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Texts -- Joshua 11:1-17 (NET)

Context
Israel Defeats a Northern Coalition
11:1 When King Jabin of Hazor heard the news, he organized a coalition , including King Jobab of Madon , the king of Shimron , the king of Acshaph , 11:2 and the northern kings who ruled in the hill country , the Arabah south of Kinnereth , the lowlands , and the heights of Dor to the west . 11:3 Canaanites came from the east and west ; Amorites , Hittites , Perizzites , and Jebusites from the hill country ; and Hivites from below Hermon in the area of Mizpah . 11:4 These kings came out with their armies ; they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and had a large number of horses and chariots . 11:5 All these kings gathered and joined forces at the Waters of Merom to fight Israel . 11:6 The Lord told Joshua , “Don’t be afraid of them, for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel . You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots .” 11:7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them. 11:8 The Lord handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon , Misrephoth Maim , and the Mizpah Valley to the east . They struck them down until no survivors remained . 11:9 Joshua did to them as the Lord had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots . 11:10 At that time Joshua turned , captured Hazor , and struck down its king with the sword , for Hazor was at that time the leader of all these kingdoms . 11:11 They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword – no one who breathed remained – and burned Hazor . 11:12 Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword , as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded . 11:13 But Israel did not burn any of the cities located on mounds , except for Hazor ; it was the only one Joshua burned . 11:14 The Israelites plundered all the goods of these cities and the cattle , but they totally destroyed all the people and allowed no one who breathed to live . 11:15 Moses the Lord’s servant passed on the Lord’s commands to Joshua , and Joshua did as he was told . He did not ignore any of the commands the Lord had given Moses .
A Summary of Israel’s Victories
11:16 Joshua conquered the whole land , including the hill country , all the Negev , all the land of Goshen , the lowlands , the Arabah , the hill country of Israel and its lowlands , 11:17 from Mount Halak on up to Seir , as far as Baal Gad in the Lebanon Valley below Mount Hermon . He captured all their kings and executed them.

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • VALE, VALLEY

    [isbe] VALE, VALLEY - val, val'-i: (1) gay'; either absolute: "from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab" (Nu 21:20); or with a proper name: "valley of Hinnom," also "valley of the son of Hinnom" (Josh 15:8); "valley o...
    [smith] It is hardly necessary to state that these words signify a hollow sweep of ground between two more or less parallel ridges of high land. The structure of the greater part of the holy land does not lend itself to the formation...

  • Salmon

    [ebd] shady; or Zalmon (q.v.), a hill covered with dark forests, south of Shechem, from which Abimelech and his men gathered wood to burn that city (Judg. 9:48). In Ps. 68:14 the change from war to peace is likened to snow on the ...

  • Plain

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. 'abel (Judg. 11:33), a "grassy plain" or "meadow." Instead of "plains of the vineyards," as in the Authorized Version, the Revised Version has "Abel-cheramim" (q.v.), comp. Judg. 11:22; 2 Chr. 16:4. (2.) Heb. 'elon...

  • PALESTINE, 2

    [isbe] PALESTINE, 2 - III. Palestine in the Historic Books of the Old Testament. 1. Book of Joshua: Joshua is the great geographical book of the Old Testament; and the large majority of the 600 names of places, rivers and mountains...

  • JOSHUA (2)

    [isbe] JOSHUA (2) - || I. FORM AND SIGNIFICANCE OF NAME II. HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF JOSHUA 1. First Appearance 2. The Minister of Moses 3. One of the Spies 4. The Head of the People (1) His First Act--Sending of the Spies (2) Crossi...

  • Hittites

    [ebd] Palestine and Syria appear to have been originally inhabited by three different tribes. (1.) The Semites, living on the east of the isthmus of Suez. They were nomadic and pastoral tribes. (2.) The Phoenicians, who were merch...
    [nave] HITTITES A tribe of Canaanites. Children of Heth, Gen. 10:15; 23:10. Sell a burying-ground to Abraham, Gen. 23. Esau intermarries with, Gen. 26:34; 36:2. Dwelling place of, Gen. 23:17-20; Num. 13:29; Josh. 1:4; Judg. 1:26...

  • God

    [nave] GOD. List of Sub-Topics Miscellany; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to; Access to; Compassion of; Creator; Creator of Mankind; Eternity of; Faithfulness of; Fatherhood of; Favor of; Foreknowledge of; Glory of; Goodness of...

  • GALILEE

    [isbe] GALILEE - gal'-i-le (ha-galil, hagelilah, literally, "the circuit" or "district"; he Galilaia): 1. Galilee of the Nations: Kedesh, the city of refuge, is described as lying in Galilee, in Mt. Naphtali (Josh 20:7; compare 21:...

  • Fire

    [ebd] (1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Lev. 6:9, 13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the dedication of Solomon's templ...

  • Fenced cities

    [ebd] There were in Palestine (1) cities, (2) unwalled villages, and (3) villages with castles or towers (1 Chr. 27:25). Cities, so called, had walls, and were thus fenced. The fortifications consisted of one or two walls, on whic...

  • East

    [ebd] (1.) The orient (mizrah); the rising of the sun. Thus "the east country" is the country lying to the east of Syria, the Elymais (Zech. 8:7). (2). Properly what is in front of one, or a country that is before or in front of a...

  • Cinnereth

    [ebd] a harp, one of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali (Josh. 19:35; comp. Deut. 3:17). It also denotes, apparently, a district which may have taken its name from the adjacent city or lake of Gennesaret, anciently called "the sea of...

  • Chinnereth

    [ebd] lyre, the singular form of the word (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 19:35), which is also used in the plural form, Chinneroth, the name of a fenced city which stood near the shore of the lake of Galilee, a little to the south of Tiberias...

  • Canaan

    [nave] CANAAN 1. Son of Ham, Gen. 9:18, 22, 25-27. Descendants of, Gen. 10:6, 15; 1 Chr. 1:8, 13. 2. Land of (The history of this region is involved in that of the Israelites. The student is therefore referred to Israel, History ...

  • Camon

    [ebd] full of stalks, a place (Judg. 10:5) where Jair was buried. It has usually been supposed to have been a city of Gilead, on the east of Jordan. It is probably, however, the modern Tell-el-Kaimun, on the southern slopes of Car...

  • Caesara Philippi

    [ebd] a city on the northeast of the marshy plain of el-Huleh, 120 miles north of Jerusalem, and 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, at the "upper source" of the Jordan, and near the base of Mount Hermon. It is mentioned in Matt...

  • CRITICISM

    [isbe] CRITICISM - (The Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis) I. PRELIMINARY 1. Thesis 2. Historical Perspective 3. Inspiration and Criticism II. THE LEGISLATION 1. Groups 2. Covenant Code 3. The Sanctuary 4. Kinds of Sacrifice 5. Sacrifice ...

  • Baal-hermon

    [ebd] lord of Hermon. (1.) A city near Mount Hermon inhabited by the Ephraimites (1 Chr. 5:23). Probably identical with Baal-gad (Josh. 11:17). (2.) A mountain east of Lebanon (Judg. 3:3). Probably it may be the same as Mount Herm...

  • Amorites

    [ebd] highlanders, or hillmen, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan (Gen. 14:7), called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions. On the early Babylonian monuments all Syria, including P...

  • Alliances

    [nave] ALLIANCES. Political With idolaters forbidden, Ex. 23:32, 33; 34:12-15; Deut. 7:2; Judg. 2:2; 2 Chr. 19:2; 20:37; Isa. 30:2; 31:1; Hos. 4:17; 5:13; 12:1; Ezek. 17:15. Ratification of: By oaths, Gen. 21:23; 26:28-31; Josh....

Arts

Questions

  • The Canaanites were descendants of Ham (Gen. 10:6) and comprised seven distinct nations (Deu. 7:1). Though great and mighty (Num. 73:28) they were idolatrous, superstitious, profane and wicked (Deu. 29:17, Deu. 18:9-11, Lev. ...
  • These people were descendants of Sidoa, a son of Canaan, and were formerly a part of the Phoenician nation (Matt. 15:21,22; Mark 7:24,26). They dwelt on the sea-coast in the cities of Zidon and Zarephath (Josh. 11:8; I Kin. 1...

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • "Chapters 23 and 24 are two of the brightest chapters in the book of Numbers. Scores of wonderful things are said about Israel, mainly prophetical. The dark sins of the past were forgotten; only happy deliverance from Egypt w...
  • 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...
  • 5:13-15 "Despite Joshua's long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. T...
  • The leaders of the northern Canaanite cities also decided to unite to withstand the threat of Israelite expansion.11:1-3 Hazor was the leading city in northern Canaan with an area of 175 acres and a population of 30,000 to 40...
  • 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...
  • 4:1-3 As long as Ehud lived he kept Israel faithful to God (v. 1). However after he died, God's people again turned from the Lord. In discipline God allowed the Canaanites in the North to gain strength and dominate the Israel...
  • 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...
  • Solomon was powerful enough to conscript laborers to build the Millo and a wall around Jerusalem. The Millo (lit. filling) evidently refers to the terraces on the east side of Mt. Zion (cf. 2 Sam. 5:9). Solomon enlarged these...
  • The Lord proceeded to explain that even though He would destroy the ungodly, He would also spare the truly godly among His people (cf. Gen. 18:23-25).65:8 Yahweh promised not to destroy the whole nation (cluster of grapes) bu...
  • This is the first in a series of three parables designed to impress on the overly optimistic exiles that there was no possibility that Jerusalem would escape destruction (cf. chs. 16-17).15:1-2 The Lord asked Ezekiel how the ...
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