Verse Lens · Context pointer

Judges 1:2 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 2. And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Role in This Section

This verse records the LORD naming Judah and announcing the land's delivery.

Read It With

  • Judges 1:1–7

Read Judges 1:1–7 together. This verse records the LORD naming Judah and announcing the land's delivery. Joshua's death, Israel's inquiry, Judah and Simeon's joint campaign, Adoni-bezek's mutilation, and his interpretation of his fate form the opening action; verse 8 moves to Jerusalem.

Read Judges 1:1–7 together

Why these verses belong together: Joshua's death, Israel's inquiry, Judah and Simeon's joint campaign, Adoni-bezek's mutilation, and his interpretation of his fate form the opening action; verse 8 moves to Jerusalem.

Verse 1. Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

Verse 2. And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

Verse 3. And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him.

Verse 4. And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

Verse 5. And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

Verse 6. But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

Verse 7. And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read Judges 1:1–7 — Judah begins at Bezek
Sources used for this context pointer

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

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 1:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

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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, 1:1–7

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