Joshua 10:40-43 meaning

In Joshua 10:40-43, the Israelite warriors return to the main camp of Gilgal.

Joshua 10 began with five Amorite kings who plotted to destroy Gibeon for allying with Israel. The people of Gibeon cried to Joshua and Israel for help, and they rescued them and killed the enemy. When the Israelite leader learned that the five kings had fled and hidden in a cave, he pursued and slaughtered them. He then charged the Israelites to hang the kings on five trees for several hours to humiliate them. Afterward, they took the kings down and buried them in the same cave. Next, Israel captured and destroyed the other cities in the southern part of Canaan: Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir (vv. 1-39).

The present section summarizes Israel's conquest of the southern Canaanite cities. The narrator used Joshua’s name to represent the Israelite army because he was their leader and mediator. Thus, he stated: Joshua struck all the land, the hill country, the Negev, the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings (v. 40).

The hill country was the central highlands. It encompassed Ai and Gibeon in the north and Hebron and Debir in the south. The Negev was the wilderness area in the southern region. The lowland [the Shephelah] was the region of the western foothills. The slopes refer to the region between the central highlands and the Dead Sea.

The Israelite campaign Joshua led in these regions was total: He left no survivor. When the five Amorite armies surprisingly attacked Gibeon, the Israelites arrived to protect their vassals. With God's help, Joshua defeated all his foes in southern Canaan and utterly destroyed all who breathed. He did so just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

The Hebrew term translated as LORD is Yahweh, the self-existent and everlasting God who revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). It emphasizes God’s covenant relationship with His people. The text makes clear that the LORD was the God of Israel. Indeed, He was her Suzerain or Ruler, and Israel was the vassal. As such, Yahweh prescribed all the stipulations for Israel to obey and remain loyal to Him. Obedience to God is the key to success. Joshua and the Israelites feared the LORD. They did as He had commanded, and He gave them victory over all their foes.

The narrator further defined the boundaries that Joshua's campaign covered. His victory in the south extends from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza and all the country of Goshen as far as Gibeon (v. 41). Kadesh-barnea was the place in North Sinai where Israel camped before entering the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:26; Deuteronomy 1:19, 46). The city of Gaza is on the Mediterranean coast on the route to Egypt, about 50 miles west of Jerusalem. Kadesh-barnea and Gaza mark the southernmost limits of the land the Israelites conquered.

Goshen was in the hill country assigned to the tribe of Judah, about seven kilometers southeast of Debir (Joshua 15:51). Finally, Gibeon was in the highland region west of the Jordan River, the modern Palestinian village of el-Jîb. It was about five miles northwest of Jerusalem. These two cities (Goshen and Gibeon) mark the southern and northern limits of the campaign.

Joshua subdued all these cities and their leaders. He captured all these kings and their lands at one time (v. 42). That means the Israelites conquered them in one campaign. Joshua could achieve such a success because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. The conquest of Canaan was a war of giving an inheritance to one people (Israel) and judgment to those who refused to repent of sin (the Canaanites).

The Canaanite culture was centered around all variety of sinful activities which God did not want the Israelites to copy. Unfortunately, throughout their history, the Israelites would repeat various cycles of submitting to exploitative pagan practices/idol worship and then repenting (Judges 2:11-13, 1 Kings 11:33, Psalm 106:35-39, Judges 10:10, 1 Samuel 7:3-4). The corruptive influence of the neighboring pagans was never fully removed, even after Israel established its kingdom and dominance in the region.

In this conquest, the Israelites were tasked to obey God's command to completely destroy all the religious sites where the Canaanites served their gods in order not to follow their wicked patterns of worship. Part of this was God's judgement upon the immoral and dehumanizing practices of the pagan peoples who exploited each other. God designed us to love and serve one another (Leviticus 19:18, Micah 6:8), not use and destroy each other. He made clear in Genesis 15 that He was giving the Canaanites time to repent before their judgement, and now their time was full (Genesis 15:16). Judgment had come in the form of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 7:1-2).

The Suzerain God instructed His vassals on how to advance toward their adversaries. Although the Israelite army was often smaller in number, they always defeated their foes because the LORD intervened on their behalf and orchestrated all things for their good. This chapter is a prime example of how God helped His covenant people because they captured all the cities in southern Canaan and destroyed their inhabitants. Thus, after completing the battles in that region, Joshua and all of Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal (v. 43).

The chapter opens with kings who heard the LORD's name and trembled (Joshua 10:1) and closes with the LORD fighting for Israel (v. 42). Everything in between—the all-night march, the hailstones, the long day, the cave, and the many cities falling to the sword of Israel—all of it is God's doing through His people's obedience. Joshua is a great leader. But the narrator's verdict is never about Joshua's skill. It is always about the LORD.

The place called Gilgal was a town near Jericho where the Israelites camped, circumcised all the males, and celebrated the Passover (Joshua 5:10). It was where Joshua erected the stones that the twelve men representing the Israelite tribes had taken from the dry Jordan riverbed to commemorate that miraculous crossing (Joshua 4:8). It became Israel’s first foothold on Canaanite soil and her first worship place (Joshua 5:9, 14). Therefore, once the battle in southern Canaan ended, the Israelites returned to their camp at Gilgal.