Joshua 10:37

. And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron,.... Which lay in the hill country, and therefore they are said to go up to it from Eglon, which lay lower; and, according to Bunting {g}, it was sixteen miles from it: and they fought against it; it making some resistance at first, and did not surrender at once, as demanded. {g} Ibid. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 96.) Joshua 10:37 Ver. 37. And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof,.... For though the king of Hebron was one of the kings that were taken in the cave of Makkedah, and hanged; yet before Joshua came up to it, they had set up another king over them: and all the cities thereof; for Hebron was a metropolitan city, and had other cities dependent on it, and subject to it: and all the souls that [were] therein; both in Hebron, and in the cities subject to it: he left none remaining; in any of them: according to all that he had done to Eglon; the last place he came from: but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that [were] therein; but it seems that afterwards some that made their escape before the taking of the city, and other Canaanites driven out of their habitations, repeopled it; so that after Joshua's death it was recovered again by the tribe of Judah, Jude 1:10; unless there is given in that place a more particular account of the taking of this city, with others at this time; but the former seems most likely. Joshua 10:38 Ver. 38.

10:28-43 Joshua made speed in taking these cities. See what a great deal of work may be done in a little time, if we will be diligent, and improve our opportunities. God here showed his hatred of the idolatries and other abominations of which the Canaanites had been guilty, and shows us how great the provocation was, by the greatness of the destruction brought upon them. Here also was typified the destruction of all the enemies of the Lord Jesus, who, having slighted the riches of his grace, must for ever feel the weight of his wrath. The Lord fought for Israel. They could not have gotten the victory, if God had not undertaken the battle. We conquer when God fights for us; if he be for us, who can be against us?

And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof,.... For though the king of Hebron was one of the kings that were taken in the cave of Makkedah, and hanged; yet before Joshua came up to it, they had set up another king over them: and all the cities thereof; for Hebron was a metropolitan city, and had other cities dependent on it, and subject to it: and all the souls that were therein; both in Hebron, and in the cities subject to it: he left none remaining; in any of them: according to all that he had done to Eglon; the last place he came from: but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein; but it seems that afterwards some that made their escape before the taking of the city, and other Canaanites driven out of their habitations, repeopled it; so that after Joshua's death it was recovered again by the tribe of Judah, Judges 1:10; unless there is given in that place a more particular account of the taking of this city, with others at this time; but the former seems most likely.

The king thereof; either him mentioned before, Joshua 10:23 whose death is here repeated in this account of the general destruction of all the inhabitants of that place, or his heir or successor. All the cities thereof which were subject to its jurisdiction; this being, it seems, a royal city, as Gibeon was, Joshua 10:2 , and having cities under it as that had, Joshua 9:17 .

Jos 10:28-42. Seven More Kings Conquered. 28-42. that day Joshua took Makkedah—In this and the following verses is described the rapid succession of victory and extermination which swept the whole of southern Palestine into the hands of Israel. "All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal."

From Eglon he went up from the lowland to the mountains, attacked Hebron and took it, and did to this town and its king, and the towns belonging to it, as he had already done to the others. The king of Hebron cannot of course be the one who was taken in the cave of Makkedah and put to death there, but his successor, who had entered upon the government while Joshua was occupied with the conquest of the towns mentioned in Joshua 10:28-35 , which may possibly have taken more than a year. "All the cities thereof" are the towns dependent upon Hebron as the capital of the kingdom.

