Joshua 11:16

_SO JOSHUA TOOK ALL THAT LAND, THE HILLS, AND ALL THE SOUTH COUNTRY, AND ALL THE LAND OF GOSHEN, AND THE VALLEY, AND THE PLAIN, AND THE MOUNTAIN OF ISRAEL, AND THE VALLEY OF THE SAME;_ So Joshua took all that land. Here follows a general view of the conquest. The division of the country there into five parts-namely, the hills, the land of Goshen - i:e., a pastoral land near Gibeon (Joshua 10:41) - the valley, the plains, the mountains of Israel - i:e. Carmel,-rests upon a diversity of geographical positions which is characteristic of the region....

16._So Joshua took all that land, _etc In the uninterrupted series of victories, when the land, of its own accord, spewed out its old inhabitants, to give free possession to the Israelites, it was visibly manifest, as is said in the Psalm, (Psalms 44:3) “They got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou had a favor unto them.” The design of enumerating the places and districts is to let us know that the work which God had begun he continued to carry on without interruption. But it is a mistake to suppose: as some do, that by the name Israel a certain mountain is meant. For it will be plain, from the end of the chapter, (Joshua 11:21) that the term is applied indiscriminately to the mountai

15-23 Never let the sons of Anak be a terror to the Israel of God, for their day to fall will come. The land rested from war. It ended not in a peace with the Canaanites, that was forbidden, but in a peace from them. There is a rest, a rest from war, remaining for the people of God, into which they shall enter, when their warfare is accomplished. That which was now done, is compared with what had been said to Moses. God's word and his works, if viewed together, will be found mutually to set each other forth. If we make conscience of our duty, we need not question the performance of the promise. But the believer must never put off his armour, or expect lasting peace, till he closes his eyes in death; nay, as his strength and usefulness increase, he may expect more heavy trials; yet the Lord will not permit any enemies to assault the believer till he has prepared him for the battle. Chris...

Verse Joshua 11:16. _THE MOUNTAIN OF ISRAEL, AND THE VALLEY OF THE SAME_] This place has given considerable trouble to commentators; and it is not easy to assign such a meaning to the place as may appear in all respects satisfactory. 1. If we consider this verse and the 21st to have been added after the times in which the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were divided, the difficulty is at once removed. 2. The difficulty will be removed if we consider that _mountain_ and _valley_ are put here for _mountains_ and _valleys_, and that these include all mountains and valleys which were not in the lot that fell to the tribe of Judah. Or, 3. If by _mountain of Israel_ we understand _Beth-el_, where God appeared to Jacob, afterwards called _Israel_, and promised him the land of Canaan, a part of the difficulty will be removed. But the first

EXPOSITION THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR.— JOSHUA 11:1 AND IT CAME TO PASS. The political constitution of Palestine was, humanly speaking, the cause of its overthrow. The division of the country into a host of petty states, and the consequent want of cohesion and concert, made its conquest a comparatively easy task. Had the kings of the north rallied round the standard set up in Central Palestine by Adoni-zedek, a far more formidable opposition would have been offered to Joshua at Gibeon. Calvin takes us, however, at once to the fountain head, and remarks how God fitted the burden to those who had to bear it. In spite of the great things God had done to them, they might have been driven to despair (and every one knows how weak their faith was) by the ove

SO JOSHUA TOOK ALL THAT LAND,.... The whole land of Canaan, described as follows, both as to the southern and northern parts of it: THE HILLS; the hill country of Judea, of which see Luke 1:39; AND ALL THE SOUTH COUNTRY; where lived the five kings; and those of other places, the account of the taking of which we have in the preceding chapter, Joshua 10:40; AND ALL THE LAND OF GOSHEN; see Joshua 10:41; AND THE VALLEY, AND THE PLAIN; the low places and campaign fields which lay between the hills and mountains; particularly all the plain and campaign country near Eleutheropolis, towards the north and west, Jerom says, in his day, was called "Sephela", or ...

FURTHER CONQUESTS CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Jabin and his confederacy (Joshua 11:1)_ 2. The divine encouragement (Joshua 11:6) 3. The victory (Joshua 11:7) 4. The obedience of Joshua (Joshua 11:15) 5. The continued conflict with the kings (Joshua 11:16) The Kings of the north formed the second confederacy, headed by Jabin, King of Hazor. Jabin means “understanding” and Hazor, “an enclosure.” He with other kings, and with them “much people even as the sand that is upon the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots

JOSHUA 11. DEFEAT OF JABIN AND HIS COALITION. Jabin, king of Hazor, gathers a vast army of Canaanites at the Waters of Merom (locality uncertain, p. 32). The coalition was utterly defeated, the king was slain, and his city burnt. In Judges 4, a king of the same name and the same city appears, who for twenty years mightily oppressed the children of Israel. Joshua's victory here seems to be inconsistent with the account given of Jabin in Judges 4. The original story of Barak's campaign (Judges 5) has no reference to Jabin, but only to Sisera. The prose narrative (Judges 4) combines the war against Sisera with that against Jabin, and makes the former the general of the latter. It is noticeable that the terms of the short narrative in which the battle is here described are very vague and general, and 8, with its statement that the Israelites pursued their enemies as far as Zidon in the N. an...

THE HILLS. the hill country, VALLEY. the low country....

General Retrospect of the Conquest of Palestine 16. _So Joshua took_ The sacred writer pauses to survey and sum up the conquests of the Israelitish leader. _the hills_ The country is contemplated under a sevenfold division, (i) the cities; (ii) the south country; (iii) the land of Goshen (comp. Joshua 10:41); (iv) the valley; (v) the plain; (vi) the mountain of Israel; (vii) the valley of the same....