Joshua 11:21

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 11:21

And at that time came Joshua ,.... After he had made a conquest of the land, or at the time he made it, as before related: and cut off the Anakims from the mountains ; whither, upon the conquest of the land, they had betaken themselves, and lived in dens and caves: these were giants, so called from Anak the father of them; though these are not to be restrained to his posterity, but include all other giants in the land; and the Targum renders the word by "mighty men"; and as some of them... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 11:21

Cut off the Anakims - from Hebron , from Debir - This is evidently a recapitulation of the military operations detailed Joshua 10:36-41 . Destroyed - their cities - That is, those of the Anakims; for from Joshua 11:13 ; we learn that Joshua preserved certain other cities. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 11:21

Verse 21 21.And at that time came Joshua, etc Of the sons of Anak we have spoken elsewhere. They were a race of giants, with the account of whose mighty stature the spies so terrified the people, that they refused to proceed into the land of Canaan. Therefore, seeing they were objects of so much dread, it was of importance that they should be put out of the way, and the people made more alert by their good hopes of success. It would have been exceedingly injurious (119) to keep objects which... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 11:1-23

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 11:21

And at that time (see Joshua 11:18 ). What is meant is, during the continuance of the war in which the country above described was conquered. The destruction of the Anakim was the conclusion of the work, and was rendered necessary by their having reoccupied the places Joshua had taken (see notes on Joshua 10:36-39 ). The Anakims. Literally, the long-necked men. Called the "children of Anak" ( Numbers 13:28 , Numbers 13:33 ; also Joshua 15:13 , Joshua 15:14 ). Gesenius would... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 11:21-22

The destruction of the giants. These giants had been the terror of Israel. In the evil report of the unfaithful spies they are mentioned last in the ascending scale of difficulties which seemed to make the conquest of the land an impossibility. The dread of their prowess had provoked the mutiny in the wilderness which led to the forty years of homeless journeying. But here we have the account of their destruction; the brevity of the account itself suggesting what everything subsequently... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joshua 11:21

At that time - i. e. in course of the “long time” mentioned in Joshua 11:18.The Anakims - See Numbers 13:22. As it was the report of the spies respecting the Anakims which, above all, struck terror into the Israelites in the wilderness, and caused their faithless complaining and revolt, so the sacred writer goes back here in his story to record pointedly the overthrow of this gigantic and formidable race. They had their chief settlements in the mountains around Hebron Joshua 10:3 or Debir. See... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 11:21

Joshua 11:21. At that time That is, in the war before mentioned, and probably toward the conclusion of it; after he had left none to oppose him in other places, but only in those mountainous parts which were of difficult access. Joshua cut off the Anakims “A wild, barbarous, and gigantic people, who were of a different original from that of the Canaanites, and inhabited certain mountains of the country. It would have been dangerous to let them remain, nor were they worthy of such an... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joshua 11:16-23

Summary of Israel’s conquests (11:16-12:24)Now that Israel controlled all the territory that was to become its homeland, the writer summarizes the entire conquest. First he summarizes Joshua’s conquest of all the area west of Jordan (i.e. Canaan itself), where nine and a half tribes were to receive their inheritance (16-23). Then he summarizes the former conquest in the time of Moses, when Israel gained control of the territory east of Jordan, where two and a half tribes had already been... read more

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