Judges 1:25

25 And he shewed them how to enter into the city. And they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.

Judges 1:25 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:25

And when he showed them the entrance, into the city
Pointing to it with his fingers, as the same writers observe:

they smote the city with the edge of the sword;
they gave notice of what intelligence they had got to the body of the army, who came up, entered the city, took it, and put the inhabitants of it to the sword, as they were ordered to do with all the Canaanites:

but they let go the man and all his family;
who had returned to it, encouraged by the promise made him, and for the sake of saving of his family; which though not expressed, he might have asked the favour of sparing them, which might be promised, as was in the case of Rahab; provided he would either renounce Heathenism, and embrace the true religion, or depart to another country, the latter of which he chose.

Judges 1:25 In-Context

23 And the house of Joseph sent to search out Bethel; now the name of the city before was Luz.
24 And the guards saw a man come forth out of the city, and said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, how [we] may enter into the city, and we will shew thee kindness.
25 And he shewed them how to enter into the city. And they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.
26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 And Manasseh did not dispossess Beth-shean and its dependent villages, nor Taanach and its dependent villages, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its dependent villages, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its dependent villages, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its dependent villages; and the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.