Yosua 10:17-24

10:17 Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah.” 10:18 Joshua said, “Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave and post guards in front of it. ¹  10:19 But don’t you delay! Chase your enemies and catch them! ²  Don’t allow them to retreat to ³  their cities, for the Lord your God is handing them over to you.” ⁴  10:20 Joshua and the Israelites almost totally wiped them out, but some survivors did escape to the fortified cities. ⁵  10:21 Then the whole army safely returned to Joshua at the camp in Makkedah. ⁶  No one ⁷  dared threaten the Israelites. ⁸  10:22 Joshua said, “Open the cave’s mouth and bring the five kings ⁹  out of the cave to me.” 10:23 They did as ordered; ¹⁰  they brought the five kings ¹¹  out of the cave to him – the kings of Jerusalem, ¹²  Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. 10:24 When they brought the kings out to Joshua, he ¹³  summoned all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of the troops who accompanied him, “Come here ¹⁴  and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came up ¹⁵  and put their feet on their necks.

Yosua 12:1-24

12:1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites defeated and drove from their land ¹⁶  on the east side of the Jordan, ¹⁷  from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern Arabah:

12:2 King Sihon of the Amorites who lived ¹⁸  in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) – including the city in the middle of the valley ¹⁹  and half of Gilead – all the way to the Jabbok Valley bordering Ammonite territory. 12:3 His kingdom included ²⁰  the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Kinnereth ²¹  to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), ²²  including the route to Beth Jeshimoth and the area southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

12:4 The territory of King Og of Bashan, one of the few remaining Rephaites, ²³  who lived ²⁴  in Ashtaroth and Edrei 12:5 and ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all of Bashan to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and half of Gilead as far as the border of King Sihon of Heshbon.

12:6 Moses the Lord’s servant and the Israelites defeated them and Moses the Lord’s servant assigned their land ²⁵  to Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

12:7 These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelites defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Lebanon Valley to Mount Halak on up to Seir. Joshua assigned this territory to the Israelite tribes, ²⁶  12:8 including the hill country, the lowlands, ²⁷  the Arabah, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negev – the land of ²⁸  the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites:

12:9 the king of Jericho ²⁹  (one),

the king of Ai – located near Bethel – (one),

12:10 the king of Jerusalem ³⁰  (one),

the king of Hebron (one),

12:11 the king of Jarmuth (one),

the king of Lachish (one),

12:12 the king of Eglon (one),

the king of Gezer (one),

12:13 the king of Debir (one),

the king of Geder (one),

12:14 the king of Hormah (one),

the king of Arad (one),

12:15 the king of Libnah (one),

the king of Adullam (one),

12:16 the king of Makkedah (one),

the king of Bethel ³¹  (one),

12:17 the king of Tappuah (one),

the king of Hepher (one),

12:18 the king of Aphek (one),

the king of Lasharon (one),

12:19 the king of Madon (one),

the king of Hazor ³²  (one),

12:20 the king of Shimron Meron (one),

the king of Acshaph (one),

12:21 the king of Taanach (one),

the king of Megiddo ³³  (one),

12:22 the king of Kedesh (one),

the king of Jokneam near Carmel (one),

12:23 the king of Dor – near Naphath Dor – (one),

the king of Goyim – near Gilgal – (one),

12:24 the king of Tirzah (one),

a total of thirty-one kings.

[10:18]  ¹ tn Heb “and appoint by it men to guard them.”

[10:19]  ² tn Heb “But [as for] you, don’t stand still, chase after your enemies and attack them from the rear.”

[10:19]  ³ tn Or “enter into.”

[10:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “has given them into your hand.” The verbal form is a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of the action.

[10:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “When Joshua and the sons of Israel finished defeating them with a very great defeat until they were destroyed (now the survivors escaped to the fortified cities).” In the Hebrew text the initial temporal clause (“when Joshua…finished”) is subordinated to v. 21 (“the whole army returned”).

[10:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua [at] Makkedah [in] peace.”

[10:21]  ⁷ tc Heb “No man.” The lamed (ל) prefixed to אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is probably dittographic (note the immediately preceding יִשְׂרָאֵל [isra’el] which ends in lamed, ל); cf. the LXX.

[10:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “no man sharpened [or perhaps, “pointed”] his tongue against the sons of Israel.” Cf. NEB “not a man of the Israelites suffered so much as a scratch on his tongue,” which understands “sharpened” as “scratched” (referring to a minor wound). Most modern translations understand the Hebrew expression “sharpened his tongue” figuratively for opposition or threats against the Israelites.

[10:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “these five kings.”

[10:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they did so.”

[10:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “these five kings.”

[10:23]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “Joshua.” The translation has replaced the proper name with the pronoun (“he”) because a repetition of the proper name here would be redundant according to English style.

[10:24]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Draw near.”

[10:24]  ¹⁵ tn Or “drew near.”

[12:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and took possession of their land.”

[12:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “beyond the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun.”

[12:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or perhaps, “reigned.”

[12:2]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads here, “and the middle of the valley,” but the reading “the city in the middle of valley” can be reconstructed on the basis of Josh 13:9, 16.

[12:3]  ²⁰ tn The words “his kingdom included” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:3]  ²¹ sn The Sea of Kinnereth is another name for the Sea of Galilee. See the note on the word “Kinnereth” in 11:2.

[12:3]  ²² sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea.

[12:4]  ²³ tn Heb “from the remnant of the Rephaites.”

[12:4]  sn The Rephaites were apparently an extremely tall ethnic group. See Deut 2:10-11, 20; 3:11.

[12:4]  ²⁴ tn Or perhaps “who reigned.”

[12:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “gave it for a possession.”

[12:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotted portions.”

[12:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “the foothills”; Heb “the Shephelah.”

[12:8]  ²⁸ tn The words “the land of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:9]  ²⁹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[12:10]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:16]  ³¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[12:19]  ³² map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[12:21]  ³³ map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.