Bible Commentaries

Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;

Adoni-zedek - `lord of righteousness;' nearly synonymous with Melchinzedek, 'king of righteousness.' These names were common titles of the Jebusite kings.

Jerusalem. The original name, "Salem" (Genesis 14:18; Psalms 76:2), was superseded by that here given, which signifies 'a peaceful possession, or 'a vision of peace,' in allusion, as some think, to the strikingly symbolic scene (Genesis 22:14) represented on the mount whereon that city was afterward built. It is called Jebusi, Joshua 18:28, and Jebus, Joshua 15:8; Judges 19:10. 'It may be reasonably inferred that Adonizedek exercised a kind of ecclesiastical dominion over the surrounding clans, and that Jerusalem was esteemed a sacred locality even in the estimation of the pagan. It was probably even at that early period distinctively called "Holy City"' (Barclay's 'City of the Great King,' p. 110).

Inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them - i:e., the Israelites had made an alliance with that people, and, acknowledging their supremacy, were living on terms of friendly contact with them.

That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.

They feared greatly. The dread inspired by the rapid conquests of the Israelites had been immensely increased by the fact of a state so populous and so strong as Gibeon having found it expedient to submit to the power and the terms of the invaders.

As one of the royal cities. Although itself a republic (Joshua 9:3), it was large and well fortified, like those places in which the chiefs of the country usually established their residence.

Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,

Wherefore Adoni-zedek ... sent... saying, Come up unto me, and help me. He saw that there must be a desperate struggle, not only for independence, but for life. A combined attack, therefore, was meditated on Gibeon, with a view not only to punish its people for their desertion of the native cause, but by its overthrow to interpose a barrier to the further inroads of the Israelites. This confederacy among the mountaineers of Southern Palestine was formed and headed by the king of Jerusalem, because his territory was most exposed to danger, Gibeon being only six miles distant, and because he evidently possessed some degree of pre-eminence over his royal neighbours.

Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.

The five kings of the Amorites. The Septuagint has 'of the Jebusites.' The settlement of this powerful and warlike tribe lay within the confines of Moab; but having also acquired extensive possessions on the southwest of the Jordan, their name, as the ruling power, seems to have been given to the region generally (2 Samuel 21:2), although Hebron was inhabited by Hittites or Hivites (Joshua 11:19), and Jerusalem by Jebusites (Joshua 15:63).

Encamped before Gibeon and made war against it. Josephus says ('Antiquities,' b. 5:, ch. 1:, sec. 17) that the confederate troops pitched their camp at a certain fountain not far from the city, and were preparing for a siege when the Gibeonites found means of apprising Joshua of their perilous situation.

And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.

The men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua. Their appeal was urgent, and their claim to protection irresistible, on the ground, not only of kindness and sympathy but of justice. In attacking the Canaanites, Joshua had received from God a general assurance of success (Joshua 1:5). But the intelligence of so formidable a combination among the native princes seems to have depressed his mind (Joshua 10:8) with the anxious and dispiriting idea that it was a chastisement for the hasty and inconsiderate alliance entered into with the Gibeonites. It was evidently to be a struggle for life and death, not only to Gibeon, but to the Israelites. And in this view the divine communication that was made to him was seasonable and animating. He seems to have asked the counsel of God, and received an answer, before setting out on the expedition.

So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.

Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly. This is explained in the following clause, where he is described as having accomplished, by a forced march of picked men, in one night a distance of 26 miles, which, according to the slow pace of Eastern armies and caravans, had formerly been a three days' journey (Joshua 9:17), and he probably came upon their camp at daybreak, when they were taken by surprise.

And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.

The Lord discomfited them - Hebrew, terrified, confounded the Amorite allies; probably, in the first instance, by the suddenness of the Israelites' appearance, and the effect of their terrific war-shout, but afterward by a fearful storm of lightning and thunder. So the word is usually employed (Judges 4:15; Judges 5:20; 1 Samuel 7:10; Psalms 18:13-14; Psalms 144:6).

And slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon. This refers to the attack of the Israelites upon the besiegers. It is evident that there had been much hard fighting around the heights of Gibeon for the day was far spent ere the enemy took to flight.

Chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon - i:e., the House of the Hollow, or the House of Caves, of which there are still traces existing. Others ascribe the name to the worship of Horus. There were two contiguous villages of that name-upper and nether. Upper Beth-horon was nearest Gibeon-about ten miles distant-and approached by a gradual ascent through a long and precipitous ravine. This was the first stage of the flight. The fugitives had crossed the high ridge of Upper Beth-horon, and were in full flight down the descent to Beth-horon the Nether. 'The road between the two places is so rocky and rugged that there, is a path made by means of steps cut in the rock' (Robinson). Down this pass, the scene of this first (as also of the last great victory that crowned the Jewish arms, at the interval of nearly 1,500 years-Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 208), Joshua continued his victorious route. Here it was that the Lord interposed, assisting his people by means of a storm-`one of the fearful tempests which from time to time sweep over the hills of Palestine' (Stanley), and which, having been probably gathering all day, burst with such irresistible fury that "they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword."

