King James Version · Entering the land
Joshua 10
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Now it came to pass, when king of had heard how had taken , and had it; as he had done to and her king, so he had done to and her king; and how the inhabitants of had made peace with Israel, and were among them; That they feared greatly, because was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than , and all the men thereof were mighty. Wherefore king of sent unto Hoham king of , and unto Piram king of , and unto Japhia king of , and unto king of , saying, Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite : for it hath made peace with and with the . Therefore the five kings of the , the king of , the king of , the king of , the king of , the king of , gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before , and made war against it. And the men of sent unto to the camp to , saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and us, and help us: for all the kings of the that in the mountains are gathered together against us. So ascended from , he, and all the people of war with him, and all the of valour. And said unto , Fear them not: for I have them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee. therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from all night. And discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at , and chased them along that goeth up to , and smote them to , and unto . And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to , that cast down great stones from upon them unto , and they : they were more which with hailstones than they whom the slew with . Then spake to in the day when up the before the , and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon ; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had themselves upon their . Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of , and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that hearkened unto the voice of a man: for fought for Israel. And returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to . But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at . 17And it was told , saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at . And said, Roll great stones upon the of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them: And stay ye not, but pursue after your , and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for your hath them into your hand. And it came to pass, when and the had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities. And all the people returned to the camp to at in peace: none moved his against any of the . Then said , Open the of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave. And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of , the king of , the king of , the king of , and the king of . And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto , that called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. And said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall do to all your against whom ye fight. And afterward smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees . And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s , which until this very day. And that day took , and smote it with the edge of , and the king thereof he , them, and all the that were therein; he let none : and he did to the king of as he did unto the king of . Then passed from , and all Israel with him, unto , and fought against : 30And it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of , and all the that were therein; he let none in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of . And passed from , and all Israel with him, unto , and encamped against it, and fought against it: 32And into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of , and all the that were therein, according to all that he had done to . Then Horam king of came up to help ; and smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining. And from passed unto , and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it: And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of , and all the that were therein he that day, according to all that he had done to . And went up from , and all Israel with him, unto ; and they fought against it: 37And they took it, and smote it with the edge of , and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to ; but destroyed it utterly, and all the that were therein. And returned, and all Israel with him, to ; and fought against it: And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of , and all the that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to , so he did to , and to the king thereof; as he had done also to , and to her king. So smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but all that breathed, as of Israel commanded. And smote them from even unto , and all the country of , even unto . And all these kings and their land did take at one time, because of Israel fought for Israel. And returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to .
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Entering the land, 1250 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel crossing into Canaan and contending with fortified city-states, each with its own king, in a land Egypt had recently dominated and was now losing its grip on.
- The collapse
- The whole eastern Mediterranean is coming apart. Within about fifty years the Hittite empire falls, its capital burns, the Mycenaean palaces are destroyed, Ugarit is wiped out mid-correspondence, and Egypt is fighting for its life against seaborne invaders. Nobody fully knows why. Drought, earthquake, migration, and the failure of interlocking trade are all in the explanation.
- Egypt
- Still strong enough to record a victory over a people called Israel on a stone monument around 1207 BC, the earliest mention of the name outside the Bible. But Egyptian control of Canaan is slipping, and within a generation it is gone.
- Canaan
- Not a country but dozens of walled towns, each with its own king, its own god, and its own quarrel with the next valley. This is why the book of Joshua reads as a list of kings rather than a war with a nation.
- Further afield
- Iron is beginning to replace bronze across the region, partly because the tin trade that made bronze possible has broken down. The Olmec are building San Lorenzo. The Zhou are about to overthrow the Shang in China.