Joshua 11:5-23

11:5 All these kings gathered and joined forces ¹  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 ²  their chariots.” 11:7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them. ³  11:8 The Lord handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, ⁴  Misrephoth Maim, ⁵  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 ⁶  their chariots.

11:10 At that time Joshua turned, captured Hazor, ⁷  and struck down its king with the sword, for Hazor was at that time ⁸  the leader of all these kingdoms. 11:11 They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword ⁹  – no one who breathed remained – and burned ¹⁰  Hazor.

11:12 Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword, ¹¹  as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded. 11:13 But Israel did not burn any of the cities located on mounds, ¹²  except for Hazor; ¹³  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 ¹⁴  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. ¹⁵ 

A Summary of Israel’s Victories

11:16 Joshua conquered the whole land, ¹⁶  including the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the lowlands, ¹⁷  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. ¹⁸  11:18 Joshua campaigned against ¹⁹  these kings for quite some time. ²⁰  11:19 No city made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon); ²¹  they had to conquer all of them, ²²  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. ²³ 

11:21 At that time Joshua attacked and eliminated the Anakites from the hill country ²⁴  – from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and all the hill country of Judah and Israel. ²⁵  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 ²⁶  the whole land, just as the Lord had promised Moses, ²⁷  and he assigned Israel their tribal portions. ²⁸  Then the land was free of war.

[11:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and came and camped together.”

[11:6]  ² tn Heb “burn with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them at the Waters of Merom suddenly and fell upon them.”

[11:8]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:8]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).

[11:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “burned with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

[11:10]  ⁷ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[11:10]  ⁸ tn Or “formerly.”

[11:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they struck down all life which was in it with the edge of the sword, annihilating.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “burned with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

[11:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he struck them down with the edge of the sword, he annihilated them.”

[11:13]  ¹² tn Heb “standing on their mounds.”

[11:13]  ¹³ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[11:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword until they destroyed them.”

[11:15]  ¹⁵ 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.”

[11:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Joshua took all this land.”

[11:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “foothills”; Heb “the Shephelah.”

[11:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and struck them down and killed them.”

[11:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “made war with.”

[11:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for many days.”

[11:19]  ²¹ tn The LXX omits this parenthetical note, which may represent a later scribal addition.

[11:19]  ²² tn Heb “the whole they took in battle.”

[11:20]  ²³ 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.”

[11:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “went and cut off the Anakites from the hill country.”

[11:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and from all the hill country of Israel.”

[11:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “took.”

[11:23]  ²⁷ 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”).

[11:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their allotted portions by their tribes.”