40 And Joshua smote the whole country, the mountain, and the south, and the lowland, and the hill-slopes, and all their kings: he let none remain, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as Jehovah the God of Israel had commanded.
and when Jehovah thy God shall give them up before thee and thou shalt smite them, then shalt thou utterly destroy them: thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them. And thou shalt make no marriages with them: thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor take his daughter for thy son; for he will turn away thy son from following me, and they will serve other gods, and the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you, and he will destroy thee quickly. But thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall break down their altars, and shatter their statues, and hew down their Asherahs, and burn their graven images with fire. For a holy people art thou unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be unto him a people for a possession, above all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth. Not because ye were more in number than all the peoples, hath Jehovah been attached to you and chosen you, for ye are the fewest of all the peoples; but because Jehovah loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out with a powerful hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And thou shalt know that Jehovah thy God, he is God, the faithful ùGod, who keepeth covenant and mercy to a thousand generations with them that love him and keep his commandments; and repayeth them that hate him [each] to his face, to cause them to perish: he delayeth not with him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. And thou shalt keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command thee this day, to do them. And it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Jehovah thy God will keep with thee the covenant and the mercy which he swore unto thy fathers; and he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee, and will bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, thy corn and thy new wine, and thine oil, the offspring of thy kine, and the increase of thy sheep, in the land which he swore unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all the peoples; there shall not be male or female barren with thee, or with thy cattle; and Jehovah will take away from thee all sickness, and none of the evil infirmities of Egypt, which thou knowest, will he put upon thee; but he will lay them upon all them that hate thee. And thou shalt consume all the peoples that Jehovah thy God will give up unto thee; thine eye shall not spare them, and thou shalt not serve their gods; for that would be a snare unto thee.
And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword; and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed on that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.
and to you that are troubled repose with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with [the] angels of his power, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God, and those who do not obey the glad tidings of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall pay the penalty [of] everlasting destruction from [the] presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his might,
The wicked shall be turned into Sheol, all the nations that forget God.
And it came to pass when he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left to Jeroboam none that breathed; until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite,
The seventh lot came forth for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. And the territory of their inheritance was Zoreah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, and Shaalabbin, and Ajalon, and Jithlah, and Elon, and Timnathah, and Ekron, and El-tekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath, and Jehud, and Beneberak, and Gath-Rimmon, and Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border over against Japho. And the border of the children of Dan ended with these; and the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and took possession of it, and dwelt in it, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities and their hamlets.
The cities at the extremity of the tribe of the children of Judah, toward the border of Edom in the south, were: Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, and Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Jithnan, Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, and Hazor-hadattah, and Kerioth-Hezron, that is Hazor, Amam, and Shema, and Molada, and Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-Pelet, and Hazar-Shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah; Baalah, and Ijim, and Ezem, and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, and Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansanna, and Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities twenty-nine, and their hamlets. -- In the lowland: Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah, and Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah and Enam, Jarmuth and Adullam, Sochoh and Azekah, and Shaaraim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim: fourteen cities and their hamlets. Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-Gad, and Dilean, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel, Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon, and Cabbon, and Lahmas, and Chithlish, and Gederoth, Beth-Dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities and their hamlets. Libna, and Ether, and Ashan, and Jiphthah, and Ashnah, and Nezib, and Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities and their hamlets. Ekron and its dependent villages and its hamlets. From Ekron and westward all that are by the side of Ashdod, and their hamlets. Ashdod, its dependent villages and its hamlets; Gazah, its dependent villages and its hamlets, as far as the torrent of Egypt, and the great sea and [its] coast. -- And in the hill-country: Shamir, and Jattir, and Sochoh, and Dannah, and Kirjath-sannah, that is, Debir, and Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim, and Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities and their hamlets. Arab, and Dumah, and Eshan, and Janum, and Beth-Tappuah, and Aphekah, and Humtah, and Kirjath-Arba, that is, Hebron, and Zior: nine cities and their hamlets. Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Jutah, and Jizreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah, Kain, Gibeah and Timnah: ten cities and their hamlets. Halhul, Beth-Zur, and Gedor, and Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six cities and their hamlets. Kirjath-Baal, that is, Kirjath-jearim, and Rabbah: two cities and their hamlets. -- In the wilderness: Beth-Arabah, Middin, and Secacah, and Nibshan, and Ir-Hammelah, and En-gedi: six cities and their hamlets. But as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not dispossess them; and the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
in the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the plain, and on the hill-slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the south: the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites:
And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein: he let none remain, according to all that he had done to Eglon; and he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls that were therein.
