portion becomes our own. Search it; dig into it.
And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, had gone up out of the city of palm-trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt with the people.
A chapter full of battles stops to follow one family. They are outsiders by birth, tied to Moses only by marriage. They leave a rich city and settle in dry country among the tribe of Judah. Who belongs to the people of God, and what does belonging cost?
A dictionary entry sets out where this family came from, where they went, and how Israel treated them later.
Scripture calls Jethro, or Raguel, Moses' father-in-law, a Kenite (Judges 1:16), and also a Midianite (Numbers 10:29). The Midianites came from Midian, the son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2). So these Kenites were probably a branch of the Midianites. The children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, left Jericho, the city of palm trees. They went into the wilderness of Judah, south of Arad, and lived there... Later, when Saul was about to strike the Amalekites, he warned the Kenites to leave from among them, for their own safety. He did this because they had shown kindness to Israel when they came from Egypt.
Long before this verse, Moses asked Hobab to come with Israel. One writer sees grace flowing under all the careful ordering of the camp.
In all this perfect arrangement for Israel's blessing and safety, a current of grace ran underneath. It would let the stranger in and welcome him to share the blessing of the LORD's people. "And Moses said to Hobab... We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, I will give it to you. Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the LORD has promised good to Israel... And if you do go with us, whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same will we do to you" (Numbers 10:29-32).
Hobab said no. His children said yes. Their family then shows up beside some of the most faithful names in Israel's story.
Jethro visited Israel in the desert and then returned to his own land (Exodus 18:27). Moses asked his son Hobab to be eyes for the children of Israel, and to guide them as they camped in the wilderness (Numbers 10:29-32). Hobab refused. Yet his sons, like Caleb, faithfully followed in the steps of the people of God (Judges 4:11; 1 Samuel 15:6). Like Rahab, these children of a stranger among the nations went up out of Jericho, the city of palm trees. They threw in their lot with Israel. In holding permanently to Judah, they resembled Ruth. And like Othniel, they allied themselves with the family of Caleb.
The move set the pattern for the whole family line.
Like the Rechabites, who were strangers too, they belong to the wilderness and not to the city, generation after generation. Or, in the language of Leviticus, they were a permanent order of Nazarites, more separated to God than even Israel themselves.
The verse says they settled with the people. Yet they could claim no share of the land by descent. One writer traces this family down to Jabez, whose prayer God answered, and then states the principle plainly.
The LORD enlarged the territory of Jabez in answer to his prayer (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). 1 Chronicles 2:55 suggests he belonged to the family of the Kenites. They were the descendants of Hobab, who came with Israel at Moses' own invitation. Their children lived among the people of Judah. A Kenite could not claim a portion in Israel on the ground that he was of Israel. Yet he might call on the God of Israel, and ask to be blessed with Israel.
Jehonadab came from this same Kenite line. Hundreds of years after Judges 1, God gave His verdict on his family.
Jehonadab was not an Israelite. He came from Kenite background and lived among the Israelites. He was a true stranger in the land. Hundreds of years later his descendants were still obeying what he had commanded them. They did not drink wine, build houses, sow seed, or plant and own vineyards. They lived in tents, like strangers passing through. Because they obeyed their forefather's command, God commends them and promises to bless them. Oh, that we too might learn to be strangers and pilgrims on this earth, obeying God's Word from the heart!
Yet the record is not spotless. Rossier notes that this same family also plays its part in Israel's decline. He points to Heber the Kenite in Judges 4:
Apparently Heber the Kenite travelled north, and stayed neutral between Israel and their enemies. But Jael his wife struck down Sisera in her tent.
- Invited. Grace opened the door first. Moses asked an outsider to come along and share whatever good God gave Israel.
- Answered. Hobab refused; his sons came anyway. A father's decision does not settle a son's.
- Costly. They traded the city of palm trees for dry ground. Their descendants stayed people of the wilderness, not of the city.
