and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.
A good general knows how to follow up a victory, and Joshua seized his moment: he took six cities in swift succession, destroyed the armies sent to relieve them, and brought the whole southern country under Israel's hand. His failure to take Jerusalem and Jarmuth at once was a missed opportunity they would pay dearly to recover later.
AI summary
Commenting on Joshua 10:28-43
Joshua destroyed every living thing because God commanded it, not from private revenge or greed. The Lord ordered this as righteous punishment for the Canaanites' gross abominations, their idolatry and incest. To call it cruelty is to miss that it was obedience to divine justice.
AI summary
The Lord God of Israel fought for Israel, and the victories came in rapid succession: Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, Debir, and the army of Gezer all fell in a single sweep. The whole southern country passed into Joshua's hands because the Lord Himself was the true conqueror.
AI summary
Commenting on Joshua 10:28-42