And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the river; for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, that thou mayest dispossess them from before thee. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me; for if thou serve their gods, it is sure to be a snare unto thee.
And they answered Joshua and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants how that Jehovah thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; and we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing.
And thou shalt do to Ai and to its king as thou didst to Jericho and to its king; only, the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall ye take as prey for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city behind it.
And the city shall be accursed, it and all that is in it, to Jehovah; only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
This day Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and ordinances; and thou shalt keep and do them with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Thou hast this day accepted Jehovah to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and to hearken unto his voice;
But of the cities of these peoples which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth, but shalt utterly devote them to destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee;
And he will give their kings into thy hand, and thou shalt put out their name from under the heavens; no man shall stand before thee, until thou hast destroyed them.
Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and unto all the neighbouring places in the plain, in the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the south, and by the seaside, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 10
Commentary on Joshua 10 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 10
Jos 10:1-5. Five Kings War against Gibeon.
1. Adoni-zedek—"lord of righteousness"—nearly synonymous with Melchizedek, "king of righteousness." These names were common titles of the Jebusite kings.
Jerusalem—The original name, "Salem" (Ge 14:18; Ps 76:2), was superseded by that here given, which signifies "a peaceful possession," or "a vision of peace," in allusion, as some think, to the strikingly symbolic scene (Ge 22:14) represented on the mount whereon that city was afterwards built.
inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them—that is, the Israelites; had made an alliance with that people, and acknowledging their supremacy, were living on terms of friendly intercourse with them.
2. they feared greatly—The dread inspired by the rapid conquests of the Israelites had been immensely increased by the fact of a state so populous and so strong as Gibeon having found it expedient to submit to the power and the terms of the invaders.
as one of the royal cities—Although itself a republic (Jos 9:3), it was large and well-fortified, like those places in which the chiefs of the country usually established their residence.
3, 4. Wherefore Adoni-zedek … sent, … saying, Come up unto me, and help me—A combined attack was meditated on Gibeon, with a view not only to punish its people for their desertion of the native cause, but by its overthrow to interpose a barrier to the farther inroads of the Israelites. This confederacy among the mountaineers of Southern Palestine was formed and headed by the king of Jerusalem, because his territory was most exposed to danger, Gibeon being only six miles distant, and because he evidently possessed some degree of pre-eminence over his royal neighbors.
5. the five kings of the Amorites—The settlement of this powerful and warlike tribe lay within the confines of Moab; but having also acquired extensive possessions on the southwest of the Jordan, their name, as the ruling power, seems to have been given to the region generally (2Sa 21:2), although Hebron was inhabited by Hittites or Hivites (Jos 11:19), and Jerusalem by Jebusites (Jos 15:63).
Jos 10:6-9. Joshua Rescues It.
6-8. the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua—Their appeal was urgent and their claim to protection irresistible, on the ground, not only of kindness and sympathy, but of justice. In attacking the Canaanites, Joshua had received from God a general assurance of success (Jos 1:5). But the intelligence of so formidable a combination among the native princes seems to have depressed his mind with the anxious and dispiriting idea that it was a chastisement for the hasty and inconsiderate alliance entered into with the Gibeonites. It was evidently to be a struggle of life and death, not only to Gibeon, but to the Israelites. And in this view the divine communication that was made to him was seasonable and animating. He seems to have asked the counsel of God and received an answer, before setting out on the expedition.
9. Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly—This is explained in the following clause, where he is described as having accomplished, by a forced march of picked men, in one night, a distance of twenty-six miles, which, according to the slow pace of Eastern armies and caravans, had formerly been a three days' journey (Jos 9:17).
