And afterwards Joshua smote them, and put them to death, and hanged them on five trees; and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
A long day of battle is over, and five defeated kings have been dragged out of the cave where they hid. This verse tells what Joshua did with them, and why the trees and the evening matter.
Before the execution, Joshua had his officers stand on the kings' necks. One commentator explains what that gesture declared.
The people had returned safe and sound — in peace — to Makkedah, their temporary camp. Joshua then ordered the five kings to be brought out. He told the captains of the men of war who went with him to put their feet on the necks of these kings. In this way he expressed as strongly as possible that the power of Canaan was now subject to the Lord's army.
These men had led a whole system of worship. Their death points to a larger judgment still to come.
The kings were then put to death and hanged on five trees until evening. Let us remember these were leaders in satanic worship. When the day of God's judgment comes, there will be no sparing those who have sold themselves to Satan.
The verse records two acts, not one. Joshua put the kings to death, and only then hung their bodies on trees. One writer explains what the hanging meant.
When a crime brought the death penalty, only certain crimes called for hanging the body. Hanging showed that the person was dying under the curse of God. It was intended as a public disgrace and a warning to others. But that disgrace was not to be continued beyond the day of hanging. Galatians 3:13 shows that this applies mainly to the Lord Jesus. At Calvary He was made a curse for us, and He bore the most dreadful disgrace for our sakes. But this awful course was confined to that one day. When His great work of atonement was finished, those who loved Him took the body of the Lord Jesus and laid it in a grave.
Joshua did not improvise here. One writer traces his action back to something he had already learned in God's presence.
The five kings are taken and hung on five trees. Joshua sees his way in this more clearly because of an earlier page in his history, learned in the presence of God. Joshua has got into the way which suits God's holiness. Encouraged himself by the word of God, he can encourage the people.
There is a further question behind the whole campaign: who has any right to this land?
Joshua defeated all his enemies, because Jehovah, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. This time they were faithful, they made no peace. What had Canaanites to do in Jehovah's land? Has Satan any right to the land of promise? This is the light in which Joshua always beholds the land of Canaan.
A believer's enemies cannot be put to death the way these kings were. One writer explains what faith can still do with them now.
But the kings are in the caves of Makkedah. Now they are brought out and judgment executed upon them. Our spiritual foes cannot be killed yet. This is only the anticipation of faith — a picture like the one we saw at Jericho. Faith can pass its own judgment on them. It sees ahead to God's judgment that is coming, and so brands them with their shame. It is a great thing to know enough to call Satan Satan. It is a great thing to meet him knowing for sure whom we are fighting. It is a great thing to draw him out of the dark cave where he may have hidden, and, in the light of day, to convict him and put him under the doom that awaits him.
Witherby carries the same line forward, from Joshua's battlefield to the Christian's.
There is a significant lesson here for the Christian soldier. In his victories he finds only the confirmation of the sure promises his God made at the start of the campaign. He also finds the anticipation of that final conquest of Satan which is near at hand, for "the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:20).
Commentators differ in emphasis. Some stress the coming judgment on the world; others stress the believer's present fight.
- Cave — the kings hid; hiding delayed judgment but did not cancel it. Faith drags the enemy out into the light and names him.
- Neck — feet on the necks of the kings declared Canaan's power broken, a foretaste of Satan crushed under the feet of God's people.
- Tree — hanging marked a man as dying under God's curse. That same curse fell on Christ at Calvary, in our place.
- Evening — the disgrace lasted one day only. Once atonement was finished, those who loved Christ took His body down and laid it in a grave.
- Land — Canaan is the Lord's, and His enemies have no right there. Joshua takes the way that suits God's holiness.
And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave where they had been hid, and laid great stones before the cave's mouth, [which remain] to this very day.
Five kings hid from Joshua in a cave near Makkedah, and by sunset that cave was their grave. Why did the timing matter, and what did the sealed cave say to everyone who passed it later?
The sunset is not a stray detail. One writer traces Joshua's conduct here to a lesson he had already learned in God's presence.
The five kings are taken and hung on five trees. Joshua sees his way to this more clearly, from an earlier page in his history learnt in the presence of God. Joshua has got into the way that suits God's holiness (vv. 26, 27).
The way they died carried a meaning beyond the execution itself. Deuteronomy 21 attached both disgrace and a curse to a body hanged on a tree.
Death by hanging on a tree carries not only shame, dishonour and disgrace. It carries a curse too, as Deuteronomy 21:23 says: "a hanged man is cursed by God." Joshua followed these divine instructions from Deuteronomy 21. He killed the five kings of the Amorites, who had hidden in a cave at Makkedah, and hanged them on five trees.
The law itself sets the deadline and gives the reason. One commentator quotes it, then looks past Makkedah to Christ.
"His body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day... You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance." This may not call for lengthy remark, but it surely calls for solemn reflection and deep thankfulness at God's grace. Man heaped the deepest shame and suffering on Jesus, and God turns it into the purposes of redeeming love. For who does not know that Jesus took this place of the curse on the cross, to bear our judgment in the sight of God? He too knew what it was to be hanged on a tree — knew what it was to be made a curse for us.
The kings had run to the cave to escape. They were shut in, brought out, humbled, executed — and then put back where they started, with the stones now permanent.
The kings were then put to death and hanged on five trees until evening. Let us remember these were leaders in satanic worship. When the day of God's judgment comes, there will be no sparing those who have sold themselves to Satan. The sun went down at last on that long day. They took the bodies from the trees and returned them to the cave, and large stones again covered it permanently (v.27).
One writer sees the kings as a picture of our own spiritual enemies.
But the kings are in the caves of Makkedah. Now they are brought out and judgment is carried out on them. Our spiritual foes cannot be killed yet. This is only the anticipation of faith: a picture like the one we saw at Jericho. Faith can pass its judgment on them, foreseeing the divine judgment that will come, and so branding them with their infamy.
The practical edge of that picture is knowing your enemy and refusing to leave him in the dark.
It is a great thing to know enough to call Satan Satan. It is a great thing to meet him sure of who we are contending with, to draw him out of the darkness of the cave where he may have taken refuge, and, in the light of day, to convict him and put him under the doom that awaits him.
One question settles whether Israel makes peace with these kings: who owns the land?
This time they were faithful, they made no peace. What had Canaanites to do in Jehovah's land? Has Satan any right to the land of promise? This is the light in which Joshua always sees the land of Canaan (Joshua 10:27).
- Cave — the five kings ran to a hiding place, and that hiding place became their tomb. No cave keeps an enemy hidden.
- Tree — hanging carried shame and a curse. The same law points to Christ, who took the place of the curse on the cross.
- Sunset — the law set a deadline at nightfall, and Joshua kept it. He had learned in God's presence what suits God's holiness.
- Stones — the sealed cave stands as a verdict already passed. Faith brands its enemies with the doom that is coming.
- Land — Joshua made no peace. The question behind every step was simple: has Satan any right to the land of promise?