[Bible] 10:24. And when they were brought out to him, he called all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the army that were with him: Go, and set your feet on the necks of these kings. And when they had gone, and put their feet upon the necks of them lying under them, 10:25. He said again to them: Fear not, neither be ye dismayed, take courage, and be strong: for so will the Lord do to all your enemies, against whom you fight. 10:26. And Josue struck, and slew them, and hanged them upon five gibbets; and they hung until the evening. 10:27. And when the sun was down, he commanded the soldiers to take them down from the gibbets. And after they were taken down, they cast them into the cave, where they had lain hid, and put great stones at the mouth thereof, which remain until this day. 10:28. The same day Josue took Maceda, and destroyed it with the edge of the sword, and killed the king and all the inhabitants thereof: he left not in it the least remains. And he did to the king of Maceda, as he had done to the king of Jericho. 10:29. And he passed from Maceda with all Israel to Lebna, and fought against it: 10:30. And the Lord delivered it with the king thereof into the hands of Israel: and they destroyed the city with the edge of the sword, and all the inhabitants thereof. They left not in it any remains. And they did to the king of Lebna, as they had done to the king of Jericho. 10:31. From Lebna he passed unto Lachis, with all Israel: and investing it with his army, besieged it. 10:32. And the Lord delivered Lachis into the hands of Israel, and he took it the following day, and put it to the sword, and every soul that was in it, as he had done to Lebna. 10:33. At that time Horam, king of Gazer, came up to succour Lachis: and Josue slew him with all his people so as to leave none alive. 10:34. And he passed from Lachis to Eglon, and surrounded it, 10:35. And took it the same day: and put to the sword all the souls that were in it, according to all that he had done to Lachis.

[Reformed Biblical] Which though they took and killed all its inhabitants, yet they did not keep it; and therefore when Joshua and his army had forsaken it, and were returned to Gilgal, it seems the giants and other Canaanites being burnt out, or driven away from their former seats, planted and fortified themselves there; which made it necessary for Caleb to take it a second time, as is recorded #Joshua 15:14 Jude 1:10 . Or this is the same story, and the same conquest of Hebron, which is here generally related, and afterwards repeated, and more particularly described, #Joshua 15:13,14 . ## Ver. 37. The king thereof; either him mentioned before, #Joshua 10:23 whose death is here repeated in this account of the general destruction of all the inhabitants of that place, or his heir or successor. ## All the cities thereof which were subject to its jurisdiction; this being, it seems, a royal city, as Gibeon was, #Joshua 10:2 , and having cities under it as that had, #Joshua 9:17 . ## Ver. 38. He is said to return thither, not as if he had been there before, but because having gone as far westward and southward as he thought fit, even as far as Gaza, #Joshua 10:41 , he now returned towards Gilgal, which lay northward and eastward from him, and in his return fell upon Debir: See Poole "Joshua 15:15" . Ver. 39. No text from Poole on this verse. ## Ver. 40. All that breathed, i.e. all mankind, by a synecdoche; for they reserved the cattle for their own uses.

Compare the entrance of the high priest into the holy of holies on the day of atonement, Leviticus 16:2 , Leviticus 16:13 . For special appearances of this glory in the tabernacle, see Numbers 14:10 ; Numbers 16:19 , Numbers 16:42 . The tabernacle, after it had accompanied the Israelites in their wanderings in the wilderness, was most probably first set up in the holy land at Gilgal Joshua 4:19; Joshua 5:10; Joshua 9:6; Joshua 10:6, Joshua 10:43. But before the death of Joshua, it was erected at Shiloh Joshua 18:1; Joshua 19:51. Here it remained as the national sanctuary throughout the time of the Judges Jos 18:8; Joshua 21:2; Joshua 22:19; Judges 18:31; Judges 21:19; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 4:3. But its external construction was at this time somewhat changed, and doors, strictly so called, had taken the place of the entrance curtain 1 Samuel 3:15 : hence, it seems to have been sometimes called the temple 1 Samuel 1:9; 1 Samuel 3:3, the name by which the structure of Solomon was afterward commonly known. After the time of Eli it was removed to Nob in the canton of Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem 1 Samuel 21:1-9. From thence, in the time of David, it was removed to Gibeon 1 Chronicles 16:39; 1 Chronicles 21:29; 2 Chronicles 1:3; 1 Kings 3:4; 1 Kings 9:2. It was brought from Gibeon to Jerusalem by Solomon 1 Kings 8:4. After this, it disappears from the narrative of Scripture.