Judges 1:19

19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took the land in the mountains, but they could not force out the people living on the plain, because they had iron chariots.

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 The men of Judah and the men of Simeon, their relatives, defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They completely destroyed the city, so they called it Hormah.

18 The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the lands around them.

19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took the land in the mountains, but they could not force out the people living on the plain, because they had iron chariots.

20 As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, and Caleb forced out the three sons of Anak.

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.