And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill-country, for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley.
Judges 1 ends with the tribe of Dan, and here the story turns: the other tribes failed to drive the enemy out, but Dan is the one driven out. The Amorites push them off the valley floor into the hills, and the question is how so large a tribe ended up penned in on its own land.
Chapter 1 records a slide, and this verse is the bottom of it. One writer traces that slide from its first sign to its last:
After the death of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, the first sign of losing touch with God was a slackening in the forward movement. The Lord was with those who went on, but it is solemn to notice how many flagged. You can see the growing determination of the enemy to keep a footing among them... Finally the Amorites force the children of Dan into the mountain — a humbling position for Israel, as good as defeat for them, and leaving an undisturbed and unbroken frontier for the enemy.
Another writer follows the same decline step by step, and each step has less power in it than the last:
At first they simply put the enemy to flight. Then they are no longer able to do that, and the enemy is driven into the mountain strongholds to live there alone. Then, a little further on, they are not able to do even that. They make the enemies of God pay tribute to them. The next step shows us no power even for this; they dwell among them. Last of all, you find that they could not drive them out of the rich valleys, the choice pastures. Instead the children of Israel had to live in the mountains, and the enemy had the best of all the land. What a progress that is!
Dan was not a small tribe. The numbers leave only one explanation for the collapse, and a later song in Judges brings the same charge:
The tribe of Dan was, however, large: at the Exodus there were 62,700 fighting men, more than all the tribes except Judah; and at the second numbering they had increased to 64,400 (Numbers 1:39; Numbers 26:42-43)... This showed a great lack of faith in the Danites. In her song, Deborah asked why Dan stayed by the ships while the Lord's enemies were being destroyed.
The valley was the fertile ground, and Dan lost it. One writer sets the meaning of the valley beside the meaning of the name "Amorite":
The valley suggests lowliness and fruitfulness; fruitfulness because of lowliness... And here you have the Amorites instead of the people of God dwelling in the valleys. Amorite means "the lofty ones" — those who are lifted up... The Amorite means the lofty speaker. It means a people who talk a great deal... They are high talkers, and they drive God's people out of the valleys. Sometimes the people of God talk instead of living the reality. They make great claims and speak big, swelling words. Whenever you find that, you may be sure that no lowly dweller is left in the valleys, and so there is no fruitfulness.
Behind the lost ground is a deliberate aim:
The world, at last, gets what it wants, and robs the children of God of their inheritance. Satan's aim is always to rob us of the things that make up our joy and strength; and he succeeds only too well.
This verse is not an isolated setback. It explains why Dan later went looking for easier land instead of fighting for the land already given:
Forced into the mountains by the Amorites, and lacking the faith to take possession of his inheritance, Dan sent out five men to search out the portion he still lacked... Dan had a battle to fight inside his own borders, a victory to win over the Amorites of the valley. But that fight would have cost him too much. He preferred a conquest without danger, won at the far end of the land. It was far from the eyes of the Lord's witnesses, and far from the place where his real enemy was — an enemy left in undisputed possession of Dan's true inheritance.
The practical test, then, is whether our language matches our ground:
Let us beware of mere talking. When tempted to talk glibly about being dead and risen with Christ, let us ask, is that an Amorite or is it an Israelite that is dwelling in the valley?
- Gradual — Decline comes by stages: fail to drive the enemy out, then tax him, then live beside him, then be driven out by him. Dan is the last and lowest step.
- Given — The valley was Dan's own inheritance, and the tribe was second in size only to Judah. What was missing was faith, not resources.
- Ground — The valley stands for lowliness, and lowliness is where fruit grows. Lose the low place and you lose the harvest.
- Gone — The enemy is not after land but after joy and strength. Dan kept the name of a tribe; the Amorite kept the valley.
- Grasping — A defeat left unfixed looks for an easier win: Dan went looking for land elsewhere instead of fighting the enemy at home.
And the Amorites would dwell on mount Heres, in Ajalon and in Shaalbim; but the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, and they became tributaries.
