1 AND 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,
2 And 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,
3 And 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.
4 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 chariots very many.
5 And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
6 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, and burn their chariots with fire.
7 So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.
8 And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.
9 And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.
10 And 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.
11 And 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.
12 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.
13 But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.
14 And 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.
15 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.
16 So 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;
17 Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.
18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
19 There 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.
20 For 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.
21 And 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.
22 There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.
23 So 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.

1Nowe after the death of Moses the seruant of the Lord, it came to passe, that the Lord spake vnto Ioshua the sonne of Nun, Moses minister, saying,

2Moses my seruant is dead: now therefore arise, goe ouer this Iordan, thou, and all this people, vnto the land which I doe giue to them, euen to the children of Israel.

3Euery place that the sole of your foote shall tread vpon, that haue I giuen vnto you, as I said vnto Moses.

4From the wildernesse and this Lebanon, euen vnto the great Riuer, the riuer Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and vnto the great sea, toward the going downe of the Sunne, shalbe your coast.

5There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the dayes of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not faile thee, nor forsake thee.

6Bee strong, and of a good courage: for vnto this people shalt thou diuide for an inheritance the land which I sware vnto their fathers to giue them.

7Onely bee thou strong, and very courageous, that thou mayest obserue to doe according to all the Law, which Moses my seruant commaunded thee: turne not from it to the right hand, or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whither soeuer thou goest.

8This booke of the Law shal not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest obserue to doe according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt haue good successe.

9Haue not I commanded thee? be strong, and of a good courage, bee not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee, whither soeuer thou goest.

10 Then Ioshua commanded the Officers of the people, saying,

11Passe through the hoste, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals: for within three dayes ye shal passe ouer this Iordan, to goe in to possesse the land which the Lord your God giueth you, to possesse it.

12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to halfe the tribe of Manasseh, spake Ioshua, saying,

13Remember the word which Moses the seruant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath giuen you rest, and hath giuen you this land:

14Your wiues, your litle ones, and your cattell shall remaine in the lande which Moses gaue you on this side Iordan; but ye shall passe before your brethren armed, all the mightie men of valour, and helpe them:

15Untill the Lord haue giuen your brethren rest, as he hath giuen you, and they also haue possessed the lande which the Lord your God giueth them: then yee shall returne vnto the land of your possession, and enioy it, which Moses the Lords seruant gaue you on this side Iordan toward the Sunne rising.

16 And they answered Ioshua, saying, All that thou commandest vs, we will doe, and whither soeuer thou sendest vs, we will goe.

17According as we hearkened vnto Moses in all things, so will we hearken vnto thee: onely the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

18Whosoeuer he be that doth rebell against thy commandement, and will not hearken vnto thy words, in all that thou commandest him, he shall bee put to death: onely be strong, and of a good courage.

I == Josh 10:3 ; 19:15

 

 

II == Num 34:11 ; Josh 17:11 ; Judg 1:27 ; 1st Kings 4:11

 

III == Gen 31:49 ; Josh 13:11 ; Judg 3:3

 

IV == Gen 22:17 ; 3:12 ; Judg 7:12 ; 1st Sam 13:5

 

 

 

VI == Josh 10:8 ; 2nd Sam 8:4

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIII == Josh 13:6

 

 

 

IX == Josh 11:6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XII == Num 33:52 ; Deut 7:2 ; 20:16-17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XV == Ex 34:11-12 ; Deut 7:2 ; Josh 1:7

XVI == Josh 10:41 ; 12:8

 

 

 

XVII == Deut 7:24 ; Josh 12:7

 

 

 

 

XIX == Josh 9:3 , 7

XX == Deut 2:30 ; 20:16-17 ; Judg 14:4 ; 1st Sam 2:25 ; 1st Kings 12:15 ; Rom 9:18

 

XXI == Num 13:22 , 33 ; Deut 1:28 ; Josh 15:13-14

 

 

XXII == Josh 15:46 ; 1st Sam 17:4

XXIII == Num 26:53 ; 34:2 ; Josh 11:18 ; chapter 14-19 ; 21:44 ; 22:4 ; 23:1

 

1 When Jabin, king of Hazor, learned of this, he sent a message to Jobab, king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,

2 and to the northern kings in the mountain regions and in the Arabah near Chinneroth, in the foothills, and in Naphath-dor to the west.

3 These were Canaanites to the east and west, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the mountain regions, and Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

4 They came out with all their troops, an army numerous as the sands on the seashore, and with a multitude of horses and chariots.

5 All these kings joined forces and marched to the waters of Merom, where they encamped together to fight against Israel.

6 The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for by this time tomorrow I will stretch them slain before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots."

7 Joshua with his whole army came upon them at the waters of Merom in a surprise attack.

8 The LORD delivered them into the power of the Israelites, who defeated them and pursued them to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim, and eastward to the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them all down, leaving no survivors.

9 Joshua did to them as the LORD had commanded: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.

10 At that time Joshua, turning back, captured Hazor and slew its king with the sword; for Hazor formerly was the chief of all those kingdoms.

11 He also fulfilled the doom by putting every person there to the sword, till none was left alive. Hazor itself he burned.

12 Joshua thus captured all those kings with their cities and put them to the sword, fulfilling the doom on them, as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded.

13 However, Israel did not destroy by fire any of the cities built on raised sites, except Hazor, which Joshua burned.

14 The Israelites took all the spoil and livestock of these cities as their booty; but the people they put to the sword, until they had exterminated the last of them, leaving none alive.

15 As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua acted accordingly. He left nothing undone that the LORD had commanded Moses should be done.

16 So Joshua captured all this land: the mountain regions, the entire Negeb, all the land of Goshen, the foothills, the Arabah, as well as the mountain regions and foothills of Israel,

17 from Mount Halak that rises toward Seir as far as Baal-gad in the Lebanon valley at the foot of Mount Hermon. All their kings he captured and put to death.

18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time.

19 With the exception of the Hivites who lived in Gibeon, no city made peace with the Israelites; all were taken in battle.

20 For it was the design of the LORD to encourage them to wage war against Israel, that they might be doomed to destruction and thus receive no mercy, but be exterminated, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

21 At that time Joshua penetrated the mountain regions and exterminated the Anakim in Hebron, Debir, Anab, the entire mountain region of Judah, and the entire mountain region of Israel. Joshua fulfilled the doom on them and on their cities,

22 so that no Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites. However, some survived in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.

23 Thus Joshua captured the whole country, just as the LORD had foretold to Moses. Joshua gave it to Israel as their heritage, apportioning it among the tribes. And the land enjoyed peace.

v 1-5. The kings of the entire northern Canaan did not trust one another, but now, under their alarmed and chief king, v 10, of Hazor, they all unite in order to defeat Israel. (Jabin, “intelligent” a common name of all kings of Hazor. They gathered to him in great numbers on the flat plain near Lake Merom, just north of the Sea of Galilee. They no doubt planned to sweep down the Jordan valley or the King”s Highway and attack at Gilgal. Josephus says there were 300,000 foot soldiers (though there were probably more), 10.000 cavalry and 20,000 chariots. This would compare to tanks and motorized attack forces of modern days, and Joshua had never faced anything like it. 

v 6-9. Hearing of their preparations, Joshua did not wait for them to attack, but took the battle to them. It was a five day march, but the day before they made contact, the Lord again encouraged Joshua that he would kill them all, and instead of fearing the horses, he would hamstring them. Joshua made a surprise attack, as before, and chased them in all directions until they were all killed. (Individuals in all these battles may have escaped and hid.) The chariots were burned, and since the Lord had told Israel not to keep horses, Duet. 17:16, the hamstrings of their rear legs were cut, making them useless or would bleed to death. There trust was to be in God, Ps. 20:7. 

v 10-12. After the battle was over, Joshua took Hazor, the apparent capitol and about 25 times as large as Jericho, covering 200 acres. It was vital to control Hazor as it dominated several branches of an ancient trading highway. Joshua killed the king and all other persons within it, then destroyed it by fire as an example to other cities that Joshua burn any of their smaller cities

v 13-15. Joshua then began systematically destroying all the other kings of the coalition and their people. The cattle were taken prey and the cities left for later use by Israelites. Joshua had done all the Lord commanded him to do. 

v 16-20. The battles ranged over lands that stretched over the promised land from border to border in all directions and continued for a long time. The only city that made peace with Israel was Gibeon. The Lord had hardened the hearts of all the other people to make war on Israel so God could destroy them for their wickedness. This is a good point to remember today as we see all Israel’s nations trying to destroy her.

 

 

 

v 21-22. The Israelites feared to enter the promised land because of the giants, Num. 13:28-33. Now special mention is made that Joshua destroyed them all as God promised except a few in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod to be mopped up later. (Some apparently returned to Hebron, 14:15. for Caleb to overcome. Presumably they would have been there in Abraham’s time.)

v 23. In stating that Joshua took the whole land and the land had rest from war, it must be understood that he took the key points of all the land. This is why 13:1 says, “there remains very much land yet to be possessed”. The Lord had told them by Moses that it would be this way:
Ex 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
De 7:22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.