Contradiction with Deuteronomy 7:2
This verse instructs to utterly destroy the inhabitants and make no covenant, contrasting with Judges 1:25 where the spies let the man and his family go after he showed them the entrance to the city.
Deuteronomy 7:2: And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Contradiction with Joshua 11:20
Suggests it was God’s will to harden hearts for destruction, unlike Judges 1:25, where compassion is shown to the man and his family.
Joshua 11:20: For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, [and] that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Contradiction with Numbers 33:52
Commands to drive out all inhabitants and destroy their figured stones, contrary to sparing a man in Judges 1:25.
Numbers 33:52: Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
Contradiction with Exodus 23:32-33
Directs not to make any covenants with them or their gods, yet a form of agreement is made in Judges 1:25.
Exodus 23:32-33: Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Paradox #1
The contradiction or conflict in Judges 1:25 could be seen as the tension between being rewarded for betrayal and the value of loyalty. The verse describes a situation where someone betrays their own people, leading to consequences where loyalty and trust are undermined, and yet the betrayer is rewarded, which might seem ethically conflicting.