Karl, here's what the Word Biblical Commentary has to say about this problematic reading from the Hebrew Bible (see below).
As is often the case, there is no perfect solution. But the old "copyist error" claim might be the easy way out (if that were the case, wouldn't there likely be a history of textual variants?).
The fact that it's a difficulty for us 3,000 years after the fact doesn't mean that no solution exists. All it means is that our information is incomplete. As Ken pointed out, for instance, this passage didn't survive in the Qumran texts.
Trust all is well on your end!
Best regards,
Gary Hedrick San Antonio, TX USA The Conquest of Jerusalem (1:8) 1:8 Jerusalem was an old city even by the time the Israelites arrived, having been in existence at least since 3000 b.c. Forms of the name, which means something like “establishment of [the god] Shalem,” are attested as early as the nineteenth-eighteenth century b.c. Execration Texts from Egypt. According to the Amarna correspondence, in the fourteenth century the city (spelled Urusalim) was ruled by Abdi-Ḫiba, a vassal of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenophis IV (Akhenaten). The common biblical name for this place, Jebus (cf. v. 21), is unattested outside the Old Testament. The chronological relation between vv. 5–7 and 8 is not clear. The present arrangement suggests the attack on Jerusalem followed soon after the conquest of Bezek. In contrast to their treatment of Adoni-Bezek, the author observes complete Judahite compliance with the law of ḥerem, the total slaughter of Jerusalem’s population and the destruction of the city. The association of Judah with Jerusalem at this early date is problematic. Not only does 2 Sam 5:6–9 note that David wrested Jerusalem out of Jebusite hands but according to v. 21 and Josh 15:8 Jerusalem was occupied by Jebusites (rather than Canaanites and Perizzites), and according to Josh 18:16, 28, the city falls within the territory allotted to Benjamin. The most likely explanation recognizes that Jerusalem was a border city, located on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin. The city that was burned in v. 8 probably identifies the Jebusite fortress on the southern hill of the city, between the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys, and which David eventually captured and made his capital. Accordingly, the unsuccessful Benjamite effort in v. 21 must have been directed against the citadel farther north. The fact that David had to reconquer Jerusalem suggests the Judahite hold on the city was weak and short-lived. It seems that shortly after they had sacked it the Jebusites moved in from the north and took control, which they then held for several centuries.
Dear B-Hebrew friends:
In Judges 1:8 it’s written that Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it, burning it with fire. I think this is a copyist error because:
Judges 1:3 Judah was fighting within its inheritance, and that of Simeon, and Jerusalem was in the inheritance of Benjamin.
Judges 1:21 Benjamin didn’t capture Jerusalem, not until King David was Jerusalem captured.
Possible answers:
There was more than one city named Jerusalem. After all, there were two if not three cities named Bethlehem, and at least three cities named Qadesh, so can we rule out a second city named Jerusalem? I think this answer is unlikely but I can’t rule it out.
What evidence is there from textual variants and DSS?
LXX has Jerusalem.
Karl W. Randolph.
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