Jos 10:10, 11. God Fights against Them with Hailstones.
10, 11. the Lord discomfited them—Hebrew, "terrified," confounded the Amorite allies, probably by a fearful storm of lightning and thunder. So the word is usually employed (1Sa 7:10; Ps 18:13; 144:6).
and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon—This refers to the attack of the Israelites upon the besiegers. It is evident that there had been much hard fighting around the heights of Gibeon, for the day was far spent before the enemy took to flight.
chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon—that is, "the House of Caves," of which there are still traces existing. There were two contiguous villages of that name, upper and nether. Upper Beth-horon was nearest Gibeon—about ten miles distant, and approached by a gradual ascent through a long and precipitous ravine. This was the first stage of the flight. The fugitives had crossed the high ridge of Upper Beth-horon, and were in full flight down the descent to Beth-horon the Nether. The road between the two places is so rocky and rugged that there is a path made by means of steps cut in the rock [Robinson]. Down this pass Joshua continued his victorious rout. Here it was that the Lord interposed, assisting His people by means of a storm, which, having been probably gathering all day, burst with such irresistible fury, that "they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword." The Oriental hailstorm is a terrific agent; the hailstones are masses of ice, large as walnuts, and sometimes as two fists; their prodigious size, and the violence with which they fall, make them always very injurious to property, and often fatal to life. The miraculous feature of this tempest, which fell on the Amorite army, was the entire preservation of the Israelites from its destructive ravages.
Jos 10:12-15. The Sun and Moon Stand Still at the Word of Joshua.
12-15. Then spake Joshua to the Lord … and … he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still … and thou, Moon—The inspired author here breaks off the thread of his history of this miraculous victory to introduce a quotation from an ancient poem, in which the mighty acts of that day were commemorated. The passage, which is parenthetical, contains a poetical description of the victory which was miraculously gained by the help of God, and forms an extract from "the book of Jasher," that is, "the upright"—an anthology, or collection of national songs, in honor of renowned and eminently pious heroes. The language of a poem is not to be literally interpreted; and therefore, when the sun and moon are personified, addressed as intelligent beings, and represented as standing still, the explanation is that the light of the sun and moon was supernaturally prolonged by the same laws of refraction and reflection that ordinarily cause the sun to appear above the horizon, when it is in reality below it [Keil, Bush]. Gibeon ("a hill") was now at the back of the Israelites, and the height would soon have intercepted the rays of the setting sun. The valley of Ajalon ("stags") was before them, and so near that it was sometimes called "the valley of Gibeon" (Isa 28:21). It would seem, from Jos 10:14, that the command of Joshua was in reality a prayer to God for the performance of this miracle; and that, although the prayers of eminently good men like Moses often prevailed with God, never was there on any other occasion so astonishing a display of divine power made in behalf of His people, as in answer to the prayer of Joshua. Jos 10:15 is the end of the quotation from Jasher; and it is necessary to notice this, as the fact described in it is recorded in due course, and the same words, by the sacred historian (Jos 10:43).
Jos 10:16-27. The Five Kings Hanged.
16-27. these five kings … hid themselves in a cave—Hebrew, "the cave."
at Makkedah—The pursuit was continued, without interruption, to Makkedah at the foot of the western mountains, where Joshua seems to have halted with the main body of his troops while a detachment was sent forward to scour the country in pursuit of the remaining stragglers, a few of whom succeeded in reaching the neighboring cities. The last act, probably the next day, was the disposal of the prisoners, among whom the five kings were consigned to the infamous doom of being slain (De 20:16, 17); and then their corpses were suspended on five trees till the evening.
24. put your feet upon the necks of these kings—not as a barbarous insult, but a symbolical action, expressive of a complete victory (De 33:29; Ps 110:5; Mal 4:3).
Jos 10:28-42. Seven More Kings Conquered.
28-42. that day Joshua took Makkedah—In this and the following verses is described the rapid succession of victory and extermination which swept the whole of southern Palestine into the hands of Israel. "All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal."