Joshua 11-12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 11
Northern Confederacy. 1 When Jabin, king of Hazor,[a] learned of this, he sent a message to Jobab, king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the northern kings in the mountain regions and in the Arabah near Chinneroth, in the Shephelah, and in Naphath-dor to the west.(A) 3 These were Canaanites to the east and west, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the mountain regions, and Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.(B) 4 They came out with all their troops, an army numerous as the sands on the seashore, and with a multitude of horses and chariots.(C) 5 All these kings made a pact and together they marched to the waters of Merom,[b] where they encamped to fight against Israel.
6 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for by this time tomorrow I will present them slain to Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.” 7 Joshua with his whole army came upon them suddenly at the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8 The Lord delivered them into the power of the Israelites, who defeated them and pursued them to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim,(D) and eastward to the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them all down, leaving no survivors. 9 Joshua did to them as the Lord had commanded: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.
Conquest of Northern Canaan. 10 At that time Joshua, turning back, captured Hazor and struck down its king with the sword; for Hazor formerly was the chief of all those kingdoms. 11 He also struck down with the sword every person there, carrying out the ban, till none was left alive. Hazor itself he burned. 12 All the cities of those kings, and the kings themselves, Joshua captured and put to the sword, carrying out the ban on them, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded.(E) 13 However, Israel did not destroy by fire any of the cities built on their mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 14 All the spoil and livestock of these cities the Israelites took as plunder; but the people they put to the sword, until they had destroyed the last of them, leaving none alive. 15 As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua acted accordingly.(F) He left nothing undone that the Lord had commanded Moses should be done.
Survey of the Conquest. 16 So Joshua took all this land: the mountain regions, the entire Negeb, all the land of Goshen, the Shephelah, the Arabah, as well as the mountain regions and Shephelah of Israel,(G) 17 from Mount Halak that rises toward Seir(H) as far as Baal-gad in the Lebanon valley at the foot of Mount Hermon. All their kings he captured and put to death. 18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 With the exception of the Hivites who lived in Gibeon, no city made peace with the Israelites; all were taken in battle.(I) 20 For it was the Lord’s doing to make their hearts obstinate to meet Israel in battle, that they might be put under the ban without mercy, and be destroyed as the Lord had commanded Moses.(J)
21 [c]At that time Joshua penetrated the mountain regions and exterminated the Anakim in Hebron,(K) Debir, Anab, the entire mountain region of Judah, and the entire mountain region of Israel. Joshua put them and their cities under the ban, 22 so that no Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites. However, some survived in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. 23 (L)Thus Joshua took the whole land, just as the Lord had said to Moses. Joshua gave it to Israel as their heritage, apportioning it among the tribes. And the land had rest from war.[d]
Chapter 12[e]
Lists of Conquered Kings. 1 These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites conquered and whose lands they occupied, east of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern section of the Arabah: 2 (M)First, Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. His domain extended from Aroer, which is on the bank of the Wadi Arnon, to include the wadi itself, and the land northward through half of Gilead to the Wadi Jabbok at the border with the Ammonites, 3 as well as the Arabah from the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth, as far south as the eastern side of the Salt Sea of the Arabah in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth,(N) southward under the slopes of Pisgah. 4 Secondly, the border of Og, king of Bashan, a survivor of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei.(O) 5 He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, and all Bashan as far as the boundary of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and over half of Gilead as far as the territory of Sihon, king of Heshbon. 6 It was Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites who conquered them; Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave possession of their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.(P)
7 This is a list of the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelites conquered west of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Lebanon valley to Mount Halak which rises toward Seir; Joshua apportioned their land and gave possession of it to the tribes of Israel; 8 it included the mountain regions and Shephelah, the Arabah, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negeb, belonging to the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites: 9 The king of Jericho, one;(Q) the king of Ai, which is near Bethel, one; 10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;(R) 12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;(S) 13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;(T) 14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;(U) 16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;(V) 17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;(W) 18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;(X) 19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;(Y) 20 the king of Shimron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;(Z) 21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;(AA) 22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam, at Carmel, one;(AB) 23 the king of Dor, in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goyim at Gilgal, one;(AC) 24 and the king of Tirzah, one—thirty-one kings in all.
Footnotes
- 11:1–3 Hazor, Madon, Shimron, and Chinneroth: cities and their surrounding districts in eastern Galilee. Achshaph and Naphath-dor: southwest of Galilee. The mountain regions: in central and northern Galilee.
- 11:5 The waters of Merom: of uncertain identification, perhaps Tel Qarnei Hittin, about seven and a half kilometers west of modern Tiberias.
- 11:21–23 Most of the land assigned to the tribe of Judah was not conquered by it until the early period of the Judges. See note on Jgs 1:1–36.
- 11:23 The land had rest from war: later passages (15:13–17; 17:12–13) show individual tribes still fighting against the remaining Canaanites. This verse forms the conclusion to the first part of the book.
- 12:1–24 This chapter, inserted between the two principal parts of the book (chaps. 1–11 and 13–21), resembles the lists of conquered cities which are inscribed on monuments of Egyptian and Assyrian rulers. Perhaps this list was copied here from some such public Israelite record.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.