Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers. NaphtaliThe tribe of Naphtali, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from Naphtali, the sixth son of Jacob and second son of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. This tribe was allotted a region in the northern part of Canaan, a land rich in resources and strategically significant. The failure of Naphtali to fully conquer their territory reflects a recurring theme in the Book of Judges, where the Israelites struggle to fully claim the Promised Land due to incomplete obedience to God's commands. failed to drive out
The Hebrew root for "failed" here is "lo yarash," which implies not just a lack of success but a failure to take possession or inherit. This phrase highlights a spiritual and physical shortcoming. The Israelites were commanded by God to completely drive out the inhabitants of the land to avoid being influenced by their idolatrous practices. This failure to fully obey God's command led to significant consequences, as the remaining Canaanites would become a snare to the Israelites, leading them into idolatry and sin. the residents of Beth-shemesh
Beth-shemesh, meaning "house of the sun," was a city associated with sun worship, a common Canaanite practice. The presence of such a city within Israel's borders posed a direct threat to the worship of Yahweh, as it represented the pagan influences that God had warned against. Archaeological findings in the region have uncovered evidence of Canaanite religious practices, underscoring the cultural and spiritual challenges faced by the Israelites. or the residents of Beth-anath
Beth-anath, meaning "house of Anath," refers to a city named after the Canaanite goddess Anath, a deity of war and fertility. The mention of this city further emphasizes the spiritual danger posed by the Canaanites. The Israelites' failure to remove these influences would lead to syncretism, where the worship of Yahweh was mixed with pagan practices, diluting the purity of their faith. so the Canaanites lived among them
This phrase indicates a coexistence that was contrary to God's command. The Hebrew word "yashab" suggests a settled, enduring presence. The Canaanites' continued presence among the Israelites led to cultural and religious assimilation, which would eventually result in Israel's spiritual decline. This coexistence is a cautionary tale about the dangers of compromising with the world and failing to uphold God's standards. and were forced into labor
Instead of driving out the Canaanites, the Israelites subjected them to forced labor. This decision reflects a pragmatic approach rather than a faithful one. While it may have seemed beneficial economically, it was a direct disobedience to God's command to completely remove the Canaanite influence. This compromise illustrates the Israelites' reliance on their own understanding rather than trusting in God's provision and protection. Persons / Places / Events 1. NaphtaliOne of the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from Naphtali, the son of Jacob and Bilhah. The tribe was allotted land in the northern part of Canaan. 2. Beth-shemeshA city within the territory of Naphtali. The name means "house of the sun," indicating a possible center of sun worship among the Canaanites. 3. Beth-anathAnother city in Naphtali's territory. The name suggests a connection to the Canaanite goddess Anath, indicating the presence of pagan worship. 4. CanaanitesThe original inhabitants of the land of Canaan, known for their idolatrous practices and opposition to Israel's occupation of the land. 5. Forced LaborThe Canaanites were subjected to labor by the Israelites, indicating a partial victory but also a failure to fully obey God's command to drive them out. Teaching Points Partial Obedience is DisobedienceThe failure of Naphtali to drive out the Canaanites shows that partial obedience to God's commands is still disobedience. This serves as a reminder to fully commit to God's instructions in our lives. Consequences of CompromiseLiving among the Canaanites led to Israel's spiritual decline. Compromise with worldly values can lead to a gradual erosion of faith and commitment to God. God's Sovereignty and Human ResponsibilityWhile God had promised the land to Israel, they were responsible for taking action. This balance between divine sovereignty and human responsibility is crucial in our walk with God. The Danger of IdolatryThe presence of Canaanite cities like Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath, associated with pagan worship, underscores the constant threat of idolatry. We must guard our hearts against modern-day idols. Bible Study Questions 1. What were the specific reasons for Naphtali's failure to drive out the Canaanites, and how can we apply this lesson to areas where we struggle with obedience? 