A common misinterpretation views this verse as depicting a complete and permanent Israelite conquest of Jerusalem, overlooking that the Jebusites continued to inhabit the city (as noted later in Judges 1:21 and 2 Samuel 5:6-9 where David fully captures it), or it is wrongly used to endorse indiscriminate modern violence by taking 'smitten with the edge of the sword' out of its ancient Near Eastern holy war context, ignoring God's specific directives for judgment on Canaanite idolatry and the Bible's overarching narrative against unjust aggression.
Judges 1:8
King James Version (1769)
8 Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
Judges 1:8 records the tribe of Judah's early military success in capturing Jerusalem from the Canaanites, striking it with the sword and setting it ablaze, as part of the Israelites' efforts to possess the Promised Land following Joshua's leadership and death; this highlights Judah's initiative in fulfilling God's command to conquer the inhabitants of Canaan, demonstrating obedience amid the broader tribal allotments and the transitional period of the judges where incomplete conquests led to ongoing conflicts.