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Joshua 10:19

in Joshua 10

But you, do not stop there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Do not let them reach their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

but stay not ye; pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for Jehovah your God hath delivered them into your hand.

KJV

And stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hand.

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This verse in Joshua 10

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

hidden in the cave at Makkedah

on Joshua 10:16-19

The five kings are sealed in the cave under guard while the pursuit goes on, so Joshua takes the fighting first and the trophy last. His order is “Do not let them reach their cities”, since a beaten army behind walls must be besieged town by town. Matthew Henry notes the watch costs men he could have used in the chase, and he sets it anyway.

This site's exposition

attack them from behind

Henry reads the order as the choice of a prudent general, who deals first with what is most needful and leaves the captive kings in the cave for later. The pursuit keeps the scattered forces from rallying inside their walled cities. The reason Joshua gives is the promise of verse 8.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And stay you not, but pursue after your enemies,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Like a prudent general, he does that first which is most needful, and defers his triumphs till he has completed his conquests; nor was he in such haste to insult over the captive kings but that he would first prevent the rallying again of their scattered forces. The result of this vigorous pursuit was, 1.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְאַתֶּם֙and you

    veatemH859 →1094 times

  • אַֽל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תַּעֲמֹ֔דוּyou delay

    taamoduH5975 →521 times

  • רִדְפוּ֙pursue

    ridfuH7291 →143 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֣יafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • אֹֽיְבֵיכֶ֔םenemies your

    ʾoyeveikhemH341 →282 times

  • וְזִנַּבְתֶּ֖םand you will attack in [the] rear

    vezinavtemH2179 →

  • אוֹתָ֑ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • אַֽל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תִּתְּנ֗וּםyou permit them

    titenumH5414 →2011 times

  • לָבוֹא֙to go

    lavo'H935 →2568 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • עָ֣רֵיהֶ֔םcities their

    ʾareihemH5892 →1090 times

  • כִּ֧יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • נְתָנָ֛םhe has given them

    netanamH5414 →2011 times

  • יְהוָ֥הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖םGod your

    ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times

  • בְּיֶדְכֶֽם׃in hand your

    beyedkhemH3027 →1618 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 18:37–41I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.3 worksJoshua 10:20So Joshua and the Israelites continued to inflict a terrible slaughter until they had finished them off, and the remaining survivors retreated to the fortified cities.2 works2 Samuel 20:6And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”2 worksIsaiah 9:14–15So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day.2 worksJeremiah 48:10Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.2 works2 Samuel 17:13If he retreats to a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble can be found.”2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 8:14Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.2 works1 Samuel 14:36And Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until dawn, leaving no man alive!” “Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied. But the priest said, “We must consult God here.”2 works2 Chronicles 13:19Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured some cities from him: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, along with their villages.2 worksExodus 23:31And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Jeremiah 48:10

    Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 15:3

      Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and…

    • 1 Kings 20:42

      And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for…

    • Judges 5:23

      ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’

    • 1 Samuel 15:9

      Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them, but they…

    • 2 Kings 13:19

      But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end…

  • Through

    2 Samuel 20:6

    And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 21:17

      But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the…

    • 1 Kings 1:33

      “Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.

    • 2 Samuel 11:11

      Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat…

About Joshua

Joshua Commands the Sun to Stand Still — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joshua Commands the Sun to Stand Still — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 10 →

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.

Read on in Joshua 10 →