The king of Eglon, one ,.... The last of the five kings, and his name was Debir, Joshua 10:3 , the king of Gezer, one ; who came up to help Lachish, and his name was Horam, Joshua 10:33 . read more
The extent of the conquest. A few detached considerations occur to us here. I. GOD WELL NOT BE WORSE THAN HIS WORD . The reduction of the whole land had not yet been effected, but it had been rendered possible if Israel were disposed to follow up his advantage. The list of cities captured covers nearly the whole extent of Palestine, and Canaan had been deprived of all capacity of resistance. So it is with the Christian who has entered into covenant with God. The mastery... read more
The catalogue of the vanquished. A melancholy document, meaning little more to us than a column in a directory, but meaning much to multitudes. Many of these kings would be lamented in elegies as sweet as David's song over Saul and Jonathan. Some, doubtless, were noble, perhaps some devout, but implicated in a national fate to the deserving of which they had not contributed. Linger over these a little and observe— I. ALL ARMIES WILL FIND THEIR PLACE IN ONE OF TWO ... read more
The partition of the land of Canaan. "Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes" ( Joshua 12:7 ). In the partition of the land of Canaan there was nothing arbitrary. God Himself directed it, and assigned to each tribe its lot, save only to the tribe of Levi, which was to occupy an exceptional position. There was a very special reason why the inheritance of the various tribes should be marked out by God Himself, since Israel was His chosen people, destined to... read more
The names of the kings are given in the order of their actual encounter with Joshua. Those enumerated in Joshua 12:10-18 either belonged to the league of the southern Canaanites (Joshua 10:1 ff), the power of which was broken in the battle of Beth-horon, or were at any rate conquered in the campaign following that battle. Those mentioned in Joshua 12:19-24 were in like manner connected with the northern confederates (Joshua 11:1 ff), who were defeated at the Waters of Merom.Joshua 12:13-20The... read more
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
Gezer. Compare Joshua 10:33 ; and see note on 1 Kings 9:16 , 1 Kings 9:17 . read more
The slaughter of the western kings 12:7-24The writer identified 31 kings in the essential order in which Joshua defeated them."Many of the same names appear in the Amarna letters, thus confirming the historicity of our text." [Note: Davis and Whitcomb, p. 75.] "The description was not complete. Shechem is not mentioned, and the hills of Ephraim are sparsely represented, as is the territory north of Hazor. Completeness is not the object. The writer seeks to compile a list that will impress the... read more
A Review of the Victories of Moses and JoshuaThis chapter concludes the whole section of the book which deals with the conquest of Canaan. The following chapters narrate the partition of the conquered and some unconquered land. The original account of these conquests is to be found in Numbers 21:21-35, and of the assignment to the 2½ tribes in Numbers 3:2. A fuller description of the territory is given in chapter Numbers 13:1-33;where see notes.1-6. Moses’ conquests E. of Jordan. Kingdoms of... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 12:7-24
We have here a breviate of Joshua's conquests. I. The limits of the country he conquered. It lay between Jordan on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and extended from Baal-gad near Lebanon in the north to Halak, which lay upon the country of Edom in the south, Josh. 12:7. The boundaries are more largely described, Num. 34:2-12 But what is here said is enough to show that God had been as good as his word, and had given them possession of all he had promised them by Moses, if they... read more