Yosua 11:1-15

Israel Defeats a Northern Coalition

11:1 When King Jabin of Hazor ¹  heard the news, he organized a coalition, including ²  King Jobab of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Acshaph, 11:2 and the northern kings who ruled in ³  the hill country, the Arabah south of Kinnereth, ⁴  the lowlands, and the heights of Dor to the west. 11:3 Canaanites came ⁵  from the east and west; Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites from the hill country; and Hivites from below Hermon in the area ⁶  of Mizpah. 11:4 These kings came out with their armies; they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and had a large number of horses and chariots. ⁷  11:5 All these kings gathered and joined forces ⁸  at the Waters of Merom to fight Israel.

11:6 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn ⁹  their chariots.” 11:7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them. ¹⁰  11:8 The Lord handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, ¹¹  Misrephoth Maim, ¹²  and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained. 11:9 Joshua did to them as the Lord had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses and burned ¹³  their chariots.

11:10 At that time Joshua turned, captured Hazor, ¹⁴  and struck down its king with the sword, for Hazor was at that time ¹⁵  the leader of all these kingdoms. 11:11 They annihilated everyone who lived there with the sword ¹⁶  – no one who breathed remained – and burned ¹⁷  Hazor.

11:12 Joshua captured all these royal cities and all their kings and annihilated them with the sword, ¹⁸  as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded. 11:13 But Israel did not burn any of the cities located on mounds, ¹⁹  except for Hazor; ²⁰  it was the only one Joshua burned. 11:14 The Israelites plundered all the goods of these cities and the cattle, but they totally destroyed all the people ²¹  and allowed no one who breathed to live. 11:15 Moses the Lord’s servant passed on the Lord’s commands to Joshua, and Joshua did as he was told. He did not ignore any of the commands the Lord had given Moses. ²² 

[11:1]  ¹ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[11:1]  ² tn Heb “he sent to.”

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “and to the kings who [are] from the north in.”

[11:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “Chinneroth,” a city and plain located in the territory of Naphtali in Galilee (BDB 490 s.v. כִּנֶּרֶת, כִּנֲרוֹת).

[11:2]  sn Kinnereth was a city in Galilee located near the Sea of Galilee (Deut 3:17). The surrounding region also became known by this name (1 Kgs 15:20; cf. Matt 14:34), and eventually even the lake itself (Josh 12:3; cf. Luke 5:1).

[11:3]  ⁵ tn The verb “came” is supplied in the translation (see v. 4).

[11:3]  ⁶ tn Or “land.”

[11:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “They and all their camps with them came out, a people as numerous as the sand which is on the edge of the sea in multitude, and [with] horses and chariots very numerous.”

[11:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and came and camped together.”

[11:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “burn with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

[11:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them at the Waters of Merom suddenly and fell upon them.”

[11:8]  ¹¹ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:8]  ¹² tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).

[11:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “burned with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

[11:10]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[11:10]  ¹⁵ tn Or “formerly.”

[11:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and they struck down all life which was in it with the edge of the sword, annihilating.”

[11:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “burned with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

[11:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he struck them down with the edge of the sword, he annihilated them.”

[11:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “standing on their mounds.”

[11:13]  ²⁰ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[11:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword until they destroyed them.”

[11:15]  ²² tn Heb “As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua acted accordingly; he did not turn aside a thing from all which the Lord commanded Moses.”