Judges 1:19

19 The LORD was with Yehudah; and drove out [the inhabitants of] the hill-country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, 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 Yehudah went with Shim`on his brother, and they struck the Kana`anim who inhabited Tzefat, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.

18 Also Yehudah took `Aza with the border of it, and Ashkelon with the border of it, and `Ekron with the border of it.

19 The LORD was with Yehudah; and drove out [the inhabitants of] the hill-country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

20 They gave Hevron to Kalev, as Moshe had spoken: and he drove out there the three sons of `Anak.

21 The children of Binyamin did not drive out the Yevusi who inhabited Yerushalayim; but the Yevusi dwell with the children of Binyamin in Yerushalayim to this day.