Judges 1:33

33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites,^[a] the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

Judges 1:33 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:33

Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of
Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath
Of which places (See Gill on Joshua 19:38);

but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land;
in the same disgraceful manner as Asher did, owing to cowardice or sloth:

nevertheless, the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, and of Bethanath, became
tributaries unto them;
these two cities did at length exert themselves, and got the mastery over the Canaanites, as to make them pay tribute to them; though they ought to have expelled them, and even destroyed them, according to the command of God, but avarice prevailed over them.

Judges 1:33 In-Context

31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob,

32 so the Asherites lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.

33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or Beth-anath, but lived in the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

34 The Amorites pressed the descendants of Dan to the hill country, and they did not allow them to come down to the plain;

35 the Amorites [were] determined to live in Har-heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy [on them], and they became [subjected] to forced labor.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "Canaanite"