Judges 1:3

LEAGUE OF JUDAH AND SIMEON, Judges 1:3.

3. Simeon This tribe was on the southern border of Judah, and occupied several cities within the bounds of that tribe. See on Joshua 19:1. They were natural allies, not only from their proximity, but because they were both the offspring of Leah.

My lot… thy lot The portion of each was still infested with enemies. They unite to conquer them. This league of Judah and Simeon was clannish and sectional. Though it resulted in many victories, it would have been better had it been a league of all the tribes. The cowardly inactivity of the rest of the tribes, described in Judges 1:27-36, was doubtless largely owing to this sectional league. They were not included, and so lost sympathy with the work of conquest, and no central national government was formed. Hence the disorders and disasters that ensued. The league should have been not of Judah and Simeon, but of Judah and all the tribes, with Judah as leader.