Joshua 11 explained: The Northern Kings Fall

A northern alliance forms (vv. 1-5)

Jabin, king of Hazor, the leading city of the north, called many kings and peoples together against Israel. They camped at the Waters of Merom in the north, with many horses and war chariots, a big advantage over Israel's army, which fought on foot.

Victory at Merom (vv. 6-9)

The LORD tells Joshua not to fear, and Israel attacks by surprise and chases the survivors far to the north and east. Joshua was told to cut the horses' leg tendons so they could never be used in war, and to burn the chariots; many readers take this as a way to keep Israel from relying on weapons instead of on God.

Hazor and the other cities (vv. 10-15)

Hazor, the alliance's capital, was burned and every person in it killed, which the text calls being totally destroyed, an ancient idea of handing a place over to God by wiping it out completely. The other cities, built on raised mounds, were not burned, though the chapter does not say why, and Israel kept their animals and goods, but the text says plainly that no person was spared.

Summing up the conquest (vv. 16-20)

The writer lists the land taken from the far south to the foot of Mount Hermon in the north, and notes the fighting took a long time. Only Gibeon made peace, and verse 20 says the LORD hardened the other cities' hearts so they would fight and be destroyed without mercy, a statement many readers find deeply troubling.

The Anakites and rest (vv. 21-23)

The Anakites, a people remembered as giants who had frightened Israel's spies years earlier, are wiped out except in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod, cities later known as Philistine. The chapter ends with the land at rest, though later chapters and the book of Judges show many places were not actually taken, so many scholars read these summaries as sweeping rather than complete.

Key verse: Joshua 11:23

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on how to read the commanded total destruction: some take it as a literal account of a unique divine judgment, others as exaggerated war language typical of ancient writing, and others as a limited human understanding of God that later Scripture moves beyond.

Something to think about

What do you make of an ancient story that presents the complete destruction of whole cities as obedience to God?