Judges 1:17

17 Judah went with his brother Simeon, struck the Canaanites who were living in Zephath, and completely destroyed the town. So they named the town Hormah.[a]

Judges 1:17 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:17

And Judah went with Simeon his brother
Having subtitled his Canaanites which were in his own lot, according to his promise, he went with his brother Simeon, or the tribe of Simeon, into their lot to reduce those that were in that:

and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly
destroyed it:
where and what this city was is not certain; there was a place of this name in upper Galilee, mentioned in Jewish writings F16, which cannot be meant here; and we read of the valley of Zephathah, ( 2 Chronicles 14:10 ) ; which might have its name from hence, and if so it was near Mareshah:

and the name of the city was called Hormah;
from the destruction made of it, and of the country about it; for now what had been vowed by Israel in the wilderness, when near Arad, was fulfilled, ( Numbers 21:1-3 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F16 Juchasin, fol. 68. 1.

Judges 1:17 In-Context

15 She answered him, "Give me a blessing. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water also." So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.
16 The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, had gone up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah, which was in the Negev of Arad. They went to live among the people.
17 Judah went with his brother Simeon, struck the Canaanites who were living in Zephath, and completely destroyed the town. So they named the town Hormah.
18 Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.
19 The Lord was with Judah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the people who were living in the valley because those people had iron chariots.

Footnotes 1

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