Defeating Northern Kings

11 When Jabin king of Hazor [^Cthe largest and best fortified of the Canaanite cities] heard about all that had happened, he sent messages to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Acshaph. ² He sent messages to the kings in the northern ·mountains [hill country] and also to the kings in the ·Jordan Valley [or Arabah] south of ·Lake Galilee [^LKinnereth] and in the ·western foothills [lowlands; ^LShephelah]. He sent a message to the king of ·Naphoth [or the heights of] Dor in the west [^Cthe coastal plain south of Mount Carmel] ³ and to the kings of the Canaanites in the east and in the west. He sent messages to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the ·mountains [hill country]. Jabin also sent one to the Hivites, who lived below Mount Hermon in the area of Mizpah [^Ca coalition of the northern cities of Palestine]. ⁴ So the armies of all these kings came together with their horses and chariots [^Ca great challenge to the Israelites, who only had foot soldiers]. There were as many soldiers as grains of sand on the seashore [Gen. 22:17].

⁵ All of these kings met together at the waters of Merom [^Cprobably modern Meirun, eight miles northwest of the Sea of Galilee], joined their armies together into one camp, and made plans to fight against the Israelites.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, because at this time tomorrow I will give them to you. You will ·cripple [hamstring] their horses and burn all their chariots.”

⁷ So Joshua and his whole army surprised the enemy [10:9] by attacking them at the waters of Merom. ⁸ The Lord ·handed them over to [^Lgave them into the hand of] Israel. They chased them to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Valley of Mizpah in the east [^Clocations north and west of the battle]. Israel fought until none of the enemy was left alive. ⁹ Joshua did what the Lord said to do; he ·crippled [hamstrung] their horses and burned their chariots [^CIsrael did not take the horses and chariots to use themselves, in order to show their trust in God; Ps. 20:7].

¹⁰ Then Joshua went back and captured the city of Hazor and ·killed [^Lstruck with the sword] its king. (Hazor had been the leader of all the kingdoms that fought against Israel.) ¹¹ Israel ·killed [^Lstruck with the sword] everyone in Hazor, ·completely destroying them [devoting them to destruction; 2:10; 6:21]; no one was left ·alive [^Lthat breathed]. Then they burned Hazor itself.

¹² Joshua captured all of these cities, ·killed [^Lstruck with the edge of the sword] all of their kings, and ·completely destroyed [devoted to destruction; v. 11] everything in these cities. He did this just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. ¹³ But the Israelites did not burn any cities that were built on their mounds [^Cso Israel could immediately occupy these strategically important cities; Deut. 6:10–11], except Hazor; only that city was burned by Joshua. ¹⁴ The ·people [^Lsons; children] of Israel kept for themselves ·everything [the plunder/spoil] they found in the cities, including all the animals. But they ·killed [^Lstruck with the edge of the sword] all the people there; they left no one ·alive [^Lthat breathed]. ¹⁵ Long ago the Lord had commanded his servant Moses to do this, and then Moses had commanded Joshua to do it [Deut. 7:1–6; 20:16–18]. Joshua ·did everything [^Lleft nothing undone that] the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁶ So Joshua defeated all the people in the land [^Ca general statement, since not every city was taken; 17:16; Judg. 1]. He had control of the mountains and ·the area of southern Canaan [^Lall the Negev], all the areas of Goshen, the ·western foothills [lowlands; ^LShephelah], and the ·Jordan Valley [or Arabah]. He controlled the ·mountains [hill country] of Israel and ·all the hills near them [or its lowlands/^LShephelah]. ¹⁷ ·Joshua controlled all the land from [^L…from] Mount Halak near ·Edom [^LSeir] to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon, below Mount Hermon. Joshua also captured all the kings in the land and killed them. ¹⁸ He ·fought [waged war] against them for ·many years [a long time; ^Lmany days]. ¹⁹ The people of only one city in all the land had made a peace ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with Israel—the Hivites living in Gibeon. All the other cities were defeated in war. ²⁰ The Lord ·made those people stubborn [^Lhardened their hearts; Ex. 8:15] so they would fight against Israel and ·he could completely destroy them [would be devoted to destruction; 2:10; 6:17] without mercy. This is what the Lord had commanded Moses to do.

²¹ Now Joshua fought the Anakites [or Anakim; Num. 13:33] who lived in the ·mountains [hill country] of Hebron, Debir, Anab, Judah, and Israel, and he completely destroyed them and their towns. ²² There were no Anakites left living in the land of the Israelites ·and only a few were left [or though some remained] in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. ²³ Joshua took control of all the ·land of Israel [^Lland] as the Lord had ·told Moses to do [or promised Moses] long ago. He gave the land to Israel, ·because he had promised it to them [^Las an inheritance]. ·Then Joshua divided the land among the tribes of Israel [^L…according to their tribal divisions], and ·there was peace in the land [the land had rest from war].