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children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill country, and in J 10. the South, and in the lowland. And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron beforetime was Kiriath-arba :) and they smote Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. II. And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir beforetime was

9. This verse is introductory to vv. 10-21 and summarizes in physical divisions the land conquered by Judah subsequent to the defeat of the Canaanites near Jerusalem. The hill country. The central mountainous region of Judah, having its highest elevation at Hebron. The South. Heb. the Negeb, the arid plain extending southward, stretching off into the desert between Egypt and Palestine. The lowland. Heb. Shephelah, generally the western foothills between Philistia and the Judean hill country, but here seems also to include the maritime plain (v. 18). Many ancient geographical names in Palestine are used in both a narrow and a broad sense.

Vv. 10-15 appear also in Josh. 15:13-19. This shows that both the author or compiler of Joshua and of this section of Judges incorporated material from a common source usually supposed to have been J.

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10. Hebron. The most important city of southern Judah, about twenty miles south of Jerusalem; the patriarchal burial place (Gen. 23: 2, 19; 25:9; 35: 27 f.; 50: 13); and David's residence as king (2 Sam. 2: 11; 5: 5; 1. Kgs. 2: 11). Kiriath-arba. City of four," i.e. of four quarters, representing probably four clans. Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. In Josh. 15: 14 these are called "sons of Anak,' a term implying that they were giants. In that passage the conqueror of Hebron is Caleb. This is implied here in v. 12.

II. Debir. In Josh. 11: 21 placed in the hill country, here and in v. 15 in the Negeb. Kiriath-sepher. According to the ordinary Hebrew meaning this compound means, City of a book"; but originally sepher may have meant something else.

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12. Kiriath-sepher.) And Caleb said, He that smiteth

Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give 13. Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of

Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he 14. gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. And it came

to pass, when she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted down from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What 15. wouldest thou? And she said unto him, Give me a blessing; for that thou hast 2 set me in the land.

1 Or, present. 2 Or, given me the land of the South.

The implication also of "Book-city" is obscure, and the conjectures have been many: Archive-city," ," "Library-city," etc.

12. Caleb. In the narratives of Numbers and Joshua, one of the twelve spies to whom Moses promised the region of Hebron (Num. 14:24; Josh. 14:6-15). In 1 Sam. 25:3; 30: 14, Caleb is the name of a clan or tribe living in southern Judah during the time of David. Because Caleb is repeatedly called a Kenizzite or son of Kenaz (Num. 32: 12; Josh. 14:6, 14; 15:17) this clan seems to have been of Edomitic origin (cf. Gen. 36: 15). Through the influence of David it seems to have been incorporated into the tribe of Judah and became one of the most important families of Judah (see genealogies of 1 Chron. 2). This position doubtless gave rise to the stories concerning the hero Caleb. The word Caleb means 66 dog." Achsah. Mentioned also in 1 Chron. 2: 49.

13. Othniel. Appears in 3:9, 11 as the first of the judges of Israel. Kenaz. Appears in the genealogy of the descendants of Esau (Gen. 36: 15), (see also v. 12). In regard to the direct relationship of Othniel to Caleb, the text is ambiguous. It is uncertain whether Othniel or Kenaz is the younger brother of Caleb.

14. When she came. Achsah is assumed to have been elsewhere, perhaps at Hebron in her father's home. That she moved him. Better after the Greek or Latin text with a slight change in the Hebrew text: that he moved her.

15. For that thou hast set me in the land of the South.

16.

of the South, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

And the children of the Kenite, Moses' 1brother in law, went 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

1 Or, father in law.

Through the decision of her father her home would be in Debir, belonging by conquest to her husband, where water was scarce. Springs of water. In Hebrew Gullath-mayim, a proper name. Likewise also the upper springs, and the nether springs, i.e. Gullath-illith and Gullath-tithaḥ, are proper names. Following the identification of Debir given in v. 11, the springs are those of Seil ed-Dilbeh, about two-fifths of the way from Hebron to Debir. These springs are fourteen in number, making one of the best watered valleys in Southern Palestine. Hence they must always have been highly prized. The story of this verse was told to explain how it happened that these springs belonged to the Othnielites of Debir and not to the nearer Calebite inhabitants of Hebron.

