Judges 1:19

19 And Jehovah was with Judah; and he took possession of the hill-country, for he did not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, ^[a] because they had chariots of iron.

Judges 1:19 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:19

And the Lord was with Judah
Encouraging, strengthening, succeeding, and giving the tribe victory over the Canaanites; the Targum is,

``the Word of the Lord was for the help of the house of Judah:''

and he drove out [the inhabitants of] the mountains;
the mountainous part of Judea, such as was about Jerusalem, and where Hebron stood, and other cities, see ( Joshua 15:48 ) which though fortified both by nature and man, yet God being with them, they were easily subdued:

but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley;
God forsaking them, because they were afraid of them, for a reason after mentioned, or through slothfulness, and being weary of fighting, or because they fell into some sins, which occasioned the divine displeasure; so the Targum,

``after they had sinned, they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley:''

because they had chariots of iron;
but this was no reason why they could not drive them out, if God was with them, who could as easily have delivered these into their hands, as the inhabitants of the mountains; but is the reason why they were afraid to fight with them, and to attempt to drive them out, and which they themselves gave why they did not.

Judges 1:19 In-Context

17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it; and they called the name of the city Hormah.

18 And Judah took Gazah and its border, and Ashkelon and its border, and Ekron and its border.

19 And Jehovah was with Judah; and he took possession of the hill-country, for he did not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

20 And they gave to Caleb Hebron, as Moses had said; and he dispossessed from thence the three sons of Anak.

21 And the children of Benjamin did not dispossess the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'plain.'