Joshua 10 explained: Five Kings and a Long Day

Five kings attack Gibeon (vv. 1-6)

The king of Jerusalem was alarmed that Gibeon, a large and strong city near his own, had made peace with Israel through the trick told in chapter 9. He and four other kings attacked Gibeon, and Gibeon begged Israel to keep its promise and rescue them.

Night march and hailstorm (vv. 7-11)

After the LORD tells him not to be afraid, Joshua marches all night uphill from his camp at Gilgal and catches the enemy by surprise. The text gives the credit to God: panic among the enemy, and hail on the road down from Beth Horon that killed more than Israel's swords did.

The sun stands still (vv. 12-15)

Joshua's words to the sun and moon are quoted from the Book of Jashar, a lost collection of Israel's poems, and the text says the sun stopped for about a full day. Some read a literal miracle and others poetic language for a day long enough to win, while some note that the Hebrew verb in verse 12 can also mean 'be silent'; scholars are unsure what exactly is meant.

The kings in the cave (vv. 16-27)

The five kings hid in a cave, and after the battle Joshua's commanders put their feet on the kings' necks, an ancient gesture of total defeat. Joshua then killed them and hung their bodies on poles (older translations say trees) until sunset, when Israel's law required bodies to be taken down, and the cave became their grave.

City after city destroyed (vv. 28-39)

At Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron and Debir, the text repeats that every person was killed and no one survived. The phrase 'totally destroyed' refers to the ban, a wartime practice in which a conquered city was handed over to God by being wiped out completely, and the king of Gezer who came to help Lachish was wiped out as well.

The south summed up (vv. 40-43)

Verse 40 says Joshua destroyed all who breathed across the south because the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded it, and verse 42 says God fought for Israel. Yet later chapters say Hebron and Debir still had to be captured (Joshua 15:13-17; Judges 1:10-13) and the Jebusites in Jerusalem were not driven out (Joshua 15:63), so many scholars read these sweeping lines as the standard exaggeration of ancient war reports, while others take them literally.

Key verse: Joshua 10:42

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on how to read the claim that God commanded the total destruction of these cities: as literal history of a unique divine judgment, as exaggerated ancient war language, or as Israel's own culturally shaped picture of God that later scripture moves beyond.

Something to think about

What changes for you when you imagine this chapter told by someone who lived in Lachish or Hebron?