Joshua 10:42

28-43 Joshua made speed in taking these cities. See what a great deal of work may be done in a little time, if we will be diligent, and improve our opportunities. God here showed his hatred of the idolatries and other abominations of which the Canaanites had been guilty, and shows us how great the provocation was, by the greatness of the destruction brought upon them. Here also was typified the destruction of all the enemies of the Lord Jesus, who, having slighted the riches of his grace, must for ever feel the weight of his wrath. The Lord fought for Israel. They could not have gotten the victory, if God had not undertaken the battle. We conquer when God fights for us; if he be for us, who can be against us?...

Verse Joshua 10:42. _DID JOSHUA TAKE AT ONE TIME_] That is, he defeated all those kings, and took all their cities, in ONE _campaign_; this appears to be the rational construction of the Hebrew. But these conquests were so rapid and stupendous, that they cannot be attributed either to the generalship of Joshua, or the valour of the Israelites; and hence the author himself, disclaiming the merit of them, modestly and piously adds, _because the Lord Good of_ _Israel fought for Israel_. It was by this aid that _Joshua took all_ _these kings and their land at one time _- in a single campaign. And when all the circumstances related in this chapter are properly weighed, we shall find that GOD _alone_ could have performed these works, and that both _reason_ and _piety_ require that to HIM _alone_ they should be attributed. 1. THE pr

AT ONE TIME - i. e. in one campaign or expedition, which no doubt lasted some days, or perhaps weeks (compare Joshua 11:18)....

EXPOSITION THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON, AND THE SUBJUGATION OF SOUTHERN PALESTINE.— JOSHUA 10:1 ADONI-ZEDEC (cf. Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18). The _name_ given to the king of Jerusalem was good enough, and no doubt was a survival of earlier and purer times. In the days of Melchizedek the name corresponded to the character. JERUSALEM. Hebrew, _Jerushalaim, _with the usual dual termination. It has been generally supposed to be the same with Salem, or rather Shalem, the city of which Melehizedek was king, and this is supported by the fact t

AND ALL THESE KINGS, AND THEIR LAND, DID JOSHUA TAKE AT ONE TIME,.... Not in one day, but in a very short time, in a few days, as the history clearly shows: BECAUSE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL FOUGHT FOR ISRAEL; which is the true reason of such quick dispatch being made, otherwise in all probability much longer time must have been consumed in subduing them. The Targum is, "because the Lord God of Israel fought by his Word for Israel.''...

AT ONE TIME Compare (Joshua 11:18). As the context shows, the verse (Joshua 10:42) refer to different parts of Palestine and different kings....

10. THE VICTORIOUS CONQUEST CHAPTER 10 _ 1. Adoni-zedec and his confederacy (Joshua 10:1)_ 2. The war (Joshua 10:7) 3. The miracle (Joshua 10:12) 4. The victory won (Joshua 10:16) 5. The five kings slain (Joshua 10:22) 6. Further conquests (Joshua 10:28) The name Jerusalem is mentioned here for the first time in the Bible. (Salem in...

FOUGHT FOR ISRAEL. For the reason, see App-23 and App-25....

Survey of the Results of the Campaign in Southern Canaan 40. _all the country_ Rather, ALL THE LAND, THE HILL COUNTRY, &c. The entire region is comprehensively surveyed, and then treated with special detail: (_a) The Hills;_(_b) The South_; (_c) The Vale_; (_d) The Springs_. (_a) The Hills_, i.e. _the mountain_district of Judah extending southward from Jerusalem. It consists of calcareous limestone, and forms the water-parting between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, rising to the height of 3000 feet. It is generally, especially in the southern portion, an uneven and rocky district. (_b) The South = the Negeb_, the "land of the south," the dry, parched land, where the mountain-brooks fail in the summer (Psalms 126:4). It is a limestone district, a land intermediate between wilderness and cultivated land, like the stepp

_VER._ 42. _AND ALL THESE KINGS AND THEIR LAND DID JOSHUA TAKE AT ONE TIME,_ &C.— Three remarks here offer themselves to our consideration. 1. That Joshua, in making himself master of these countries, did not destroy all the inhabitants, but only such as had not fled. 2. That then kings carried to their camps all who were able to bear arms; so that, at a first defeat, all was lost with them, and the slaughter was inexpressible. But it is especially to be here remarked, 3. That, in all probability, Joshua, having taken the cities of Canaan with great rapidity, and then set fire to them, left them afterwards, and proceeded to other conquests; thus availing himself of the perturbation and distress of the nations: but that after this first setting on fire, those, who had escaped the danger, returning to their cities immediately, set about fortifying them afresh; and that thus, while Joshua o...