Fighting Canaanites in Hebron - Judges 1:10

In the book of Judges we learned how, “the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley”, and in chapter one and verse ten of Judges, we learn how “Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron” where we read,

And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

The verse reads, “And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron:” The writer began with the words, “and Judah” whose name means ‘praised’ and was the fourth son of Jacob by Leah and the male progenitor of the tribe of Judah” “went against the Canaanites” or “waged war and battle in opposition to the Canaanites whose name means ‘lowland’ and were the descendants or inhabitants of Canaan” “that dwelt in Hebron” which means “who inhabited, lived in and abode within Hebron whose name means ‘association’ and was a city in south Judah approximately twenty miles south of Jerusalem and approximately twenty miles (30 km) north of Beersheba and near where Abraham built an altar”. The writer shared how the tribe of “Judah” waged war in opposition to the “Canaanite” people who live within “Hebron”. 

The verse continues, “(now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.” The writer added the words, “(now the name of Hebron before” which means “the reputation, fame and glory belonging to Hebron whose name means ‘association’” “was Kirjatharba” or “was previously called Kirjatharaba whose name means ‘city of Arba’ which was located in Palestine”) “and they slew Shehai” or “and they, the people of Judah, hit, beat and killed Shehai whose name means ‘noble’ and was a son of Anak and one of the giants in the land of Canaan”, “and Ahiman” whose name means ‘my brother is a gift’ and was a son of Anak”, “and Talmai” whose name means ‘furrowed’ and was one of the three sons of the giant Anak who were slain by the men of Judah”. The writer shared how “Hebron” was formerly called “Kirjatharba” where the tribe of Judah killed “Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai” who were descendants of the giant “Anak” who lived within that land.

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how the tribe of “Judah” continued to seize territories that were occupied by “Canaanites”. “Hebron” was the next area to capture, and even though “giants” lived there, they were not able to resist the power of Almighty God who fought on behalf of Judah. God loves the people of Israel, and because they were to be the nation through whom the entire world would be blessed, (See Genesis 12:3) God gave them victory after victory over their foes. God will do the same for us when we believe and trust in His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the grave after three days. When we yield to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and empower us to live according to that truth so that we shall conquer all the giants of sin within our lives. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:37-39)

Next time we learn how, “from there he went against the inhabitants of Debir”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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