Judges 1:8

Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it,.... Which accounted for their carrying Adonibezek thither.

Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it.

To wit, in Joshua’ s time; which though done before, may be here repeated, to show why they brought Adoni-bezek to Jerusalem, because that city was in their hands, having been taken before, as may be gathered from . And the taking of this city may be ascribed to the children of Judah rather than to Joshua, because the city was not taken by Joshua and the whole body of the army in that time when so many kings were destroyed, Joshua 10 Joshua 12, (for there is mention made of the destroying of the king of Jerusalem, 12:10; but not a word of the taking of Jerusalem, as there is of the taking of Makkedah, and Libnah, and other cities belonging to the kings there mentioned, , &c.,) but by the children of Judah after they had received their lot, when at the desire and with the consent of the Benjamites, in whose lot Jerusalem fell, , they assaulted and took it, and thereby, as it seems, acquired the right of copartnership with the Benjamites in the possession of that city. Though some think Jerusalem was twice taken; once in Joshua’ s lifetime; and being afterwards recovered by the Canaanites, was now retaken by the children of Judah.

8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Ver. 8. Likewise also] Or, yet nevertheless; albeit these dreadful executions are set before them for an example. These filthy dreamers] Or, these sound sleepers, these whom the devil hath cast into a dead lethargy of damned security. (Sopiti. Beza.) Or, these Nehelamites, that pretend dreams and divine inspirations. See Jeremiah 29:24; Jeremiah 29:31. Defile the flesh] By nocturnal pollutions, which we must pray against. The devil can fasten that filth upon the soul when we sleep, that he cannot do at another time. Despise dominion] Gr. αθετουσι, set it at nought. Under pretence of Christian liberty, they "set it aside," they "put it from its place" with scorn and contempt. And speak evil of dignities] Gr. blaspheme glories: so the Papists do familiarly those princes they count heretics, as Henry IV of France, whom they called Huguenot Dog, &c. Our Edward VI, bastard. Of Queen Elizabeth they reported in print some years after her death, that she died without sense or feeling of God’ s mercies. Sanders calleth her the English wolf; Rhiston, the English lioness, far surpassing in cruelty all the Athaliahs, Maacahs, Jezebels, Herodiases, that ever were. Os durum! Harsh mouth. (Rivetti Jesuita vapulans, 263.)

(8) Now.—Rather, And.Had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it.—Our version here most unwarrantably interpolates the word “had,” meaning it perhaps as a sort of explanatory gloss to imply that the conquest took place before the fact mentioned in the last verse. If we are right in supposing that these chapters refer in greater or less detail to events already touched upon in the Book of Joshua, we must then supplement this brief notice by Joshua 12:8-10; Joshua 15:63, from which it appears that though the people of Jerusalem were slaughtered, the king conquered, and the city burnt, yet the Jebusites either secured the citadel (as Josephus implies) or succeeded in recovering the city. In Judges 19:11-12, the city is called Jebus (with the remark, “which is Jerusalem”), and the Levite expressly refuses to enter it, because it is a “city of the Jebusites,” “the city of a stranger.” With the edge of the sword.—Literally, with the mouth of the sword (Genesis 34:26; Joshua 8:24; Joshua 10:28. Comp. Judges 4:15; Judges 20:37). It seems to mean that no quarter was given. Set the city on fire.—Literally, sent the city into fire, as in Judges 20:48; 2 Kings 8:12; Psalms 74:7. The phrase does not occur elsewhere. And at a later period Josephus tells us that the siege occupied a long time, from the strength of the position (2 Samuel 5:7).

Verse 8. Had fought against Jerusalem] We read this verse in a parenthesis, because we suppose that it refers to the taking of this city by Joshua; for as he had conquered its armies and slew its king, Joshua 10:26, it is probable that he took the city: yet we find that the Jebusites still dwelt in it, Joshua 15:63; and that the men of Judah could not drive them out, which probably refers to the strong hold or fortress on Mount Zion, which the Jebusites held till the days of David, who took it, and totally destroyed the Jebusites. See 2 Samuel 5:6-9, and 1 Chronicles 11:4-8. It is possible that the Jebusites who had been discomfited by Joshua, had again become sufficiently strong to possess themselves of Jerusalem; and that they were now defeated, and the city itself set on fire: but that they still were able to keep possession of their strong fort on Mount Zion, which appears to have been the citadel of Jerusalem.

8. fought against Jerusalem, and took it] Jerusalem was not taken till the time of David; this verse contradicts Judges 1:21 and the known course of history; see Judges 19:11 f.; 2 Samuel 5:6-9. We have here a late insertion, founded on a misunderstanding of Jdg 1:7 b, and designed to explain how the Judahites came to carry the wounded chief to Jerusalem. with the edge of the sword] An expression often used in connexion with the exterminating wars against the Canaanites, e.g. Genesis 34:26, Exodus 17:13 JE, Deuteronomy 13:15 etc. Judges 1:9 is merely a generalizing summary (cf. Joshua 9:1; Joshua 10:40 D) from the same hand as Judges 1:8, and from the same standpoint; note went down, i.e. from the high ground near Jerusalem. in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland] A summary description of the land of Judah, cf. Jeremiah 17:26; Jeremiah 32:44 etc. The entire central range of Palestine was called ‘the Highlands,’ lit. ‘the mountain’ (Deuteronomy 1:7, Joshua 9:1); it was divided into the Highlands of Judah, of Ephraim, of Naphtali, Joshua 20:7; here the Highlands of Judah are meant. ‘The South,’ in Hebr. ‘the Negeb,’ i.e. ‘the dry land,’ was the tract of country S. of Hebron, between the Highlands and the desert which bounds the lower part of Palestine; it is sometimes called the Negeb of Judah, of the Kenites, of Caleb, etc. (Judges 1:10 ff., Judges 1:16; 1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 30:14). This ‘dry land’ being in the south of Palestine, Negeb came to have the general meaning, ‘south.’ ‘The lowland,’ in Hebr. ‘the Shephçlah,’ is the region of low hills and plains on the W. and S.W. of Judah, sloping down from the Highlands to the sea; the list of Judaean cities in Joshua 15:33-47 indicates the extent of this district. For ‘Shephçlah’ the original narrative uses the word ‘valley’ in this chapter, Judges 1:19; Judges 1:34.

Render “and the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it,” etc. With regard to the capture of Jerusalem there is some obscurity.

CAPTURE AND BURNING OF , Judges 1:8. 8. Had fought — This pluperfect rendering of the verb has grown out of the notion that the Israelites brought Adoni-bezek to Jerusalem, and therefore the city