Joshua 11:10-15 meaning

In Joshua 11:10-15, the Israelites capture various Canaanite cities, fulfilling God's command.

In the previous section, God encouraged Joshua and the Israelites, resulting in the defeat of the northern Canaanite armies. While the enemy soldiers were numerous and had great weapons of war, the LORD urged Joshua not to fear them because He would grant victory to His people by the next day. He instructed the Israelite leader to hamstring the enemy horses and burn their chariots. Joshua acted faithfully and won the battle. Then, after destroying the enemy troops, Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor (v 10).

In ancient times, Hazor (modern Tel el-Kedah) was a large fortified town in north Galilee. It was 10 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, and it was a great commercial center on the trade routes between Egypt and Mesopotamia. However, its fortifications did not preclude the Israelites from capturing it because the LORD was with them. They struck the king of Hazor with the sword (v 10). This is both a literal and metaphorical phrase. The sword is an ancient weapon of warfare designed to thrust and slash the opponent in armed conflicts, since time immemorial. Joshua and his soldiers carried swords to do battle with. In the time of Joshua, bronze was the alloy that most swords were made from. Bronze was typically made from 90% copper and 10% tin. The description that Joshua struck the king of Hazor with the sword (v 10) means that the forces of Israel attacked the city of Hazor.

Among all the northern cities and regions, Joshua singled Hazor out because it was formerly the head of all these kingdoms (v 10). In other words, during Israel's conquest, Hazor was the most powerful of all the kingdoms in the northern territory. That explains why its king was the head of the coalition formed at the beginning of this chapter (Joshua 11:1). Despite its prominence and power, the Israelites struck every person in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them (v 11).

The military operation was catastrophic for the enemy because the Israelites utterly destroyed them. In the Hebrew text, the verb "utterly destroy" (Hebrew, "ḥerem") carries the idea of putting something under the ban. It speaks of an act of obedience, which dedicates the enemy and/or their objects to God (Joshua 6:17, 21). The Israelites devoted Hazor to God for complete annihilation. There was no one left who breathed (v 11). With God's help, Joshua killed them all and burned the city with fire so that nothing remained there.

The northern Canaanite kings trusted their military equipment and thought they would win the battle. However, the Israelites relied on the LORD and were victorious. Thus, Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings (v 12). Those royal towns were significant because they served as the administrative centers of larger districts. However, they could not withstand the divine judgment backing Israel's conquest. They all perished along with their leaders. No kings escaped Joshua's army. He struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them (v 12). His victory was complete. He did just as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded (v 12).

Moses was the first leader of the Israelites, and Joshua was his successor. God chose Moses to lead the Israelites during a time of crisis as they were enslaved in Egypt, performing hard labor and experiencing mistreatment. God saw their afflictions and sent Moses there to deliver them. Moses accepted the call. He confronted Pharaoh and the Egyptians, redeeming the people from bondage and leading them through the wilderness journey. Throughout his leadership, he represented the people before God and spoke the words of God to the people. He lead by following God's commands. Hence, the text describes him as the servant of the LORD (v 12).

In the Old Testament, the term servant (Hebrew, "ʿeḇeḏ") often applies to specific persons such as Abraham, Caleb, David, Zerubbabel, and even Israel, whom God used as His agents to accomplish a special mission (Genesis 26:24, Numbers 14:24, 2 Samuel 7:5, Haggai 2:23, and Isaiah 41:8 respectively). Like these, Moses was the LORD's servant (Numbers 12:7). He obeyed the LORD as his Master.

The Hebrew term translated as LORD is Yahweh, the self-existent and eternal God who revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). It often emphasizes God's covenant relationship with His people. In our passage, it demonstrates Moses's relationship with Yahweh, telling the reader that Moses was God's special emissary. His mission was to teach the divine laws to the Israelites so their lives could please their covenant partner, Yahweh.

Once Moses died, the LORD chose Joshua as the next Israelite leader. Joshua was a great military leader and a good student. He obeyed Moses's command to execute the Canaanites and take control of their land (Deuteronomy 20:17-18):

"But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the LORD your God."

Under his leadership, the Israelites obeyed the LORD and captured the northern cities. However, Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned (v 13).

The mounds were the heaps that characterized many cities. The ancient peoples customarily piled debris on top of each other when building a town because they believed it would be more defensible on elevated ground. During the Israelite campaign in the north, they refrained from burning any such cities except Hazor. They left them standing on their heights. All the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as plunder (v 14).

The spoil refers to any valuables or goods seized during a war (1 Samuel 30:19). The Israelites could not take any such items during the conquest of Jericho (Joshua 6:18-19). They could only take valuable metallic objects to be given to the Tabernacle of God. However, during the northern conquest, they were free to gain spoils and livestock, as in the conquest of Ai (Joshua 8:27). Thus, they obeyed the stipulation and received those gifts as blessings. But they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them (v 14). In so doing, they fulfilled God's command to devote the enemy to the ban (Deuteronomy 7:2, 20:17). Indeed, they left no one who breathed (v 11). In other words, they slaughtered everyone (men, women, and children).

As far back as Genesis 15, God told Abraham his descendants would return from Egypt to deal with the Amorites after four generations, because "the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete" (Genesis 15:16). God provided a substantial window of time for the Amorites and other Canaanites to repent before imposing judgment. Judgment awaits us all. The people of Canaan experienced God's judgment on this earth after centuries of evil, exploitative, hateful practices.

This utter destruction was particular to the conquest of the Promised Land. In warfare, it meant removing from the land anything that would corrupt God's people and poison their relationship with Him. God had warned Israel that the Canaanites' practices--child sacrifice, occult worship, sexual immorality built into religious worship--would pull Israel away from Him if left in place (Deuteronomy 7:3-4).

This utter destruction was covenant/treaty obedience. It was meant to protect Israel then and for all coming generations so that they might walk in right relationship with the one true God. But after Joshua, many Israelite kings and leaders would not fulfill it, so that idolatry crept constantly back into Jewish culture from the remaining Canaanites.

The Israelite victory in the north did not rest on Joshua's military skills. Instead, he achieved success because he trusted in God and obeyed the divine instructions. The passage made that truth plain when he declared, Just as the LORD had commanded Moses His servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did (v 15).

Yahweh gave His precepts to Moses, who, in turn, passed them on to Joshua. As a worthy successor, Joshua did not ignore any instructions. He followed them meticulously. As a result, he left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses (v 15). This account once again shows that the LORD was the great Victor and the chief Commander. Unlike the northern armies, the Israelite soldiers did not have to rely on horses and chariots. Their strength depended on the LORD, their Suzerain God. His presence alone is sufficient.

Verse 15 traces a straight line: the LORD commanded Moses, Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it, leaving nothing undone. That one sentence encapsulates Joshua's character of total obedience to God, throughout this entire narrative. Back in Chapter 1, God tied Joshua's success to exactly this: "be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you" (Joshua 1:7).

The book measures success by one thing metric: whether God's word was obeyed all the way down. God speaks, leaders pass His word on faithfully, and the people do it, and succeed.