Judges 1 ends not with a roll of victories but with a list of enemies left in place, tribe by tribe. Verse 35 is the last entry: the Amorites keep their grip on three named places, and the strongest house in Israel does not remove them but taxes them instead — older translations call this putting them "to tribute."
Forced labour on a beaten enemy sounds like success. In the chapter's sequence it is one rung on a ladder going the wrong way.
It begins with Judah, and the victory moves ahead strongly. But right at the very beginning, instead of killing Adoni-zedek, they only cut off his thumbs and toes... As you go on, you find everything done only in part. At first they simply put the enemy to flight. Then they can no longer do that, and they only drive the enemy into the mountain strongholds to live there alone. A little further on, they cannot do even that; they make the enemies of God pay them tribute... and last of all, they could not drive them out of the rich valleys, the best pasture land. Israel had to live in the mountains, and the enemy had the best of all the land. What a progress that is!
The verse names three places: Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim. One writer treats those names as a picture of what Dan gave up, and of who took it.
The Amorites force the Danites out of the valley, the low ground so necessary for true spiritual judgment; and the Danites lived, besides, in Mount Heres, the "mountain of the sun," in Ajalon and in Shaalbim. The last two speak, as we have seen elsewhere, of the judgment of the world: its dread of God, and its hollowness at heart. If Mount Heres belongs with these, it would speak of the world praising itself. So the Danite loses the ability for true judgment — and he loses it to the Amorite (the "talker"?).
The house of Joseph is Ephraim and Manasseh. Their hand "rested heavily" on the Amorites, so weakness was not the problem here.
Though Dan was so weak, the house of Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim) clearly had more energy, for when they became strong they put the Amorites under tribute (v. 35)... Putting the Amorites under tribute was again a compromise. It is like admitting in public that hypocrisy is bad, while still allowing it in practice. To judge it fully takes the decision of true faith and self-judgment. Which of us is not guilty of hypocrisy in some way?
Another writer weighs the excuse Israel had given for leaving the enemy in place.
Their strength exposed the secret of their inability: they "could not" because they "would not" drive them out. They preferred to make a profit out of these nations rather than obey God. So in time Israel learned all the detestable practices of the Canaanites, and served them as a punishment for their sins. This short-sighted way of making terms with the enemy, in disobedience to God, ended with the tribute-payers becoming thorns in their eyes and pricks in their sides, and at last their masters.
Tribute is not where the story stops. One writer lists the steps that follow.
Look at the order, and see how evil must progress. First, there is the failure to drive out the enemy. Second, they bring them into servitude and make them pay tribute. Third, there is intermarriage, linking themselves with them. Fourth, they take up their false gods and depart from God. And last, there can be only one result: God hands them over to an enemy, to make them taste what an evil and bitter thing it is to depart from Him.
One writer brings the same policy into church life today.
Putting false things under tribute is a common practice in the church of God, but playing with evil will end in ruin and misery. Spiritual foes placed under tribute will claim the right to rule, just as these Canaanites did... Do we not see Christian men putting up with known sin in their communities, and allowing among them people and practices that are enemies to God? Turning a blind eye to evil, catering to sin, smoothing over the false doctrines or practice of favourite leaders — this is simply putting the enemy under tribute. Such disloyalty to the Lord always ends with the tribute-payers mastering the people of God and enslaving them.
- Tribute, not triumph. The chapter slides down step by step: victory, then partial victory, then enemies pushed aside, then enemies taxed. Forced labour on the Amorites is a stage in that decline, not a win.
- Would not, not could not. Strength came; obedience did not. When Israel grew strong, they made a profit from the enemy God told them to remove.
- Hollow ground. One writer reads the three place names as the world praising itself, afraid of God, and hollow at heart. Look for that same hypocrisy at home.
- Links, then chains. A taxed enemy is a connected enemy: failure to remove leads to servitude, intermarriage, false gods, and finally to bondage.
- Masters in the end. Tolerated evil never stays a tributary; the ones put under tribute end up ruling the people who spared them.
