“And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.”
My Notes
What Does Judges 1:21 Mean?
Benjamin didn't drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem. The verse is blunt and brief: they failed to complete the conquest. And the Jebusites remained — dwelling alongside Benjamin in Jerusalem "unto this day." The incomplete obedience became a permanent coexistence.
The phrase "unto this day" means the failure wasn't temporary. The Jebusites weren't eventually removed. They stayed. For centuries. Until David finally conquered Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:6-7). The incomplete obedience of one generation created a problem that lasted hundreds of years.
Judges 1 is a catalogue of these failures — tribe after tribe, city after city, the same verdict: they did not drive them out. Benjamin and the Jebusites is one example of a pattern that defines the entire chapter. The conquest was incomplete across the board. And the consequences were equally comprehensive.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What 'Jebusites' are you coexisting with that God told you to drive out?
- 2.How does the duration of the consequence (centuries, 'unto this day') change how you view incomplete obedience?
- 3.Does the pattern of Judges 1 (tribe after tribe failing to finish) describe a broader pattern in your life?
- 4.What would 'finishing the conquest' look like in the specific area where you've stopped fighting?
Devotional
They didn't drive out the Jebusites. So the Jebusites stayed. For centuries.
One verse. One tribe. One failure. And the consequences lasted until David — hundreds of years later. Benjamin couldn't (or wouldn't) finish the job, and the Jebusites made themselves at home in Jerusalem. The city that would become David's capital was still occupied by enemies because a previous generation quit too soon.
"Unto this day" — the author writes from the perspective of someone still living with the consequences. The failure isn't historical trivia. It's current reality. The Jebusites are still here. Because Benjamin didn't finish.
Judges 1 is a chapter of this: tribe after tribe, the same verdict. Didn't drive out. Didn't finish. Didn't complete what God commanded. And the inhabitants who were supposed to be gone became the inhabitants who stayed, intermarried, corrupted, and eventually dominated.
The incomplete obedience is the theme of Judges — and the setup for everything that follows. The cycles of sin, oppression, and deliverance that define the book all trace back to chapter 1: they didn't drive them out. The enemies they tolerated became the enemies that enslaved them.
What are you coexisting with that God told you to drive out? What 'Jebusites' have settled in your Jerusalem — patterns, habits, relationships, compromises that you stopped fighting and started accommodating? The failure to finish becomes a multi-generational problem.
Finish the conquest. Or live with the Jebusites. Those are the options.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem,.... That is, that part of it…
This verse is nearly identical with Jos 15:63, except in the substitution of Benjamin for Judah. Probably the original…
We are here told upon what terms the rest of the tribes stood with the Canaanites that remained.
I. Benjamin neglected…
The sequel of Jdg 1:1, which again should come after Jdg 1:1. Originally, therefore, this verse closed the history of…
Cross References
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