Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Joshua 11:1) And it came to pass when Jabin king of Hazor had heard, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,
In the last chapter and post, Joshua had continued his conquest and had destroyed the Canaanite cities of the south. Jabin, the king of Hazor in the north, heard about Joshua's conquest of the south and was undoubtedly alarmed. He sent word to kings who were in the north as well, although their exact locations are not known.
(2) And to the kings on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor in the west, (3) To the Canaanites in the east and on the west, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
Jabin sent word to other kings in the north as far south as the plains south of Chinneroth which Biblical commentators think are the plains of Jezreel, and to the west to the borders of Dor on the Mediterranean Sea. He also sent word to kings in the northern mountainous region to Mount Hermon which was north of Dan. The map used in the last post to show the southern conquest also identifies some of these places in the north:
(4) And they went out, they and all their armies with them, much people, even as the sand upon the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. (5) And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
These kings went out from their cities with their huge armies, people so numerous as to be compared with the number of sand particles on the seashore, and with many horses and chariots. The kings all met together and camped at a place called Merom, although that exact location is not known. Their intention was to fight against Israel.
(6) And the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver them up all slain before Israel; you shall hock their horses and burn their chariots with fire."
Even though these armies were apparently much larger than any Joshua had encountered in Canaan thus far, the Lord told him not to fear, for He would deliver them into Israel's hand slain. He said that Israel was to hamstring their horses rendering them useless and burn their chariots. The Lord did not want them to fear their many horses and chariots, but it appears neither did He want the Israelites to keep the horses and chariots as they were not to put their trust in such things; it was only in their God who fought for them they should put their trust.
(7) So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and they fell upon them.
Joshua and his army came upon the encamped kings and their armies at Merom suddenly and took them by surprise.
(8) And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel who killed them and chased them to great Sidon and to Misrephoth-Maim and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward, and they struck them until they left none remaining.
The Lord indeed delivered the great armies into the hand of Israel. The Israelite army killed them and chased the rest into the valley eastward until there were none remaining.
(9) And Joshua did to them as the Lord bade him; he hocked their horses and burnt their chariots with fire.
Joshua did as the Lord commanded and hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
(10) And Joshua at that time turned back and took Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor before was the head of all those kingdoms.
Having destroyed all the armies that had gathered against Israel, Joshua then went to Hazor and took the city and killed its king, for it was the royal city that had been the head of the northern regions that had come out against Israel.
(11) And they killed all the souls in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there were not any left to breathe, and he burnt Hazor with fire.
Joshua and the Israelite army killed all the people in Hazor leaving not one alive, and they burnt the city with fire.
(12) And all the cities of those kings and all the kings of them, Joshua took and struck them with the edge of the sword, he utterly destroyed them as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.
All those cities, Hazor, Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, and all their kings, Joshua utterly destroyed and killed, as the Lord had commanded through Moses in Deuteronomy 7:2, "...you shall strike them and utterly destroy them," speaking of what they were to do with the inhabitants of the land when the Lord brought them into their promised land.
(13) But the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only which Joshua burned.
Although Joshua and the Israelite army had killed all the inhabitants and destroyed the cities of Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, they did not burn them to the ground as they had done to Hazor. Those cities still stood in their "strength," the original word being "tel" which meant literally "mound or heap." Those cities probably stood on hills and were stronger because of their physical positions. Joshua reserved them for use by the Israelites.
(14) And all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a plunder to themselves, but every man they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, they left none to breathe.
The gold, silver, and any goods that survived destruction of the cities, along with the cattle, the Israelites took as their spoil, but they killed every one of the inhabitants of the cities.
(15) As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.
As the Lord had commanded Moses regarding what the people were to do when they came into their promised land, Moses had in turn commanded his servant and successor Joshua, and Joshua did all that he had been commanded to do.
(16) So Joshua took all that land, the hills, all the south country, all the land of Goshen, the valley, the plain, the mountain of Israel, and its valley, (17) From Mount Halak that goes up to Seir, even to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon; and all their kings he took and struck them and killed them.
So Joshua had taken that whole land of Canaan including the hill country of Judea, all the south country, all the land of Goshen with its valley and plain, as described in Joshua 10:40-41, the mountain of Israel which may be Jerusalem, and its valley, from Mount Halak on the border of Edom in the south, to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon in the north. He struck and killed all their kings.
(18) Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
Although the conquests of this chapter are lumped together and appear to have taken place in rapid order, it took five to seven years for Joshua to completely subdue the rest of the land of Canaan.
(19) There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle.
None of the cities of Canaan made peace with the Israelites except for the Gibeonites who had obtained peace, although through trickery. The Israelites took all the other cities in battle.
(20) For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might destroy them utterly, that they might have no favor, but that He might destroy them as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Lord Himself had hardened the hearts of all the Canaanite inhabitants against trying to make peace with the Israelites. It had been His will to completely destroy them because of their abominable wickedness (Deuteronomy 9:4-5). God's will was that the Israelites make no covenant with them or show them any mercy (Deuteronomy 7:2). However, Israel had made a peace agreement with the Gibeonites, even though the Gibeonites had used trickery to get it. The Lord did not want any other cities pulling similar stunts, so He hardened their hearts so that all would want to go against Israel in battle where the Lord would have Israel completely destroy them.
(21) And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.
Joshua and his army had destroyed all the cities, and they also at that time cut off the Anakims from the mountains. The Anakims were a wild, barbarous, and gigantic people who inhabited the mountains in the country around Hebron, Debir, Anab, the hill country of Judah, and all the mountains of Israel. Joshua had also destroyed the Anakims in the mountains and in the cities which they may have inhabited before, or perhaps had taken possession of after Joshua had destroyed those cities.
(22) None of the Anakims were left in the land of the children of Israel, only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.
There were no Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel. They were either destroyed or had fled to the southern coast of Canaan in what would become the land of the Philistines, in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
(23) So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.
Thus Joshua had taken the land of Canaan as described in the past few chapters. However, there were a few areas that were not yet subdued (Joshua 13:1-6). Joshua had destroyed and driven out all the inhabitants of the land as had been declared by the Lord to Moses (Deuteronomy 7:2, 11:23). It was the Lord who had given the land as an inheritance to Israel, but later Joshua would be instrumental in dividing it among the tribes. I found this wonderfully detailed map of Joshua's conquest, as well as the sites of many historical events before and after the conquest at BibleAtlas.org:
The Joshua conquest could be seen as a symbol of the spiritual conquest that Christians must make. When we put our faith in Jesus, He goes before us in spiritual battle and subdues all things to Himself, enemies from the outside and the strongholds of sin and lusts of the flesh from within us. We then may rest from warring against those things when through His grace, we have conquered the flesh, the world, and the devil. "...in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
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