Judges 1:1 - The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann

Now, after the death of Joshua, which was related in the last chapter of the Book of Joshua, it came to pass, as the author states in taking up the thread of the narrative, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, through the Urim and Thummim of the high priest, Numbers 27:21, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first to fight against them? Joshua had very emphatically enjoined upon them the extermination of the tribes of Canaan which still remained, and therefore the question of the representatives of the entire nation was who it was to be that should initiate the aggressive measures, to which tribe the leadership had been assigned in beginning the final conquest of the land.