The Oriental hail-storm is a terrific agent: the hailstones are masses of ice, large as walnuts, and sometimes as two fists; their prodigious size, and the violence with which they fall, make them always very injurious to property, and often fatal to life, both in men and beasts (see Hardy's 'Notices of the Holy Land,' p. 213). 'Infidelity has ridiculed this miracle, but without reason. That single stones, and even showers of stones, of uncommon weight have frequently fallen, is proved by the most unexceptionable evidence. In 1510, near Padua, in Italy, about 1,200 stones fell, and some of them were 120 lbs. weight. On the Upper Rhine, in 1492, once stone fell, 260 lbs.; and near Verona, in 1762, one fell 200, and another 300 lbs. weight. Why, then, should it be thought incredible that God should employ such agents on the occasion before us? Does not disbelief of such a recorded fact display culpable ignorance or heartless folly? But granting that the shower was composed of hailstones, this concession does not, even supposing that it was a natural occurrence, increase the improbability of the case. In the south of France and Switzerland hailstones of large size sometimes fall in showers, and still more frequently in the countries of the Levant. Among the Arabian hills, in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, it is recorded that thirty of the soldiers of Baldwin I. perished in a tempest, described as "horrible hail, terrible frost, and indescribable rain and snow." Nor does his strong description appear much overcharged, when it is considered that thirty soldiers fell victims to the severity of the storm.

Thus, completely does history refute the infidel objection of impossibility in the present instance. Yet who, except one strangely insensible to his condition as a feeble creature, would presumptuously circumscribe the power of the Deity over universal nature? This shower, though natural in itself, was supernaturally employed, and miraculously directed, to fall where and when it did, and to do the execution prescribed' (''Azuba,' by Rev. W. Ritchie, p. 396). The miraculous feature of this tempest, which fell on the Amorite army, was the entire preservation of the Israelites from its destructive ravages.

And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

Then spake Joshua to the Lord ... Sun, stand thou still.... and thou, Moon - literally, 'Sun upon Gibeon,

be still (remain), and the moon in the vale of Ajalon.' The language which Joshua addressed to the Lord was evidently a prayer that the day might not close until he should have completely overthrown his enemies; and it was most natural in the circumstances that such should have been the fervent wish of his heart; because it would appear that at the time when the ejaculation was uttered, the day was far advanced.

And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

The sun stood still , [ bach

And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah.

These five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave (Hebrew, the cave) at Makkedah. The pursuit was continued without interruption to Makkedah, at the foot of the western mountains, where Joshua seems to have halted with the main body of his troops, while a detachment was sent forward to Scour the country in pursuit of the remaining stragglers, a few of whom succeeded in reaching the neighbouring cities. The last act, probably the next day, was the disposal of the prisoners, among whom the five kings (see the note at Joshua 10:37) were consigned to the infamous doom of being slain (Deuteronomy 20:16-17), and then their corpses suspended on five trees until the evening.

And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.

Put your feet upon the necks of these kings. This barbarous act of insolence was, according to the usage of ancient war, the favourite way of a conqueror displaying his complete victory over a fallen chief of the enemy (Deut. ; 2 Samuel 22:41; Psalms 110:5; Malachi 4:3 ). Representations of the Assyrian monarch placing his foot on the neck of a prostrate captive are exhibited on a bas-relief found at Khorsabad (Botta, plate 82:: see Layard's 'Nineveh and its Remains,' 2:, p. 376).

And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

No JFB commentary on these verses.

And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day.

Laid great stones in the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day. This rude monument, which would stand for ages, would be a permanent record of the war of invasion. With what exultation and lively gratitude would the Israelite contemporaries of Joshua point to the gathered heap around the cave at Makkedah, and tell their children's children of the wonders of the field of Gibeon, and how on one day the gallant Joshua, by God's favour, quelled the pride of five kings.

And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho.

That day Joshua took Makkedah. In this and the following verses is described the rapid succession of victory and extermination which sweat the whole of Southern Palestine into the hand of Israel. "All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal."

Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah:

No JFB commentary on these verses.

And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein. Smote ... the king thereof - i:e., of Hebron. In Joshua 10:23 it is related that the king of Hebron had fallen in battle. The people had elected a successor, whose short-lived reign is noticed, he being killed in the general overthow of Hebron and its dependencies.

And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it:

No JFB commentary on these verses.

And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.

All the country of Goshen - (cf. Joshua 11:16.) 'The southern frontier of Palestine, which almost imperceptibly loses itself in the desert of Sinai, is sometimes called the land of "Goshen," or the "frontier," doubtless for the same reason as the more famous tract between the cultivated Egypt and the Arabian desert, in which the Israelites dwelt before the exodus' (Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 159).