Judges 1:6

Study note

Setting — The narrative describes Israelite forces acting immediately after the battle at Bezek against Adoni-bezek and the allied Canaanites and Perizzites (Judges 1:5). The pursuers are unnamed fighters who react to his attempt to escape the battlefield.

The words — The verb וַ/יָּ֙נָס֙ (va/i.Ya.nos) denotes the act of fleeing, while וַֽ/יְקַצְּצ֔וּ (va/y.ka.tze.Tzu) specifies the precise physical action of cutting off. Both verbs drive the sequential account of pursuit and mutilation.

The thread — The sequence of flight, pursuit, and mutilation continues directly into Judges 1:7, where Adoni-bezek acknowledges a pattern of reciprocal violence. The narrative mechanism of measured retribution for combat injuries is established in the immediate context of Judges 1.

Why it lands — The text records a concrete act of wartime retribution that establishes the immediate consequence of Adoni-bezek’s prior cruelty. It requires the reader to recognize the narrative mechanism of reciprocal justice before moving to the theological explanation in the following verse.

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.