The book of Judges covers a period of about 330 years following the death of Joshua. It was a time which stands in stark contrast to the blessings and conquests of the book of Joshua. For Judges is full of disobedience and idolatry leading to defeats and a cycle of apostacy.
Chapter 1 relates how the men of Judah and the Simeonites conquered the Canaanites and Perizzites. At Bezek they killed 10,000 men and captured King Adoni-Bezek cutting off his big toes and thumbs! It says they did this cruel act in retribution for him having done this previously to 70 kings. Then the men of Judah captured Jerusalem and attacked the Canaanites living in Hebron. In the on-going warfare Caleb promised his daughter Achsar in marriage to the man who helped him conquer Debir, so it was that Caleb's younger brother Othniel conquered the city and married Achsar. The text goes on to show that the descendants of Moses' father-in-law were intermingled with the tribe of Judah.
Then the tribes of Judah and Simeon conquered other Canaanite cities including Gaza. However victories were partial as the Israelites were unable to defeat the iron chariots in the plains, and they could not dislodge the Jebusites. Then they conquered Bethel, but in the region as a whole the Canaanites were never completely defeated and so they ended up co-habiting with Israel being frequently reduced to sources of forced labour.
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