2. How does the concept of forced labor reflect a compromise in Naphtali's conquest, and what are some modern examples of compromising with sin? 3. In what ways does the presence of Canaanite cities like Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath illustrate the dangers of idolatry, and how can we identify and remove idols in our own lives? 4. How does Judges 1:33 relate to God's command in Deuteronomy 7:1-5, and what does this teach us about the importance of following God's instructions fully? 5. Reflect on a time when you experienced the consequences of partial obedience. How did it affect your relationship with God, and what steps did you take to return to full obedience? Connections to Other Scriptures Joshua 19:32-39This passage details the allotment of land to the tribe of Naphtali, providing context for their failure to fully possess it. Deuteronomy 7:1-5God commands Israel to completely destroy the Canaanite nations to avoid being led astray by their idolatry, highlighting the disobedience in Judges 1:33. Judges 2:1-3The Angel of the LORD rebukes Israel for not driving out the inhabitants, which leads to their future troubles, directly connecting to the events in Judges 1:33. People Abednego, Achsah, Adonibezek, Ahiman, Amalekites, Amorites, Anak, Anath, Arad, Arba, Asher, Asherites, Benjamin, Benjamites, Caleb, Canaanites, Dan, Danites, Debir, Edomites, Hittites, Hobab, Israelites, Jebusites, Joseph, Joshua, Kenaz, Manasseh, Naphtali, Naphtalites, Othniel, Perizzites, Rehob, Sheshai, Simeon, Simeonites, Talmai, Zebulun, ZidonPlaces Acco, Achzib, Ahlab, Aijalon, Akrabbim, Aphik, Arad, Ashkelon, Beth-anath, Bethel, Beth-shan, Beth-shemesh, Bezek, Debir, Dor, Ekron, Gaza, Gezer, Gibeah, Hebron, Helbah, Hormah, Ibleam, Jerusalem, Kiriath-arba, Kiriath-sepher, Kitron, Luz, Megiddo, Mount Heres, Nahalol, Negeb, Rehob, Sela, Shaalbim, Sidon, Taanach, ZephathTopics Anath, Beth, Bethanath, Beth-anath, Bethshemesh, Beth-shemesh, Beth-she'mesh, Canaanite, Canaanites, Didn't, Dispossessed, Drive, Driving, Drove, Dwelleth, Dwelt, Expel, Forced, However, Inhabitants, Labor, Laborers, Midst, Naphtali, Naph'tali, Naphtalites, Nevertheless, Shemesh, Subject, Taskwork, Tributaries, TributaryDictionary of Bible Themes Judges 1:33 7266 tribes of Israel Judges 1:27-35 7259 promised land, later history Library The Historical Books.
1. In the Pentateuch we have the establishment of the Theocracy, with the preparatory and accompanying history pertaining to it. The province of the historical books is to unfold its practiced working, and to show how, under the divine superintendence and guidance, it accomplished the end for which it was given. They contain, therefore, primarily, a history of God's dealings with the covenant people under the economy which he had imposed upon them. They look at the course of human events on the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the BibleThe Coast of the Asphaltites, the Essenes. En-Gedi.
"On the western shore" (of the Asphaltites) "dwell the Essenes; whom persons, guilty of any crimes, fly from on every side. A nation it is that lives alone, and of all other nations in the whole world, most to be admired; they are without any woman; all lust banished, &c. Below these, was the town Engadda, the next to Jerusalem for fruitfulness, and groves of palm-trees, now another burying-place. From thence stands Massada, a castle in a rock, and this castle not far from the Asphaltites." Solinus, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Beth-El. Beth-Aven.
Josephus thus describes the land of Benjamin; "The Benjamites' portion of land was from the river Jordan to the sea, in length: in breadth, it was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." Let these last words be marked, "The breadth of the land of Benjamin was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." May we not justly conclude, from these words, that Jerusalem and Beth-el were opposite, as it were, in a right line? But if you look upon the maps, there are some that separate these by a very large tract of land, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Tsippor
"Tsippor is the greatest city of Galilee, and built in a very strong place." "Kitron (Judg 1:29,30) is Tsippor: and why is it called Tsippor? Because it is seated upon a mountain as Tsippor, a bird." "Sixteen miles on all sides from Tsippor was a land flowing with milk and honey." This city is noted in Josephus for its warlike affairs; but most noted in the Talmudists for the university fixed there, and for the learning, which Rabbi Judah the Holy brought hither, as we have said before. He sat in …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica A Nation's Struggle for a Home and Freedom.