- Claimed. No Kenite could claim a portion by birth, but he could call on the God of Israel and ask to be blessed with Israel.
- Rewarded. Saul spared them because they had shown kindness to Israel long before. Centuries later, God commended their tent-dwelling children.
And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it; and they called the name of the city Hormah.
Here Judah and Simeon wipe out the Canaanite town of Zephath and rename it Hormah — "utter destruction." Two questions follow: why this city fell twice, and whether leaning on his brother helped Judah or cost him.
The name given to the city is not a label but a verdict. A reference work sums up its meaning and its history in a line:
The name meaning "utter destruction," given to ZEPHATH in the far south when it was conquered by Judah and Simeon.
The same ground had been wiped out once before, in the days of Moses. One writer traces what happened in between, and reads the city's two names as a picture:
Hormah here had been named so before, being in the territory of Arad when the children of Israel overthrew its king and carried out the sentence of destruction on his cities (Num. 21:3)… In the time that had passed it had revived again — how easily the world recovers power! — and now it is called Zephath, "overlaying." This is what the world is, indeed — an overlaying, bright and glittering enough, over what is devoted to destruction, a crust over the curse. It is Simeon's part to take off the false show and reveal the evil — to make Zephath Hormah, as it really is.
Judah left nothing of Zephath standing. One writer hears the book of Joshua in that, and then asks why Judah later stopped short:
"So the name of the city was called Hormah," which means "utter destruction." This is a remarkable fact, and it recalls the book of Joshua. Judah refused all link with the Canaanite. Judah conquered the strong cities of the Philistines — "and the Lord was with Judah." But why did he take only the mountain, and not drive out the inhabitants of the valley? Sadly, he feared their "chariots of iron."
Was it right for Judah to call on Simeon at all? Commentators differ. One leaves the question open, and turns it on the reader:
And are we not often like Judah? We seek the will of the Lord, and as long as we keep depending on Him there is triumph. But again and again our confidence in Him fades, for one reason or another, and the victory is not complete. We may not be able to say whether Judah's failure came from seeking the help of his brother Simeon. In some circumstances it is right and proper to seek the help of our brothers and sisters, but we should be sure it is the Lord's mind for us to do so. There was certainly nothing in the Lord's answer to suggest that He meant Simeon to go with Judah.
Another writer ties the alliance to the iron chariots that later stopped Judah:
God's almighty power was stopped, so it seemed, by chariots of iron. And it often does seem so. In a sense it is even true, because the removal of difficulties often depends on the simplicity of a faith that is so little simple. Had not God said that He had delivered the land into Judah's hand? Yes; and Judah had turned to Simeon, his brother, for help, as if no promise had been given. Judah has measured the might of the Lord, and the Lord measures the strength put forth for him. So the divine ways are equal, and Judah loses the fullness of a blessing he cannot grasp. May we pay attention to this!
One writer counts Hormah a complete victory, then adds a warning:
Then you have Hormah… It is one of the victories which Judah and Simeon won together, and it seems to be complete, as they utterly destroy it. From the eighteenth to the twentieth verses you have further victories. Altogether this first section gives us mainly victories on the part of God's people. Yet, as I have been trying to point out, seeds of future weakness have been planted.
Judah took the mountain but stopped at the valley. One writer has no patience with the reason he gave:
Judah did drive out the people of the hill country, yet could not drive out the people of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. This was a poor excuse, for is God inferior to iron chariots? What Judah needed was the faith of a Caleb.
- Named: Hormah means "utter destruction" — the city's new name is the sentence carried out on it.
- Overlaid: Zephath means "overlaying." The world spreads a bright crust over what is under the curse, and faith strips it off.
- Revived: Israel destroyed this place once already, in Moses' day, and it grew strong again. The world recovers power fast.
- Measured: Judah had God's promise, yet leaned on his brother. One writer says the Lord gave strength to match the confidence Judah brought.
- Unfinished: Judah took the mountain and left the valley. Iron chariots were a poor excuse for a people God had given the land to.