Judges 1:20
in Judges 1Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses had spoken: and he drove out thence the three sons of Anak.
KJV
And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.
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This verse in Judges 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said,.... Which was done in the times of Joshua, both by him and all the people, according to the order of Moses. This is to be understood not of the city which was given to the Levites, but of the fields and parts adjacent, Jos 14:13, and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak: whose names are given Jdg 1:10; this shows that this refers to the same expedition as in Jos 15:14; and is expressed in the same manner.
This site's exposition
the Lord was with Judah
on Judges 1:19-21
This is the sentence the book turns on, and it holds two clauses that sit hard against each other, the Lord was with Judah, and Judah could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley. The reason given is iron chariots, the same obstacle the house of Joseph raised at Joshua 17:16 and were answered on at 17:18, and nine hundred of them stand behind Sisera at 4:3 until a river takes them at 5:21. Verse 20 puts both outcomes in one chapter, Caleb expelling the three sons of Anak in the hill country while the plain is left alone. At verse 21 the verb moves from could not to did not, and the tribe named is Benjamin, where Joshua 15:63 tells the same failure of Judah, and both accounts stand as they are written.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They gave Hebron unto Caleb. And now Caleb, that he might return the kindness of his countrymen, is impatient to see Debir reduced and put into the hands of the men of Judah, to expedite which he proffers his daughter to the person that will undertake to command in the siege of that important place,
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Hormah--destroyed in fulfilment of an early vow of the Israelites (see on Nu 21:2). The confederate tribes, pursuing their incursions in that quarter, came successively to Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron, which they took.
WE frequently use Canaan as a type of Heaven, and the Jordan, through which Israel passed, as a symbol of death. Dr. Watts has taught us to sing— "Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood Stand dressed in living green; So to the Jews old Canaan stood, While Jordan rolled between. Could we but climb where Moses stood, And view the landscape o'er, Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood, Should fright us from the shore!"
WE frequently use Canaan as a type of Heaven, and the Jordan, through which Israel passed, as a symbol of death. Dr. Watts has taught us to sing— "Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood Stand dressed in living green; So to the Jews old Canaan stood, While Jordan rolled between. Could we but climb where Moses stood, And view the landscape o'er, Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood, Should fright us from the shore!" This is thoroughly poetical and may be made exceedingly instructive, but it is not quite accurate if we undertake a careful consideration of the whole matter. If the New Testament is to expound the Old, then there is another lesson to be learned from the land which flowed with milk and honey. "We that have believed do enter into rest," that is to say, all believers in Christ have crossed the Jordan and have come into the promised rest. The Covenant is already fulfilled to them in a great measure—they are living under Messiah's sway within the bounds of His Kingdom—and every precious thing which God promised them is theirs. They dwell in the "land which the Lord thinks upon." "Your land, O Immanuel!" The type, therefore, may best set forth the case of the instructed and advanced Believer who has passed through the first, or wilderness stage, of his life, and has now come into a higher condition, actually enjoying spiritual privileges and sitting together with Christ in the heavenly places. To him, however, this condition of exalted privilege is not a state of undisturbed repose—on the contrary, he wars a constant warfare, wrestling with spiritual wickedness. The Canaanite is in possession and the Canaanite is to be driven out.
They gave Hebron unto Caleb - See this whole transaction explained Jos 14:12 (note), etc.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ | vaiyitenu | and people gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְכָלֵב֙ | lekhalev | to Caleb | H3612 → | 35 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חֶבְר֔וֹן | chevron | Hebron | H2275 → | 72 times |
| כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֖ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֣ר | diber | he had said | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֑ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וַיּ֣וֹרֶשׁ | vaiyoresh | and he dispossessed | H3423 → | 231 times |
| מִשָּׁ֔ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁלֹשָׁ֖ה | sheloshah | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הָעֲנָֽק׃ | haanak | <the> Anak | H6061 → |
וַיִּתְּנ֤וּand people gave
vaiyitenuH5414 →2011 times
לְכָלֵב֙to Caleb
lekhalevH3612 →35 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חֶבְר֔וֹןHebron
chevronH2275 →72 times
כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֖רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֣רhe had said
diberH1696 →1141 times
מֹשֶׁ֑הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
וַיּ֣וֹרֶשׁand he dispossessed
vaiyoreshH3423 →231 times
מִשָּׁ֔םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁלֹשָׁ֖הthree
sheloshahH7969 →432 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
הָעֲנָֽק׃<the> Anak
haanakH6061 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 14:24But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
it leads to
- Joshua 14:6–14
Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 14:6–9
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
- Numbers 32:11–12
‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac,…
- Acts 11:23
When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts.
- Deuteronomy 1:36
except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
- Joshua 14:6–14
Through
Deuteronomy 1:36except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
it leads to
- Numbers 14:24
But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
- Numbers 14:24
Through
Numbers 13:22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:43
when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
- Psalms 78:12
He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
- Psalms 78:43
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
Who and where
4 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PersonExodus and Wilderness PeriodMosesIsrael's deliverer from Egyptian slavery, covenant mediator, and lawgiver.
- PersonWilderness / ConquestCalebOf Judah, one of the twelve spies — the man of another spirit who wholly followed Jehovah; one of only two of the census generatio…
- PlaceJudean hill countryHebronThe city of the patriarchs, where Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah, Caleb took his inheritance, and David reigned seven years…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1690: “Chariots of Iron” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.