Introduction: The last several verses of Joshua 10 describe briefly how Israel, with God’s help, swept through southern Canaan. Once that was done, Joshua and all Israel returned to Gilgal (see Joshua 10:29-43). There was still a great deal for Israel to claim, however, and this chapter gives some information about how they did that. One way this happened took place when a large group of kings and their armies decided to fight against Israel!
1 The Enemies Came To Fight Against Israel
Text, Joshua 11:1-5, KJV: 1 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2 And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, 3 And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh. 4 And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. 5 And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
Israel was about to face a greater challenge than before; especially during the southern campaign (the southern part of Canaan). Israel had defeated Jericho (actually, the LORD did this) and Ai, single cities. They had also defeated a multi-king combined force who had basically camped around Gibeon, waiting for Israel’s new allies to either surrender or starve (Joshua 9-10). With the LORD’s help, Israel had won every battle except the first battle of Ai—and that was due to the sin of Achan (Joshua 7).
Now there was a lot more territory and a lot more of the enemy to face as these groups gathered together against Israel, Joshua, and, we need to remember, the God of Israel. Battles between just about any group weren’t only about “I want your land! No, you can’t have it”, or, “You need to pay me tribute or else I’ll attack you! Go ahead—make my day” or something similar. These battles were religious and spiritual: if Group A defeated Group B, then the basic thought was “the gods of Group A were stronger than those of Group B”, and, of course, reversed if Group B fought Group A and won.
This group of enemies came from just about every region of northern Canaan: Hazor was located in a valley and level place between The Sea of Chinneroth (Galilee) and Lake Huleh, Madon was about 20 or so miles, nearly due south of Hazor. Shimron was a good ways to the southwest of Hazor, not too far from Mount Hermon. The atlas feature of BibleHub.com did not give a location for Achsaph and there is some disagreement among various commentators where these cities were located.
Dor is located very close to the Mediterranean coast south of Mount Carmel. Jebusites originally lived near Jebus, of course, which is Jerusalem but why they migrated north, so far from their home, is not known. What is known is that there were plenty of enemies, with plenty of the latest and greatest, apparently, in weaponry, all united to destroy Israel.
But they seem to have forgotten one thing: the LORD was going to protect Israel at all costs.
2 Israel Fought Against Those Enemies
Text, Joshua 11:6-15, KJV: 6 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. 7 So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them. 8 And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. 9 And Joshua did unto them as the LORD bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.
6:10 And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire. 12 And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. 13 But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn. 14 And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe. 15 As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.
It’s been said that the LORD gives words of encouragement when they’re most needed. Joshua knew that even with his entire army, he was no match for the horde of enemy soldiers facing him—and Israel. To me, that’s one reason why the LORD told Joshua, “Be not afraid” because Joshua was afraid! Humanly speaking, who wouldn’t be? Joshua was man enough and concerned enough that he didn’t want to fail Israel or the LORD.
No doubt, too, he remembered what had happened at the First Battle of Ai when they—Israel—had not enquired of the LORD and lost that battle, along with losing 36 soldiers, needlessly. I wonder if Joshua ever lost sight or lost memory of that singular failure.
This time, though, the LORD promised absolute victory, even over an overwhelming number of the enemy. He explained to Joshua that in about 24 hours, Israel would eliminate all of the enemy, cripple the horses (“hough”, here pronounced “hoch”, is an old Scottish word meaning “hamstring” according to dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hough), and burn the chariots with fire.
In other words, complete victory over the enemy.
Verse 7 has the record how Joshua and “all the people of war with him” attacked the enemy “suddenly”. There is some doubt, according to the commentators, just where the “waters of Merom” were located but it’s likely close to Hazor. After all, this Jabin (certainly not the one of Judges 4) did seem to be the commander-in-chief of all the enemy forces who rallied with him against Israel.
And this surprise attacked worked! The enemy fled in just about every direction they could: “great Zidon” was later known as Sidon, along with Tyre being two of the most powerful cities in the known world (also, much later, as the birthplace of Jezebel); the locations of Misrephothmaim and “the valley of Mizpeh” are not certain but some think the enemy troops fled southwest and southeast—any which way they could escape Joshua and Israel.
Their escape didn’t work, though, as the LORD was with Israel and not with the enemies. Verses 8 and 9 tell how Joshua and Israel “left none remaining” and that they hamstrung the horses (making them not fit for war, according to several commentators) plus burning the chariots with fire. Had I been there, that would have been a real satisfaction for me, seeing those chariots going up in flames! Those weapons of war were now nothing more than the spoils of war, and in the LORD’s eyes, were fit for nothing but destruction.
The next paragraph, verses 10-15, give a summary of the final battle against Hazor itself. Joshua put that king to death. This is the same thing Joshua had done to the Five Kings who had attacked Gibeon (chapter 10). Following this, Joshua and Israel put all the people of Hazor to death, as well, and finally burned the city to the ground. Only Jericho and Ai had been utterly destroyed up to this point, as some have noted.
And Israel still wasn’t quite done with the northern section of Canaan. Israel then put to death all the other peoples of the other cities and regions. Lest anyone think this to be cruel or bloodthirsty punishment, please remember a couple of things: first, these enemies had gathered together to destroy Israel. Likely, had they conquered Israel, the enemies would have done their best to eliminate every Hebrew they could find.
Second, these people surely would have heard of Rahab and her allegiance to Israel, and they could have repented even as she had. There is no record of any of this. Finally, they knew about Gibeon and the battle there, and how Joshua’s relatively small army routed a much larger force. No, these northerners knew about this, but did nothing about it except plan to destroy Israel. They, instead, were destroyed.
3 The One Error Israel Made After This Battle
Text, Joshua 11:16-23, KJV: 16 So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same; 17 Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. 20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
11:21 And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities. 22 There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.
Verses 16 through 23 add an appendix, sort of, to this campaign. In verses 16 and 17, Joshua gives a summary of how much land Israel had taken from the Canaanites, Remember, this was the land God had promised Israel and the Canaanites were actually the invaders, moving into the Land Promised to Israel! And verse 18 gives a kind of understatement, “Joshua made war a long time with all these kings.” By some calculations, it was at least five years, as Caleb, one of the only two of the “20 years of age and older” crowd who had left Egypt, was 80 when Israel arrived in Canaan and 85 when he asked Joshua for his own inheritance (compare Numbers 14:26-35 with Joshua 14:6-12).
But even so, Israel made one error, which proved to be a real problem later on. There were Anakim, some translating this as “giants”, who were some of the same people terrifying ten of the twelve spies (Numbers 13:33). Adam Clarke gives some interesting comments about these people at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/clarke/numbers/13.htm as does Benson’s commentary at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/joshua/11.htm One might note the difference between 40-plus years before and the days of Joshua: the Anakim then stood for despair among Israel, now they were defeated by Israel!
And yet, some of these Anakim fled to, or had remained in, three then-Philistine cities: Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. All of that land remained to be conquered by Israel (Joshua 13:3) but in spite of Israel’s efforts, they made one terrible mistake here by not completely destroying these giants. Years later, some of these giants came and fought against Israel. One of these was Goliath and guess where his hometown was? You got it—Gath.
I’ll stop here with this final word. Israel had faced a multitude of enemies in the north of Canaan but defeated every one of them by God’s help. Yet, they made a crucial error in allowing some of the Anakim to live—and they weren’t all, as Judges 1 reveals. May I say in closing that when the LORD allows us victory, may we all enjoy a complete victory, not just a partial one. Israel’s history might well have been very different had they finished the task the LORD gave them.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
