Joshua 11
New English Translation
Israel Defeats a Northern Coalition
11 When King Jabin of Hazor heard the news about Israel’s victories,[a] he organized a coalition, including[b] King Jobab of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph, 2 and the northern kings who ruled in[c] the hill country, in the rift valley south of Kinnereth,[d] in the foothills, and on the heights of Dor to the west. 3 Canaanites came[e] from the east and west; Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites from the hill country; and Hivites from below Hermon in the area[f] of Mizpah. 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.[g] 5 All these kings gathered and joined forces[h] at the Waters of Merom to fight Israel.
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[i] their chariots.” 7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them.[j] 8 The Lord handed them over to Israel, and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim,[k] and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained. 9 Joshua did to them as the Lord had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned[l] their chariots.
10 At that time Joshua turned, captured Hazor, and struck down its king with the sword, for Hazor was at that time[m] the leader of all these kingdoms. 11 They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword[n]—no one who breathed remained—and burned[o] Hazor.
12 Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword,[p] as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded. 13 But Israel did not burn any of the cities located on mounds[q] except for Hazor; it was the only one Joshua burned. 14 The Israelites plundered all the goods of these cities and the cattle, but they totally destroyed all the people[r] and allowed no one who breathed to live. 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.[s]
A Summary of Israel’s Victories
16 Joshua conquered the whole land,[t] including the hill country, all the Negev,[u] all the land of Goshen, the foothills,[v] the rift valley,[w] the hill country of Israel and its foothills, 17 from Mount Halak up to Seir, as far as Baal Gad in the Lebanon Valley below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and executed them.[x] 18 Joshua campaigned against[y] these kings for quite some time.[z] 19 No city made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon);[aa] they had to conquer all of them,[ab] 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.[ac]
21 At that time Joshua attacked and eliminated the Anakites from the hill country[ad]—from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and all the hill country of Judah and Israel.[ae] Joshua annihilated them and their cities. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory, though some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23 Joshua conquered[af] the whole land, just as the Lord had promised Moses,[ag] and he assigned Israel their tribal portions.[ah] Then the land was free of war.
Footnotes
- Joshua 11:1 tn The words “about Israel’s victories” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied for clarity.
- Joshua 11:1 tn Heb “he sent to.”
- Joshua 11:2 tn Heb “and to the kings who [are] from the north in.”
- Joshua 11:2 tn Heb “Chinneroth,” a city and plain located in the territory of Naphtali in Galilee (BDB 490 s.v. כִּנֶּרֶת, כִּנֲרוֹת).sn Kinnereth was a city in Galilee located near the Sea of Galilee (Deut 3:17). The surrounding region also became known by this name (1 Kgs 15:20; cf. Matt 14:34), and eventually even the lake itself (Josh 12:3; cf. Luke 5:1). The “rift valley south of” Galilee probably refers to the northern part of the Jordan Valley from the lake to where the Jezreel Valley joins the rift valley. Dor is nearly due west from that point.
- Joshua 11:3 tn The verb “came” is supplied in the translation (see v. 4).
- Joshua 11:3 tn Or “land.”
- Joshua 11:4 tn Heb “They and all their camps with them came out, a people as numerous as the sand which is on the edge of the sea in multitude, and [with] horses and chariots very numerous.”
- Joshua 11:5 tn Heb “and came and camped together.”
- Joshua 11:6 tn Heb “burn with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.
- Joshua 11:7 tn Heb “Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them at the Waters of Merom suddenly and fell upon them.”
- Joshua 11:8 tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 641 s.v. מִשְׂרָפוֹת).
- Joshua 11:9 tn Heb “burned with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.
- Joshua 11:10 tn Or “formerly.”
- Joshua 11:11 tn Heb “and they struck down all life which was in it with the edge of the sword, annihilating.”
- Joshua 11:11 tn Heb “burned with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.
- Joshua 11:12 tn Heb “and he struck them down with the edge of the sword, he annihilated them.”
- Joshua 11:13 tn Heb “standing on their mounds.”
- Joshua 11:14 tn Heb “but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword until they destroyed them.”
- Joshua 11:15 tn Heb “As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua acted accordingly; he did not turn aside a thing from all which the Lord commanded Moses.”
- Joshua 11:16 tn Heb “Joshua took all this land.”
- Joshua 11:16 sn The Negev is an area south of the Judean hill country and west of the rift valley. As a geographic feature it is an arid depression extending south to the Gulf of Aqabah, but the biblical reference is probably to the northern part of this region.
- Joshua 11:16 sn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, “shephelah”) refer to the transition region between the Judean hill country and the Mediterranean coastal plain.
