12 And all the cities of those kings and all their kings did Joshua take; and he smote them with the edge of the sword, destroying them utterly, as Moses the servant of Jehovah 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.
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 Jehovah spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan of Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over Jordan into the land of Canaan, then ye shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and ye shall destroy all their figured images, and all their molten images shall ye destroy, and all their high places shall ye lay waste; and ye shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein, for to you have I given the land to possess it.
And it shall be when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire; according to the word of Jehovah shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.
as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which iron had not been lifted up. And they offered up burnt-offerings on it to Jehovah, and sacrificed peace-offerings.
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 Joshua took Makkedah on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, him and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed; he let none remain; and he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
And Jehovah gave it also and the king thereof into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it: and he did to the king thereof as he had done to the king of Jericho.
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 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 he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: as he had done to Hebron, and as he had done to Libnah, and to the king thereof, so he did to Debir and to the king thereof. 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.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 11
Commentary on Joshua 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 11
Jos 11:1-9. Divers Kings Overcome at the Waters of Merom.
1-9. And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things—The scene of the sacred narrative is here shifted to the north of Canaan, where a still more extensive confederacy was formed among the ruling powers to oppose the further progress of the Israelites. Jabin ("the Intelligent"), which seems to have been a hereditary title (Jud 4:2), took the lead, from Hazor being the capital of the northern region (Jos 11:10). It was situated on the borders of lake Merom. The other cities mentioned must have been in the vicinity though their exact position is unknown.
2. the kings that were on the north of the mountains—the Anti-libanus district.
the plains south of Chinneroth—the northern part of the Arabah, or valley of the Jordan.
the valley—the low and level country, including the plain of Sharon.
borders of Dor on the west—the highlands of Dor, reaching to the town of Dor on the Mediterranean coast, below mount Carmel.
3. the Canaanites on the east and on the west—a particular branch of the Canaanitish population who occupied the western bank of the Jordan as far northward as the Sea of Galilee, and also the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.
under Hermon—now Jebel-es-sheikh. It was the northern boundary of Canaan on the east of the Jordan.
land of Mizpeh—now Cœlo-Syria.
4, 5. they went out, … as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude—The chiefs of these several tribes were summoned by Jabin, being all probably tributary to the kingdom of Hazor. Their combined forces, according to Josephus, amounted to three hundred thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand war chariots.
with horses and chariots very many—The war chariots were probably like those of Egypt, made of wood, but nailed and tipped with iron. These appear for the first time in the Canaanite war, to aid this last determined struggle against the invaders; and "it was the use of these which seems to have fixed the place of rendezvous by the lake Merom (now Huleh), along whose level shores they could have full play for their force." A host so formidable in numbers, as well as in military equipments, was sure to alarm and dispirit the Israelites. Joshua, therefore, was favored with a renewal of the divine promise of victory (Jos 11:6), and thus encouraged, he, in the full confidence of faith, set out to face the enemy.
6-8. to-morrow, about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel—As it was impossible to have marched from Gilgal to Merom in one day, we must suppose Joshua already moving northward and within a day's distance of the Canaanite camp, when the Lord gave him this assurance of success. With characteristic energy he made a sudden advance, probably during the night, and fell upon them like a thunderbolt, when scattered along the rising grounds (Septuagint), before they had time to rally on the plain. In the sudden panic "the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them." The rout was complete; some went westward, over the mountains, above the gorge of the Leontes, to Sidon and Misrephothmaim ("glass-smelting houses"), in the neighborhood, and others eastward to the plain of Mizpeh.
8. they left none remaining—of those whom they overtook. All those who fell into their hands alive were slain.
9. Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him—(See Jos 11:6). Houghing the horses is done by cutting the sinews and arteries of their hinder legs, so that they not only become hopelessly lame, but bleed to death. The reasons for this special command were that the Lord designed to lead the Israelites to trust in Him, not in military resources (Ps 20:7); to show that in the land of promise there was no use of horses; and, finally, to discourage their travelling as they were to be an agricultural, not a trading, people.
11. he burnt Hazor with fire—calmly and deliberately, doubtless, according to divine direction.
13. as for the cities that stood still in their strength—literally, "on their heaps." It was a Phœnician custom to build cities on heights, natural or artificial [Hengstenberg].
16. So Joshua took all that land—Here follows a general view of the conquest. The division of the country there into five parts; namely, the hills, the land of Goshen, that is, a pastoral land near Gibeon (Jos 10:41); the valley, the plains and the mountains of Israel, i. e., Carmel, rests upon a diversity of geographical positions, which is characteristic of the region.
17. from the mount Halak—Hebrew, "the smooth mountain."
that goeth up to Seir—an irregular line of white naked hills, about eighty feet high, and seven or eight geographical miles in length that cross the whole Ghor, eight miles south of the Dead Sea, probably "the ascent of Akrabbim" [Robinson].
unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon—the city or temple of the god of destiny, in Baalbec.
23. Joshua took the whole land—The battle of the take of Merom was to the north what the battle of Beth-horon was to the south; more briefly told and less complete in its consequences; but still the decisive conflict by which the whole northern region of Canaan fell into the hands of Israel [Stanley].