And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upwards.
The last line of Judges 1 does not measure Israel's conquest. It measures the enemy's border, running from a pass south of the Dead Sea up through the rock country. The chapter ends by counting what the Amorites still held — and that raises the question the rest of the book answers: what happens to a people who leave their enemies in place?
The first landmark named is a mountain pass, and it marked the southern edge of the land.
A climb or mountain pass at the south of the Dead Sea. It formed the border of Palestine, and it was also the border of the Amorites. Numbers 34:4; Judges 1:36. It is also called Maaleh-acrabbim in Joshua 15:3. It is thought to lie some miles south of the Dead Sea, but no one has identified the exact spot.
Their name describes where they lived. They were also the worst of their neighbours, so Scripture sometimes uses their name for all the people of Canaan.
A people descended from Canaan, son of Ham (Genesis 10:16). They lived in the mountains, as their name means. At times they seem to have been in the mountains both east and west of the Jordan. Numbers 13:29; Joshua 5:1; Judges 1:34-36; Judges 10:8; 1 Kings 4:19. They were the most dominant and the most corrupt people or tribe, so they sometimes stand for the Canaanites in general. Genesis 15:16; 1 Kings 21:26.
Commentators differ on the name's sense. One ties it to the mountains they lived in; others tie it to talking.
This verse follows straight after the report that the Amorites pushed Dan up out of the lowlands. One writer reads the closing note as the measure of how far that pressure reached.
The Amorites force the Danites out of the valley, the low ground that is so necessary for true spiritual judgment... The Danite loses in this way the ability for true judgment; and it is striking that he loses it to the Amorite — the "talker," as the name may mean. The Amorite, we are told, had occupied all this land from its southern border.
after_note: DELETE
The verse is the bottom of a slope that starts in verse 1 with real victory. One writer traces the chapter stage by stage, and shows each step down.
It begins with Judah, and speaks of victory going on in a vigorous way... As you go on, you find everything done in part only. At first they only put the enemy to flight. Then they are no longer able to do that... A little further on, they cannot do even that; they make the enemies of God pay tribute to them instead... The next step shows no power even for this: they live among them. And last of all, they could not drive them out of the rich valleys, the choice pastures. The children of Israel had to live in the mountains, and the enemy had the best of all the land. What a progression that is!
The same writer explains why the high ground was a loss, not a promotion.
The valley suggests lowliness and fruitfulness; fruitfulness because of lowliness. It is because the Lord went down into the valley of death that He could bear fruit for us... "Amorite" means "the lofty one," one who is lifted up. The Amorite is the lofty speaker, a people who talk a great deal... They are high talkers, and they drive God's people out of the valleys. Whenever you find the people of God given to talking instead of reality, making a great profession, speaking great swelling words, you can be sure there is no lowly dweller in the valleys, and so no fruitfulness.
The next chapter answers in judgment what this chapter records on the map. God's messenger comes to the people at Bochim, which means "weepers."
Now we see the declared judgment of God on this widespread departure from His plain command. The angel of Jehovah, who in Joshua's day had taken His place with them at Gilgal as Captain of the Lord's host, now comes from Gilgal to Bochim ("weepers"). He announces that in righteous government He accepts their own decision. They would not drive out the nations, and so He would not; and the consequences of this, predicted again and again, would come upon them. The people weep and sacrifice to Jehovah; but there is no real repentance.
- Border. Akrabbim was a mountain pass south of the Dead Sea. It marked the edge of the land, and this verse gives that border to the Amorites, not to Israel.
- Enemy. The Amorites lived in the mountains. They were the strongest and most corrupt of the Canaanites, so their name can stand for all of them.
- Reversal. Chapter 1 slides from victory, to flight, to tribute, to living beside the enemy. In the end Israel is on the hills and the enemy holds the best land.
- Valleys. The valley stands for lowliness, and lowliness is where fruit grows. High talk drives God's people out of it.
- Verdict. They would not drive out the nations, so God would not either. Tears at Bochim were not the same thing as repentance.