Judges 1:34
in Judges 1The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill-country; for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley;
KJV
And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:
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This verse in Judges 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe Amorites forced the children of Dan, etc. - Just as the ancient Britons were driven into the mountains of Wales by the Romans; and the native Indians driven back into the woods by the British settlers in America.
This site's exposition
The Amorites forced the Danites
on Judges 1:34-36
Dan fails the other way: the Amorites "did not allow them to come down into the plain", so an Israelite tribe is the one driven out. That pressure lies behind chapters 17 and 18, where Dan takes Laish in the far north. Shaalbim, written into Dan's inheritance at Joshua 19:42 as Shaalabbin, is held by the house of Joseph, and the chapter closes on "the border of the Amorites".
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The valley - That is, into the plain country; which was the occasion of that expedition for the getting new quarters, of which we read ver. 47, 48 and chap. xviii, 1-31.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-47-anchored-34-34
And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain,....
It was after the death of Joshua. While he lived he directed them, and all the tribes were obedient to him, but when he died he left no successor in the same authority that he had; but the people must consult the breast-plate of judgment, and thence receive the word of command; for God himself, as he was their King, so he was the Lord of their hosts.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The same course of subjugation was carried on in the other tribes to a partial extent, and with varying success. Many of the natives, no doubt, during the progress of this exterminating war, saved themselves by flight and became, it is thought, the first colonists in Greece, Italy, and other countries.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Amorites are usually found in the mountain Num 13:29; Jos 10:6. Here they dwell in the valley, of which the monuments of Rameses III show them to have been in possession when that monarch invaded Syria. It was their great strength in this district, and their forcible detention of the territory of Dan, which led to the expedition of the Danites Judg. 18. The house of Joseph lent their powerful aid in subduing them, probably in the times of the Judges.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּלְחֲצ֧וּ | vaiyilchatzu | and they pressed | H3905 → | 19 times |
| הָאֱמֹרִ֛י | haemori | the Amorite[s] | H567 → | 87 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵי־ | benei- | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| דָ֖ן | dan | Dan | H1835 → | 70 times |
| הָהָ֑רָה | haharah | the hill country towards | H2022 → | 546 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נְתָנ֖וֹ | netano | it permitted it | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָרֶ֥דֶת | laredet | to go down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| לָעֵֽמֶק׃ | laemek | to the valley | H6010 → | 69 times |
וַיִּלְחֲצ֧וּand they pressed
vaiyilchatzuH3905 →19 times
הָאֱמֹרִ֛יthe Amorite[s]
haemoriH567 →87 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵי־[the] descendants of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
דָ֖ןDan
danH1835 →70 times
הָהָ֑רָהthe hill country towards
haharahH2022 →546 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נְתָנ֖וֹit permitted it
netanoH5414 →2011 times
לָרֶ֥דֶתto go down
laredetH3381 →381 times
לָעֵֽמֶק׃to the valley
laemekH6010 →69 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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
Judges 18:1In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among…
it leads to
- Judges 17:6
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Judges 19:1
Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
- Joshua 19:40–48
The seventh lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Dan:
- Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Judges 17:6
Through
Joshua 19:47(Later, when the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and put it to the sword. So they took possession of Leshem, settled there,…
it leads to
- Judges 1:34–35
The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain.
- Judges 18:1–29
In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among…
- Judges 1:34–35
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.