_A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451._ In this chapter we nave an account of the confederacy against Gibeon, and the request of the Gibeonites to Joshua, vv1-6. Of Joshua's marching and defeating the confederate kings, Joshua 10:7. Of the sun's standing still, Joshua 10:12. Of the execution of the kings, Joshua 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem_ Who seems to have been the most powerful prince in Canaan, and carried in his name, which signifies _The Lord of righteousness_, an honourable title, such as had been anciently given to the kings of this place, who had been famous for doing justice. So Melchizedek un... [ Continue Reading ]
_They feared greatly_ Namely, Adoni-zedek and his people, he being spoken of (Jos 10:1) as a public person, representing all his people. _Gibeon was as one of the royal cities_ Either really a royal city, and having a king, or equal to one of the royal cities, though it had not a king. It seems ind... [ Continue Reading ]
_The five kings of the Amorites_ This name is here taken generally for any of the Canaanites. But, strictly speaking, the citizens of Hebron were Hittites, those of Jerusalem, Jebusites, and the Gibeonites made a part of the Hivites. It is reasonably supposed that the Amorites, being numerous and vi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Slack not thy hand from thy servants_ Do not neglect or delay to help us, whom thou art obliged to protect both in duty, as thou art our master, and for thy own interest, we being part of thy possessions; and because we have given ourselves to thee, and put ourselves under thy protection. _In the m... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joshua came unto them suddenly_ Though assured by God of the victory, yet he uses all prudent means. _And went up from Gilgal all night_ It is not said that he went from Gilgal to Gibeon in a night's space, but only that he travelled all night; unto which you may add part either of the foregoing or... [ Continue Reading ]
_At Gibeon_ That is, near Gibeon; for it is plain they were not in the city; and so ought we to take the particle _at_, in many other places of Scripture, as signifying no more than nigh unto. _Along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon_ That is, to the place which was afterward called by that name;... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord cast down great stones_ That is, hail-stones of an extraordinary greatness, cast down with that certainty as to hit the Canaanites, and not their pursuers the Israelites. Josephus affirms that thunder and lightning were mixed with the hail, which may seem probable from Habakkuk 3:11. They... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then spake Joshua_ Being moved so to do out of zeal to destroy God's enemies, and directed by the motion of God's Spirit, and being filled with a holy confidence, that what he said would be accomplished. And he spake it _in the sight_ That is, in the presence and audience; _of_ all _Israel_ That th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the sun stood still_ God heard Joshua's request, and gave him the thing he asked for, a prolongation of the day to near twice the length of any other day. This is the fact here attested, and this we are bound to believe on the divine testimony. But as to the _manner_ in which this wonderful mir... [ Continue Reading ]
_There was no day like that_ Namely in those parts of the world in which he here speaks. Vain, therefore, is that objection, that the days are longer near the northern and southern poles, where they are constantly longer at certain seasons, and that by the order of nature; whereas the length of this... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Joshua returned_ Not immediately, but after he had performed what is related in the following part of this chapter, as appears by Joshua 10:43, where the very same words are repeated.... [ Continue Reading ]
_These five kings hid themselves in a cave_ A place of the greatest secrecy; but there is no escaping the eye or hand of God, who here brought them into a net of their own making. _At_ Hebrew, _in, Makkedah _ Not in the city, for that was not yet taken; but in the territory of it.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Suffer them not to enter their cities_ Whereby they would have recovered their strength, and renewed the war. _God hath delivered them_ Your work will be easy; God hath already done the work to your hands.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joshua and the children of Israel_ Rather, the children of Israel, by the command of Joshua; for Joshua himself went not with them, but abode at the siege before Makkedah. _And all the people returned to the camp_ To the body of the army, who were encamped there with Joshua, to besiege that place.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Put your feet on the necks_, &c. This he commanded, not in insolence and pride, but in token that these kings and their countries were brought into an absolute subjection to the Israelites, that God had fulfilled his promise in part, (Deuteronomy 33:29,) and to assure his captains that he would com... [ Continue Reading ]
_They took them down_ That neither wild beasts might come to devour them, nor any of their people to give them honourable burial. Thus, that which they thought would have been their shelter was made their prison first, and then their grave. So shall we surely be disappointed, in whatever we flee to... [ Continue Reading ]
_They took it on that day_ On which they first attempted it. _Unto Hebron_ The conquest of Hebron, here generally related, is afterward repeated, and more particularly described, chap. Joshua 15:13. _And the king thereof_ Their former king was one of the five whom Joshua had lately killed and hanged... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joshua returned to Debir_ Joshua had not been there before, but having advanced as far south and west as he thought expedient, even as far as Gaza, which was in the western coast, (Joshua 10:41,) he now returned toward the camp at Gilgal, which was north-east from him, and in his march thither took... [ Continue Reading ]
_All that breathed_ That is, all mankind; they reserved the cattle for their own uses. _As God had commanded_ This is added for the vindication of the Israelites, whom God would not have to suffer in their reputation for executing his commands; and therefore, he acquits them of that cruelty which th... [ Continue Reading ]
_From Kadesh-barnea_ Which lay in the south of Canaan, (Numbers 34:4; Deuteronomy 1:19,) and belonged to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:3. Gaza was a city of the Philistines, in the south-west part. So he here signifies that Joshua did, in this expedition, subdue all those parts which lay south and w... [ Continue Reading ]