Judges 1:23

23 The house of Yosef sent spies to Beit-El (the city was formerly 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 The people of Binyamin did not drive out the Y'vusi who inhabited Yerushalayim; rather, the Y'vusi continued living with the people of Binyamin in Yerushalayim, as they do to this day.

22 The house of Yosef likewise attacked Beit-El; and ADONAI was with them.

23 The house of Yosef sent spies to Beit-El (the city was formerly called Luz).

24 The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him: "Please show us the way to enter the city, and we will treat you kindly."

25 So he showed them the way into the city, and they overpowered the city with the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free.