Joshua 10

Jos 10:1-5.

FIVE

KINGS

WAR AGAINST

GIBEON.

1. Adoni-zedek--"lord of righteousness"--nearly synonymous with

Melchizedek, "king of righteousness." These names were common titles of

the Jebusite kings.

Jerusalem--The original name, "Salem"

(Ge 14:18;

Ps 76:2),

was superseded by that here given, which signifies "a peaceful

possession," or "a vision of peace," in allusion, as some think, to the

strikingly symbolic scene

(Ge 22:14)

represented on the mount whereon that city was afterwards built.

inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among

them--that is, the Israelites; had made an alliance with that people,

and acknowledging their supremacy, were living on terms of friendly

intercourse with them.

2. they feared greatly--The dread inspired by the rapid conquests of

the Israelites had been immensely increased by the fact of a state so

populous and so strong as Gibeon having found it expedient to submit to

the power and the terms of the invaders.

as one of the royal cities--Although itself a republic

(Jos 9:3),

it was large and well-fortified, like those places in which the chiefs

of the country usually established their residence.

3, 4. Wherefore Adoni-zedek . . . sent, . . . saying, Come up unto me,

and help me--A combined attack was meditated on Gibeon, with a view not

only to punish its people for their desertion of the native cause, but

Israelites. This confederacy among the mountaineers of Southern

Palestine was formed and headed by the king of Jerusalem, because his

territory was most exposed to danger, Gibeon being only six miles

distant, and because he evidently possessed some degree of pre-eminence

over his royal neighbors.

5. the five kings of the Amorites--The settlement of this powerful and

warlike tribe lay within the confines of Moab; but having also acquired

extensive possessions on the southwest of the Jordan, their name, as

the ruling power, seems to have been given to the region generally

(2Sa 21:2),

although Hebron was inhabited by Hittites or Hivites

(Jos 11:19),

and Jerusalem by Jebusites

(Jos 15:63).

Jos 10:6-9.

JOSHUA

RESCUES

IT.

6-8. the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua--Their appeal was urgent and

their claim to protection irresistible, on the ground, not only of

kindness and sympathy, but of justice. In attacking the Canaanites,

Joshua had received from God a general assurance of success

(Jos 1:5).

But the intelligence of so formidable a combination among the native

princes seems to have depressed his mind with the anxious and

dispiriting idea that it was a chastisement for the hasty and

inconsiderate alliance entered into with the Gibeonites. It was

evidently to be a struggle of life and death, not only to Gibeon, but

to the Israelites. And in this view the divine communication that was

made to him was seasonable and animating. He seems to have asked the

counsel of God and received an answer, before setting out on the

expedition.

9. Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly--This is explained in the

following clause, where he is described as having accomplished, by a

forced march of picked men, in one night, a distance of twenty-six

miles, which, according to the slow pace of Eastern armies and

caravans, had formerly been a three days' journey

(Jos 9:17).

Jos 10:10, 11.

GOD

FIGHTS AGAINST

THEM WITH

HAILSTONES.

10, 11. the Lord discomfited them--Hebrew, "terrified," confounded

the Amorite allies, probably by a fearful storm of lightning and

thunder. So the word is usually employed

(1Sa 7:10;

Ps 18:13; 144:6).

and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon--This refers to the

attack of the Israelites upon the besiegers. It is evident that there

had been much hard fighting around the heights of Gibeon, for the day

was far spent before the enemy took to flight.

chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon--that is, "the

House of Caves," of which there are still traces existing. There were

two contiguous villages of that name, upper and nether. Upper

Beth-horon was nearest Gibeon--about ten miles distant, and approached

first stage of the flight. The fugitives had crossed the high ridge of

Upper Beth-horon, and were in full flight down the descent to Beth-horon

the Nether. The road between the two places is so rocky and rugged that

there is a path made by means of steps cut in the rock

[ROBINSON]. Down

this pass Joshua continued his victorious rout. Here it was that the

Lord interposed, assisting His people by means of a storm, which,

having been probably gathering all day, burst with such irresistible

fury, that "they were more which died with hailstones than they whom

the children of Israel slew with the sword." The Oriental hailstorm is

a terrific agent; the hailstones are masses of ice, large as walnuts,

and sometimes as two fists; their prodigious size, and the violence

with which they fall, make them always very injurious to property, and

often fatal to life. The miraculous feature of this tempest, which

fell on the Amorite army, was the entire preservation of the Israelites

from its destructive ravages.

Jos 10:12-15.

THE

SUN AND

MOON

STAND

STILL AT THE

WORD OF

JOSHUA.

12-15. Then spake Joshua to the Lord . . . and . . . he said in the

sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still . . . and thou, Moon--The

inspired author here breaks off the thread of his history of this

miraculous victory to introduce a quotation from an ancient poem, in

which the mighty acts of that day were commemorated. The passage, which

is parenthetical, contains a poetical description of the victory

which was miraculously gained by the help of God, and forms an extract

from "the book of Jasher," that is, "the upright"--an anthology, or

collection of national songs, in honor of renowned and eminently pious

heroes. The language of a poem is not to be literally interpreted; and

therefore, when the sun and moon are personified, addressed as

intelligent beings, and represented as standing still, the explanation

is that the light of the sun and moon was supernaturally prolonged by

the same laws of refraction and reflection that ordinarily cause the

sun to appear above the horizon, when it is in reality below it

[KEIL,

BUSH].

Gibeon ("a hill") was now at the back of the Israelites,

and the height would soon have intercepted the rays of the setting sun.

The valley of Ajalon ("stags") was before them, and so near that it was

sometimes called "the valley of Gibeon"

(Isa 28:21).

It would seem, from

Jos 10:14,

that the command of Joshua was in reality a prayer to God for the

performance of this miracle; and that, although the prayers of

eminently good men like Moses often prevailed with God, never was there

on any other occasion so astonishing a display of divine power made in

behalf of His people, as in answer to the prayer of Joshua.

Jos 10:15

is the end of the quotation from Jasher; and it is necessary to notice

this, as the fact described in it is recorded in due course, and the

same words, by the sacred historian

(Jos 10:43).

Jos 10:16-27.

THE

FIVE

KINGS

HANGED.

16-27. these five kings . . . hid themselves in a cave--Hebrew, "the cave."

at Makkedah--The pursuit was continued, without interruption, to

Makkedah at the foot of the western mountains, where Joshua seems to

have halted with the main body of his troops while a detachment was

sent forward to scour the country in pursuit of the remaining

stragglers, a few of whom succeeded in reaching the neighboring cities.

The last act, probably the next day, was the disposal of the prisoners,

among whom the five kings were consigned to the infamous doom of being

slain

(De 20:16, 17);

and then their corpses were suspended on five trees till the

evening.

24. put your feet upon the necks of these kings--not as a barbarous

insult, but a symbolical action, expressive of a complete victory

(De 33:29;

Ps 110:5;

Mal 4:3).

Jos 10:28-42.

SEVEN

MORE

KINGS

CONQUERED.

28-42. that day Joshua took Makkedah--In this and the following

verses is described the rapid succession of victory and extermination

which swept the whole of southern Palestine into the hands of Israel.

"All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because

the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all

Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal."