Judges 1:35
in Judges 1And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to taskwork.
KJV
But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.
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This verse in Judges 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres - They perhaps agreed to dwell in the mountainous country, being unable to maintain themselves on the plain, and yet were so powerful that the Danites could not totally expel them; they were, however, laid under tribute, and thus the house of Joseph had the sovereignty.
This site's exposition
the Amorites forced the children
on Judges 1:34-36
Dan fails in the other direction, since the Amorites force the tribe up into the mountain and will not suffer them to come down into the valley, so here an Israelite tribe is the one driven out. That pressure is the background of chapters 17 and 18, where Dan sends five men to look for somewhere else to live and takes Laish in the far north. Aijalon and Shaalbim were written into Dan's inheritance at Joshua 19:42, spelled Ajalon and Shaalabbin there, and the house of Joseph has to hold them in Dan's place. The chapter closes on the border of the Amorites rather than on the border of Israel.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In Jacob's blessing Judah is compared to a lion, Dan to a serpent; now observe how Judah with his lion-like courage prospered and prevailed, but Dan with all his serpenting subtlety could get no ground; craft and artful management do not always effect the wonders they pretend to.
But the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim,....
It was owing to their covetousness; the Canaanites' labour and money would do them more good (they thought) than their blood, and therefore they were willing to let them live among them, that they might make a hand of them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיּ֤וֹאֶל | vaiyoel | and it was determined | H2974 → | 19 times |
| הָֽאֱמֹרִי֙ | haemori | the Amorite[s] | H567 → | 87 times |
| לָשֶׁ֣בֶת | lashevet | to dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּהַר־ | behar- | in [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| חֶ֔רֶס | cheres | Heres | H2776 → | |
| בְּאַיָּל֖וֹן | beaiyalon | in Aijalon | H357 → | |
| וּבְשַֽׁעַלְבִ֑ים | uveshaalvim | and in Shaalbim | H8169 → | |
| וַתִּכְבַּד֙ | vatikhbad | and it was heavy | H3513 → | 113 times |
| יַ֣ד | yad | [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| בֵּית־ | beit- | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יוֹסֵ֔ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| וַיִּהְי֖וּ | vaiyihyu | and they became | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָמַֽס׃ | lamas | <into> forced labor | H4522 → | 23 times |
וַיּ֤וֹאֶלand it was determined
vaiyoelH2974 →19 times
הָֽאֱמֹרִי֙the Amorite[s]
haemoriH567 →87 times
לָשֶׁ֣בֶתto dwell
lashevetH3427 →1079 times
בְּהַר־in [the] mountain of
behar-H2022 →546 times
חֶ֔רֶסHeres
cheresH2776 →
בְּאַיָּל֖וֹןin Aijalon
beaiyalonH357 →
וּבְשַֽׁעַלְבִ֑יםand in Shaalbim
uveshaalvimH8169 →
וַתִּכְבַּד֙and it was heavy
vatikhbadH3513 →113 times
יַ֣ד[the] hand of
yadH3027 →1618 times
בֵּית־[the] house of
beit-H1004 →2046 times
יוֹסֵ֔ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
וַיִּהְי֖וּand they became
vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
לָמַֽס׃<into> forced labor
lamasH4522 →23 times
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
Joshua 10:12On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley…
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:11
Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.
- Isaiah 38:8
I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
- Isaiah 60:20
Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not wane; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will cease.
- Joshua 10:13
So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of…
- Isaiah 28:21
For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing…
- Habakkuk 3:11
Through
1 Kings 4:9Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan;
it leads to
- Joshua 19:42
Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 6:12
And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines…
- Joshua 19:42
Through
Joshua 19:42Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,
it leads to
- Joshua 21:24
Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
- Joshua 21:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.
