As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua ,.... Which was to destroy the people of the land, Deuteronomy 7:1 , so did Joshua, he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses ; both with respect to the destruction of the people, and of all their images, pictures, altars, groves, and high places; see Exodus 34:11 . read more
The continuation of the struggle. The same class of thoughts is suggested by this chapter as by the former. We have, as before But the course of the narrative gives a somewhat different form to our reflections. I. JOSHUA NEEDED SPECIAL ENCOURAGEMENT ONCE MORE , in spite of his previous signal victory. This was because he had a new class of enemies to contend against. These kings, with the king Hazor at their head, seem to have possessed a higher civilisation than the... read more
As the Lord Commanded Moses (see note on Joshua 10:40 ). So did Joshua. The implicit obedience of Joshua to all the commands he had received of God, whether directly or indirectly through Moses, is a striking feature of his character. Like most great soldiers, he possessed remarkable simplicity of disposition. He reminds us, in his rapidity of conception and execution, of Napoleon, but in his single minded eye to duty he is much more like our own Wellington. Only one instance in which he... read more
God's commandment and man's faithfulness. I. GOD 'S COMMANDMENT IS ENDURING . The commandment to Moses is transmitted to Joshua. God's will is changeless. What is right is right eternally. We must not regard God's laws as obsolete when they are ancient. The precepts of the Bible are not the less binding upon us because they are old ( Psalms 119:160 ; Isaiah 40:8 ). Nevertheless (a) what God commands relative to certain circumstances will be modified if those circumstances... read more
Joshua 11:15. As the Lord commanded Moses, &c. See Exodus 34:11, 12; Deuteronomy 31:7. So did Joshua: he left nothing undone This is a demonstration that Moses left in writing what the Lord commanded, as we read in the foregoing books, and that they were not written, as some have pretended, in later times. For it would have been impossible for Joshua to have executed every thing which had been commanded by Moses, unless he had had the book of the law before him for his direction. read more
Victory in northern Canaan (11:1-15)Alarmed by Israel’s victories in the south, the kings of the north organized the largest, strongest and best equipped army that Israel had yet faced (11:1-5). Again God encouraged Joshua, and again Joshua launched a devastating surprise attack. He defeated the combined northern forces, making sure that he destroyed all their horses and chariots. This was apparently to prevent the Israelites from being tempted to use the horses and chariots themselves instead... read more
As = according as. Compare Exodus 34:11 . on . Compare Deuteronomy 7:2 . read more
Ver. 15. Joshua—left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses— Spinosa is pleased to say, that this eulogy is too great to have fallen from the pen of Joshua; whence he concludes, that Joshua did not write this book, known by his name. What admirable reasoning is this! So that, in like manner, we are to refuse granting St. Paul to be the author of the epistles, in which he does justice to his own fidelity; and to deny that Caesar wrote those commentaries which are unanimously... read more
8. Conquests in northern Canaan 11:1-15The leaders of the northern Canaanite cities also decided to unite to withstand the threat of Israelite expansion. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 11:15-23
We have here the conclusion of this whole matter. I. A short account is here given of what was done in four things:?1. The obstinacy of the Canaanites in their opposition to the Israelites. It was strange that though it appeared so manifestly that God fought for Israel, and in every engagement the Canaanites had the worst of it, yet they stood it out to the last; not one city made peace with Israel, but the Gibeonites only, who understood the things that belonged to their peace better than... read more