ISRAEL'S VICTORIES OVER THE CANAANITES.--Josh. 2-9; Judg. 1, 4, 5. Parallel Readings. Hist. Bible II,1-4.1. Prin. of Politics X. That the leaders took the lead in Israel, That the people volunteered readily, Bless Jehovah! Zebulun was a people who exposed themselves to deadly peril, And Naphtali on the heights of the open field. Kings came, they fought; They fought, the kings of Canaan, At Taanach by the Waters of Megiddo, They took no booty of silver. Prom heaven fought the stars, From their …
Charles Foster Kent—The Making of a Nation The Place of the Old Testament in Divine Revelation
[Sidenote: Advent of the Hebrews] Modern discovery and research have demonstrated that the truth revealed through the Babylonians and with less definiteness through the people of the Nile was never entirely lost. Such a sad waste was out of accord with the obvious principles of divine economy. As the icy chill of ceremonialism seized decadent Babylonia and Egypt, there emerged from the steppes south and east of Palestine a virile, ambitious group of nomads, who not only fell heir to that which …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament The Prophet Jonah.
It has been asserted without any sufficient reason, that Jonah is older than Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah,--that he is the oldest among the prophets whose written monuments have been preserved to us. The passage in 2 Kings xiv. 25, where it is said, that Jonah, the son of Amittai the prophet, prophesied to Jeroboam the happy success of his arms, and the restoration of the ancient boundaries of Israel, and that this prophecy was confirmed by the event, cannot decide in favour of this assertion, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Scythopolis. Beth-Shean, the Beginning of Galilee.
The bonds of Galilee were, "on the south, Samaris and Scythopolis, unto the flood of Jordan." Scythopolis is the same with Beth-shean, of which is no seldom mention in the Holy Scriptures, Joshua 17:11; Judges 1:27; 1 Samuel 31:10. "Bethsaine (saith Josephus), called by the Greeks Scythopolis." It was distant but a little way from Jordan, seated in the entrance to a great valley: for so the same author writes, "Having passed Jordan, they came to a great plain, where lies before you the city Bethsane," …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Country of Jericho, and the Situation of the City.
Here we will borrow Josephus' pencil, "Jericho is seated in a plain, yet a certain barren mountain hangs over it, narrow, indeed, but long; for it runs out northward to the country of Scythopolis,--and southward, to the country of Sodom, and the utmost coast of the Asphaltites." Of this mountain mention is made, Joshua 2:22, where the two spies, sent by Joshua, and received by Rahab, are said to "conceal themselves." "Opposite against this, lies a mountain on the other side Jordan, beginning from …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN: THE JUDGES--THE PHILISTINES AND THE HEBREW KINGDOM--SAUL, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE DEFECTION OF THE TEN TRIBES--THE XXIst EGYPTIAN DYNASTY--SHESHONQ OR SHISHAK DAMASCUS. The Hebrews in the desert: their families, clans, and tribes--The Amorites and the Hebrews on the left bank of the Jordan--The conquest of Canaan and the native reaction against the Hebrews--The judges, Ehud, Deborah, Jerubbaal or Gideon and the Manassite supremacy; Abimelech, Jephihdh. The Philistines, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6 Jews and Gentiles in "The Land"
Coming down from Syria, it would have been difficult to fix the exact spot where, in the view of the Rabbis, "the land" itself began. The boundary lines, though mentioned in four different documents, are not marked in anything like geographical order, but as ritual questions connected with them came up for theological discussion. For, to the Rabbis the precise limits of Palestine were chiefly interesting so far as they affected the religious obligations or privileges of a district. And in this respect …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Judges
For the understanding of the early history and religion of Israel, the book of Judges, which covers the period from the death of Joshua to the beginning of the struggle with the Philistines, is of inestimable importance; and it is very fortunate that the elements contributed by the later editors are so easily separated from the ancient stories whose moral they seek to point. That moral is most elaborately stated in ii. 6-iii. 6, which is a sort of programme or preface to iii. 7-xvi. 31, which constitutes …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Judges 1:33 NIVJudges 1:33 NLTJudges 1:33 ESVJudges 1:33 NASBJudges 1:33 KJV
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