Joshua passed away. The path between Judah and the rest of the tribes began to diverge. Judah fought, conquered, utterly destroyed the inhabitants of Canaan. Judah led and partnered with the weak and demonstrated meek leadership. On the other hand, the other Israel tribes were not very “successful” as they did not drive out the inhabitants. The chapter describes the falling condition of the heart of the Israelites not long after Joshua passed away.

Judah Fights, Fights and Fights

The Judah tribe (Judah) was very active. As Caleb, the leader of Judah, showed his insatiable desire to fulfill the LORD’s promise before Joshua (Joshua 14:12), Judah was zealous to actively inherit the land that the LORD promised. Unlike other tribes of Israel, Judah actively fought against many nations in Canaan. 

Judah fought against the Canaanites and Perizzites, defeating ten thousand men at Bezek (Judges 1:4). Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured the city (Judges 1:8). Judah defeated the Canaanites in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the lowland (Judges 1:9). Judah went against the Cannaanites in Hebron (Judges 1:10) and against the inhabitants of Debir (1:11). Judah struck down the Canaanites in Zephath (1:17). Judah drove out three sons of Anak from Hebron (1:20).

Judah Partners

We see that Judah partnered with Simeon twice in fighting against the Cannaanites. First, Judah went with Simeon against the Cannaanites and the Perizzites and defeated Adoni-Bezek (1:4-5). Also, when fighting against the Canaanites in Zephath, Judah partnered with Simeon. 

This partnership was not that necessary from Judah’s point of view because Judah was already the largest and the strongest tribe with 76,500 people. On the other hand, Simeon was the weakest and the smallest with 22,200 people. Judah demonstrated leadership by partnering with the weakest tribe so that Simeon can inherit their allotted land. This is “meek” leadership – the strong used its power to help the weak. 

We also see that the descendents of the Kenite, Moses’s father-in-law, went up with the sons of Judah to the wilderness of Judah and lived with them (Judges 1:16). Although it is difficult to know the exact reason for the Kenite’s decision to live with Judah, yet, it was possible that the Kenite saw what Judah had (their God) and Judah was willing to take in aliens to be incorporated within its boundary as commanded by the LORD in Leviticus 19:34 (The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God)

Judah was a warrior. Yet, they took good care of the weak, such as the Simeon tribe, and the aliens, such as the Kenite. 

Judah Pursues and Destroys

There is a notable word in Judges 1:6, “pursued.” When Adoni-bezek (king of Bezek) fled, Judah pursued. That Judah pursued is very important for us to note. Winning a battle is one task. Pursuing and capturing a fleeing king is even more a difficult task, which takes an enormous amount of effort and will. Judah ensured that justice was done to Adoni-bezek, and this event shows the heart of Judah to fully obey the LORD’s promise and commands regarding the enemies. In addition, Judah utterly destroyed the cities (1:8, 1:17) as commanded by the LORD through Moses (Deut 20:17). 

Judah faithfully obeyed the LORD. Unfortunately, we will soon see that this was not the case by the other tribes in Israel. 

Ultimate Success 

Let’s acknowledge the ultimate source of the victory. Although Judah did well in actively fighting and inheriting the land, it was ultimately the LORD’s presence that enabled Judah’s success (Judges 1:19). 

Failures of the Others Tribes: Condition of their Hearts

With the exception of some successes by the sons of Joseph with the presence of the LORD (1:22), the rest of the Israel tribes were not successful in contrast to Judah. They neither actively fought the Canaanites, nor utterly destroyed inhabitants. The author of the book listed failures, from minor to major ones, for the rest of the tribes (Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphthali, and Dan). The common phrase in this section was “they did not drive out the inhabitants of Canaanites” in their allotted land. Was the failure to drive out attributable to their inability or unwillingness? The phrase “did not” indicated their unwillingness, rather than inability, to drive out the inhabitants. 

Why weren’t they willing to drive out the inhabitants? For some tribes, such as Zebulun, Naphtali, instead of driving out the inhabitants, they made inhabitants become forced labor for them. In other words, they made an “economic decision” to use them as forced laborers. For their well-being, this decision might have been rational. Driving them out completely and utterly destroying was not only difficult, but less economical than forcing them to work and labor. 

Then, we wonder why didn’t they obey the LORD’s commands to utterly destroy the inhabitants as Judah did? Perhaps, the answer lies in the condition of their hearts. Let’s jump forward to the very last verse of the book of Judges: everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). That’s what these tribes did. They did what was right in their own eyes, according to their standards and eventually implemented their decision, not the LORD’s commands – by making inhabitants forced labor, instead of utterly destroying them. 

In the rest of the chapters of Judges, because of these remaining inhabitants, Israel was oppressed militarily and influenced to worship their gods. 

Tribes that were not mentioned. 

Although most tribes were mentioned in the first chapter, a few of them were not even mentioned. None of the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan (Reuben, Gad, and half tribe of Manasseh) were mentioned. Isacchar was the only tribes on the west side of the Jordan not be mentioned. 

Although the reason for their absence in this chapter is not exactly known, their absence seems to be an ominous sign that they became no longer relevant to the story of God – in other words, they might have become not distinguishable from other nations, no longer suitable to represent the holiness of God. 

Chapter 2 continues to draw out depravity of the Israelites.