Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
Israel's conquest came by little and little, not in a day; Joshua waited for the Canaanites to strike first, that their destruction might be just and their resistance inexcusable. God's promise does not fail because it moves slowly, and sitting still awhile let the enemy's forces unite into one body to be cut off at a single blow.
AI summary
Commenting on Joshua 10:1-6
Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron,.... Which, according to Jerom (d) was twenty two miles from Jerusalem; it was an ancient city built seven years before Zoan in Egypt; See Gill on Gen 13:18 and See Gill on Num 13:22, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth; a city which fell to the lot of Judah, as did Hebron, Jos 15:35...
Wherefore Adoni-zedek . . . sent, . . . saying, Come up unto me, and help me--A combined attack was meditated on Gibeon, with a view not only to punish its people for their desertion of the native cause, but by its overthrow to interpose a barrier to the farther inroads of the Israelites.