Judges 1:26

26 Later the man moved to the land of the Hittites, where he built a town. He named it Luz, which is its name to this day.

Judges 1:26 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:26

And the man went into the land of the Hittites
With his family; Kimchi says this was not one of the seven nations of Canaan; and it is very clear from this narrative, that the land this man went to was not in the land of Canaan; though it is certain a people of this name formerly dwelt there, ( Genesis 15:20 ) ( 23:3 ) ( 26:34 ) ; and the land of Canaan is called the land of the Hittites, ( Joshua 1:4 ) ; these either might flee to another country upon Joshua's entry into the land of Canaan, or a colony of them from thence might settle elsewhere, to which this man chose to go, who might be originally of them:

and built a city;
his family was numerous, and he a man of wealth, and was allowed to carry all his substance with him:

and called the name of it Luz;
in memory of the place he left, and had long lived in. There is a city called Loussa, among the cities which Josephus says ^F19 were taken by the Jews from the Arabians; and which is very probably the Lysa of Ptolemy ^F20, which he places in Arabia Petraea, and might be the same with this Luz; and, if so, this shows the land this man went into was in Edom, which is not unlikely; there is another Luza, which Jerom ^F21 says fell to the lot of the sons of Joseph, near Sichem, three miles from Neapolis:

which [is] the name thereof unto this day:
the time of the writing of this book; (See Gill on Judges 1:21).

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Antiqu. l. 14. c. 1. sect. 4.
F20 Geograph. l. 5. c. 17.
F21 De loc. Heb. fol. 92. M.

Judges 1:26 In-Context

24 They confronted a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Show us a way into the town, and we will have mercy on you.”

25 So he showed them a way in, and they killed everyone in the town except that man and his family.

26 Later the man moved to the land of the Hittites, where he built a town. He named it Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people living in Beth-shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all their surrounding settlements, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region.

28 When the Israelites grew stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they never did drive them completely out of the land.