Joshua 11:13 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 11:10-14

We have here the same improvement made of this victory as was made of that in the foregoing chapter. 1. The destruction of Hazor is particularly recorded, because in it, and by the king thereof, this daring design against Israel was laid, Josh. 11:10, 11. The king of Hazor, it seems, escaped with his life out of the battle, and thought himself safe when he had got back into his own city, and Joshua had gone in pursuit of the scattered troops another way. But it proved that that which he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 11:13

But as for the cities that stood still in their strength ,.... Whose walls were not demolished when taken, as Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it, or that "stood upon their heaps" F25 על תלם "super tumulum eorum", Montanus; "quae erant in collibus et in tamulis sitae", V. L. ; upon an eminence, being built on hills and mountains: Israel burned none of them ; but reserved them for their own habitations, being well fortified, and having no need of new walls being built to them, or... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 11:13

The cities that stood still in their strength - The word תלם tillam , which we translate their strength , and the margin, their heap , has been understood two ways. As signifying those cities which had made peace with the Israelites, when conditions of peace were offered according to the command of the law; and consequently were not destroyed. Such as the cities of the Hivites; see Joshua 11:19 . 2. The cities which were situated upon hills and mountains, 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 11:13

The cities that stood still in their strength. This is the rendering of the Chaldee version. The LXX . has κεχωματισμένας , heaped up, i.e; defended with mounds. Rather, on their hill ("in collibus et in tumulis sitae," Vulg). As many of the towns in Italy, and the castles in Germany in the middle ages, so these Phoenician cities were placed upon hills, that they might be more easily defended. The various tribes of Palestine were no doubt continually at war, and, as regards these... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joshua 11:13

Render: “But the cities standing each on its own hill” (compare Jeremiah 30:18). The meaning is simply that, with the exception of Hazor, Joshua did not burn the cities, but left them standing, each on its former site. This site is spoken of as a hill, because such was the ordinary site chosen for cities in Canaan (compare Matthew 5:14). read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 11:13

Joshua 11:13. In their strength Hebrew, with their fence, walls, or bulwarks, that is, which were not ruined with their walls in taking them. Save Hazor Because this city began the war, and, being the chief and royal city, might renew the war, if the Canaanites should ever seize upon it: which in fact they did, and settled there, under a king of the same name, Judges 4:2. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joshua 11:1-15

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

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Joshua 11:13

Ver. 13. But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, &c.— The Hebrew is תלם על al tillam, which may signify a foot, or standing; and then the sense would be, that Joshua preserved all those cities which had yielded, without having obliged him to besiege them, to make breaches in their walls, or to demolish their fortifications. This sense is preserved by the LXX, Onkelos, ours, and the French version, and by several interpreters; but nothing hinders us from translating, with... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Joshua 11:13

13. as for the cities that stood still in their strength—literally, "on their heaps." It was a Phoelignician custom to build cities on heights, natural or artificial [HENGSTENBERG]. read more