Passage

Judges 1

Book: Judges · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Opening (verses 1-7)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And it came to pass after the death of Joshua, that the children of Israel asked of Jehovah, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them? 2. And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 3. And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 4. And Judah went up; and Jehovah delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they smote of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5. And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6. But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7. And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there." (Judges 1:1-7, ASV)

The surviving-Canaanite refrain (verses 27-33, representative)

ASV (ASV)

"27. And Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its towns, nor of Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28. And it came to pass, when Israel was waxed strong, that they put the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not utterly drive them out. 29. And Ephraim drove not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30. Zebulun drove not out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became subject to taskwork. 31. Asher drove not out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob; 32. but the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. 33. Naphtali drove not out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to taskwork." (Judges 1:27-33, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"27. Manasseh didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28. When Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out. 29. Ephraim didn’t drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them..." (Judges 1:27-29, WEB; refrain continues through v. 33)

KJV (KJV)

"27. Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28. And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out..." (Judges 1:27-28, KJV; refrain continues through v. 33)

YLT (YLT)

"27. And Manasseh hath not occupied Beth-Shean and its towns, and Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Yibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in that land; 28. and it cometh to pass, when Israel hath been strong, that he setteth the Canaanite to tribute, and hath not utterly dispossessed it..." (Judges 1:27-28, YLT; refrain continues through v. 33)

Setting

Speaker: narrator (traditionally Samuel or later editor)
Audience: the Israelite tribal-confederacy and post-exilic reader
Location: Canaan
Time period: events c. 1380-1050 BC; composed c. 1050-550 BC

Theological reading

Judges 1 is the canonical record of the conquest's incompleteness, naming tribe-by-tribe the Canaanite populations that survived Joshua's campaign. The chapter is load-bearing for the Canaanite Conquest and Herem defeater: the same biblical canon that records Joshua left no one alive records the Canaanites continued to dwell among them, demonstrating that the conquest narratives use ANE hyperbolic-warfare conventions rather than literal-extermination reporting. Cited in Lesson 4.3, Old Testament Difficulties as the principal internal-canonical evidence against the literal-genocide reading. The book of Judges hub (Judges) provides higher-level theological context.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.