Judges 1:23

23 They sent some spies to Bethel (which used to be called Luz).

Judges 1:23 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:23

And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel
To reconnoitre the place, to observe its passes and avenues, which were most accessible, and to examine the walls of it, where they were weakest and least defended:

now the name of the city before [was] Luz;
which signifies a "nut"; perhaps it was so called from large numbers of nut trees which grew near it; the Jews suggest as if it was like a nut, no entrance into it but through a cave or some subterraneous passage, see ( Genesis 28:19 ) .

Judges 1:23 In-Context

21 But the people of Benjamin could not make the Jebusite people leave Jerusalem. Since that time the Jebusites have lived with the Benjaminites in Jerusalem.

22 The men of Joseph went to fight against the city of Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

23 They sent some spies to Bethel (which used to be called Luz).

24 The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, "Show us a way into the city, and we will be kind to you."

25 So the man showed them the way into the city. The men of Joseph attacked with swords the people in Bethel, but they let the man and his family go free.