Joshua 11

When Jabin, the king of Hazor, heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph.

1And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,

Note"These things" refers to the campaign in the previous chapters: Israel's victory at Jericho and Ai, the treaty with Gibeon, and the defeat of the coalition of southern kings. Hazor was the largest city in northern Canaan, a fortified site of some two hundred acres, and its king's position at the head of a league of city-states is why he is the one who sends the summons. Each of these "kings" ruled a single walled city and the villages and farmland around it, not a country.

2He also sent word to the kings in the north, in the hill country, in the valley south of Chinneroth, in the low hills, and in the region of Dor on the west.

2And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west,

NoteChinneroth (Chinnereth) is the lake later called the Sea of Galilee; the name comes from a Hebrew word for a harp, which the lake's shape resembles. The "valley" south of it is the Arabah, the deep rift valley that runs from Galilee down past the Dead Sea. The "low hills" are the Shephelah, the belt of rolling foothills between the coastal plain and the central mountains. Dor was a port on the Mediterranean coast south of Mount Carmel.

3He sent word to the Canaanites on the east and on the west, to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and to the Hivites at the foot of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.

3And 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 Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.

NoteThese are the standard names for the peoples living in Canaan before Israel's arrival; ancient writers used them loosely, and the lists vary from passage to passage. "Canaanite" is here the coastal and lowland population, "Amorite" the hill population; Jebusites held Jerusalem, and Hivites the region around Gibeon. Mount Hermon is the snow-capped peak at the far northern edge of the land, about nine thousand feet high and visible for a great distance.

4So they marched out, they and all their armies with them, a huge crowd of people, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, with a great many horses and chariots.

4And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.

NoteHorses in this period were not ridden into battle but harnessed to light two-wheeled chariots carrying a driver and an archer. Chariot forces were expensive, professional, and effective on flat ground; they were the decisive weapon of the Canaanite lowland cities, and Israel, fighting on foot in the hills, had none. "As many as the grains of sand on the seashore" is a stock Hebrew phrase for a number too large to count, not an estimate.

5All these kings joined forces. They came and set up camp together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

5And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

NoteThe waters of Merom were most likely a spring and stream in the hills of upper Galilee, north-west of the Sea of Galilee. The site is broken, hilly ground, which matters for what follows: it is poor country for chariots.

6The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand them over to Israel, all of them killed. You are to cut the leg tendons of their horses and burn their chariots."

6And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.

NoteTo cut a horse's leg tendons, "hough" or hamstring, is to sever the large tendon above the hock, permanently crippling the animal so it can never pull a chariot again, though it can still be kept for breeding. Together with burning the chariots, the order means the captured equipment is destroyed rather than taken over and used.

7So Joshua and all his fighting men came against them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.

7So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.

8The LORD handed them over to Israel, who struck them down and chased them as far as Greater Zidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down until no one was left alive.

8And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.

Note"Greater Zidon" (Sidon) is the standing title of the old Phoenician port on the Mediterranean coast, well to the north; the adjective distinguishes the main city from smaller settlements bearing the same name. Misrephoth-maim, whose name may mean something like "burning waters" or "lime-kilns by the water," is an unidentified place on the northern coastal plain. The three names together mark how far the rout ran in each direction, not places that were captured.

9Joshua did to them what the LORD had told him to do. He cut the leg tendons of their horses and burned their chariots.

9And Joshua did unto them as the LORD bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.

10At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor, and he killed its king with the sword, because in earlier days Hazor had been the leading city of all those kingdoms.

10And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.

Note"Put to the sword" translates a Hebrew phrase, literally "struck with the mouth of the sword," that is the ordinary way of saying a place was taken by force and its people killed. Hazor's position as "head of all those kingdoms" reflects its real standing: Hazor is named as a major power in Egyptian and Mesopotamian records from centuries earlier.

11They killed every person in the city with the sword, giving them all over to destruction. Nothing that breathed was left alive. And Joshua burned Hazor down.

11And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.

