Joshua 11
Israel Defeats a Northern Coalition
11:1 When King Jabin of Hazor heard the news, he organized a coalition, including King Jobab of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph, 11:2 and the northern kings who ruled in the hill country, the Arabah south of Kinnereth, the lowlands, and the heights of Dor to the west. 11:3 Canaanites came from the east and west; Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites from the hill country; and Hivites from below Hermon in the area of Mizpah.
King Jabin heard how easily Joshua defeated the southern kingdom. He knew that he was next on the list. Therefore, he sent runners to the surrounding cities in an attempt to form a northern confederation.
11:4 These kings came out with their armies; they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and had a large number of horses and chariots. 11:5 All these kings gathered and joined forces at the Waters of Merom to fight Israel.
Josephus speculated that this northern confederacy included 300,000 infantry soldiers, 10,000 cavalry troops, and 20,000 chariots.
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 their chariots.”
Jehovah promised Joshua victory. He also commanded Joshua to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots. The Canaanites worshipped the horse and chariot. Also, Jehovah did not want Joshua depending upon horses and chariots for his victories. The Psalmist David declared, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Ps. 20:7).
11:7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them.
Instead of waiting for the northern confederation army to come to him, Joshua went to them and attacked.
11:8 The Lord handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained.
Joshua was able to kill the entire northern confederacy all at once.
11:9 Joshua did to them as the Lord had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.
Later, Jewish kings would not be allowed to multiply horses. God wanted his kings trusting in God rather than in horses.
11:10 At that time Joshua turned, captured Hazor, and struck down its king with the sword, for Hazor was at that time the leader of all these kingdoms.
Hazor was the largest city-state of Canaan. Jericho was 8 acres, Meggido was 14 acres, but Hazor was 200 acres. Hazor dominated several branches of an ancient highway which led from Egypt to Syria and on to Assyria and Babylon.
11:11 They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword – no one who breathed remained – and burned Hazor.
If Hazor could be defeated and burned so easily, then no one in Canaan had a chance against Israel.
11:12 Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword, as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded.
Joshua captured all of the royal cities and performed genocide on the people.
11:13 But Israel did not burn any of the cities located on mounds, except for Hazor; it was the only one Joshua burned.
Hazor was burned as an example to other Canaanite cities. The other cities would be lived in by the Israelites.
11:14 The Israelites plundered all the goods of these cities and the cattle, but they totally destroyed all the people and allowed no one who breathed to live.
Every man, woman and child were killed.
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.
The southern and northern confederacies had been defeated and exterminated.
A Summary of Israel’s Victories
11:16 Joshua conquered the whole land, including the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the lowlands, 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.
The author reviewed all of the territory which Joshua conquered.
11:18 Joshua campaigned against these kings for quite some time.
The conquests took a lot of time.
11:19 No city made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon); they had to conquer all of them,
The Gibeonites were the only internal Canaanite city to make peace with Israel.
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.
Jehovah made the Canaanites obstinate so that they would attack Israel. All non-believing Gentiles hate Israel, because they are God’s chosen people. God gave these Gentiles over to their own desires.
11:21 At that time Joshua attacked and eliminated the Anakites from the hill country – from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua annihilated them and their cities.
The Anakites were the giants who had terrorized the Israelite spies 45 years earlier.
11:22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory, though some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
Joshua killed every Anakite, except for a few pockets who were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. Joshua should have finished the job. Later, Goliath would come out of Gath and give Israel some trouble.
11:23 Joshua conquered the whole land, just as the Lord had promised Moses, and he assigned Israel their tribal portions. Then the land was free of war.
Joshua took the central parts of Canaan, but he did not kill all of the pockets of Canaanites. These pockets of Canaanites would later give Israel trouble.