This verse begins with a Hebrew waw conjunction, which King James Version renders “And.” Almost all other versions omit it. However, as there is a list of tribes, it might be possible to pattern this verse after what precedes, saying “As for the Danites, the Amorites pressed….”

The Amorites pressed the Danites back into the hill country: The downward progression from positive to negative within this section continues. This is evident from the abrupt change in the order of presentation here. In all previous examples the Israelite tribe is presented first (verse 1.27, 29, 30, 31, 33), but this time the tribe of Israel, the Danites, is mentioned after the local population, The Amorites. In the preceding verses the Israelites cannot drive their enemies out of their cities and towns but they still dominate them, pressing some of their enemies into forced labor. But now an Israelite tribe is unable to even inhabit the land they are to possess and are themselves driven back into the mountains.

The Amorites were another of the ethnic groups living in Canaan west of the Dead Sea (Gen 14.7) in the regions of Hebron (Gen 14.13) and Shechem (Gen 48.22). They first appear in the Old Testament in Gen 10.16 as occupiers of the central mountain range, part of the land that would be promised to the Israelites (see Num 13.29; Amos 2.9-10). In some biblical texts the term Amorites seems almost synonymous with “Canaanites.” In the Hebrew text here the word is singular, but once again, the meaning is collective.

The Danites (literally “the sons/children of Dan”) were a small Israelite tribe, descendants of Dan, the first son of Rachel’s servant, Bilhah, and Jacob’s fifth son (Gen 30.5-6). This group was unable to occupy the land that Moses assigned to them, to the west of the Benjaminite territory. This small strip of land included the town of Aijalon on the major road linking the coastal plain with the hills north of Jerusalem. See verse 19.40-48. Because they failed to enter their assigned territory, the Danites had to migrate north to a largely unoccupied area.

This clause assumes there were skirmishes or wars between the Danites and the Amorites. The Danites must have been coming from the east over the hill country with the goal of occupying their land in the plains in the coastal region. However, the Amorites were stronger and forced them back. The Hebrew verb rendered pressed … back literally means “squeezed.” Translators could use figurative language here or a more general verb, such as “pushed … back” or “confined … to.” For the hill country, see verse 1.9.

For they did not allow them to come down to the plain: This clause says essentially the same thing as the previous one but from a different perspective. For renders the Hebrew particle ki, which could introduce a reason or show emphasis. Did not allow is literally “did not give.” In some languages we might say “stopped” or “prevented.”

Come down renders the same Hebrew verb translated “went down” in verse 1.9, where it meant “attack.” In this context, however, it seems to have its primary meaning of movement downward. In some languages it may be better to specify “come down from the hills/mountains.”

The plain is literally “the valley” in Hebrew, probably referring to the Aijalon Valley, which constituted a major east to west route just north of Jerusalem. It was an important passageway into Amorite lands. This region had heavy forests with multiple valleys and plains. For plain see verse 1.19. An illustration would perhaps help readers to understand the description here. We might say “the Amorites would not allow them to come down from the mountains into the valley.”

We suggest the following translation models for this verse:

• The Amorites forced the people of Dan back into the hills, preventing them from coming down into the valley.

• The Amorites pushed the Danites back up into the mountains, not allowing them to come down into the plain.

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 .