16. This verse is introductory. And the children of the Kenite. An impossible rendering of the Hebrew text, which is defective. The name Hobab after the Greek translation is to be supplied, And the children of Hobab, the Kenite, the fatherin-law of Moses. The Hebrew word translated brother-in-law or father-in-law denotes a kinsman through marriage. Here it should be rendered father-in-law, since Hobab stood in that relation to Moses. In Exod. 2: 18 the father-in-law of Moses is Reuel, and in Exod. 3:1; 4:18; 18: 1,5,9, 12, Jethro. The traditions clearly varied respecting his name. The city of palm trees. I.e. Jericho (Deut. 34: 3; 2 Chron. 28:15). The wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad. This is an impossible designation, since the wilderness of Judah is quite distinct from the South, the Negeb. The text has in some way been confused. An amended reading proposed is, In the wilderness of Arad. With the people is meaningless. We should read after the Greek

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17. with the people. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name 18. of the city was called Hormah. Also Judah took RP Gaza with the border thereof, and Ashkelon with the border thereof, and Ekron with the border thereof.

1 Heb. devoted.

version, with the Amalekites, with whom, according to 1 Sam. 15 the Kenites were dwelling in the time of Saul. The Kenites, according to this narrative, clearly joined their forces with Israel and entered with them into the land of Canaan, and from the rendezvous at Jericho allied themselves with Judah and Simeon and settled in the wilderness of Judah, where they became associated with the Amalekites. Their union with Israel is implied in the story of Num. 10:29-32. During the reign of Saul they dwelt with the Amalekites, and in the reign of David their home was in the south of Judah. According to 1 Chron. 2: 55 the Rechabites were Kenites.

17. Zephath. This place has not been satisfactorily identified, either under this name or the later one of Hormah mentioned in Num. 14: 45; 21: 3; Deut. 1: 44. And utterly destroyed it. The Heb. words imply a complete extermination to the glory of Jehovah. This was according to the law of Deuteronomy (Deut. 7:1-3; 20: 16 ff.), and the repeated habit of Israel (Deut. 2:34; 3:6; Josh. 8: 24 ff.; 10: 28 ff.; 11: II ff.; I Sam. 15: 3 ff.). On the Moabite stone Mesha, King of Moab, records that at the command of Kemosh he took Nebo from Israel and put to death the whole population, "men and boys, wives and maidens and slave girls, for to Ashtar-kemosh I devoted it"; and again of Ataroth he said, "I killed all the people of the city, a fine sight (?) for Kemosh and Moab." Hormah. I.e. "Devoted to destruction." The root letters HRM are those of the verb translated above, utterly destroyed."

18. This verse implies the conquest of the Philistines by Judah. Gaza was their principal city on the southern border of their territory, Ashkelon in the middle, and Ekron in the north.

J 19. And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive

out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had 20. chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses had spoken: and he drave out thence the 21. three sons of Anak. And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem: but the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem, unto this day.

22.

And the house of Joseph, they also went up against

But such a conquest is a flat contradiction of the following verse and 3:3; Josh. 13:3, and of all that is stated elsewhere of the relations between Israel and the Philistines. The verse, then, like v. 8, is a gloss.

19 f. These verses seem out of place. V. 19 may have originally followed v. 7; and v. 20 may have followed v. II. The hill country. See v. 9. The valley. I.e. the plain of Philistia. Chariots of iron. See on 4: 3. As Moses had spoken. Cf. Num. 14: 24; Deut. 1: 36; Josh. 14: 9, 13; 15: 13, 14. Sons of Anak. See v. 10.

21. The children of Benjamin. In the parallel passage, Josh. 15: 63 (see above) the reading here and in the following sentence is The children of Judah. This reading probably was the original. The change was made by some one who followed Josh. 18:28, where Jerusalem is reckoned among the towns of Benjamin. Jebusites. The people who held Jerusalem when David conquered it. Nothing further is known of them. They are frequently mentioned among the lists of the inhabitants of Canaan.

22-26. The writer now turns from the story of the conquest of Judah to that of Northern Israel. He gives the single episode of the capture of Beth-el. Of other conquest he gives no details, but simply mentions the cities which the Canaanites held. 22. The house of Joseph. The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. The latter is included since he is represented as born in Canaan, Gen. 35:16-18, i.e. historically the tribe was not formed until after the settlement in Canaan. The Benjamites

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