Judah Goes to Battle with Simeon - Judges 1:17

In the book of Judges we learned how, “the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people”, and in chapter one and verse seventeen of Judges, we learn how “Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites” where we read,

And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

The verse reads, “And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it.” 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 with Simeon his brother” or “proceeded alongside and accompanied Simeon or Shimeon whose name means ‘heard’ and was the second son of Jacob by Leah and the male progenitor of the tribe of Simeon, his, Judah’s, male sibling”, “and they slew the Canaanites” which means “and they, Judah and Simeon, hit, beat, struck and killed the Canaanites whose name means ‘lowland or zealous’ and was the fourth son of Ham and the progenitor of the Phoenicians and of the various nations who peopled the seacoast of Palestine” “that inhabited Zephath” or “who dwelt, abided and lived within Zepahth whose name means ‘watch tower’ and was a Canaanite city in Simeon renamed Hormah by the Israelites”, “and utterly destroyed it” or “and completely and totally exterminated, mutilated and cursed it, Zephath”. The writer shared how “Judah” alongside his male sibling “Simeon” attacked and conquered “Zephath”.

The verse goes on to say, “And the name of the city was called Hormah.” The writer continued with the words, “and the name of the city” which means “and the fame, reputation and glory belonging to the dwelling place, habitation and abode” “was called Hormah” or “was known as Hormah whose name means ‘devotion’ and was a town of the Canaanites, conquered by Joshua, allotted to Judah, and located in the south of Judah”. The writer shared how “Zephath” was also known as “Hormah”. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how “Judah and Simeon” attacked another city of the Canaanites, “Zephath”, which was known by “Hormah”. God gave these locations to the people of Judah, and they were to use them to raised their families in the worship and service of Jehovah God. God wants all of us to be in a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days, and when we yield our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and empower us to live according to that truth so our ways are pleasing to Him. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Revelation 4:11)

Next time we learn how, “Judah took Gaza, Askelon and Ekron”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".