Judges 1:24
in Judges 1and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with thee.
KJV
And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.
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This verse in Judges 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseShow us - the entrance into the city - Taken in whatever light we choose, the conduct of this man was execrable. He was a traitor to his country, and he was accessary to the destruction of the lives and property of his fellow citizens, which he most sinfully betrayed, in order to save his own. According to the rules and laws of war, the children of Judah might avail themselves of such men and their information; but this does not lessen, on the side of this traitor, the turpitude of the action.
This site's exposition
The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel
on Judges 1:22-26
The city is Luz, which Jacob named Bethel at Genesis 28:19, and the scene follows Joshua 2, with spies, a man who shows the way in and a household spared. It parts from Rahab at the end, since she lives among Israel at Joshua 6:25 and stands in Christ's line at Matthew 1:5. This man goes "to the land of the Hittites", where he builds a second Luz.
This site's exposition
Please show us how to get into the city
Adam Clarke calls the man a traitor who bought his own life with the lives of his neighbours. Matthew Henry excuses him if he acted from conviction that the Lord was with Israel, as Rahab did. Clarke allows that the laws of war let Israel use him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And here, [1.] He is not to be blamed for giving them this intelligence if he did it from a conviction that the Lord was with them, and that by his donation the land was theirs of right, any more than Rahab was for entertaining those whom she knew to be enemies of her country, but friends of God.
And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
If they had seen him to be firmly opposed to either of these alternatives, they would not have constrained him by promises any more than by threats to betray his countrymen. But if they found him disposed to be serviceable, and to aid the invaders in executing the will of God, they might promise to spare him.
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.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּרְאוּ֙ | vaiyiru | and they saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הַשֹּׁ֣מְרִ֔ים | hashomerim | those [who] watched | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| יוֹצֵ֣א | yotze' | coming out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָעִ֑יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֗וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| הַרְאֵ֤נוּ | harenu | show us | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| נָא֙ | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מְב֣וֹא | mevo' | [the] entrance of | H3996 → | |
| הָעִ֔יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וְעָשִׂ֥ינוּ | veasinu | and we will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| עִמְּךָ֖ | ʾimekha | with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| חָֽסֶד׃ | chased | loyalty | H2617 → |
וַיִּרְאוּ֙and they saw
vaiyiruH7200 →1300 times
הַשֹּׁ֣מְרִ֔יםthose [who] watched
hashomerimH8104 →468 times
אִ֖ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
יוֹצֵ֣אcoming out
yotze'H3318 →1067 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָעִ֑ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
ל֗וֹto <the> him
lo
הַרְאֵ֤נוּshow us
harenuH7200 →1300 times
נָא֙please
na'H4994 →404 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מְב֣וֹא[the] entrance of
mevo'H3996 →
הָעִ֔ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וְעָשִׂ֥ינוּand we will do
veasinuH6213 →2628 times
עִמְּךָ֖with you
ʾimekhaH5973 →1050 times
חָֽסֶד׃loyalty
chasedH2617 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
1 Samuel 30:15“Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 29:6
So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been upright in my sight, and it seems right that you should march in and out with me in…
- Ezekiel 17:16
‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.
- Ezekiel 17:13
He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,
- Joshua 2:12
Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign
- Ezekiel 17:19
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.
- 1 Samuel 29:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.