Joshua 10

Five Amorite kings attack Gibeon because it made peace with Israel. Joshua marches all night to rescue his new ally, and the LORD wins the battle with panic, hail, and a day that does not end. Joshua then defeats the kings and sweeps through the southern hill country. The refrain is that the LORD fought for Israel.

Joshua 10:1

News of Jericho, Ai, and the Gibeonite treaty reaches Jerusalem. Its king, Adoni-zedek, name meaning ‘my lord is righteousness,’ sees Israel’s advance as a threat. The Gibeonites’ defection hurts most, because it shows that standing against Israel is not the only choice.

BSA: devoted (“utterly destroyed, consecrated to God”): The word means a city was set apart as belonging wholly to God, and so given over to judgment, not kept for plunder.

Hebrew: הֶחֱרִים (heḥerim, H2763) — “devoted to destruction, put under the ban.” This is the verb behind the idea of the ‘ban.’ It describes something handed over to God completely, so that Israel could take no profit from it.

See also: Joshua 6:17; Joshua 9:15.

Joshua 10:2

The king’s fear has good grounds. Gibeon was a large city, bigger than Ai, with a strong fighting force. If it joined Israel, the balance of power in the hills would shift. So fear turns into a plan for war.

BSA: mighty (“strong, valiant, a strong warrior”): Gibeon’s men were seasoned fighters, so losing them to Israel’s side was a serious blow to the Canaanite kings.

Joshua 10:3-4

Adoni-zedek calls four other kings to join him. His aim is not to fight Israel directly but to punish Gibeon for making peace. Fear can drive people to attack anyone who steps out of the old alliance.

BSA: help (“assist, aid, or support”): The kings pool their strength to make a stronger force, as if numbers could stop what God was doing.

Joshua 10:5

Five kings unite and camp around Gibeon. ‘Amorites’ is used here as a broad name for the peoples of the hill country. Their combined armies look overwhelming against one city, and the Gibeonites need someone stronger than themselves.

BSA: joined forces (“gathered themselves together, assembled”): These rivals set aside their differences only to oppose the people of God.

Joshua 10:6

The Gibeonites appeal to Joshua at Gilgal. They are now Israel’s servants and ask to be protected. Their plea is urgent: ‘save us.’ The Hebrew for ‘save’ shares its root with Joshua’s own name, which means ’the LORD saves.’.

BSA: abandon (“slacken your hand, withdraw”): The picture is of a hand going limp, so they are asking Joshua not to let go of them.

Hebrew: הוֹשִׁיעָה (hoshiʿah, H3467) — “save, deliver.” It is built on the same root as the name Joshua. The man whose name means ’the LORD saves’ is asked to save.

See also: Joshua 9:15.

Joshua 10:7

Joshua keeps the treaty even though Gibeon got it by trickery. He brings his whole army up from the base camp at Gilgal. A promise made in God’s name had to be honored, and Joshua honors it.

See also: Joshua 9:19.

Joshua 10:8

Before the fight, the LORD speaks the word Joshua most needs: do not be afraid. The victory is promised ahead of time. Israel is not asked to be strong enough, only to trust the one who has already given the enemy into their hand.

BSA: delivered (“given, put”): God speaks of the victory as already given, so Joshua goes into battle as a man receiving a gift.

See also: Joshua 1:5.

Joshua 10:9

Joshua marches through the night, climbing from the Jordan valley up into the hills, and attacks at dawn. His obedience is fast and costly. God’s promise did not cancel Israel’s effort; it gave that effort its confidence.

Joshua 10:10

The decisive blow comes from the LORD, who throws the Amorites into panic. Israel then chases them down the road through Beth-horon toward Azekah and Makkedah. Victory belongs to God, and the army follows through on what he began.

Hebrew: וַיְהֻמֵּם (wayhummem, H2000) — “and he threw them into confusion.” The word pictures a rout, an army thrown into turmoil and noise. God broke their courage before Israel’s swords reached them.

See also: Exodus 23:27.

Joshua 10:11

As the enemy flees, the LORD sends huge hailstones from the sky. Creation itself fights on his side, and the storm kills more than Israel’s swords. The point is plain: the battle was the LORD’s.

BSA: hailstones (“stones of hail, a sign of God’s power”): The hail marks the victory as God’s own act, not Israel’s.

See also: Job 38:22-23.

Joshua 10:12

Joshua prays aloud before all Israel, asking that the sun and moon hold their place until the enemy is beaten. It is a bold request that rests on the LORD’s promise of victory. Christians understand how God worked here in different ways, but all agree he answered.

BSA: stand still (“be silent, cease motion”): The command is to the sun to hold quiet in its place, and Joshua speaks to it as if it were a servant waiting on God.

Joshua 10:13

The sun and moon wait while Israel finishes the victory. The writer points to the Book of Jashar, an older collection of songs, as another witness. The long day gave Israel time to finish what the LORD had begun.

BSA: delayed (“did not hasten, was slow”): The sun held back from setting, so the daylight was stretched.

See also: 2 Samuel 1:18.

Joshua 10:14

The writer stresses how remarkable the day was. The LORD heard the voice of a man and acted on it. Yet the reason is stated plainly: the LORD himself was fighting for Israel. Joshua’s prayer mattered because it matched God’s purpose.

BSA: fought (“engaged in battle, waged war”): God is pictured as a warrior taking the field for his people.

See also: Exodus 14:14.

Joshua 10:15

After the great battle, Joshua leads the army back to the camp at Gilgal. The fighting is not over, but for now they return to their base.

Joshua 10:16-17

The five kings run and hide in a cave at Makkedah. Men who had marched out with armies now hide like frightened animals. Joshua is told where they are, and their escape ends there.

BSA: hidden (“concealed, secretly withdrawn”): The kings, who came with such confidence, now try to hide, and the cave becomes their trap.

Joshua 10:18-19

Joshua seals the cave with large stones and sets guards. He then sends the main army on to chase the rest of the enemy. He does not let a small success stop him from finishing the larger task.

BSA: Pursue (“chase down, follow after”): Israel is told to keep after the enemy until the work is done.

Hebrew: וְזִנַּבְתֶּם (wezinnavtem, H2179) — “and cut off the tail, attack the rear.” The word comes from ’tail.’ Israel is to strike the stragglers at the back so they cannot reach their walled cities.

Joshua 10:20-21

The slaughter is great, and only a few reach their fortified cities. Israel’s army comes back to Makkedah with no loss. The peoples around now have no heart to speak against them. God’s word had come true.

BSA: safely (“in peace, without harm”): It carries the sense of shalom, so not one Israelite was lost, and that points to God’s care.

Joshua 10:22-23

Joshua has the cave opened and the five kings brought out. The men who had threatened Gibeon and challenged Israel stand before the one they tried to destroy. Their names are listed again, which makes the moment weighty.

Joshua 10:24

Joshua has his commanders put their feet on the necks of the kings. In the ancient world this meant total victory. It was an acted picture that these foes were beaten and that the same would happen to the rest.

BSA: feet (“place your authority, tread”): Putting a foot on a neck showed that authority had passed to the victor.

See also: Psalm 110:1; Romans 16:20.

Joshua 10:25

Joshua turns the moment into encouragement. His words echo what God first said to him at the start of the conquest. Seeing what the LORD has done once, Israel can face the next enemy without fear.

BSA: courageous (“of good courage, take heart”): Courage here is taking heart because of what God has already shown, not just trying harder.

See also: Joshua 1:9.

Joshua 10:26-27

Joshua executes the kings and hangs their bodies on trees until evening. At sunset he takes them down, following the law that a hanged body must not stay overnight. They are thrown into the cave, and the stones remain as a marker.

See also: Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Galatians 3:13.

Joshua 10:28

Makkedah falls on the same day and is placed under the ban, like Jericho. The Bible presents these acts as God’s judgment on peoples whose evil had grown very great, not as a general rule for how his people should treat others.

BSA: devoted (“consecrated, set apart”): The city was set apart as belonging wholly to God and not to be used by Israel for gain.

See also: Genesis 15:16; Deuteronomy 9:4-5.

Joshua 10:29-30

Next is Libnah. The writer again says plainly that the LORD delivered the city into Israel’s hand. The repeated ‘as he had done to the king of Jericho’ shows one pattern at work from the first victory to this one.

BSA: delivered (“Yehovah, The covenant Name of God”): The gloss points to the covenant name, reminding us that the victory comes from the God who keeps his promises.

Joshua 10:31-33

Lachish, whose king was among the five, falls on the second day. When Horam of Gezer comes to help, he is struck down too. Cities that trusted in walls and allies find that neither stands against the LORD.

BSA: help (“to aid, to assist”): The help Horam offers fails, which contrasts with the help Joshua gave to Gibeon.

Joshua 10:34-35

Eglon is captured in a single day. The same steady pattern continues: Israel moves, besieges, takes the city, and carries out the ban. The writer keeps the account short and factual, as a record of one campaign carried through.

BSA: devoted (“set apart, consecrated”): Again the city is treated as given over entirely to God.

Joshua 10:36-37

Israel goes up to Hebron, the town of Abraham’s burial place, and takes it along with its villages. Hebron would later be given to Caleb, who trusted God when others doubted. The conquest here prepares for that.

See also: Joshua 14:13-14.

Joshua 10:38-39

Debir is the last city named. The writer closes the circle by reminding us of what was done to Hebron and Libnah. The five kings who began this war are now all gone, and the southern road lies open to Israel.

Joshua 10:40

The summary covers the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes. The writer insists this was done ‘just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.’ Sweeping words like ’everything that breathed’ are read by Christians in different ways, but the stress is on obedience to God’s word.

BSA: commanded (“given orders, instructed”): The conquest is presented as obedience to a charge God had already given, not Joshua’s own plan.

See also: Deuteronomy 20:16-17.

Joshua 10:41

The conquered land stretches from Kadesh-barnea in the far south to Gaza on the coast, and north to Gibeon. This Goshen is a region in southern Canaan, not the Goshen of Egypt. The line shows how widely the LORD’s help reached in one campaign.

Joshua 10:42

The writer gives the reason for all of this: the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. The kings and their lands were taken in one campaign because God was the one winning it. The people’s part was to trust and obey.

BSA: fought (“engaged in battle, waged war”): It repeats the picture of God himself fighting on his people’s behalf.

See also: Joshua 23:10.

Joshua 10:43

Joshua and the army go back to Gilgal. The chapter ends where it began, at the camp. The war is not yet finished, but the southern kingdoms have fallen, and Israel rests in what the LORD has done.