Bible Strands
Judges 1:23
They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative records the House of Joseph initiating a military operation against a fortified city. The action occurs immediately after the Lord confirms his presence with the Israelite campaign.
The words — וַיּתירוּ (va-yatiru) translates literally to "and they caused to spy out," denoting the dispatch of scouts. The phrase בֵּית־יוֹסֵף בֵּית־אֵל (beit-yosef beit-El) identifies the target as the territory and city associated with Joseph.
The thread — The parenthetical note about the city's former name aligns with Genesis 28:19, Genesis 35:6, and Genesis 48:3, which record Jacob renaming Luz to Bethel. This lexical marker ties the conquest to earlier patriarchal encounters at the same location.
Why it lands — The text states that organized reconnaissance precedes the assault, grounding the campaign in practical preparation. It requires the reader to observe how territorial claims are pursued through coordinated human action rather than passive expectation.
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
And the house of Joseph sent to descry Beth–el. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)
Cross-references
- Genesis 28:19 and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
- Genesis 48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me
- Genesis 35:6 So Jacob and everyone with him arrived in Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.
- Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
- Joshua 7:2 Meanwhile, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
- Judges 18:2 So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.