Judges 1:25

25 So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family.

Judges 1:25 in Other Translations

KJV
25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.
ESV
25 And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.
NLT
25 So he showed them a way in, and they killed everyone in the town except that man and his family.
MSG
25 The man showed them a way in. They killed everyone in the city but the man and his family.
CSB
25 When he showed them the way into the town, they put the town to the sword but released the man and his entire family.

Judges 1:25 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 1:25

And when he showed them the entrance, into the city
Pointing to it with his fingers, as the same writers observe:

they smote the city with the edge of the sword;
they gave notice of what intelligence they had got to the body of the army, who came up, entered the city, took it, and put the inhabitants of it to the sword, as they were ordered to do with all the Canaanites:

but they let go the man and all his family;
who had returned to it, encouraged by the promise made him, and for the sake of saving of his family; which though not expressed, he might have asked the favour of sparing them, which might be promised, as was in the case of Rahab; provided he would either renounce Heathenism, and embrace the true religion, or depart to another country, the latter of which he chose.

Judges 1:25 In-Context

23 When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz),
24 the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.”
25 So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family.
26 He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.

Cross References 1

Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.