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Texts -- Joshua 10:1-14 (NET)

Context
Israel Defeats an Amorite Coalition
10:1 Adoni-Zedek , king of Jerusalem , heard how Joshua captured Ai and annihilated it and its king as he did Jericho and its king . He also heard how the people of Gibeon made peace with Israel and lived among them. 10:2 All Jerusalem was terrified because Gibeon was a large city , like one of the royal cities . It was larger than Ai and all its men were warriors . 10:3 So King Adoni-Zedek of Jerusalem sent this message to King Hoham of Hebron , King Piram of Jarmuth , King Japhia of Lachish , and King Debir of Eglon : 10:4 “Come to my aid so we can attack Gibeon , for it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites .” 10:5 So the five Amorite kings (the kings of Jerusalem , Hebron , Jarmuth , Lachish , and Eglon ) and all their troops gathered together and advanced . They deployed their troops and fought against Gibeon . 10:6 The men of Gibeon sent this message to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal , “Do not abandon your subjects ! Rescue us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings living in the hill country are attacking us.” 10:7 So Joshua and his whole army , including the bravest warriors , marched up from Gilgal . 10:8 The Lord told Joshua , “Don’t be afraid of them , for I am handing them over to you. Not one of them can resist you.” 10:9 Joshua attacked them by surprise after marching all night from Gilgal . 10:10 The Lord routed them before Israel . Israel thoroughly defeated them at Gibeon . They chased them up the road to the pass of Beth Horon and struck them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah . 10:11 As they fled from Israel on the slope leading down from Beth Horon , the Lord threw down on them large hailstones from the sky , all the way to Azekah . They died – in fact, more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword . 10:12 The day the Lord delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites , Joshua prayed to the Lord before Israel : “O sun , stand still over Gibeon ! O moon , over the Valley of Aijalon !” 10:13 The sun stood still and the moon stood motionless while the nation took vengeance on its enemies . The event is recorded in the Scroll of the Upright One. The sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a full day . 10:14 There has not been a day like it before or since . The Lord obeyed a man , for the Lord fought for Israel !

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • This account fits chronologically after 21:13. It records two great victories that God gave His people over two of the mighty Amorite kings."The term Amorite has various meanings in the OT: Canaanites generally (e.g., Gen. 15...
  • As I have explained previously, the date of the Exodus was about 1446 B.C. (cf. 1 Kings 6:1).7Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness (Exod. 16:35; Num. 14:33-34). Thus Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered the land abo...
  • I. The conquest of the land chs. 1-12A. Preparations for entering Canaan chs. 1-21. God's charge to Joshua 1:1-92. Joshua's charge to Israel 1:10-183. The spying out of Jericho ch. 2B. Entrance into the land 3:1-5:121. Passag...
  • In one sense verses 1-9 are a preamble to the whole book. They contain the basic principles that were to guide Joshua and Israel so they could obtain all that God had promised their forefathers.1:1 The first word of the book ...
  • As preparation for entering Canaan, Joshua sent spies to reconnoiter the area Israel would enter."Although Joshua had received a promise from the Lord of His almighty help in the conquest of Canaan, he still thought it necess...
  • The residents of the town of Gibeon decided that if they could not defeat the Israelites they would join them. This has been a strategy that enemies of believers have employed for centuries (cf. Num. 25:1-2).9:1-2 Israel is t...
  • Israel's continuing success led her enemies to exert increasing opposition against the people of God. This chapter records the Canaanites' first aggressive action against the Israelites.10:1-5 The Jebusites lived in and aroun...
  • The writer identified 31 kings in the order in which Joshua defeated them."Many of the same names appear in the Amarna letters, thus confirming the historicity of our text."158"The description was not complete. Shechem is not...
  • The writer grouped the towns in Judah according to that tribe's four districts. This part of Canaan contained four distinct regions: the southern Negev, the lowland plain (Shephelah), the mountains (hill country), and the des...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • Students of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan's deaths have called it the Song of the Bow (cf. v. 22).10Many people in Judah learned and sang it (v. 18). The Book of Jasher (v. 18) is no longer extant (cf. Josh. 10:13)."H...
  • In 1004 B.C. David became king of all Israel and Judah.50This was his third anointing (cf. 1 Sam. 16:13; 2 Sam. 2:4). The people acknowledged David's previous military leadership of all Israel as well as God's choice of him t...
  • "In those days"(v. 1) refers to the year Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem (701 B.C.) since Hezekiah died 15 years later in 686 B.C. His response to his illness was proper. He sought help from Yahweh primarily (v. 2). God had ...
  • Because of the opposition of the Jews' neighbors, Artaxerxes sent a military escort to accompany Nehemiah to Jerusalem (v. 9). It is not certain how many Jews travelled with Nehemiah on this occasion. The writer gave us no nu...
  • 144:3-4 The exalted description of God in verses 1 and 2 led David to reflect in amazement that God would take interest in mere mortals. Man's existence is very brief compared to God who abides forever.144:5-8 The psalmist de...
  • "The section begins (1-6) and ends (23-29) with double illustrations drawn from nature and agriculture. Between lies a meditation in eight broadly equal parts on how Jerusalem's leaders refused the word of invitation and inhe...
  • Habakkuk now changed from describing the manifestation of God and the inanimate and animate reactions to it to a description of His acts on the earth.3:8 With rhetorical questions Habakkuk affirmed that Yahweh was not angry w...
  • 14:1 The Lord announced through His prophet that a day was coming, for His benefit primarily, when the nations that had plundered Israel victoriously would divide their spoil among themselves in Jerusalem. This would be the L...
  • Peter proceeded to emphasize that the witness of the apostles, as well as the witness of Scripture, came from God. He did this to help his readers see that their choice boiled down to accepting God's Word or the word of men w...
  • Peter drew application for his readers and focused their attention on how they should live presently in view of the future.3:11 Peter believed that an understanding of the future should motivate the believer to live a holy li...
  • 16:17 This final judgment has the greatest impact of all since the air into which the angel pours his bowl is what humans breathe.535The loud voice is probably once again God's since it comes from the throne in the heavenly t...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Joshua 10:12The last time,' what a sad sound that has! In all minds there is a shrinking from the last time of doing even some common act. The walk down a street that we have passed every day for twenty years, and never cared...
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