Joshua 10:16-43

10:16 The five Amorite kings ¹  ran away and hid in the cave at Makkedah. 10:17 Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah.” 10:18 Joshua said, “Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave and post guards in front of it. ²  10:19 But don’t you delay! Chase your enemies and catch them! ³  Don’t allow them to retreat to ⁴  their cities, for the Lord your God is handing them over to you.” ⁵  10:20 Joshua and the Israelites almost totally wiped them out, but some survivors did escape to the fortified cities. ⁶  10:21 Then the whole army safely returned to Joshua at the camp in Makkedah. ⁷  No one ⁸  dared threaten the Israelites. ⁹  10:22 Joshua said, “Open the cave’s mouth and bring the five kings ¹⁰  out of the cave to me.” 10:23 They did as ordered; ¹¹  they brought the five kings ¹²  out of the cave to him – the kings of Jerusalem, ¹³  Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. 10:24 When they brought the kings out to Joshua, he ¹⁴  summoned all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of the troops who accompanied him, “Come here ¹⁵  and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came up ¹⁶  and put their feet on their necks. 10:25 Then Joshua said to them, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! ¹⁷  Be strong and brave, for the Lord will do the same thing to all your enemies you fight. 10:26 Then Joshua executed them ¹⁸  and hung them on five trees. They were left hanging on the trees until evening. 10:27 At sunset Joshua ordered his men to take them down from the trees. ¹⁹  They threw them into the cave where they had hidden and piled large stones over the mouth of the cave. (They remain to this very day.) ²⁰ 

Joshua Launches a Southern Campaign

10:28 That day Joshua captured Makkedah and put the sword to it and its king. He annihilated everyone who lived in it; he left no survivors. He did to its king what he had done to the king of Jericho. ²¹ 

10:29 Joshua and all Israel marched from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against it. ²²  10:30 The Lord handed it and its king over to Israel, and Israel ²³  put the sword to all who lived there; they ²⁴  left no survivors. They ²⁵  did to its king what they ²⁶  had done to the king of Jericho. ²⁷ 

10:31 Joshua and all Israel marched from Libnah to Lachish. He deployed his troops ²⁸  and fought against it. 10:32 The Lord handed Lachish over to Israel and they ²⁹  captured it on the second day. They put the sword to all who lived there, just as they had done to Libnah. 10:33 Then King Horam of Gezer came up to help Lachish, but Joshua struck down him and his army ³⁰  until no survivors remained.

10:34 Joshua and all Israel marched from Lachish to Eglon. They deployed troops ³¹  and fought against it. 10:35 That day they captured it and put the sword to all who lived there. That day they ³²  annihilated it just as they ³³  had done to Lachish.

10:36 Joshua and all Israel marched up from Eglon to Hebron and fought against it. 10:37 They captured it and put the sword to its king, all its surrounding cities, and all who lived in it; they ³⁴  left no survivors. As they ³⁵  had done at Eglon, they ³⁶  annihilated it and all who lived there.

10:38 Joshua and all Israel turned to Debir and fought against it. 10:39 They ³⁷  captured it, its king, and all its surrounding cities and put the sword to them. They annihilated everyone who lived there; they ³⁸  left no survivors. They ³⁹  did to Debir and its king what they ⁴⁰  had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron. ⁴¹ 

10:40 Joshua defeated the whole land, including the hill country, the Negev, the lowlands, ⁴²  the slopes, and all their kings. He left no survivors. He annihilated everything that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded. 10:41 Joshua conquered the area between Kadesh Barnea and Gaza and the whole region of Goshen, all the way to Gibeon. ⁴³  10:42 Joshua captured in one campaign ⁴⁴  all these kings and their lands, for the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. 10:43 Then Joshua and all Israel returned to the camp at Gilgal.

[10:16]  ¹ tn Heb “these five kings.”

[10:18]  ² tn Heb “and appoint by it men to guard them.”

[10:19]  ³ tn Heb “But [as for] you, don’t stand still, chase after your enemies and attack them from the rear.”

[10:19]  ⁴ tn Or “enter into.”

[10:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “has given them into your hand.” The verbal form is a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of the action.

[10:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “When Joshua and the sons of Israel finished defeating them with a very great defeat until they were destroyed (now the survivors escaped to the fortified cities).” In the Hebrew text the initial temporal clause (“when Joshua…finished”) is subordinated to v. 21 (“the whole army returned”).

[10:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua [at] Makkedah [in] peace.”

[10:21]  ⁸ tc Heb “No man.” The lamed (ל) prefixed to אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is probably dittographic (note the immediately preceding יִשְׂרָאֵל [isra’el] which ends in lamed, ל); cf. the LXX.

[10:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “no man sharpened [or perhaps, “pointed”] his tongue against the sons of Israel.” Cf. NEB “not a man of the Israelites suffered so much as a scratch on his tongue,” which understands “sharpened” as “scratched” (referring to a minor wound). Most modern translations understand the Hebrew expression “sharpened his tongue” figuratively for opposition or threats against the Israelites.

[10:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “these five kings.”

[10:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they did so.”

[10:23]  ¹² tn Heb “these five kings.”

[10:23]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Joshua.” The translation has replaced the proper name with the pronoun (“he”) because a repetition of the proper name here would be redundant according to English style.

[10:24]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Draw near.”

[10:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “drew near.”

[10:25]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!”

[10:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”

[10:27]  ¹⁹ sn For the legal background of the removal of the corpses before sundown, see Deut 21:22-23.

[10:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to this very day.” The words “They remain” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[10:28]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[10:29]  ²² tn Heb “Libnah.” Repetition of the proper name here would be redundant according to English style, so the pronoun (“it”) has been employed in the translation.

[10:30]  ²³ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:30]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “He”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:30]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:30]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[10:31]  ²⁸ tn Heb “encamped against it.”

[10:32]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:33]  ³⁰ tn Heb “people.”

[10:34]  ³¹ tn Heb “they encamped against it.”

[10:35]  ³² tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:35]  ³³ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:37]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:37]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:37]  ³⁶ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ³⁷ tn Heb “He”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ³⁸ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ³⁹ tn Heb “He”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “as he did to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, and as he did to Libnah and its king.” The clauses have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[10:40]  ⁴² tn Or “foothills”; Heb “the Shephelah.”

[10:41]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and Joshua struck them down, from Kadesh Barnea even to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen, even to Gibeon.”

[10:42]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “at one time.”