The Book of Joshua
Joshua 11
Chapter XI · Vol. I, pp. 556–558
1 Divers kings overcome at the waters of Merom. 10 Hazor is taken and burned. 16 All the country taken by Joshua. 21 The Anakims cut off.
1 AND it came to pass, when Jabin king of aHazor had heard those things, that he bsent to Jobab king of cMadon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,
2 And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of dChinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west;
3 Ande to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under fHermon in the land of gMizpeh.1
e Ge.15.18-21. Ex.3.8; 34.11. ch.3.10.
f De.4.48; 3.8,9. ch. 13.11. Ca.4.8. Ps.89.12; 133.3. ver.17.
g Ge.31.49. Ju.10.17; 11.11,29. ver.8.
1 The site of Hazor has not yet been satisfactorily identified. It doubtless lay on the western brow or slopes of the mountains of Naphtali, overlooking the Sea of Merom. It was at this time, and remained long afterwards, the most powerful city of northern Canaan. Madon is unknown. Shimron may perhaps be the same as Simûnieh, about two miles south-east of Bethlehem. Achshaph may be identical with Accho, now Acre. 'The plains' (Arabah) 'south of Chinneroth' are the Jordan valley. 'The valley' is the Shephelah, or plain of Philistia. 'The borders of Dor' include the little plain along the shore at the south-western base of Carmel, where the ruins of Dor still exist. 'The Canaanite east and west' is intended for the Phœnicians of the coast-plain, and in the upper Jordan valley, east of Lebanon. The land of Mizpeh lay on the eastern slopes of Hermon.—P.
4 And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even has the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.
5 And when all these kings were imet together,2 they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
6 And the LORD said unto Joshua, kBe not afraid because of them; for to-morrow, about this time, will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou lshalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.
7 So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of mMerom suddenly, and they fell upon them.
m 1 Th.5.2,3. ch.10.9. Ec.9.10.
8 And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them ounto great Zidon,3 and unto 4Mizrephoth-maim,5 and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.
A.M. 2554. B.C. 1450.
o Ge.10.15; 49.13. ch.19.28. Is.23.2,12. Je.25.22. Zec.9.2.
3 Or, Zidon-rabbah.
4 Or, salt-pits. Heb. burnings of waters, ch.13.6.
5 Burning of waters, most probably springs impregnated with carburetted hydrogen, which either burned continually, or when occasionally fire was applied. Of such springs there are several in different countries.—C.
9 And Joshua did unto them as the LORD bade him: he phoughed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.
10 And Joshua at that time turned back, and took qHazor,6 and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.
q Not that ch.15.23. Ne.11.33, but that Ju. 4.1,2. ch.19. 36. 1 Ki.9. 15. 2 Ki.15.29. ver.1,11, 13.
6 Whence did Joshua turn back? He had conquered at Merom, and pursued to Zidon or Sidon, on the coast of the Mediterranean, westward—he turned back eastward, and took Hazor, which lay between Zidon and Merom.—C.
11 And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was not rany left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.
r Heb. any breath, ch.10.10.
12 Ands all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword; and he utterly destroyed them, tas Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded.
13 But as for the cities that stood still7 in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazoru only; that did Joshua burn.8
7 Heb. on their heap.
u ver.1,10,11.
8 The meaning is—Hazor alone was burned, while all the other cities which stood upon their tells (the usual positions selected for ancient cities) were captured, but not burned.—P.
14 And all xthe spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe.9
x ch.8. 27. De. 6. 10, 11; 20.14. Nu.31.9.
9 That is, they slew all the wicked inhabitants of 'these cities,' not of the whole land—many of whom were still unsubdued.—C.
15 Asy the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua: zhe left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.
y Ex. 34. 11-13. Nu. 27.19; 33.52. De. 7. 1,5; 31.7.
z Heb. he removed nothing, ch.1.7. De.4. 2; 5.32; 11.32; 12.32. 1 Sa. 15.22.
16 So1 Joshua took aall that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of bGoshen,2 and the valley, and the plain, and the cmountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;3
1 Between 1451 and 1454.
a Ge.15. 18-21. Nu. 34.2-15. De.34.2,3.
b ch.10.41; 15.51.
2 A district in the south of Judah, probably so called from its similarity to the province of the same name in Egypt. It was once a delightful plain, surrounded on three sides by picturesque mountains; it is, however, rendered a waste by the incursions of the Bedouins.—C.
c Eze. 17. 23; 20. 40. Perhaps so named from Jacob.
3 'So Joshua took all that land, the hill country (of Judah), and all the Negeb, and all the land of Goshen (near the borders of Egypt), and the Shephelah (plain of Philistia), and the Arabah (plain of Jordan), and the mountain of Israel (Samaria), and its Shephelah (probably the plain of Esdraelon and Acre).' This will give a better idea of the meaning of this passage. Most of the Hebrew words are proper names.—P.
17 Even from the mount Halak,4 that goeth up to Seir, even unto dBaal-gad in the valley of Lebanon, under mount Hermon; and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.
