Judges 1:27–36, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 1:27–36
Tribal failures accumulate
Tribe after tribe does not drive the inhabitants out
Manasseh does not take Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their towns; Canaanites would dwell in that land. When Israel is stronger, they put the Canaanites to tribute and still do not utterly drive them out. Ephraim leaves the Canaanites in Gezer. Zebulun leaves Kitron and Nahalol, and puts them to tribute. Asher dwells among the Canaanites of the land, because he does not drive them out. Naphtali leaves Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath, dwells among the inhabitants, and later puts them to tribute.
The refrain 'neither did' accumulates. Co-residence is not a later rumor; it is the narrator's repeated fact. Ancient tribal and people labels in this list are not modern races.
Tribute is coercion, and Dan is pressed back
When some tribes grow strong, they extract mas, forced labor, rather than finishing removal. That is not a humane alternative; it is exploitative control. The Amorites force the children of Dan into the mountain and will not let them come down to the valley, until the hand of the house of Joseph is heavy and the Amorites too become tributaries. A border notice closes the list.
Israel fails both by retreat and by using strength to compel labor. The list prepares the messenger's covenant charge. It does not license forced labor, ethnic taxonomy, or a reconstructed timetable of conquest.
How this should shape us
Audit so-called coexistence. If one side dwells at ease by extracting labor, status, or silence from the other, name the coercion. Do not call displacement or tribute peace.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 1:27–36 in your own words. Include its scene movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion or imitation the complete context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters differ over whether the list preserves early settlement memory, contrasts Joshua, critiques compromise, or combines these functions. The received list clearly builds toward covenant indictment.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Judges 1:27–36, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 1:27–36
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 452-453, translation and notes on 1:27–36
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 14-75
Supports: Land as a Joshua-Judges concern, Iron Age I highland context, competing settlement explanations, and the warning against direct modern land-program mapping.
Arnold, Introduction to the Old Testament, chapter 12 'Land,' official Cambridge chapter summary
Supports: Archaeological highland processes, regional evidence, and the distinction between material remains, early memories, and later literary ideology.
Finkelstein, 'First Israel, Core Israel, United (Northern) Israel,' official ASOR summary for Near Eastern Archaeology 82.1, printed pp. 8-15
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 1:27–36, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 1:27–36
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 452-453, translation and notes on 1:27–36
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph preview
Before There Were Kings: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Judges
Elie Assis
Penn State University Press / Eisenbrauns, 2024
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Exact location: Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 14-75
Open source ↗modern textbook chapter summary
Land, chapter 12 of Introduction to the Old Testament
Bill T. Arnold
Cambridge University Press, 2018
Supports: Land as a Joshua-Judges concern, Iron Age I highland context, competing settlement explanations, and the warning against direct modern land-program mapping.
Exact location: Arnold, Introduction to the Old Testament, chapter 12 'Land,' official Cambridge chapter summary
Open source ↗archaeological article summary
First Israel, Core Israel, United (Northern) Israel
Israel Finkelstein
Near Eastern Archaeology 82.1 / American Society of Overseas Research, 2019
Supports: Archaeological highland processes, regional evidence, and the distinction between material remains, early memories, and later literary ideology.
Exact location: Finkelstein, 'First Israel, Core Israel, United (Northern) Israel,' official ASOR summary for Near Eastern Archaeology 82.1, printed pp. 8-15
Open source ↗