- Joshua 11:16 sn As a geographic feature, the rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. The reference here is probably to the Jordan Valley and the wider part of the rift valley below the Dead Sea.
- Joshua 11:17 tn Heb “and struck them down and killed them.”
- Joshua 11:18 tn Heb “made war with.”
- Joshua 11:18 tn Heb “for many days.”
- Joshua 11:19 tn The LXX omits this parenthetical note, which may represent a later scribal addition.
- Joshua 11:19 tn Heb “the whole they took in battle.”
- Joshua 11:20 tn Heb “for from the Lord it was to harden their heart[s] to meet for the battle with Israel, in order to annihilate them, so that they would receive no mercy, in order annihilate them, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
- Joshua 11:21 tn Heb “went and cut off the Anakites from the hill country.”
- Joshua 11:21 tn Heb “and from all the hill country of Israel.”
- Joshua 11:23 tn Heb “took.”
- Joshua 11:23 tn Heb “according to all which the Lord said to Moses.” The translation assumes this refers to the promise of the land (see 1:3). Another possibility is that it refers to the Lord’s instructions, in which case the phrase could be translated, “just as the Lord had instructed Moses” (so NLT; cf. also NIV “had directed Moses”).
- Joshua 11:23 tn Heb “and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their allotted portions by their tribes.”
Joshua 11
International Standard Version
The Northern Campaign
11 When King Jabin of Hazor heard all of this,[a] he sent word[b] to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings in the north, in the hill country, in the plain south of Chinnereth, in the Shephelah, and in the hills of Dor toward the west, 3 to the eastern and western Canaanites—the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites below Hermon in the territory of Mizpah. 4 So they went out, they and all of their armies with them—a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore—accompanied by many horses and chariots. 5 After all these kings had gathered together, they went out and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight Israel.
6 But the Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, because tomorrow about this time I am giving them all to you—dead—in the presence of Israel. Hamstring their horses and incinerate their chariots.”
7 So Joshua and his entire fighting force approached them suddenly by the waters of Merom and attacked them. 8 The Lord handed them over to the control of Israel, who defeated them and chased them as far as Greater Sidon and east as far as the Mizpah Valley. They attacked them until none remained. 9 Joshua dealt with them just as the Lord had told him: he hamstrung their horses and incinerated their chariots.
10 Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor, executing its king, because Hazor used to be the head of all of those kingdoms. 11 They executed all of the people who lived in it, completely destroying it and leaving no one alive. Then he burned Hazor in fire.
12 So Joshua captured and annihilated all of these cities, along with their kings, completely destroying them, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 However, Israel did not burn any of the cities that had been built on mounds of ruins,[c] except for Hazor only, which Joshua burned. 14 The Israelis took the spoils of war from these cities, along with their livestock, but they executed every human being until they had completely destroyed them, leaving no one alive. 15 Joshua did just what the Lord had commanded his servant Moses and just what Moses had commanded him, leaving nothing unfinished.
Summary of Joshua’s Victory
16 So Joshua conquered all of these territories: the hill country, all of the Negev,[d] the entire land of Goshen with its foothills, the plains of Jordan, and the mountains of Israel with its foothills 17 from Mount Halak and the ascent toward Seir, including as far as Baal-gad in the Lebanon Valley that lies at the foot of Mount Hermon. Joshua captured all of their kings, struck them down, and put them to death. 18 Joshua fought an extended campaign against all those kings. 19 There wasn’t a single[e] city that made a peace accord with the Israelis, except the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. The Israelis[f] captured all the rest[g] in battle, 20 because the Lord had hardened their hearts so they would fight Israel in war, be completely destroyed without mercy, and be completely wiped out, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
21 At that time Joshua came and annihilated the Anakim[h] from the hill country, that is, from Hebron, Debir, and Anab, as well as from all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them along with their cities. 22 None of the Anakim[i] remained in the land belonging to the Israelis—they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. 23 Joshua conquered the entire land, in accordance with everything that the Lord had told Moses. Joshua presented it as an inheritance to Israel, dividing it according to tribal allotments. Then the land enjoyed rest from war.
Footnotes
- Joshua 11:1 The Heb. lacks all of this
- Joshua 11:1 The Heb. lacks word
- Joshua 11:13 Lit. on tels
- Joshua 11:16 I.e. the southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Joshua 11:19 The Heb. lacks single
- Joshua 11:19 Lit. They
- Joshua 11:19 The Heb. lacks the rest
- Joshua 11:21 I.e. a race of giants that formerly populated Canaan; cf. Num 13:22, 33; Deut 9:2
- Joshua 11:22 I.e. a race of giants that formerly populated Canaan; cf. Num 13:22, 33; Deut 9:2
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