Bible Strands
Judges 1:29
Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the post-Joshua tribal conquest outcomes, specifically noting Ephraim's incomplete seizure of Gezer. This account functions as a historical summary of Israel's military failures in the settled land.
The words — The Hebrew term הוֹרִישׁ (ho.Rish) literally means "to dispossess" or "drive out," marked by the negative particle לֹא (lo'). The text states that Ephraim did not execute this expulsion, allowing the Canaanites to remain.
The thread — This failure echoes Joshua 16:10, which records the same incomplete expulsion of the Gezer Canaanites by Ephraim. The narrative continues in Judges 1:28 and 1:30, where other tribes similarly press Canaanites into forced labor rather than removing them.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that partial obedience results in sustained compromise. It requires the reader to observe how unremoved opposition establishes a permanent presence that alters the conqueror's environment.
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
Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
Cross-references
- Joshua 16:10 But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.
- 1 Kings 9:16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.