Joshua 11

AND it came to pass when Jabin king of Hazor The chief City of all those parts, v. 10. had heard those things This was a remarkable instance of the Wisdom and Goodness of divine Providence, which so governed the minds and hearts of the Canaanites, that they were not at all united under one King, but divided amongst many petty Kings; and next, that these did not all unanimously joyn their Counsels and Forces together to oppose the Israelites at their first entrance, which their own Wisdom and Interest obliged them to do, but quietly suffered the destruction of their Brethren, thereby preparing the way for their own., that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron Called Shimronmeron, Josh. 12. 10., and to the king of Achshaph A place in the Tribe of Aser, the furthest part of the land toward the North and West.,

And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains Heb. on the North, (which may be the general designation of all the particular places following, that they were in the Northern parts of Canaan, as those mentioned Iosh. 10. were in the Southern parts) in the mountain, either in or near the famous mountain of Lebanon, called the Mountain by way of eminency; or in the mountainous Countrey., and of the plains, south of Cinneroth Heb. in the plain lying Southward from Cinneroth, or the Lake of Genesareth; See Deut. 3. 17. Luke 5. 1., and in the vale, and in the borders of Dor A place upon the coast of the Midland-sea., on the west,

And to the Canaanite on the east, and on the west The Canaanites properly so called, lived part of them on the East near Iordan, and part on the West near the Sea, and both are here united., and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon That dwelt under Mount Hermon in the North of Canaan, whereby they are differenced from those Hivites who lived in Gibeon, of which before., in the land of Mizpeh That Mizpeh which was in the Northern part of Gilead, of which Gen. 31. 49. Iudg. 11. 29. But there were other Cities called by that name, which signifying a Watchingplace, might be easily applied to several places of good prospect. Besides this, there is one Mizpeh of Iudah, Josh. 15. 38. another of Benjamin, Josh. 18. 26. a third in Moab, 1 Sam. 22. 3..

And 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 charets very many.

And when all these kings were † met together, they came and pitched together at the Waters of Merom A lake made by the River Iordan in the Northern part of it, which was in the Territory of the King of Schimron, or Schimron-Meron, and near Hazor, Iabins royal City, and almost in the middle of these confederate Kings., to fight against Israel.

¶ And 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 i. e. Cut their Hamstrings that they may be unfit for War. For God forbad them to have, or keep many Horses, Deut. 17. 16. now especially, that they might not trust to their Horses, as men are apt to do, nor distrust God for want of so necessary an help in Battel; nor ascribe the Conquest of the land to their own strength, but wholly to God, by whose power alone a company of raw and unexperienced Footmen were able to subdue so potent a people, which besides their great Numbers, and Giants, and walled Cities, had the advantage of many thousands of Horses and Chariots., and burn their charets with fire.

So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly When they least expected them, intending there to refresh, and prepare, and order themselves for the offensive War which they designed., and they fell upon them.

And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto † great Zidon A great and famous City in the Northwest part of Canaan, and upon the Sea., and unto † Misrephoth-main A place not far from Zidon, supposed to be so called from the Salt or Glass which they made there., and unto the valley of Mispeh Under Mount Hermon, as appears by comparing this with v. 3. and 17. where it seems to be called the valley of Lebanon. This lay on the East, as Sidon did on the West; and so it seems they fled several ways, and the Israelites also divided themselves into two Bodies, one pursuing East, and the other West. eastward, and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.

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

¶ And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof Either in the former Battel, though it be mentioned here: or rather, in his Royal City, to which he fled out of the Battel. with the sword: for Hazor before time was the head of all those kingdoms Not of all Canaan, but of all those who were confederate with him in this Expedition..

And they smote all the souls... hat were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any i. e. No Humane Person. left to breathe, and he burnt Hazor with fire.

And 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.

But as for the cities that stood still † in their strength Heb. with (for so this Preposition is oft used, as Exod. 35. 12. Levit. 2. 2. Ezek. 16. 37. &c.) their Fence or Fences, Walls or Bulwarks, i. e. which were not utterly ruined together with their Walls in the taking of them., Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only Which though taken by the Israelites, was not so much destroyed as other places were., that did Joshua burn Because this City began the War, and being the chief and Royal City, might renew the War if the Canaanites should ever seize upon it..

And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattel, 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.

¶ As 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.

So Joshua took all that land Of Canaan, whose parts here follow., the hill Or, the Mountain, i. e. the Mountainous Country, to wit, of Iudea, as may seem, 1. Because in the following enumeration he begins in the South parts, where there was an eminent Mountain, Numb. 13. 17. 2. Because a considerable part of Iudea was called the Hilly or the Mountainous Country, Luke 1. 39, 65. which is not likely to be omitted in this particular description of the Land; the rather because Hebron, one of the places taken by Ioshua, chap. 10. 36, 37. was in the mountain of Judah, Jos. 20. 7. 3. Because this is here distinguished from the Mountain of Israel, and therefore most likely to be the Mountain of Judah, especially if you compare this with v. 21. where having mentioned the Mountain in general, from which Ioshua cut off the Anakims, he comes to particularize, and names only two, all the Mountain of Judah, and all the Mountain of Israel., and all the south countrey i. e. Not only the Mountainous part, but all the Country of Iudea, which lay in the Southern part of Canaan, and oft comes under the name of the South, as Numb. 13. 22, 29. and 21. 1. Ios. 10. 40. and 18. 5. &c., and all the land of Goshen Of which see Ios. 10. 41., and the vale The low Countries., and the plain The Fields or Champion grounds., and the mountain of Israel Either 1. Some one particular and eminent Mountain, possibly the Hill of Samaria, mentioned 1 Kings 16. 24. or rather 2. The Mountains or Mountainous Country of Israel. See the second note on this verse., and the vale of the same i. e. Of Israel.:

Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir i. e. To the country of Seir or Edom; to wit, that part of it which was South from Iudea, not that which was Eastward from it, as appears from hence, that here, as also Ios. 12. 7. is mention of the two extream bounds of the Land conquered by Ioshua; whereof the other which follows being in the North, this must needs be in the South of the Land., unto Baal-Gad A part of Mount Lebanon., in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.

