ContradictionsReading order 468Bible context 2 min read

Did the Israelites take Jerusalem from the Jebusites?

Judah's successful capture of Jerusalem is followed by a statement that Benjamin did not remove its Jebusite inhabitants. Capturing a city and permanently expelling its population are different claims.

Textual conflict: Weak contradiction; The supplied passages do not establish incompatible claims. Different events, meanings, or conditions may account for the difference.
Importance: Supporting; A supporting event, teaching, or biographical claim.

Judah's capture and burning do not assert complete permanent expulsion of the Jebusites whom Benjamin later leaves in residence.

An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.

Judah captures Jerusalem and burns the city

Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

Judges 1:8

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Judges 1

Benjamin leaves Jebusites living in Jerusalem

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.

Judges 1:21

Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)

Read the full chapter:Judges 1

Understanding the contradiction

Judges 1:8 says Judah fought Jerusalem, captured it, struck it with the sword, and set it on fire. This is an emphatic report of military success and destruction. It does not, however, explicitly say that every Jebusite died or that no one could inhabit the city afterward. The action attributed to Judah is a conquest, rather than a specified permanent arrangement for the city's population.

Judges 1:21 says Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites and that the two populations continued living together in Jerusalem. The subject has changed from Judah to Benjamin, and the result concerns continued residence. That creates a tension within the chapter's picture of Israelite control: a city announced as captured and burned still contains the population another tribe failed to expel. It is weaker than a direct claim that the city was simultaneously captured and never captured. The excerpts do not state that Judah's campaign and Benjamin's failure were the same operation. Their actual contrast is between destructive military victory and incomplete removal of the city's inhabitants.

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contradictionJudges

Judah captures Jerusalem and burns the city

Benjamin leaves Jebusites living in Jerusalem

Understanding the contradiction

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