John Gill Commentary Judges 1:26

"And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz, which is the name thereof unto this day." — Judges 1:26 (ASV)

And the man went into the land of the Hittites
With his family; Kimchi says this was not one of the seven nations of Canaan; and it is very clear from this narrative, that the land this man went to was not in the land of Canaan; though it is certain a people of this name formerly dwelt there, (Genesis 15:20) (23:3) (26:34) ; and the land of Canaan is called the land of the Hittites, (Joshua 1:4) ;

These either might flee to another country upon Joshua's entry into the land of Canaan, or a colony of them from thence might settle elsewhere, to which this man chose to go, who might be originally of them:

and built a city ;
his family was numerous, and he a man of wealth, and was allowed to carry all his substance with him:

and called the name of it Luz ;
in memory of the place he left, and had long lived in. There is a city called Loussa, among the cities which Josephus says ^F19 were taken by the Jews from the Arabians; and which is very probably the Lysa of Ptolemy ^F20 , which he places in Arabia Petraea, and might be the same with this Luz; and, if so, this shows the land this man went into was in Edom, which is not unlikely; there is another Luza, which Jerom ^F21 says fell to the lot of the sons of Joseph, near Sichem, three miles from Neapolis:

which [is] the name thereof unto this day :
the time of the writing of this book; (See Gill on Judges 1:21).

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FOOTNOTES:

• F19: Antiqu. l. 14. c. 1. sect. 4.
• F20: Geograph. l. 5. c. 17.
• F21: De loc. Heb. fol. 92. M.