Discovery BoxJudges 1:16-19 
Context1:16 Now the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the City of Date Palm Trees to Arad in the desert of Judah, 1 located in the Negev. 2 They went and lived with the people of Judah. 3
1:17 The men of Judah went with their brothers the men of Simeon 4 and defeated the Canaanites living in Zephath. They wiped out Zephath. 5 So people now call the city Hormah. 6 1:18 The men of Judah captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the territory surrounding each of these cities. 7
1:19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered 8 the hill country, but they could not 9 conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. 10
1 tc Part of the Greek
2 tn Heb “[to] the Desert of Judah in the Negev, Arad.”
3 tn The phrase “of Judah” is supplied here in the translation. Some ancient textual witnesses read, “They went and lived with the Amalekites.” This reading, however, is probably influenced by 1 Sam 15:6 (see also Num 24:20-21).
4 tn Heb “Judah went with Simeon, his brother.”
5 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the city of Zephath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 sn The name Hormah (חָרְמָה, khormah) sounds like the Hebrew verb translated “wipe out” (חָרַם, kharam).
7 tn Heb “The men of Judah captured Gaza and its surrounding territory, Ashkelon and its surrounding territory, and Ekron and its surrounding territory.”
8 tn Or “seized possession of”; or “occupied.”
9 tc Several textual witnesses support the inclusion of this verb.
10 tn Regarding the translation “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels,” see Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, 255, and the article by R. Drews, “The ‘Chariots of Iron’ of Joshua and Judges,” JSOT 45 (1989): 15-23.
