28. And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho. 29. Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah: 30. And the Lord delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho. 31. And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it: 32. And the Lord delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah. 33. Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining. 34. And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it: 35. And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword; and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish. 36. And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it: 37. And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein. 38. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir, and fought against it: 39. And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king. 40. So Joshua 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 utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded. 41. And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even unto Gibeon. 42. And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. 43. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.
We have here Joshua's improvement of the late glorious victory he had obtained, and the advantages he had gained by it, and to do this well is a general's praise.
I. Here is a particular account of the several cities which he immediately made himself master of. 1. The cities of three of the kings whom he had conquered in the field, he went and took possession of, Lachish, v. 31, 32. Eglon, v. 34, 35. and Hebron, v. 36, 37. The other two, Jerusalem and Jarmuth, were not taken at this time; perhaps his forces were either so much fatigued with what they had done, or so well content with what they had got, that they had no mind to attack those places, and so they slipped the fairest opportunity they could ever expect of reducing them with ease, which afterward was not done without difficulty, Judg. 1. 1. 2 Sam. 5. 6. 2. Three other cities, and royal cities too, he took; Makkedah, into the neighbourhood of which the five kings were fled, which brought Joshua and his forces thither in pursuit of them, and so hastened its ruin, v. 28. Libnah, v. 29, 30. and Debir, v. 38, 39. 3. One king that brought in his forces for the relief of Lachish, that had lost its king, proved to meddle to his own hurt; it was Horam king of Gezer, who, either in friendship to his neighbours, or for his own security, offered to stop the progress of Joshua's arms, and was cut off with all his forces, v. 33. Thus wicked men are often snared in their counsels, and, by opposing God in the way of his judgments, bring them the sooner on their own heads.
II. A general account of the country which was hereby reduced and brought into Israel's hands, v. 40··42. The part of the land of Canaan which they first got possession of lay south of Jerusalem, and afterward fell, for the most part, to the lot of the tribe of Judah.
Observe in this narrative, 1. The great speed Joshua made in taking these cities, which, some think, is intimated in the manner of relating it, which is quick and concise. He flew like lightning from place to place; and though they all stood it out to the last extremity, and none of these cities opened their gates to him, yet in a little time he got them all into his hands, summoned them, and seized them, the same day, v. 28. or in two days, v. 32. Now that they were struck with fear by the defeat of their armies, and the death of their kings, Joshua prudently followed his blow. See what a great deal of work may be done in a little time, if we will but be busy, and improve our opportunities. 2. The great severity Joshua used toward those he conquered. He gave no quarter to man, woman, or child, put to the sword all the souls, v. 28, 30, 32, 35, &c. utterly destroyed all that breathed, v. 40. and left none remaining. Nothing could justify this military execution, but that herein they did as the Lord God of Israel commanded, v. 40. which was sufficient not only to bear them out, and save them from the imputation of cruelty, but to sanctify what they did, and make it an acceptable piece of service to his justice. God would hereby, (1.) Manifest his hatred of the idolatries, and other abominations, which the Canaanites had been guilty of, and leave us to judge how great the provocation was, which they had given him, by the greatness of the destruction which was brought upon them when the measure of their iniquity was full. (2.) He would hereby magnify his love to his
