Judges 1:19

19 So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, 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 And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah.

18 Also Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.

19 So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.

20 And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.

21 But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.