19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites who dwelt at Gibeon; they took all in battle.
And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, then they also acted with craft, and they went prepared as on a journey, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-flasks, old and rent and tied up; and old and patched sandals upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry [and] mouldy. And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, From a far country are we come; and now make a covenant with us. And the men of Israel said to the Hivite, Perhaps thou dwellest in the midst of us, and how should I make a covenant with thee? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? And they said to him, From a very far country are thy servants come, because of the name of Jehovah thy God; for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og the king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take victuals in your hand for the way, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants, and now make a covenant with us. This our bread we took warm for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; and now, behold, it is dry, and is become mouldy. And these flasks of wine which we filled new, behold, they are rent; and these our garments and our sandals are become old by reason of the very long journey. And the men took of their victuals, but they did not inquire at the mouth of Jehovah. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the princes of the assembly swore unto them. And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt in their midst. And the children of Israel journeyed, and came to their cities on the third day; and their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim. And the children of Israel did not smite them, because the princes of the assembly had sworn unto them by Jehovah the God of Israel. Then all the assembly murmured against the princes. And all the princes said to all the assembly, We have sworn unto them by Jehovah the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. This we will do to them, and let them live, lest wrath come upon us, because of the oath which we swore unto them. And the princes said to them, Let them live. And they were hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the assembly; as the princes had said to them. And Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, Why have ye deceived us, saying, We are very far from you; whereas ye dwell in our midst? And now ye are cursed, and ye shall never cease to be bondmen, and hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the house of my God. 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 now behold, we are in thy hand: as it is good and right in thine eyes to do to us, do. And he did so to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, and they did not slay them. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the assembly, and for the altar of Jehovah, to this day, in the place which he should choose.
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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].