11:1-5Two kings of Hazor were named Jabin. The other, apparently a weak ruler, is mentioned in Judges 4:2, 3. The Jabin of this story was quite powerful because.he was able to build an alliance with dozens of kings. By all appearances, Jabin had a clear advantage over Joshua and his outnumbered forces. But those who honor God can be victorious regardless of the odds.
Life Application Study BibleJoshuaChapter 11
Joshua 11
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 330, 331
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
11Joshua 11
1When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent messages to the following kings: King Jobab of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Acshaph; all the kings of the northern hill country; the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Galilee*; the kings in the Galilean foothills*; the kings of Naphoth-dor on the west; $the kings of Canaan, both east and west; the kings of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites in the towns on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore. 5The kings joined forces and established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel. 6Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel as dead men. Then you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.” 7So Joshua and all his fighting men traveled to the water near Merom and attacked suddenly. 8And the LORD gave them victory over their enemies. The Israelites chased them as far as Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah, until not one enemy warrior was left alive. 9Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as the LORD had instructed. 10Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of all these kingdoms.) The Israelites completely destroyed” every living thing in the city, leaving no survivors. Not a single person was spared. And then Joshua burned the city. oe 12Joshua slaughtered all the other kings and their people, completely destroying them, just as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded. 13But the Israelites did not burn any of the towns built on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned. 14And the Israelites took all the plunder and livestock of the ravaged towns for themselves. But they killed all the people, leaving no survivors. 15As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all the commands that the LORD had given to Moses. 4. Summary of conquests 1€So Joshua conquered the entire region—the hill country, the entire Negev, the whole area around the town of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley,* the mountains of Israel, and the Galilean foothills. 7The Israelite territory now extended all the way from Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir in the south, as far north as Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua killed all the kings of those territories, 18waging war for along time to accomplish this. 19No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated. 20For the LORD hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 2tDuring this period Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns. 2?2None of the descendants of Anak were left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the LORD had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.
Textual footnotes
- also in 11:16.
- LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 11:12, 20, 21.
- 11:2a Hebrew in the Arabah south of Kinnereth.
- 11:2b Hebrew the Shephelah;
- 11:14 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the
- 11:16 Hebrew the Shephelah, the Arabah.
Life Application Notes 6 notes
11:10-13Victorious invaders usually kept captured cities intact, moving into them and making them centers of commerce and defense. For example, Moses predicted in Deuteronomy 6:10-12 that Israel would occupy cities they themselves had not duilt. Joshua, however, burned Hazor. As a former capital of the land, Hazor symbolized the wicked culture that Israel had come to destroy. In addition, its capture and destruction broke the backbone of the federation and weakened the will of the people to resist.
11:15Joshua carefully obeyed all the instructions given by God. This theme of obedience is repeated frequently in the book of Joshua, partly because obedience is one aspect of life that each individual believer can contro!. We can’t always control our understanding because we may not have all the facts. We can’t control what other people do or how they treat us. However, we can control our choice to obey God. Whatever new challenges we may face, the Bible contains relevant instructions that we can choose to ignore or choose to follow.
11:15Joshua followed every detail of God’s commands to Moses. It is usually difficult to complete someone else’s project, but Joshua stepped into Moses’ job, building upon what Moses had started, and brought it to completion. A new person starting a new job usually brings a new style and personality to that job. But the church or any other organization cannot work effectively if every change of personnel means starting from scratch. True servants will step in and continue or complete good work that others have begun.
11:18The conquest of much of the land of Canaan seems to have happened quickly (we can read about it in one sitting), but it actually took seven years. We often expect quick changes in our lives and quick victories over sin. Qur journey with God is a lifelong process, however, and the changes and victories may take time. It is easy to grow impatient with God and feel like giving up hope because things are moving too slowly. When we are close to a situation, it is difficult to see progress. But when we look back, we can see that God never stopped working.
11:21,22The descendants of Anak were the tribes of giants the Israelite scouts described when they gave their negative report on the Promised Land (Numbers 13~14). This time the people did not let their fear of the giants prevent them from engaging in battle and claiming the land God had promised.