And Joshua passed, and all Israel with him, from Makkedah to Libnah, and fought against Libnah.
Makkedah has fallen, and Joshua does not stop to enjoy the win. He moves on at once to the next city, and commentators find weight in that timing and in both place-names.
A big win tempts an army to rest. One writer draws the opposite rule from the way Israel kept going:
Israel was not to use the victory over the multitudes of Canaan in a half-and-half way. Success should only be the occasion for fresh effort. In their energy for the Lord, Israel pursued and killed until not one enemy remained. That is the spirit of true Christian warfare. It makes the present advantage the base line for advancing to further victory. Every success, seen for what it is, is only a spur to further conquest.
The name of the place Joshua leaves behind carries its own lesson:
The meaning of Makkedah is "bowing the head." The five proud kings had been forced to bow their heads there. When Israel took the city, is this not a picture of the same truth learned from her side — willingly bowing our heads to the great God of creation?
The same commentator moves on to Libnah. He notes when the march began, what the name means, and one difference between these cities and Jericho:
These following victories of Joshua evidently began the day after the long day. The second city he conquers is Libnah, meaning "whiteness." False religion boasts of a claim to purity. But it is all on the surface, like whitewashed graves (Matthew 23:27), with the corruption of death underneath. True purity involves separation from evil, with no contamination allowed. So, in picture, we conquer the city of Libnah by learning well the truth of sanctification to God, and therefore separation from all that is against Him… Yet let us notice that none of these cities were destroyed, as Jericho was, but captured.
Another writer reads "whiteness" the same way, then asks who we keep company with:
The second city is Libnah, "whiteness." Read spiritually, and in line with its place in the order, we may take it as "separation from evil."… In the groups people join for charitable, moral and even religious purposes, how many allow themselves the greatest licence imaginable! On public platforms the friends and the enemies of Christ often stand side by side… Libnah has, in fact, few citizens in the Israel of today.
Joshua is not chasing whoever attacked him. He is working through a route set for him:
Here is another lesson. The Lord leads Joshua. When his enemies attack, he does not turn aside to chase them, and nothing stops him following the course the Lord Himself sets before him in his conquests. He takes the cities that lie on the road the Lord leads him along.
Libnah is one name in a chain. One writer lists the chain and shows where it ends:
From this point nothing stops Israel's victorious progress (v. 19). They must strike the enemies till none are left… The word of God has encouraged Joshua himself (v. 8), so he can encourage the people (v. 25). Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir are their victorious stages. They take possession of their inheritance, and then "they return to the camp to Gilgal" (v. 43).
- Passed on. The day after the long day, Joshua treats yesterday's victory as a starting line. Every success is only a spur to further conquest.
- Bowed. Makkedah means "bowing the head." The proud kings had to bow there; Israel bows willingly to the God of creation.
- White. Libnah means "whiteness." The purity to win is not the whitewash of graves, but real separation from evil — sanctification to God.
- Rare. Such separation is scarce. Where the friends and the enemies of Christ mix freely, Libnah has few citizens.
- Led. Joshua does not chase his attackers. He takes the cities on the road the Lord leads him along, and the stages end back at Gilgal.
And Jehovah gave it also and the king thereof into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it and he did to the king thereof as he had done to the king of Jericho.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Joshua passed, and all Israel with him, from Libnah to Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it.
The five kings are dead and their armies broken, yet the campaign does not pause: Joshua marches the army on to the next fortified town. Why must a people already handed a crushing victory still besiege one more city?
Lachish is one link in a chain. The towns Israel takes are stages on the way to owning what God had promised.
From this point on nothing stops Israel's victorious progress (v. 19). They must strike the enemies until none remain. The five kings are taken and hung on five trees... Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir are their stages of victory. They take possession of their inheritance, and then "they returned to the camp at Gilgal" (v. 43).
The march from Libnah to Lachish answers the question: Israel took the victory God had just given as ground to advance from.
Israel was not to use the victory over the multitudes of Canaan in a half-hearted way. Success should only be the occasion for fresh effort. In their energy for the Lord, Israel pursued and killed until not one enemy remained. Such is the spirit of true Christian warfare. The present advantage becomes the base line for advance to further victory. Every success, properly understood, is only a spur to further conquest.
A group of kings had attacked Joshua. He could have spent the rest of the war chasing them down.
Another lesson here is this. Led by the Lord, Joshua does not let the attack of his enemies turn him aside to chase them. Nor does it stop him following the course which the Lord Himself sets before him in his conquests. He takes the cities which are on the road the Lord leads him.
Lachish was no minor village. Its king and its position on the map both explain why Joshua could not pass it by.
An Amorite city in the lowlands of Judah. Its king was one of the four the king of Jerusalem called on to join him in attacking Gibeon, which had made peace with the Israelites. But the Amorites were struck down, and Joshua took Lachish after a siege of two days. It was a fortified city on the route running from north to south.
Here Israel laid siege to the city and fought against it. Commentators tie that resistance to the strength of the place, though they differ over what the name means.
Lachish is again a difficult word. Gesenius, from the Arabic, takes the meaning "obstinate," referring to how hard it was to assault. Young makes it similar to Jarmuth — "height"... In Hebrew we can only find a meaning, it seems, by dividing it. Lach-ish may then mean "walk (as) men." In fact Lachish held out against Joshua longer than most cities of the land, though not long. It fell on the second day.
Another writer takes that same reading of the name as a picture of Christian conduct.
From Libnah they passed on to Lachish, whose name we have noted as meaning "walk as men." Its army had already lost the battle. Now the inhabitants are killed and Israel captures the city (v. 32). A true walk as men who honour God can only belong to those who are born again.
Joshua camps and Joshua fights, yet the record gives the credit elsewhere. One fact explains the speed of the whole southern sweep.
The kings conquered and killed, city after city fell fast as "the LORD gave them" into Israel's hands. So the whole of the south country — hills, valleys and springs — became their possession. "And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel." It was a very great conquest "at one time." Thinking it over can only stir soldiers of Christ to faith and zeal, and move them to act in simple obedience to the Lord.
- One stage — Lachish is a stop on the march, not the end of it. Israel presses on until no enemy remains.
- One footing — Israel uses the last victory as the base line for the next advance, never as a place to settle.
- One road — Joshua does not chase the enemies who attacked him. He takes the cities that lie on the path the Lord leads him.
- One fortress — Lachish was a fortified town on the main north–south road. It held out longer than most, and fell on the second day.
- One victor — the cities fell because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. That fact should stir faith, zeal and plain obedience today.
And Jehovah gave Lachish into the hand of Israel; and they took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah.
The long day at Gibeon is over, and Joshua now moves south through Canaan city by city — Makkedah, Libnah, and then Lachish. Here the Lord gives the city, Israel's sword takes it, and Lachish falls a day later than the rest, ending as Libnah did.
Lachish is one stage in a campaign that writers trace to God from start to finish.
The kings were conquered and killed. City after city fell quickly as "the Lord delivered them" into Israel's hands. So the whole of the south country — hills, valleys and springs — became their possession. "And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel." It was a very great conquest "at one time." Thinking about it can only stir soldiers of Christ to faith and zeal, and to act in simple obedience to the Lord.
Yet God does not act instead of His people. He gives the city, and He still sends men against its walls.
He uses His people, and in a certain sense it was gracious of Him to do so. He could now, as at the Red Sea, have done everything without them. But He chose to employ the people of God... it is short-sighted and irreverent folly to miss the honour of sharing the Lord's work at that time.
Lachish took two days, not one. Writers tie that extra day to the city's strength, and to the meaning of its name.
Lachish is again a difficult word. Gesenius, from the Arabic, takes the meaning to be "obstinate," because the city could not be stormed... In Hebrew we can only find a meaning, it seems, by dividing it. Lach-ish may then mean "walk (as) men." In fact Lachish stood against Joshua longer than most cities of the land, though not long. Joshua took it on the second day.
Its strength was not only in its walls but in where it stood.
An Amorite city in the lowlands of Judah. The king of Jerusalem called on its king, as one of four, to join him in attacking Gibeon. Gibeon had made peace with the Israelites. But the Amorites were defeated, and Joshua took Lachish after a siege of two days. It was a fortified city on the route running from north to south.
Lachish is not simply an obstacle removed. It is property handed over. That is why the verse spends no words on how the walls fell, and reports only the city struck and its people destroyed.
Do not look at the captured cities simply as strongholds of the enemy. They belong to Israel by the gift of God. Many of them appear later in Israel's history, so what they mean for us matters all the more... The account here gives no details of the assault. It records nothing except the destruction of the inhabitants. The names of the captured cities seem to be the only significant thing.
Commentators differ on where the name comes from. Those who read it as "walk as men" find a lesson in the city passing into Israel's hands.
The third city is Lachish, which we have already seen under its Canaanite king, but which we now have to see as a possession of Israel... it is a city of the land beyond the Jordan, the heavenly country. "Walk as men" is the meaning of "Lachish." How else, then, can we read it except as "walk as in the risen Man — not as of the world, but as heavenly, as Christ is"?
The same reading also shows who can walk that way.
From Libnah they passed to Lachish. We have noted that its name means "walk as men". Its army had already lost the battle. Now the inhabitants are killed and Israel captures the city (v.32). A true walk as men who honour God can only belong to those who are born again.
Lachish is a link in a chain, not a single episode. Writers read the list of cities as a route with a destination.
From this time nothing stops Israel's victorious progress (v. 19). They must strike the enemies until none remain... Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir are their victorious stages. They take possession of their inheritance, and then "they return to the camp to Gilgal." (v. 43)
- Given — Lachish did not fall to better tactics. It fell because the Lord handed it over. He fought for Israel through the whole southern campaign.
- Given, yet used — He could have done it all alone, as at the Red Sea. He chose to use His people. That is their honour, not His need.
- Given, yet resisted — this city held out two days, longer than most. Strong walls on a main road slow the advance. They do not stop it.
- Given as inheritance — the cities are not just enemy positions cleared away. They belong to Israel by God's gift. That is why their names matter more than the siege.
- Given to the risen — "walk as men" in Israel's hands speaks of a walk shaped by the risen Christ. Only those born again can walk it.
Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.
Joshua's southern campaign moves city by city. At Lachish an outside king brings his army in to save the town, and one short line records the result: Horam and all his people fall, yet Gezer itself is never listed among the captured cities.
The chapter records capture after capture. Horam's arrival breaks that pattern, as one writer points out:
This fourth place in the series does not continue the order of progression we have had so far. It is distinct and peculiar. Horam king of Gezer comes up to assist Lachish, and is smitten — he and his people; but there is no taking of his city at this time.
Horam attacked. Joshua struck him down and kept moving, without turning aside to take Gezer. One writer draws a lesson from that:
Another lesson here is this. The Lord leads Joshua, so the attack of his enemies does not turn him aside to chase them. Nor does it stop him from keeping to the course the Lord Himself sets before him in his conquests. He takes the cities which are on the road the Lord leads him.
The two names in this verse carry the sense of the whole episode:
Gezer means "isolated" or "cut off," and Horam means "swollen." So Horam speaks of the swollen pride that glories in its independence. Scripture does not say that Joshua took the city itself, for God is not looking for a place of isolation for any of His saints. But Joshua did destroy Horam and his people. Gezer appears to be one of the cities that Israel never took over. It shows that cases of independent isolation were still found in Israel after they had subdued their enemies. The same has sadly been true of the Church of God in her history.
Horam came out to defend Lachish, a name read as "walk as men." Another writer takes those same names and presses the fight into our own day:
May this not speak of the pride of man's nature? It holds on to its independence and refuses the judgment passed on the first Adam, even though accepting that judgment would mean exaltation in the Second. This is certainly no imaginary enemy of Joshua, or of Israel in our own day at least. Lachish, the "walk as men," is still fought for hard on behalf of the Canaanites, ignoring God's true Man, in whom all believers have a common place.
The king died here; the city did not become Israel's. One writer names what later kept the Canaanites in place there:
But Ephraim does not escape the common failure. Gezer is known as a place where the Canaanites were allowed to stay, though they became servants. Sins are too often spared because they are useful; and among Ephraimites as much as anyone. And because a gracious God still blesses, we think He cares very little. Yet a day of reckoning comes at last.
Another writer notes the difference Scripture draws between two tribes:
Scripture distinguishes. The men of Judah could not drive out all; the men of Ephraim did not — and these last turned their slackness into a source of gain.
Gezer does have an ending. The unfinished command was carried out generations later, in a reign of peace:
He receives Gezer from Pharaoh, who had wiped out the Canaanites living in that city and given it to his daughter, the king's wife. So the order to destroy the Canaanites is carried out without trouble for this reign of peace. Their city rightfully belonged to Israel. The people's weakness had spared all these Canaanites long ago. Now they are brought into subjection.
- Struck — Horam came up to rescue Lachish. Joshua struck down him and all his people; the help arrived, and none of it survived.
- Swollen — his name means swollen, his city means cut off. Together they picture a pride that glories in standing alone.
- Skirted — Joshua kept to the road the Lord set before him. He did not chase the attacker off course, so Gezer stayed untaken.
- Spared — the unfinished work came back. Ephraim later did not drive the Canaanites out of Gezer; it turned that slackness into profit.
- Settled — Solomon's reign of peace cleared the city at last. The long-delayed command was carried out, and Israel held what was its own.
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, passed from Lachish to Eglon; and they encamped against it, and fought against it.
Joshua 10 records a long chain of captured towns. This verse is one link in the chain. The army moves on from Lachish to Eglon and settles in to fight. Why does Scripture bother to name each stage, and what does the taking of Eglon mean for readers who face no armies?
Why does the army move from one city to the next in this order? One writer finds the answer in who is leading:
Another instruction here is that the Lord leads Joshua. The attack of his enemies does not turn him aside to follow them. It does not keep him from the course which the Lord Himself sets before him in his conquests. He takes the cities which are on the road the Lord leads him along.
The chapter lists city after city, and the shape of that list is part of the record:
And now the strongholds yield, one by one. Six cities stand out here. Exactly in the middle of them we find the attack and destruction of the king of Gezer.
The same writer looks past the walls and asks whose these cities really are:
The cities taken are not to be looked at simply as strongholds of the enemy. They belong to Israel by the gift of God. Many of them appear later in Israel's history, so what they mean for us matters all the more. Their meanings too will be good at their core. We see this in Hebron, which keeps that name throughout, although to the Canaanites it was Kirjath-arba. Indeed, in general, the Canaanite owners count for little, except as a hindrance to the true heirs.
The names of these cities carry meaning. One commentator reads Eglon this way:
Next, Joshua fought against Eglon (v.34) and took the city, destroying its inhabitants. We have seen that Eglon, meaning "round, as a wheel," signifies God's government, which involves the field of prophecy. Israel therefore took possession of this. Only faith in the Lord Jesus can hold, understand and value prophecy as it should be.
Another commentator takes the same picture further:
The wheel of destiny finds its place in the chariot of God's providence when Israel subdues Eglon. The humbling effect of man's changing circumstances then gives us profitable exercise. It is no longer a hopeless, impenetrable mystery.
The siege of Eglon ended with the whole city destroyed. Many readers stumble here. One commentator answers them:
It is well known that not a few have found a difficulty in these extreme measures of Joshua, as expressing Jehovah's will. The exterminating severity with which the work was pursued in the land of Canaan shocks them. But they forget, or do not know, what these Canaanites were. They were the most daring enemies against God, and the most openly depraved and shameless people on earth... God meant the descendants of Abraham to be His people in the land. How then could He tolerate there the very people whose moral evil and idolatry would infect Israel most? I repeat, they might have fled elsewhere if they did not repent of their wickedness. God had said plainly, long before, that He meant to bring His people to Canaan... The cup of their wickedness was full when His dealings with Israel were ripe enough for bringing His people in.
Eglon is one stage among several. One writer lists them all and notes where they end:
From this time nothing stops Israel's victorious progress (v. 19). They must strike the enemies until none remain... Their victorious stages are Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron and Debir. They take possession of their inheritance, and then "they return to the camp at Gilgal." (v. 43)
The same writer explains why the army keeps coming back to Gilgal:
Gilgal was the place of circumcision. It was the starting point for the army of Jehovah before they had won a single victory. It was also the gathering place after victory (Joshua 10:15), and again the starting point for fresh conquests. The judgment of the flesh stood fixed. The people had to keep applying it to themselves. Otherwise the flesh would work to regain what it had lost, and one victory would never lead to a second.
- Led — Joshua does not let his enemies choose his route; he takes the cities on the road the Lord leads him along.
- Given — Eglon was Israel's by God's gift before the siege began; the Canaanite owner counted only as a hindrance to the true heir.
- Named — Eglon means something round like a wheel, a picture of God's government and prophecy, which only faith in the Lord Jesus can hold.
- Cleared — the severity shocks readers. But the Canaanites were the most openly depraved people on earth, and they might have fled if they would not repent.
- Returned — the stages run Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir, then back to Gilgal. The place of self-judgment is both the base of every victory and the start of the next.
And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword; and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed on that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.
Eglon falls just as Lachish had fallen the day before. Why was the severity so total, and what can a reader today learn from a list of ruined towns?
Eglon is one link in a chain of conquests. One writer lists the cities in order, and marks what had changed in Joshua himself:
From this time nothing stops Israel's victorious progress (v. 19); they must strike the enemies till none remain. Joshua takes the five kings and hangs them on five trees. He sees his way to this more clearly, from an earlier page in his history that he learnt in God's presence. Joshua has got into the way which suits God's holiness (vv. 26, 27). Encouraged himself by the word of God (v. 8), he can encourage the people (v. 25). Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron and Debir are their victorious stages. They take possession of their inheritance, and then they return "to the camp at Gilgal" (v. 43).
Devoting every person in the city to destruction is the hardest part of the verse. One writer answers the objection head on, naming what these nations were and what warning they had:
Many have found a difficulty in these extreme measures of Joshua as an expression of the Lord's will. The exterminating severity of the work in the land of Canaan shocks them. But they forget, or do not know, who these Canaanites were. They were the most daring enemies of God, the most openly depraved and shameless people on earth... God meant Abraham's descendants to be His people in the land. So how could He allow people there who were the most infectious to Israel, both in morals and in idolatry?... They might have fled elsewhere if they would not repent of their sins. God had long ago said plainly that He meant to bring His people to Canaan... In the book of Genesis we are told that the cup of the Amorites was not yet full. The cup of their iniquity was full when God's dealings with Israel were ripe enough to bring His people in.
The verse says the city was taken. One writer marks a difference between these towns and Jericho, the first city Israel met:
Yet notice that Israel destroyed none of these cities, as it had destroyed Jericho; it captured them.
That difference matters. The battles happen inside the land Israel already owns, not on the way to it:
If Joshua and the Israelites took cities in Canaan, it was because they were in Canaan. Our enemies are there, and there it is we should meet them.
Two writers work from the meaning of the city's name:
Next, Joshua fought against Eglon (v. 34) and took the city, destroying its inhabitants. We have seen that Eglon, meaning "round, as a wheel," signifies God's government, involving the field of prophecy. So Israel took possession of this, because only faith in the Lord Jesus can truly hold, understand and value prophecy.
Another writer applies the same image to the changes of life:
When Israel subdues Eglon, the wheel of destiny finds its place in the chariot of God's providence. The humbling changes of human life then give us profitable exercise. They are no longer a hopeless, impenetrable mystery.
The long day of battle also settled who deserved the credit. One writer names both Lachish and Eglon while pointing to the gods Canaan served:
The nations around Israel worshipped the sun and the moon in many forms. Among the Canaanites, Baal stood for the sun and Ashtoreth for the moon. So here Israel's God was proclaimed "God of gods." The very gods of Canaan lengthened the day that brought about their destruction!... But Israel did not war in their own strength, and it was not their right hand that saved them... Otherwise Lachish would have kept its splendid king Japhia. Eglon's wheel would have turned only to grind out "vanity of vanities." So important is it that Israel's victories should be seen not as their own but God's!
- Taken by command. God's word encouraged Joshua, so Joshua could encourage the people. Eglon became one of the "victorious stages" of a single ordered march.
- Taken in judgment. The destruction shocks readers. Writers answer that these nations were the most openly depraved on earth, and that they could have fled or repented while God waited for the cup of their iniquity to fill.
- Taken, not burned. Israel captured these cities; it did not destroy them as it did Jericho. The fighting takes place inside the land Israel already owns.
- Taken as a picture. Eglon's name means a wheel, a picture of God's government over events. When faith subdues it, the turning of circumstances stops being an impenetrable mystery.
- Taken by God. God made the sun and moon that Canaan worshipped lengthen the day of Canaan's own defeat. The victory was His, not Israel's right hand.
And Joshua went up, and all Israel with him, from Eglon to Hebron; and they fought against it.
Joshua does not stop after the long day at Gibeon. He moves up from Eglon to Hebron, a city whose king is already dead — so why a second battle here, and what does the name mean?
The king of Hebron was already dead. So what was left here to fight?
There is an instructive lesson in the second victory at Hebron (Joshua 10:23 and 36). The king of Hebron was one of the five who had been killed at Makkedah, but a fresh king had been set up in the city. This centre of government, with "all its towns" and "every person in it," was now overthrown. In their rapid conquest, Israel had not had time to search out all the hiding places of those who fled. So they came back, repopulated and refortified old Hebron, and the city had to be conquered a second time. And in Christian warfare victory must be thorough. It is not enough to scatter enemies: the stronghold must be destroyed outright. Spiritual enemies are not easily wiped out, even when they are baffled or beaten. You must search out their hiding places, or the enemy recovers his strength and comes back to the war with fresh energy. No sitting still and no rest is allowed in this fight. Spiritual energy and watchfulness must never stop, or the wars will have to be fought over and over again.
These cities are more than enemy fortresses.
We are not to look at the captured cities only as strongholds of the enemy. They belong by the gift of God to Israel, and many of them appear later in Israel's history. So what they mean for us matters all the more. Their meanings too will be good at root, as we see in Hebron. It is always called by this name, although to the Canaanites it was Kirjath-arba. In general the Canaanites who held these cities are of little account, except as a hindrance to the true heirs, and in most cases their names are not even recorded.
The name of the city carries the lesson.
Hebron was attacked and taken next by Israel (vv. 36-37) on the day after the extended day. It seems there were smaller towns belonging to Hebron, and Israel killed all the people in them. Hebron means "communion." Only those who are of faith have any right to hold the place of true communion or fellowship. Satan spends every effort to keep us from this, but faith in the Son of God overcomes.
Where Hebron sits in that list matters too.
Hebron comes next, and we are quite familiar with its meaning; but it fills a different place from the one we might expect — sixth instead of second. Following Eglon, it shows us communion kept up through all changes. Those changes are nothing but the fruitful discipline appointed "for our good, that we may share His holiness." And what is sharing His holiness but being in practical communion with Him?
So why Hebron, and why now?
Another lesson here is that the Lord leads Joshua. The attack of his enemies does not turn him aside to chase after them. It does not stop him following the course the Lord Himself sets before him in his conquests. He takes the cities that are on the road the Lord leads him along.
One cause explains how so much land fell so fast.
City after city fell fast as "the LORD gave them into the hand of Israel." The whole of the south country — hills, valleys and springs — became theirs. "Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel." It was a very great conquest "at one time." Thinking about it can only stir the soldiers of Christ to faith and zeal, and to act in wholehearted obedience to the Lord.
The campaign ends where it began.
After the victory, Israel returned to the camp at Gilgal. The return of these conquerors of the Canaanite kings holds an instructive lesson. Whatever our victories and conquests may be, we must always come back to the place that suits us before God, where self is set aside. Activity, the power that goes with us, success — everything tends to draw us away from God. At the least, it divides the attention of our changeable hearts.
- Gift. God gave Hebron to Israel before any army took it. The Canaanites held it as intruders, under a name of their own.
- Gift claimed. You still have to take what God gives. Faith alone has a right to the place of communion, and faith must go up and get it.
- Gift contested. One king had already died at Makkedah, yet a new king sat in Hebron. A beaten enemy comes back to ground you never searched.
- Gift secured. Victory must be thorough. Scattering an enemy is not the same as destroying his stronghold, and the same war gets fought twice.
- Gift kept. After Hebron and the rest, the army goes back to Gilgal. Success is where the heart most needs self put aside.
And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein he let none remain, according to all that he had done to Eglon; and he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls that were therein.
Joshua 10:37 is one line in a fast list of southern cities that fell after Israel's victory at Gibeon. Hebron goes the way of the rest — king, towns, and every person in it — which raises two questions: why was the destruction total, and why does Scripture name these places one by one?
Earlier in the chapter the king of Hebron dies at Makkedah. Here a king of Hebron dies again. One writer draws a lesson from that.
The second victory at Hebron teaches us a lesson. The king of Hebron was one of the five killed at Makkedah, but the city had set up a new king. This seat of government, with "its towns" and "every person in it," was now overthrown. Israel conquered so fast that they had no time to hunt out every hiding place of those who fled. So the fugitives came back, resettled old Hebron and rebuilt its defences, and it had to be taken a second time. In Christian warfare victory must be thorough. It is not enough to scatter your enemies: the stronghold must be utterly destroyed. Spiritual enemies are not easily wiped out, even when they are beaten back or defeated. Their hiding places must be hunted out, or the enemy recovers his strength and returns to the fight with fresh energy.
"He left none remaining" is the hardest part of the verse, and one writer refuses to soften it. He treats the killing not as Israel's cruelty but as God's own sentence.
For the believer, whether Israel was right to conquer Canaan ought not to be a question at all. The attempts to soften the matter, whether by Jews or by Christians, are useless. It was righteous vengeance on earth. It was not wrath from heaven, and still less was it grace reigning through righteousness as in the gospel… The Canaanites were devoted, in the most strict and solemn manner, to utter destruction. It was not vengeance on the part of Israel, but of God, who was pleased to make His people executors of judgment.
The verse gives no siege, no tactics, no Canaanite names beyond the king. What it does give is the city's name.
We should not look at the cities taken as mere strongholds of the enemy. They belong to Israel by the gift of God, and many of them appear later in Israel's history. So what they mean for us matters more. Their meanings too are good at heart. Take Hebron: Scripture always calls it by this name, although to the Canaanites it was Kirjath-arba… No details of the attack are given here, and no account of anything but the wiping out of the inhabitants. The names of the cities gained seem to be the only thing that carries meaning.
Hebron's name carries a meaning, and one writer reads the city's fall through it.
Hebron was next attacked and taken by Israel (vv. 36-37) on the day following the extended day. There were evidently satellite cities connected with Hebron, and Israel killed all the inhabitants. Hebron means "communion" and only those who are of faith have any right to possess the place of true communion or fellowship. Satan spends every effort to keep us from this, but faith in the Son of God overcomes.
The Anakim had held Hebron. One writer insists that taking it from them was never Israel's own achievement.
But Israel did not fight in their own strength, and it was not their right hand that saved them. If they or their enemies imagined this, the significance of their victories was wholly lost and turned to the glorification of man. Hebron could never in this way have been rescued from the Anakim, but would have been Kirjath-arba still.
The verse says Joshua did to Hebron "as he had done to Eglon." Both cities stand in one chain of named stages, and the chapter ends with the army back where it started.
From this time nothing stops Israel's victorious progress (v. 19). They must strike the enemies till none remain… The word of God had encouraged Joshua himself (v. 8), so he can encourage the people (v. 25). Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir are their victorious stages. They take possession of their inheritance, and then they return to the camp at Gilgal.
- Judgment, not revenge. God sentenced the Canaanites. Israel only carried the sentence out.
- Gift, not prize. God had already given these cities to Israel. That is why Scripture records their names and not the battles.
- Communion, not real estate. Hebron means communion. Only faith has a claim to it, so the city had to be cleared of every occupier.
- Thorough, not partial. One king of Hebron had already fallen, yet the city filled up again. Scattered enemies return, so the stronghold must be destroyed.
- Victory, then Gilgal. Hebron was one stage among many on the way to possession, and the road led back to the camp.
And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it.
This verse comes near the end of a long run of conquests, as city after city falls to Joshua. It looks like a plain line in a war report, yet commentators find in it both a lesson on how Joshua fought and a meaning hidden in the city's name.
Joshua's enemies attacked him, but they did not set his route. One writer notes that the attack never pulled Joshua off course. Turning back to Debir was part of a road already marked out for him:
Another lesson here is this. Joshua is led by the Lord. The attack of his enemies does not turn him aside to chase after them. It does not stop him following the course the Lord Himself sets before him in his conquests. He takes the cities that lie on the road the Lord leads him along.
Debir lay in the hill country of Judah, near Hebron. Scripture tells of its capture twice, and the two accounts name different men:
A city in the highlands of Judah near Hebron. It was one of the Amorite cities destroyed, and its king was killed. Joshua, as the leader of Israel, is presented as taking it. But in Judges we find that Othniel actually took it. Caleb gave Othniel his daughter Achsah in marriage for capturing it. Later the city was given to the priests. Its earlier name was Kirjath-sepher, or Kirjath-sannah.
One writer presses the change of name. The old name pointed to a book; the new one points to a voice:
Debir, like Hebron, had a Canaanite name: it was Kirjath-sepher, the "city of the book." How striking that in Caleb's hands the city of the book becomes the place of a divine oracle! A written word on its own gives way to a living Voice. It is the voice of Him who delights to draw near and speak to the heart of the worshipper, when the heart is right with Him. For the Christian, of course, the "oracle" is not cut off from the "book." It neither replaces it nor overrules it.
The city's name means "speaker." One commentator draws a lesson from who did the speaking there, and what happened to them:
From Hebron, Joshua and his army went to Debir. This city has the same name as the king of Eglon (v.3). It means "speaker" or "oracle." Joshua captured this city too, and killed its king and its people (vv.38-39). Satan uses some people as effective speakers in his cause. They must be fully driven out and replaced by speakers for God. How good it is if we know how to silence the claims of false doctrine by the true doctrine of Christ.
Hebron fell in the verses just before, and Debir closes the whole list of conquests. One writer finds this a fitting name to end on:
Debir, then, ends this series. Earlier we found the name attached to the king of Eglon, but here it belongs to an Israelite city. It is a wonderfully blessed name to end with. It speaks of God dwelling with man — of One who, if He is near, cannot be silent. His voice has answered faith's questioning wherever faith has been. Yes, it has gone ahead to win people to Himself. It is the voice that once spoke openly to the winds and the seas and hushed them. It still gives rest, whatever the cause of trouble.
Taking Debir once did not settle the matter. The Anakim — giants — were still in the area afterwards, and one writer explains why the enemy wanted that ground:
In chapter 11, verse 21, the Anakim are named. These were giants (Num. 13:33), and they lived in the area of Hebron and Debir. We have already seen that Joshua took Hebron (meaning "communion") and Debir ("the speaker") in chapter 10:36-39. But Anakim were still in the area. They were determined to hold at least part of Hebron and Debir, for Satan wants to encroach on these things that rightly belong to believers. The enemy would like to claim a place of communion with God, so he can "speak" his evil doctrine as though it were God's message.
- Road — Joshua's turn back to Debir was not a reaction to his enemies. He took the cities that lay on the road the Lord led him along.
- Book — Debir's older name, Kirjath-sepher, means "city of the book." In Caleb's hands that city became the place of a divine oracle.
- Voice — "Debir" means speaker, or oracle, and it closes the list of conquests. God near His people cannot be silent. His voice still gives rest.
