Judges 1:2

2 The LORD answered, "The tribe of Judah will go. I have handed the land over to them."

Judges 1:2 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:2

And the Lord said
By an articulate voice, which it is probable was the usual way of answering by Urim and Thummim:

Judah shall go up;
not Judah in person, who was long ago dead, but the tribe of Judah; it was the will of the Lord that that tribe should engage first with the Canaanites, being the principal one, and the most numerous, powerful, and valiant, and perhaps had the greatest number of Canaanites among them; and who succeeding, would inspire the other tribes with courage, and fill their enemies with a panic:

behold, I have delivered the land into his hands;
that part of it which belonged to that tribe as yet unsubdued, the conquest of which they are assured of for their encouragement.

Judges 1:2 In-Context

1 Joshua died. After that, the people of Israel spoke to the Lord. They asked him, "Who will go up first and fight for us against the people of Canaan?"

2 The LORD answered, "The tribe of Judah will go. I have handed the land over to them."

3 Then the men of Judah spoke to their fellow Israelites, the men of Simeon. They said, "Come up with us. Come into the territory Joshua gave us. Help us fight against the people of Canaan. Then we'll go with you into your territory." So the men of Simeon went with them.

4 When the men of Judah attacked, the LORD helped them. He handed the Canaanites and Perizzites over to them. They struck down 10,000 men at Bezek.

5 Judah found Adoni-Bezek there. They fought against him. They struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites.