682 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir,.... A city, according to Kimchi, which he passed by when he went to Hebron, and did not fight against it; but, when he had taken Hebron, returned and took it; and which Bunting (h) says was but a mile from it, and twenty two miles from Jerusalem, towards the south; it is the same with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof,.... For this also was a royal city, and had others dependent on it; and therefore must lie further from Hebron than before suggested; and indeed Burchard (k) says it was five or six miles from it, and another writer (l) says ten miles: and they smote them with the edge of the sword;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Joshua smote all the country of the hills and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings,.... That part of the land of Canaan which lay southward, and consisted of hills and vales; which abounded with springs, and was a well watered country, and agrees with the description Moses gives of it, though he never saw it,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua smote them, from Kadeshbarnea,.... Which lay to the south of the land of Canaan, Numbers 13:17; even unto Gaza, which lay to the southwest, and was one of the five principalities of the Philistines; of which city [See comments on Amos 1:7]; and [See comments on Acts 8:26]; and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon; to which he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all these kings, and their land, did Joshua take at one time,.... Not in one day, but in a very short time, in a few days, as the history clearly shows: because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel; which is the true reason of such quick dispatch being made, otherwise in all probability much longer time must have been consumed in subduing...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua returned,.... After all these kings and their cities had been taken by him, and not before; though the same is said, Joshua 10:15, before the history of those facts; [See comments on Joshua 10:15]: and all Israel with him to the camp in Gilgal; where the body of the people were left, and where was the tabernacle of the Lord; and no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Joshua 11 This chapter relates how that the kings of the northern parts of Canaan combine together against Joshua, Joshua 11:1; and that the Lord encouraged him to fight with them, and did deliver them into his hands, who, with all their people, were smitten by him, Joshua 11:6; and how that he took their cities, and destroyed the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard [these things],.... The taking of Jericho and Ai, the defeat of the five kings, and the conquest of the southern part of the land of Canaan; he was alarmed by them, and sent to all the northern kings to join with him against Israel; and he the rather took this upon him, because as Adonizedek...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And to the kings that [were] on the north of the mountains,.... Of Libanus and Antilibanus, with others near them; so Josephus (t) says, the kings about Lebanon being Canaanites, fought against them, i.e. the Israelites; for Lebanon lay to the north of the land: and of the plains south of Cinneroth; or Gennesaret, of the land and lake of which we...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[And to] the Canaanites on the east and on the west,.... That is, that particular nation of the seven so called, part of which dwelt in the eastern part of the land, by the dead sea, and by the coast of Jordan, Numbers 13:29; and others dwelt on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, which was to the west of the land: and [to] the Amorite, and [to]...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they went out,.... The several kings and people sent to; these went out from the places they inhabited: they and all their hosts with them; the kings of those several places, with their armies: much people, even as the sand that [is] upon the seashore in multitude; a proverbial expression, to denote an exceeding great number: with horses and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when all those kings were met together,.... At some certain place, which Jabin had appointed: they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom: Josephus (a) says it was at Berotha; perhaps it should be Merotha, a city of upper Galilee, not far from Cedesa, the same he elsewhere calls (b) Meroth, These waters are the same with the lake...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord said unto Joshua, be not afraid because of them,.... Of their number, of their horsemen, and of their scythed chariots; which might at first hearing occasion some fear and dread. And according to Josephus (f), the multitude of them terrified both Joshua and the Israelites; and therefore the Lord appeared and spoke to him for his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them,.... Being encouraged by the Lord, they set out with Joshua at the head of them, to fight the kings and their forces. It is highly probable that these were not the whole body of armed men in the camp of Israel, but a select company Joshua took of them, and who would be able to make...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel,.... The whole host, who either were killed or wounded, or put to flight: it was of the Lord that Israel was directed to make so quick a march, and come upon them so suddenly, and that they were off their guard, and unprovided for them, and so fell into their hands: who smote them; with the edge...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him,.... Namely, in the following instances: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire; not consulting his own worldly interest or that of the people of Israel, but the command of God, which he carefully obeyed, and reserved none for himself or them, as David in another case afterwards...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua at that time turned back and took Hazor,.... After he had chased the Canaanites to the places mentioned, he returned to Hazor, near to which Joshua first fell upon them, but through the pursuit he was led on many miles beyond it: Bunting says (w), it was thirty two miles from Sidon: and smote the king thereof with the sword; who, very...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they smote all the souls that [were] therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying [them],.... Men, women, and children: there was not any left to breathe; any human creature; for as for the cattle they were taken for a prey: and he burnt Hazor with fire; as he did Jericho and Ai, though no other cities he had taken; but it seems that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them did Joshua take,.... As particularly Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, with others which he marched unto, after he had burnt Hazor; in which he took their kings, whither they had fled, or else he had taken them before in the pursuit: and smote them with the edge of the sword; both the kings...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But as for the cities that stood still in their strength,.... Whose walls were not demolished when taken, as Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it, or that "stood upon their heaps" (y); upon an eminence, being built on hills and mountains: Israel burned none of them; but reserved them for their own habitations, being well fortified, and having no need of...