Text -- Joshua 11:1-23 (NET)

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. 11:18 Joshua campaigned against these kings for quite some time. 11:19 No city made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon); they had to conquer all of them, 11:20 for the Lord determined to make them obstinate so they would attack Israel. He wanted Israel to annihilate them without mercy, as he had instructed Moses. 11:21 At that time Joshua attacked and eliminated the Anakites from the hill country– from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua annihilated them and their cities. 11:22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory, though some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 11:23 Joshua conquered the whole land, just as the Lord had promised Moses, and he assigned Israel their tribal portions. Then the land was free of war.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jos 11:1

¹ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

² tn Heb “he sent to.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:2

¹ tn Heb “and to the kings who [are] from the north in.”

² tn Heb “Chinneroth,” a city and plain located in the territory of Naphtali in Galilee (BDB 490 s.v. כִּנֶּרֶת, כִּנֲרוֹת).

sn Kinnereth was a city in Galilee located near the Sea of Galilee (Deut 3:17). The surrounding region also became known by this name (1 Kgs 15:20; cf. Matt 14:34), and eventually even the lake itself (Josh 12:3; cf. Luke 5:1).

NET Notes: Jos 11:3

¹ tn The verb “came” is supplied in the translation (see v. 4).

² tn Or “land.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:4

¹ tn Heb “They and all their camps with them came out, a people as numerous as the sand which is on the edge of the sea in multitude, and [with] horses and chariots very numerous.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:5

¹ tn Heb “and came and camped together.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:6

¹ tn Heb “burn with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

NET Notes: Jos 11:7

¹ tn Heb “Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them at the Waters of Merom suddenly and fell upon them.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:8

¹ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

² tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).

NET Notes: Jos 11:9

¹ tn Heb “burned with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

NET Notes: Jos 11:10

¹ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

² tn Or “formerly.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:11

¹ tn Heb “and they struck down all life which was in it with the edge of the sword, annihilating.”

² tn Heb “burned with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

NET Notes: Jos 11:12

¹ tn Heb “and he struck them down with the edge of the sword, he annihilated them.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:13

¹ tn Heb “standing on their mounds.”

² map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

NET Notes: Jos 11:14

¹ tn Heb “but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword until they destroyed them.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:15

¹ tn Heb “As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua acted accordingly; he did not turn aside a thing from all which the Lord commanded Moses.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:16

¹ tn Heb “Joshua took all this land.”

² tn Or “foothills”; Heb “the Shephelah.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:17

¹ tn Heb “and struck them down and killed them.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:18

¹ tn Heb “made war with.”

² tn Heb “for many days.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:19

¹ tn The LXX omits this parenthetical note, which may represent a later scribal addition.

² tn Heb “the whole they took in battle.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:20

¹ tn Heb “for from the Lord it was to harden their heart[s] to meet for the battle with Israel, in order to annihilate them, so that they would receive no mercy, in order annihilate them, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:21

¹ tn Heb “went and cut off the Anakites from the hill country.”

² tn Heb “and from all the hill country of Israel.”

NET Notes: Jos 11:23

¹ tn Heb “took.”

² tn Heb “according to all which the Lord said to Moses.” The translation assumes this refers to the promise of the land (see 1:3). Another possibility is that it refers to the Lord’s instructions, in which case the phrase could be translated, “just as the Lord had instructed Moses” (so NLT; cf. also NIV “had directed Moses”).

³ tn Heb “and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their allotted portions by their tribes.”