Judges 1:3

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.

Judges 1:3 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:3

And Judah said unto Simeon his brother
The men of the tribe of Judah said to those of the tribe of Simeon, they being not only brethren by father's and mother's side, which was not the case of all the sons of Jacob, but their possessions and inheritances lay near together; and indeed those of Simeon were within the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, ( Joshua 19:1 ) ; so that as they lived in great nearness and familiarity with each other, their interests were closely united together:

come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites;
conjunctly: the meaning is, that the tribe of Simeon, as many of their warlike men as could, would come and join their forces with those of the tribe of Judah, in order to reduce such cities, in the lot of that tribe, the Canaanites as yet were in the possession of:

and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot:
the cities being conquered which were in the lot, of the tribe of Judah, that tribe proposed to bring their united forces into the lot of the tribe of Simeon, and reduce such cities as were in that lot:

so Simeon went with him:
the tribe of Simeon agreed to the proposal, and went along with the tribe of Judah against their common enemy.

Judges 1:3 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.
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