Bible Strands
Joshua 15:63
But the descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the descendants of Judah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Joshua’s territorial allotment for Judah as the southern conquest concludes. This statement immediately follows a list of captured cities and their surrounding villages in Joshua 15:62.
The words — The Hebrew לֹא יָכְלוּ (lo' yachlu) literally translates "they were not able," marking a definitive inability to complete the expulsion. The text explicitly ties this failure to the Jebusites who remain as inhabitants of Jerusalem.
The thread — The same inability to displace the Jerusalem Jebusites reappears in Judges 1:21 and contrasts with the temporary capture noted in Judges 1:8. David’s later military campaign against these same residents is recorded in 2 Samuel 5:6.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that granted territory did not equal total possession. It requires the reader to accept that the completion of conquest operates on a timeline longer than the initial allotment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.
Cross-references
- Judges 1:21 The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites.
- Judges 1:8 Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
- 2 Samuel 5:6 Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.”
- 1 Chronicles 11:4 Then David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus), where the Jebusites inhabited the land.
- Romans 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.