Joshua made war along time For divers years together, as is evident by the following History, and by comparing Deut. 2. 14. with Ios. 14. 7, &c. And this is here expressed, lest it should be thought that as all these Wars are here recorded in a short Narration, so they were dispatched in a short time. And God would have the Land to be Conquered gradually, for many weighty reasons; 1. Lest the sudden extirpation of those Nations should have made a great pa... t of the Land Desert, and thereby have encreased the Numbers of Wild Beasts, Deut. 7. 22. 2. Lest being done suddenly and easily, it should soon be forgotten and despised, as the nature of man is apt to do in those cases. 3. That by long exercise the might grow skilful in the Art of War, which was very useful an... needful for them in that Land. 4. For the trial and exercise of their Patience and Courage, and Trust in God. 5.... o oblige them to the greater care to please and obey God, whom they yet needed for their help against their Enemies. with all those kings.

There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel: save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon, all other To wit, all that were taken by Ioshua, were taken by the Sword; and therefore it is no wonder that the War was long, when the Enemy was so obstinate. they took in battel.

For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts It was the design of Gods Providence not to soften their hearts to a compliance with the Israelites, but to give them up to their own Animosity, Pride, Confidence and Stubbornness; that so both their abominable and incorrigible wickedness might be severely punished, and that the Israelites might not be mixed with them, but be inti... e among themselves in the possession of the Land. Compare Deut. 2. 30. and for the Phrase Exod. 7. 13. and 9. 12. and 14. 17., that they should come against Israel in battel, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour: but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.

And at that time i. e. In that War, for it cannot be meant of any particular and short time, because the work here related was done in divers times and years. came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims A race of Giants, of which see Numb. 13. 33. from the mountain Or, Mountains, the Singular Number for the Plural; These Barbarous and Monstrous persons either chose to live in the Dens or Caves, which were frequent in the Mountains of those parts; or else they were driven thither by the Arms and Success of the Israelites., from Hebron, from Debir Either, 1. From the Territories belonging to these Cities, as we have oft seen in this History, Cities mentioned for the Country subject to them, for the Cities were taken before by Ioshua, chap. 10. 36, 37, 38. or 2. From the Cities themselves; and so either the Cities were re-taken by the Giants, which it is not probable that God would permit in Ioshua's time; or he speaks here of that time when he took those places mentioned here, and chap. 10. which History he here in part repeats and enlargeth with this memorable circumstance, That, together with the rest, he destroyed also the Giants which were in those places., from Anab A place in the Tribe of Iudah, Jos. 15. 50., and from all the mountain of Judah, and from all the mountain of Israel It does not follow from hence, which some conclude, that this Book was written by some other person long after Ioshua's Death, even after the division of the Israelites into two Kingdoms, of Israel and Iudah; but only that this was one of those clauses which were added or altered, and suited to the stile of the present times by Ezra, or some other Prophet; though that be not necessary: for since it was evident to Ioshua, from Gen. 49. 10, &c. That the Tribe of Iudah was to be the chief of all the Tribes, and some dawnings of its Eminency appeared in that time, in their having the first Lot in the Land of Canaan, Ios. 15. 1. and the largest inheritan... e, Ios. 19. 9. It is no wonder that it is mentioned apart, and distinguished from the rest of the Tribes of Israel, though that also be one of them; even as the Daughter of Phara... h is distinguished from the Strange Women, 1 King. 11. 1. and Saul from all Davids Enemies, Psal. 18. title. and Peter from the Disciples, Mark 16. 7. though they were each of the same nature and quality with the rest.: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities Q.... How could Ioshua utterly destroy these, when Ca... eb and Othoniel destroyed some of them after Ioshua's Death? Ios. 14. 12. Iudg. 1. 10, 11, 12. Ans. This might be, either 1. these places being in part destroyed and neglected by the Israelites, might be re-possessed by the Giants, either in Ioshua's time, or after his Death, and by them kept till Caleb dispossessed and destroyed them. Or rather 2. Because this work, though done by the particular valour and industry of Caleb, is ascribed to Ioshua as the General of the Army, according to the manner of all Historians; and therefore it is here attributed to Ioshua, though afterwards, that Caleb might not lose his deserved Honour, the History is more particularly described, and Caleb owned as the great Instrument in the atchievement of it. Ios. 14. and Iudg. 1..

There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod Three Cities of the Philistines, to which they retired, and where we find some of them afterwards, 1 Sam. 17. 4. and 2 Sam. 21. 16. Which may be one reason why the Israelites durst not make an attempt upon these places, though they were a part of their Possession. there remained.

So Joshua took the whole land Synecdochically, i. e. the greatest and the best part of it, for some parts and places are expresly excepted in the following History., 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 From actual War, so far that they could now quietly survey, and distribute, and possess the Land..