Joshua 10 Joshua's campaign

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Joshua 10:28 That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.

29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. 30 The Lord also gave that city and its king into Israel’s hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. 32 The Lord gave Lachish into Israel’s hands, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. 33 Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left.

34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. 35 They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.

36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. 37 They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.

38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. 39 They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.

40 So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. 42 All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.

43 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.​

I found this at studylight.org.

Somewhat of a summary of Joshua's Southern Campaign is given in the rest of this chapter, where there is a great deal of abbreviation. Many have pointed out that, "Joshua's strategy at this point consisted of a series of swift, devastating attacks upon key Canaanite cities, to crush their inhabitants, but not necessarily to occupy them at this point in time." This view of Joshua's strategy seems confirmed by Joshua 11:13, where it is stated that the cities that stood on their mounds (that is, the fortified towns) were not burned, with the exception of Hazor. This meant that the defeated Canaanites by their survivors could easily reoccupy their cities after their defeat; and this accounts for the fact that, later on, the Israelites had to retake many of these cities.

Of interest in this verse is the fact that Makkedah was not mentioned as a member of the coalition formed by Adonizedek, yet the city was utterly destroyed. Note too that it is not recorded that Jerusalem was destroyed, despite the fact that Adonizedek was the leader of the anti-Israelite coalition.

But had not Joshua already put Hoham the king of Hebron to death? Of course; but another king succeeded him at once. The ancient formula is, "The king is dead; long live the king!"

Note here, as Rea pointed out, that Joshua left no garrison to occupy Hebron, "So it had to be re-conquered later by Caleb (Joshua 15:11-17)." To those who understand this, it is rather amusing that Holmes cited this as a contradiction supporting his allegation that the summary is not historical. Adam Clarke pointed out that, "In several instances, no doubt the scattered Canaanites returned, re-populated, and put those cities in a state of defense."

The conquest is not really interesting to me..... but I am going cover to cover so here it is.

Posting the passages here on a daily basis makes me stay in the Word. Thanks for looking....

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