Conquering Jerusalem

Judges 1:8 says, "The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire." Then Judges 1:21 says, "The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites." Finally, you may be familiar that it was finally David who conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites (see 2 Samuel 5:6-10) which is why it came to be called the City of David.

So why does it say the men of Judah "took it"? Apparently they did attack the city and burn it, but the city was actually located in Benjamin's territory. The people of Benjamin were lax about maintaining hold of the city, so when the Jebusites returned to rebuild the city the Benjamites were fine with living right alongside them until David finally conquered Jerusalem once and for all.