Joshua 12

These are the kings of the land that the people of Israel defeated. Israel took over their land east of the Jordan River, toward the sunrise, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah valley on the east.

1Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:

Note"The other side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun" simply means east of the Jordan River; the writer is standing in the land west of the river. The Arnon is a deep gorge running into the Dead Sea from the east, long treated as a boundary line. Mount Hermon is the snow-capped peak at the far northern end of the region. The Arabah is the long rift valley that runs from the Sea of Galilee down past the Dead Sea; the word means something like "dry, sunken plain," and it is a place-name, not a description of any valley.

2Sihon, king of the Amorites, lived in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer, on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along the middle of the valley, up to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. This was half of Gilead.

2Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

NoteThe Amorites were one of the older populations of the region, generally associated with the inland hill country on both sides of the Jordan. Heshbon and Aroer are towns east of the Jordan. The Jabbok is a river flowing west into the Jordan about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The Ammonites were a neighboring people whose territory lay further east. Gilead is the highland country east of the Jordan, here split between two kings.

3He also ruled the Arabah as far as the Sea of Chinneroth on the east, over to the Sea of the Arabah, that is, the Salt Sea, on the east, along the road toward Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

3And from the plain to the sea of Chinneroth on the east, and unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way to Bethjeshimoth; and from the south, under Ashdothpisgah:

NoteThe Sea of Chinneroth is the lake later called the Sea of Galilee. The "Sea of the Arabah, that is, the Salt Sea" is the Dead Sea, so salty that nothing lives in it. Pisgah is a ridge in the highlands east of the Dead Sea overlooking the Jordan valley.

4Israel also took the territory of Og, king of Bashan. He was one of the last of the Rephaim, and he lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei.

4And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,

NoteBashan is the high, fertile plateau east of the Sea of Galilee, known in the Bible for its cattle and oak trees. The Rephaim were a people remembered in Israelite tradition as unusually tall; older English Bibles translate the name as "giants." Ashtaroth and Edrei were the two chief cities of Og's kingdom, a king could hold court in more than one.

5Og ruled over Mount Hermon, over Salcah, and over all of Bashan, up to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites. He also ruled half of Gilead, up to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

5And reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

NoteSalcah lies at the eastern edge of Bashan. The Geshurites and Maacathites were small neighboring kingdoms on the northern border, which Israel did not drive out.

6Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the people of Israel defeated these two kings. Moses then gave their land to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, to be theirs to keep.

6Them did Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel smite: and Moses the servant of the LORD gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

Note"Servant of the LORD" is a formal title of honor, used of Moses much as one might say "Moses, God's own officer." Manasseh is called a "half tribe" here because that tribe's families were divided: some settled east of the Jordan with Reuben and Gad, the rest west of it. The land is given "to keep" as a permanent family inheritance passed down to descendants, not as a temporary grant.

7These are the kings of the land that Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave this land to the tribes of Israel to keep, dividing it among them.

7And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;

NoteIn the older wording this is "on this side Jordan", the writer's own side, meaning west of the river. Baal-gad marks the northern limit of the conquest and Mount Halak the southern; Seir is the rugged hill country south-east of the Dead Sea, the homeland of Edom.

8That land took in the hill country, the western foothills, the Arabah valley, the mountain slopes, the wilderness, and the dry southern land called the Negev. It had belonged to the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

8In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

NoteThis is a list of the land's natural zones, running roughly west to east and north to south: the central hill country, the low foothills between hills and coast, the rift valley, the mountain slopes, the dry grazing land, and the Negev, the arid south, whose name simply means "the dry country" and is used as a place-name. The six peoples named are the standard biblical list of the earlier inhabitants of Canaan, given as a set phrase rather than a precise census.

9The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is near Bethel, one;

9The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;

NoteFrom here the chapter is a tally, and the repeated "one" is how such lists were kept, a running count, like notches on a tally sheet. Each of these was a walled city with its own king ruling the surrounding villages; Canaan at this period was made up of dozens of such small city-states rather than a few large kingdoms.

10the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;

10The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;

11the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;

11The king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;

12the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;

12The king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;

13the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;

13The king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;

14the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;

14The king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;

15the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

15The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

16the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;

16The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;

17the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;

17The king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;

18the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;

18The king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;

19the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;

19The king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;

NoteHazor was the largest city of the north, described earlier in Joshua as the head of a group of allied kingdoms.

20the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;

20The king of Shimronmeron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;

21the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;

21The king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;

22the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;

22The king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one;

NoteCarmel is the ridge running to the coast in the north; Jokneam lay at its foot, and the phrase distinguishes this Jokneam from other towns of the same name.

23the king of Dor, in the region of Dor, one; the king of Goiim, near Gilgal, one;

23The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one;

Note"Goiim" is simply the Hebrew word for "nations" or "foreign peoples," here left untranslated because it is functioning as a place or group name; older English Bibles rendered it "the nations of Gilgal." This Gilgal is probably not the camp near Jericho mentioned earlier, since several places carried the name.

24the king of Tirzah, one. Altogether there were thirty-one kings.

24The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one.

NoteTirzah was later, for a time, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. The closing total of thirty-one is the point of the whole list: a formal record of defeated kings, of the kind ancient kingdoms kept to document a campaign.