Joshua 11
11
Joshua Captures Towns in the North
1King Jabin of Hazor heard about Joshua's victories, so he sent messages to many nearby kings and asked them to join him in fighting Israel. He sent these messages to King Jobab of Madon, the kings of Shimron and Achshaph, 2the kings in the northern hill country and in the Jordan River valley south of Lake Galilee,#11.2 Lake Galilee: The Hebrew text has “Lake Chinnereth,” an earlier name. and the kings in the foothills and in Naphath-Dor to the west. 3He sent messages to the Canaanite kings in the east and the west, to the Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, and Jebusite kings in the hill country, and to the Hivite kings in the region of Mizpah, near the foot of Mount Hermon.#11.3 Mizpah, near the foot of Mount Hermon: Probably the same region as Mizpeh Valley in verses 8,9, but different from the two other places named Mizpeh in 15.37-41; 18.25-28, and also different from the Mizpah mentioned in Genesis 31.49 and Judges 10.17.
4-5The kings and their armies went to Merom Pond,#11.4,5 Pond: Or “Gorge.” where they set up camp, and got ready to fight Israel. It seemed as though there were more soldiers and horses and chariots than there are grains of sand on a beach.
6The Lord told Joshua:
Don't let them frighten you! I'll help you defeat them, and by this time tomorrow they will be dead.
When you attack, the first thing you have to do is to cripple their horses. Then after the battle is over,#11.6 When … over: Or “After the battle is over, cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” burn their chariots.
7Joshua and his army made a surprise attack against the enemy camp at Merom Pond#11.7 Pond: See the note at 11.4,5. 8-9and crippled the enemies' horses.#11.8,9 and crippled the enemies' horses: It is also possible that the Israelites crippled the enemies' horses after the battle at the same time they burned the enemies' chariots; see the note at 11.6. Joshua followed the Lord's instructions, and the Lord helped Israel defeat the enemy. The Israelite army even chased enemy soldiers as far as Misrephoth-Maim to the northwest,#11.8,9 Misrephoth-Maim … northwest: Or “the town of Misrephoth to the northwest” or “the Misrephoth River.” the city of Sidon to the north, and Mizpeh Valley to the northeast.#11.8,9 northeast: These three areas were 30 to 55 kilometers north of Merom. None of the enemy soldiers escaped alive. The Israelites came back after the battle and burned the enemy's chariots.
10Up to this time, the king of Hazor had controlled the kingdoms that had joined together to attack Israel, so Joshua led his army back and captured Hazor. They killed its king 11and everyone else, then they set the town on fire.
12-15Joshua captured all the towns where the enemy kings had ruled. These towns were built on small hills,#11.12-15 small hills: Towns were often built on top of the ruins of a previous town that had been destroyed. When this happened many times at one place, a hill was formed. and Joshua did not set fire to any of these towns, except Hazor. The Israelites kept the animals and everything of value from these towns, but they killed everyone who lived in them, including their kings. That's what the Lord had told his servant Moses to do, that's what Moses had told Joshua to do, and that's exactly what Joshua did.
16Joshua and his army took control of the northern and southern hill country, the foothills to the west, the Southern Desert, the whole region of Goshen,#11.16 Goshen: See the note at 10.41. and the Jordan River valley. 17-18They took control of the land from Mount Halak near the country of Edom in the south to Baal-Gad in Lebanon Valley at the foot of Mount Hermon in the north. Joshua and his army were at war with the kings in this region for a long time, but finally they captured and put to death the last king.
19-20 #
Dt 7.16. The Lord had told Moses that he wanted the towns in this region destroyed and their people killed without mercy. That's why the Lord made the people in the towns stubborn and determined to fight Israel. The only town that signed a peace treaty with Israel was the Hivite town of Gibeon. The Israelite army captured the rest of the towns in battle.
21During this same time, Joshua and his army killed the Anakim#11.21 Anakim: Perhaps a group of very large people that lived in Palestine before the Israelites (see Numbers 13.33 and Deuteronomy 2.10,11, 20,21). from the northern and southern hill country. They also destroyed the towns where the Anakim had lived, including Hebron, Debir, and Anab. 22There were not any Anakim left in the regions where the Israelites lived, although there were still some in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.#11.22 Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod: Towns in Philistia.
23That's how Joshua captured the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and Joshua divided it up among the tribes.
Finally, there was peace in the land.
Currently Selected:
Joshua 11: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Joshua 11
11
The United Kings of Northern Canaan Defeated
1When King Jabin of Hazor heard of this, he sent to King Jobab of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, 2and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, 3to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4They came out, with all their troops, a great army, in number like the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5All these kings joined their forces, and came and camped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.
6And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will hand over all of them, slain, to Israel; you shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.” 7So Joshua came suddenly upon them with all his fighting force, by the waters of Merom, and fell upon them. 8And the Lord handed them over to Israel, who attacked them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down, until they had left no one remaining. 9And Joshua did to them as the Lord commanded him; he hamstrung their horses, and burned their chariots with fire.
10Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck its king down with the sword. Before that time Hazor was the head of all those kingdoms. 11And they put to the sword all who were in it, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed, and he burned Hazor with fire. 12And all the towns of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took, and struck them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13But Israel burned none of the towns that stood on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua did burn. 14All the spoil of these towns, and the livestock, the Israelites took for their booty; but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. 15As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
Summary of Joshua's Conquests
16So Joshua took all that land: the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland, 17from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He took all their kings, struck them down, and put them to death. 18Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19There was not a town that made peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; all were taken in battle. 20For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts so that they would come against Israel in battle, in order that they might be utterly destroyed, and might receive no mercy, but be exterminated, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
21At that time Joshua came and wiped out the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their towns. 22None of the Anakim was left in the land of the Israelites; some remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. 23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.