This verse gives a summary of the Israelite advance into the Promised Land. The LORD gives the Israelites victory, but they are unable to do as he instructed, that is, they are unable to drive the inhabitants out of the land.
The Hebrew expression wayehi (literally “And it was”), rendered here as And, shows that a new episode is beginning. Some versions take this expression to be the verb for the following clause, and so do not render it in their translation. But it is more likely this expression is a discourse marker introducing the important fact that the LORD was with the people of Judah. Translators should look for a good transition word or expression to mark this important comment.
The LORD was with Judah is literally “YHWH with Judah,” a common expression in the Old Testament, indicating that the LORD was alongside the people, helping them. As elsewhere, the singular Judah refers to “the people of Judah” or even “the army of Judah.” Good News Translation has “The LORD helped the people of Judah,” and Contemporary English Version is similar with “The LORD helped the army of Judah.”
And he took possession of the hill country explains what the army from Judah was able to do with God’s help. In some languages the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered and can thus be translated “so.” Yahweh enabled these warriors to capture the mountainous regions. Once again the singular pronoun he refers collectively to the men of Judah. Took possession of renders a key Hebrew verb (yarash) in this unit. Its repetition underlines the contrast between the Israelites’ victories and their failures. Revised English Bible says “occupied,” while New Jerusalem Bible has “made himself master of,” but we might also simply say “took” or “captured.” For the hill country, see verse 1.9.
But he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain: This clause introduces the first negative note in the book. From this point on, there will be victories, but these will all be tarnished by various shortcomings and defeat. But renders the Hebrew conjunction ki, which normally means “since” or “for.” However, most see a contrast or counter-expectation here, so but is a good rendering. New Jerusalem Bible is similar with “however.”
The pronoun he refers once again to Judah’s army. In Hebrew the verb rendered drive out is the same yarash, but here it is an infinitive form preceded by the negative marker, rendered in many versions as “dispossess” (New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), that is, make people leave a place by force. This is the second of seventeen occurrences of this verb in Judges, most of them appearing in the first part of the book (verse 1.19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33; verse 2.21, 23). It also occurs three times in verse 11.23-24. Contemporary English Version says here “Judah was not able to make them leave or to take their land.” We might also say “they could not chase the inhabitants away.” For inhabitants see verse 1.11.
The Hebrew word for plain refers to a valley or low point. In Israel the plain is mostly on the coast. It was good for farming and therefore much desired. Some languages may find this a difficult term to render. We could say “flat land,” “good farming land,” or even “land by the coast.”
Because they had chariots of iron: This clause gives a brief explanation of why the warriors of Judah were unsuccessful in their attack. Because is a good rendering of the Hebrew particle ki, which could also be translated “for” or “since.” The pronoun they refers to the inhabitants of the plain, the Philistines. Some languages will need to specify “the inhabitants of that place.” The Philistines had a monopoly on the production of iron (see verse 1 Sam 13.19-22), so they had stronger weapons, including chariots of iron.
Chariots were small vehicles, as big as carriages or carts, pulled by horses. They were used mainly for war, and usually carried one or two soldiers. Most languages will not have a word for chariot, but some may say “car of war” or “war cart.”
Iron is one of the strongest metals known and its use revolutionized the peoples who had access to it, since their weapons were stronger and more effective. Most languages should have a term for this metal. Today scholars note that these chariots could not have been made entirely out of iron, because they would have been too heavy to move. Probably the expression chariots of iron means that the rims of the wheels of the chariots were covered with iron strips. Thus the chariots could be driven quickly over all kinds of terrain and last longer. Most translations say chariots of iron, but some may prefer to say “chariots with iron-rimmed wheels” or “chariots strengthened with iron.”
If necessary, the clauses in this second half of the verse can be reversed, as in the following model:
• The people who lived on the coast had chariots made strong with iron, so the people of Judah were not able to chase/drive them out of the land.
Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .