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After many years as leader of the twelve tribes of Israel, Joshua dies. Though they now live in the Promised Land, the Israelites are still in the process of establishing their control of the region.
The sons of Judah capture Jerusalem, defeating its inhabitants and setting the city on fire. They then continue their campaign against the Canaanites in various regions, ultimately conquering Hebron and defeating its notable inhabitants, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
Caleb offers his daughter Achsah in marriage to whoever captures Kiriath-sepher. Othniel, Caleb’s nephew, successfully captures the city and marries Achsah. Achsah then asks Caleb for a field and additional water resources, and Caleb grants her the upper and lower springs.
The descendants of the Kenite join the tribe of Judah in their territory. Despite the Lord’s presence, Judah fails to drive out the inhabitants of the valley, beginning to show the start of their failures. Caleb is given Hebron and drives out the Anakim, but the tribe of Benjamin also fails in their war efforts.
The tribes Ephraim and Manasseh, with the Lord’s assistance, goes up against Bethel, previously known as Luz. They use a local man to find the city’s entrance, conquer Bethel, and spare the man’s family. The man then relocates to the land of the Hittites, where he builds a new city and names it Luz.
The tribe of Manasseh fails to fully take possession of several key cities and their surrounding villages, allowing the Canaanites to remain in the land. Additionally, when Israel became strong, they subjected the Canaanites to slavery instead of completely driving them out. The tribe of Ephraim also failed to expel the Canaanites living in Gezer, resulting in the Canaanites living among them.
The rest of the tribes of Israel fail to fully drive out the Canaanite inhabitants from their territories. Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali allow the Canaanites to live among them, subjecting them to slavery. The Amorites force the tribe of Dan into the hill country, but the house of Joseph eventually subjugates the Amorites to forced labor as well.
Judges 1 describes the immediate aftermath of Joshua’s death and the efforts made by the tribes of Israel to conquer the land of Canaan, which had been promised to them by God. God had established a covenant with the Israelites after delivering them from Egypt, in which He would be their king, and they would be a kingdom of priests who served Him (Exodus 19:4-6). The Promised Land was the land originally given to their forefather, Abraham, by God. Now they had inherited it and possessed it. This chapter sets the stage for broader themes found in the Book of Judges, showcasing the Israelites' attempts to assert their own control over the land, with varying degrees of success and faithfulness to God's commands.
The chapter primarily describes the tribes' failures to fully drive out the Canaanite inhabitants in some areas. These incomplete conquests and the resulting coexistence with the Canaanites is a key point of disobedience to the Lord’s commands in Deuteronomy 7. It foreshadows the cycles of unfaithfulness and conflict detailed throughout the Book of Judges.
The Israelites' inability to fully obey God's commands to eliminate idolatrous influences ultimately leads to their periodic suffering and need for divine deliverance, a recurring pattern that defines the entire book and even the entirety of Scripture. God's covenant directed the Israelites to actions that would lead to blessings. God’s design for Israel was that it would be a community where each person loves others as they love themselves, leading to flourishing, rather than a community like the pagan tribes around them, where the strong exploit the weak.
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