- Speaker — Joshua killed the king and people of Debir. Those Satan uses as speakers must be driven out and replaced by speakers for God, and false doctrine silenced by the true doctrine of Christ.
- Hold — giants still clung to Hebron and Debir afterwards. The enemy wants a foothold in communion, so he can pass off his message as God's.
And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he let none remain as he had done to Hebron, and as he had done to Libnah, and to the king thereof, so he did to Debir and to the king thereof.
Debir is the last southern city named in Joshua's campaign, and the verse measures its fall against Hebron's. Two questions press here: why did God order such total destruction, and why did Hebron have to fall twice?
One writer notes that Hebron itself fell twice, and turns that into a rule for Christian warfare.
The king of Hebron was one of the five kings killed at Makkedah, but a new king had been set up in the city. In their rapid conquest, Israel had not had time to search out all the hiding places of those who had fled. So they came back, repopulated and refortified old Hebron, and it had to be conquered again. And in Christian warfare victory must be thorough. It is not enough to scatter enemies: the stronghold must be completely destroyed. Spiritual enemies, if frustrated or even defeated, are not easily wiped out. Their hiding places must be searched out, or the enemy recovers his strength and returns to the war with fresh activity. No sitting still and no rest is allowed in this struggle. Spiritual energy and watchfulness need to be constant, or the wars will have to be fought over and over again.
The name of this city carries weight. Commentators point out that Debir means "oracle" or "speaker," and that it is the same name as the king of Eglon listed earlier in the chapter.
From Hebron Joshua and his army went to Debir. Its name is the same as that of the king of Eglon (v.3), and means "speaker" or "oracle." This city too was captured and its king and inhabitants killed (vs.38-39). Those whom Satan uses effectively as speakers in his cause must be totally expelled and replaced by speakers for God. How good it is if we know how to silence the claims of false doctrine by means of the true doctrine of Christ.
The city also had an older name, and its later history adds a wrinkle to the account in Joshua.
City in the highlands of Judah near Hebron. It was one of the Amorite cities destroyed, with its king killed. The record presents Joshua, the leader of Israel, as taking it. But in Judges we find that Othniel was the one who took it, and Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage for capturing it. Later it went to the priests. Its former name was KIRJATH-SEPHER or KIRJATH-SANNAH.
"He left none remaining" is the hardest line in the verse. One writer meets the objection head on.
An awful picture indeed it is! Unbelievers have made the most of it by denouncing these records and blaspheming the righteous and holy God. Others have tried to excuse the Israelites by saying that 1,500 years before Christ this was simply how people treated conquered nations. But it was God Himself who commanded their destruction. Joshua and Israel had no choice at all in the matter. They acted in obedience to the divine will. God's time for carrying out His righteous judgments had come and He used Israel as His instrument. The word came to Abraham about his offspring: "They shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." The sin of these nations had now reached that point, and God's wrath and holy judgment had to fall on them.
God also meant Israel to learn something by carrying it out.
Israel was in this respect only the executioner of divine judgment, not of their own passion or greed for gain. He might have destroyed them by plague or famine. Instead He chose Israel to do it, and so gave His own people the most solemn lesson He could give them, about the holiness of His nature, and about what sin is before Him. They themselves would bring on similar awful judgments if they followed these nations in their sin.
Debir closes a list of towns that fell in quick succession, and writers read the whole run as one act of God.
Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir are their victorious stages; they take possession of their inheritance, and then "they return to the camp to Gilgal." (v. 43)
The speed of it is the point that draws comment.
All of this he took at one time, but nothing could account for this except that the Lord God fought for Israel. This is likely the most amazing and decisive military engagement that history has ever seen.
Where the army went next carries its own lesson.
The campaign over, Joshua and all Israel returned to the camp at Gilgal. And Gilgal must always be our camp; we must return there after our victories. Makkedah may serve to witness the destruction of the power of the enemy, but Gilgal witnesses the judgment of self, the power of the cross of Christ on what we are.
- Command, not cruelty. God ordered the destruction at Debir, against nations whose guilt was now complete. Joshua had no choice, and Israel acted as the executioner of judgment, not out of greed.
- Lesson through conquest. God could have used plague or famine. He used Israel so that His people would learn, by their own hands, His holiness and what sin is before Him.
- Thorough, or it returns. Hebron fell twice because Israel left hiding places unsearched. "He left none remaining" is the standard; scattered enemies are not defeated enemies.
- Speakers replaced. Debir means "oracle" or "speaker." The true doctrine of Christ silences the claims of false teaching.
- Victory ends at Gilgal. City after city fell because the Lord fought for Israel. The campaign ends not in celebration but back at Gilgal, the place of self-judgment.