Note"Giving them over to destruction" translates the Hebrew term herem, sometimes rendered "devoted" or "put under the ban." A person or thing placed under herem was handed over entirely to God and so removed permanently from ordinary use: it could not be spared, ransomed, sold, or kept as private property. The word describes the legal status of what was captured; it is the same term used elsewhere for property irrevocably dedicated to the sanctuary.

12Joshua captured all the cities of those kings, and their kings too, and killed them with the sword. He gave them over to destruction, just as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded.

12And 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, as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded.

13But Israel did not burn any of the cities that still stood on their raised mounds. The only one Joshua burned was Hazor.

13But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.

NoteAncient cities were rebuilt on the rubble of the towns before them, so that over centuries each site rose into an artificial flat-topped mound, called a tell, standing above the plain. The Hebrew says these cities stood "on their mound"; the King James "stood still in their strength" reads it instead as cities still standing fortified. The point is that the buildings were left usable rather than burned.

14The Israelites kept for themselves all the goods and livestock they took from these cities. But they killed every person with the sword until they had destroyed them, leaving no one alive.

14And all the 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.

NoteUnder the terms described in verse 11, portable goods and livestock could be kept here, unlike at Jericho, where everything was destroyed. The rules for what could be taken varied from campaign to campaign.

15What the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.

15As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.

16So Joshua took that whole land: the hill country, all the dry southern region, all the land of Goshen, the low hills, the valley plain, and the mountains of Israel with their foothills.

16So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;

NoteThis verse marks out the territory by its recognized regions: the central hill country; the Negev, the dry grazing land south of Hebron; a district called Goshen in southern Canaan (unrelated to the Goshen in Egypt where Israel had lived); the Shephelah foothills; and the Arabah, the rift-valley floor.

17He took it from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, struck them down, and put them to death.

17Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.

NoteNorth-and-south boundary markers, a standard way of stating extent. Mount Halak (the name means "the bare mountain") lies at the southern edge, toward Seir, the highland region of Edom south-east of the Dead Sea. Baal-gad, at the northern end, was a shrine-town at the foot of Mount Hermon named for the god worshiped there.

18Joshua fought against all those kings for a long time.

18Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

19Not one city made peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. All the others were taken in battle.

19There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.

NoteThe Hivites of Gibeon had obtained a treaty by disguising themselves as travelers from a distant country, as told in chapter 9; once sworn, the oath could not be revoked. "Made peace" here means formally submitted and entered a treaty, not merely refrained from fighting.

20It was the LORD's doing to make their hearts stubborn, so that they would go to war against Israel, so that he might destroy them completely and show them no mercy, but wipe them out, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

20For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Note"Harden the heart" is a Hebrew idiom for making someone resolute or unyielding in a course of action. In Hebrew thought the heart is the seat of decision and will rather than of feeling, so the phrase concerns stubborn resolve, not cruelty or emotion. It is the same expression used repeatedly of Pharaoh in Exodus.

21At that time Joshua went and wiped out the Anakim from the hill country: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua destroyed them completely, along with their cities.

21And at that time came Joshua, and cut off 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: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.

NoteThe Anakim were remembered as a people of unusual height living in the southern hill country; the report of the scouts in Numbers 13 says the Israelites felt like grasshoppers beside them, and it was fear of them that had turned the people back a generation earlier. Hebron, Debir, and Anab are towns in the highlands south of Jerusalem.

22No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites. Some remained only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

22There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.

NoteGaza, Gath, and Ashdod lie on the coastal plain and later became three of the five chief Philistine cities, Gath being the home town of Goliath, whom a much later account describes in terms recalling these same tall warriors. Naming them signals that this stretch of the coast stayed outside Israelite control.

23So Joshua took the whole land, just as the LORD had told Moses. Joshua gave it to Israel to own and pass on, dividing it up among their tribes. And the land had rest from war.

23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

Note"Inheritance" translates nahalah, a permanent family land-holding that could not simply be sold off but passed down through the generations; the whole land is being treated as a single such holding, then divided among the tribes. "The land had rest from war" is a set phrase in these books marking the end of a period of fighting, and it is the formal close of this half of the book.