A.M. 2554. B.C. 1450.
4 Or, the smooth mountain.
d ch.3.10; 13.5. De.3. 8, 9; 4. 48. Ju.3. 3, i.e. from the south to the north end of Canaan.
18 Joshua made war ea long time with all those kings.5
e Six years, ch. 14. 7,10.
5 Caleb was 40 years old when sent as a spy; 85, at the conclusion of these wars, ch. 14. 10; nearly 39 years of this time were spent before Joshua crossed the Jordan, leaving about seven years for the war with the different confederacies; Josephus estimates it at five.—C.
19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel save fthe Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; all other they took in battle:
f ch.9.3-27.
20 For it was of the LORD gto harden their hearts,6 that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour,7 but that he might destroy them, has the LORD commanded Moses.
g Ex. 4. 21. 1 Ki. 12. 15. Ps.69.15. Ro.9.18.
6 See note on Ex.4. 21.—C.
7 The law (De. 20. 10) required peace to be proclaimed to every besieged city, so that all Canaan might have escaped the sentence of extermination by submission. But their hearts were hardened by the proclamation of Joshua, even as the enmity of unbelievers is still excited by the doctrines and announcements of free grace.—C.
h De.7. 2, 16; 20. 16, 17. ver.15.
21 And at that time came Joshua, and cut ioff the Anakims from the mountains; from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: kJoshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.
i Nu.13.22,33. De.9. 1-3. Je.3.23. Am.6.2,3. ch.14.12,14.
k He.2.8. Re.6.2. Ps. 21.8-12; 110.5,6. Ro. 8. 37.
22 There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only lin Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.
l ch.13.3. Ju.3.3. 1 Sa. 17.4; 5.8; 6.17. 2 Sa. 21. 16-22.
23 So Joshua took the whole land, maccording to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel, naccording to their divisions by their tribes. And the land orested from war.
m De.11.23-25; 7. 1; 9. 1-3. Ex.23.27-31; 34. 11,24.
n Nu.26.53. ch.xv.-xxi.
o ch. 14. 15. Job 34. 20. Ps.46.9. 2 Ti. 4.7,8. He.2.8,9; 4.8,9.
Notes
[Ver. 1. We have here another confederacy against Joshua, formed by the kings to the north of Jerusalem.—Note, This succession of confederacies is no more than what occurs to all who follow the true Joshua to the true promised land. One trouble is no sooner forgot than another succeeds; and one temptation is no sooner resisted and subdued, than another tempter, like Satan with our Lord, Mat. iv., tries some new scheme to pervert our principles and overcome our resolutions. C.]
Ver. 4. [Horses and chariots very many. This is the first time that horses are mentioned since the exodus. Camels, asses, and sheep, during the intermediate period, are frequently enumerated, but the horse never. The Arabian tribes, therefore, had at this time no horses—a fact which Strabo, who lived about the beginning of the Christian era, records concerning Arabia in his time. C.]
Ver. 5. [Merom is identical with Samochonitis of Josephus, and the modern Bahret el-Hûleh. It is a lake, triangular in form, 4½ miles long by 3½ broad. It occupies the southern end of a large plain or basin lying between the ridges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. It is fed by numerous streams and fountains, the largest being the Jordan, which flows into it at the north-eastern angle, and leaves it again at its apex on the south, 10 miles above the Sea of Galilee. P.]
Ver. 13. [Cities that stood still in their strength. 'The cities that stood on the hills' is a more accurate translation. The meaning seems to be this:—Joshua burned the cities on the plains, where the northern Canaanites' cavalry, like the East Indian Mahrattas, could maintain strongholds, for they could make sudden incursions. But the cities on the hills, as inaccessible to cavalry, he preserved, with the exception of Hazor, as garrison towns for his own infantry, and the protection of the people. C.]
Ver. 18. [Mount Halak is used by Joshua to denote the southern border of Palestine, as Beersheba is used by later writers. It was probably the line of bare white cliffs or hills which runs across the Arabah some 20 miles south of the Dead Sea. Baal-gad must have been at or very near the site of Paneas, subsequently called Cæsarea-Philippi. P.]
Ver. 22. [In Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. These were not of the seven devoted nations, and were therefore permitted to abide. C.]
Reflections.—How madly do sinners rush headlong into ruin, notwithstanding repeated warnings by the destruction of others! The strength and multitude of their confederacy do but make their ruin the more notorious. But the greater the dangers which surround his people, the greater supports should they ask and expect from God: and the more entirely their heart is fixed on him as their strength, the more certainly shall their spiritual enemies be subdued before them. That to which sinners flee for help is often but a trap to ensnare them: and their destruction is certain, though sometimes slow; and always just and wise, however severe: the most powerful not excepted. But sure is the victory of his people over all their enemies; and happy is it when God's exact fulfilment of his promises, and our upright performance of our duty, unite together. And blessed indeed must that warfare be which issues in eternal triumph and rest to Christ and his people!