Joshua 10:18
in Joshua 10So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and post men there to guard them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joshua said, Roll great stones unto the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to keep them:
KJV
And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them:
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This verse in Joshua 10
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
hid themselves in a cave
on Joshua 10:16-19
The five kings are sealed in the cave with stones and left under guard while the pursuit goes on, so Joshua takes the fighting first and the trophy last. His order at verse 19 is to strike the hindmost and keep them from entering their cities, which is the whole tactic, since a beaten army behind walls has to be besieged town by town. Matthew Henry notes that the watch at the cave costs him men he could have used in the chase, and he sets it anyway.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Joshua said, roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave,.... To keep the kings in, that they might not make their escape, until he had convenient time to have them brought before him, and be treated by him as they deserved; and no doubt there were plenty of stones about the hill or mountain, in which this cave was, fit for this purpose: and set men by it for to keep them; as a guard upon them, to prevent their escape.
And the care Joshua took to keep them there when they were there, as it is an instance of his policy and presence of mind, even in the heat of action, so, in the result of their project, it shows how those not only deceive themselves, but destroy themselves, who think to hide themselves from God. Their refuge of lies will but bind them over to God's judgment.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The last act, probably the next day, was the disposal of the prisoners, among whom the five kings were consigned to the infamous doom of being slain (De 20:16, 17); and then their corpses were suspended on five trees till the evening.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| גֹּ֛לּוּ | golu | roll | H1556 → | |
| אֲבָנִ֥ים | ʾavanim | stones | H68 → | 273 times |
| גְּדֹל֖וֹת | gedolot | large | H1419 → | 526 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פִּ֣י | pi | [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| הַמְּעָרָ֑ה | hamearah | the cave | H4631 → | 37 times |
| וְהַפְקִ֧ידוּ | vehafkidu | and appoint | H6485 → | |
| עָלֶ֛יהָ | ʾaleiha | over it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲנָשִׁ֖ים | ʾanashim | men | H582 → | 566 times |
| לְשָׁמְרָֽם׃ | leshameram | to guard them | H8104 → | 468 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
גֹּ֛לּוּroll
goluH1556 →
אֲבָנִ֥יםstones
ʾavanimH68 →273 times
גְּדֹל֖וֹתlarge
gedolotH1419 →526 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פִּ֣י[the] mouth of
piH6310 →498 times
הַמְּעָרָ֑הthe cave
hamearahH4631 →37 times
וְהַפְקִ֧ידוּand appoint
vehafkiduH6485 →
עָלֶ֛יהָover it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
אֲנָשִׁ֖יםmen
ʾanashimH582 →566 times
לְשָׁמְרָֽם׃to guard them
leshameramH8104 →468 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 27:66So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.
it leads to
- Daniel 6:17
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel…
- Daniel 6:17
Through
Job 21:30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
- Proverbs 16:4
Through
Amos 5:19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a…
it leads to
- Isaiah 24:17–18
Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.
- Jeremiah 15:2–3
If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
- Isaiah 24:17–18
Through
Amos 9:1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will…
it leads to
- Psalms 68:21
Surely God will crush the heads of His enemies, the hairy crowns of those who persist in guilty ways.
- Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.
- Amos 3:14
On the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.
- John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
- Psalms 68:21
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.