And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)
The tribe of Joseph sent spies to scout out Bethel. (The city used to be called Luz.)
The writer is describing how the Israelites sent scouts to gather intelligence about a Canaanite city they wanted to capture.
📚 Historical Context
In the Book of Judges, which describes the period after Joshua's conquest when the Israelites were settling into the Promised Land, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, known as the house of Joseph, were actively working to secure their allotted territories. They sent spies to scout out the city of Bethel, which had originally been called Luz, as part of their ongoing efforts to drive out the remaining Canaanite inhabitants. This reflects the broader challenges the Israelites faced in fulfilling God's command to fully possess the land.
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