1And it will be lord Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua took Ai and exterminated it; as he did to Jericho and to her king, so he did to Ai and her king; and that the inhabitants of Gibeon made peace with Israel, and they will be in the midst of them. 2And they will fear greatly, for a great city was Gibeon, as one of the cities of the kingdom, and that it was great above Ai, and all her men mighty. 3And lord Zedek, king of Jerusalem, will send to Hoham, king of Hebron, and to Piram, king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia, king of Lachish, and to Debir, king of Eglon, saying, 4Come up to me and help me, and we will smite Gibeon, because she made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel. 5And the five kings of the Amorites will be gathered together and will come up: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, they and all their camps, and they will encamp against Gibeon, and they will war against her. 6And the men of Gibeon will send to Joshua to the camp of Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hands from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites inhabiting the mountain gathered themselves together against us. 7And Joshua will come up from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty of strength. 8And Jehovah will say to Joshua, Thou shalt not be afraid of them, for into thy hands I gave them; a man of them shall not stand before thee. 9And Joshua will come to them suddenly, all night he went up from Gilgal. 10And Jehovah will discomfit them before Israel, and will strike them a great blow in Gibeon, and will pursue them the way of the ascent of the house of Horon, and he will strike them even to Azekah and even to Makkedah. 11And it will be in their fleeing from before Israel, they in the descent of the house of Horon, and Jehovah cast down upon them great stones from the heavens, even to Azekah; and more will die who died by the stones of hail than whom the sons of Israel slew with the sword. 12Then will Joshua speak to Jehovah in the day Jehovah will give the Amorite before the sons of Israel, and he will say before the eyes of Israel, Sun in Gibeon, be thou silent, and thou Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 13And the sun will be silent, and the moon stood, till the people will be avenged upon its enemies. Is it not written upon the book of the upright? and the sun will stand in the half of the heavens, and it hasted not to go down for a whole day. 14And there was not as that day, before it and after it, that Jehovah heard to the voice of a man: for Jehovah fought for Israel. 15And Joshua turned back, and all Israel with him, to the camp of Gilgal. 16And these five kings will flee and will hide in a cave in Makkedah. 17And it will be announced to Joshua, saying, The five kings were found hid in a cave in Makkedah. 18And Joshua will say, Roll great stones to the mouth of the cave, and set men over it to watch them. 19And ye shall not stand; pursue after your enemies; cut off the rear of them; ye shall not give them to come in to their cities, for Jehovah your God gave them into your hand. 20And it will be when Joshua finished, and the sons of Israel, smiting them an exceeding great blow till he finished them, and they escaping, escaped from them and they will go to the fortified cities. 21And all the people will turn back to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: and none sharpened his tongue against a man to the sons of Israel. 22And Joshua will say, Open the mouth of the cave and bring forth to me these five kings out of the cave. 23And they will do so, and will bring forth to him these five kings out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. 24And it will be when they brought these kings forth to Joshua, and Joshua will call to every man of Israel, and will say to the leaders of the men of war having gone with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they will come near and put their feet upon their necks. 25And Joshua will say to them, Ye shall not fear and ye shall not be dismayed; be strong and be active, for thus will Jehovah do to all your enemies whom ye war against them. 26And Joshua will smite them after this, and will kill them, and hang them upon five trees: and they will be hanging upon the trees till evening. 27And it will be at the time of the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they will take them down from the trees and cast them into the cave where they were hid there; and they will put great stones upon the mouth of the cave till this self-same day. 28And Joshua took Makkedah in that day, and he will smite her with the mouth of the sword; and her king he exterminated, them, and every soul which was in her; none was left escaping: and he will do to the king of Makkedah as he did to the king of Jericho. 29And Joshua will pass by and all Israel with him from Makkedah to Libnah, and will fight with Libnah. 30And Jehovah will also give it into the hand of Israel, and her king: and he will smite it with the mouth of the sword and every soul which is in it; none was left in it escaping; and he will do to her king as he did to the king of Jericho. 31And Joshua will pass over, and all Israel with him, from Libnah to Lachish, and he will encamp against it, and he will fight against it 32And Jehovah will give Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he will take it in the second day, and smite it with the mouth of the sword, and every soul which is in it, according to all which he did to Libnah. 33Then Horam, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish; and Joshua will smite him and his people till none was left to him escaping. 34And Joshua will pass over, and all Israel with him, from Lachish to Eglon: and they will encamp against it and they will war against it: 35And they will take it in that day, and they will smite it with the mouth of the sword, and every soul which is in it in that day he exterminated according to all which he did to Lachish. 36And Joshua will go up, and all Israel with him, from Eglon to Hebron; and they will war against it: 37And they will take it and smite it with the mouth of the sword, and its king and all its cities and every soul which is in it; none was left escaping, according to all which he did to Eglon; and he will exterminate it, and every soul which is in it 38And Joshua will turn back, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and he will war against it 39And he will take it and its king, and all its cities, and they will smite them with the mouth of the sword, and exterminate every soul which is in it; none was left escaping: as he did to Hebron so he did to Debir and to her king, and as he did to Libnah and her king. 40And Joshua will smite all the land of the mountain, and the south, and the valley and the ravines, and all their kings: and none was left escaping, and all breathing was exterminated, as Jehovah the God of Israel commanded. 41And Joshua will smite from Kadesh-Barnea and even to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen and even to Gibeon. 42And all these kings and their land Joshua took, one time; for Jehovah the God of Israel fought for Israel. 43And Joshua will turn back and all Israel with him to the camp of Gilgal.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 FIVE KINGS WAR AGAINST GIBEON. (
Josh 10:1-
Josh 10:5)
Adoni-zedek--"lord of righteousness"--nearly synonymous with Melchizedek, "king of righteousness." These names were common titles of the Jebusite kings.
Jerusalem--The original name, "Salem" (
Gen 14:18;
Ps 76:2), was superseded by that here given, which signifies "a peaceful possession," or "a vision of peace," in allusion, as some think, to the strikingly symbolic scene (
Gen 22:14) represented on the mount whereon that city was afterwards built.
inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them--that is, the Israelites; had made an alliance with that people, and acknowledging their supremacy, were living on terms of friendly intercourse with them.
2 they feared greatly--The dread inspired by the rapid conquests of the Israelites had been immensely increased by the fact of a state so populous and so strong as Gibeon having found it expedient to submit to the power and the terms of the invaders.
as one of the royal cities--Although itself a republic (
Josh 9:3), it was large and well-fortified, like those places in which the chiefs of the country usually established their residence.
3 Wherefore Adoni-zedek . . . sent, . . . saying, Come up unto me, and help me--A combined attack was meditated on Gibeon, with a view not only to punish its people for their desertion of the native cause, but by its overthrow to interpose a barrier to the farther inroads of the Israelites. This confederacy among the mountaineers of Southern Palestine was formed and headed by the king of Jerusalem, because his territory was most exposed to danger, Gibeon being only six miles distant, and because he evidently possessed some degree of pre-eminence over his royal neighbors.
5 the five kings of the Amorites--The settlement of this powerful and warlike tribe lay within the confines of Moab; but having also acquired extensive possessions on the southwest of the Jordan, their name, as the ruling power, seems to have been given to the region generally (
2Sam 21:2), although Hebron was inhabited by Hittites or Hivites (
Josh 11:19), and Jerusalem by Jebusites (
Josh 15:63).
6 JOSHUA RESCUES IT. (
Josh 10:6-
Josh 10:9)
the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua--Their appeal was urgent and their claim to protection irresistible, on the ground, not only of kindness and sympathy, but of justice. In attacking the Canaanites, Joshua had received from God a general assurance of success (
Josh 1:5). But the intelligence of so formidable a combination among the native princes seems to have depressed his mind with the anxious and dispiriting idea that it was a chastisement for the hasty and inconsiderate alliance entered into with the Gibeonites. It was evidently to be a struggle of life and death, not only to Gibeon, but to the Israelites. And in this view the divine communication that was made to him was seasonable and animating. He seems to have asked the counsel of God and received an answer, before setting out on the expedition.
9 Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly--This is explained in the following clause, where he is described as having accomplished, by a forced march of picked men, in one night, a distance of twenty-six miles, which, according to the slow pace of Eastern armies and caravans, had formerly been a three days' journey (
Josh 9:17).
10 GOD FIGHTS AGAINST THEM WITH HAILSTONES. (
Josh 10:10-
Josh 10:11)
the Lord discomfited them--Hebrew, "terrified," confounded the Amorite allies, probably by a fearful storm of lightning and thunder. So the word is usually employed (
1Sam 7:10;
Ps 18:13;
Ps 144:6).
and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon--This refers to the attack of the Israelites upon the besiegers. It is evident that there had been much hard fighting around the heights of Gibeon, for the day was far spent before the enemy took to flight.
chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon--that is, "the House of Caves," of which there are still traces existing. There were two contiguous villages of that name, upper and nether. Upper Beth-horon was nearest Gibeon--about ten miles distant, and approached by a gradual ascent through a long and precipitous ravine. This was the first stage of the flight. The fugitives had crossed the high ridge of Upper Beth-horon, and were in full flight down the descent to Beth-horon the Nether. The road between the two places is so rocky and rugged that there is a path made by means of steps cut in the rock [ROBINSON]. Down this pass Joshua continued his victorious rout. Here it was that the Lord interposed, assisting His people by means of a storm, which, having been probably gathering all day, burst with such irresistible fury, that "they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword." The Oriental hailstorm is a terrific agent; the hailstones are masses of ice, large as walnuts, and sometimes as two fists; their prodigious size, and the violence with which they fall, make them always very injurious to property, and often fatal to life. The miraculous feature of this tempest, which fell on the Amorite army, was the entire preservation of the Israelites from its destructive ravages.
12 THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL AT THE WORD OF JOSHUA. (
Josh 10:12-
Josh 10:15)
Then spake Joshua to the Lord . . . and . . . he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still . . . and thou, Moon--The inspired author here breaks off the thread of his history of this miraculous victory to introduce a quotation from an ancient poem, in which the mighty acts of that day were commemorated. The passage, which is parenthetical, contains a poetical description of the victory which was miraculously gained by the help of God, and forms an extract from "the book of Jasher," that is, "the upright"--an anthology, or collection of national songs, in honor of renowned and eminently pious heroes. The language of a poem is not to be literally interpreted; and therefore, when the sun and moon are personified, addressed as intelligent beings, and represented as standing still, the explanation is that the light of the sun and moon was supernaturally prolonged by the same laws of refraction and reflection that ordinarily cause the sun to appear above the horizon, when it is in reality below it [KEIL, BUSH]. Gibeon ("a hill") was now at the back of the Israelites, and the height would soon have intercepted the rays of the setting sun. The valley of Ajalon ("stags") was before them, and so near that it was sometimes called "the valley of Gibeon" (
Isa 28:21). It would seem, from
Josh 10:14, that the command of Joshua was in reality a prayer to God for the performance of this miracle; and that, although the prayers of eminently good men like Moses often prevailed with God, never was there on any other occasion so astonishing a display of divine power made in behalf of His people, as in answer to the prayer of Joshua.
Josh 10:15 is the end of the quotation from Jasher; and it is necessary to notice this, as the fact described in it is recorded in due course, and the same words, by the sacred historian (
Josh 10:43).
16 THE FIVE KINGS HANGED. (
Josh 10:16-
Josh 10:27)
these five kings . . . hid themselves in a cave--Hebrew, "the cave."
at Makkedah--The pursuit was continued, without interruption, to Makkedah at the foot of the western mountains, where Joshua seems to have halted with the main body of his troops while a detachment was sent forward to scour the country in pursuit of the remaining stragglers, a few of whom succeeded in reaching the neighboring cities. The last act, probably the next day, was the disposal of the prisoners, among whom the five kings were consigned to the infamous doom of being slain (
Deut 20:16-
Deut 20:17); and then their corpses were suspended on five trees till the evening.
24 put your feet upon the necks of these kings--not as a barbarous insult, but a symbolical action, expressive of a complete victory (
Deut 33:29;
Ps 110:5;
Mal 4:3).
28 SEVEN MORE KINGS CONQUERED. (
Josh 10:28-
Josh 10:42)
that day Joshua took Makkedah--In this and the following verses is described the rapid succession of victory and extermination which swept the whole of southern Palestine into the hands of Israel. "All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal."