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Joshua 10:20

in Joshua 10

So 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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, and the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities,

KJV

And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities.

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This verse in Joshua 10

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

until they had finished them off

on Joshua 10:20-21

Verse 20 grants what verse 19 tried to prevent, that survivors reached the fortified cities, and the rest of the chapter takes those cities one by one. Verse 21 closes with “no one dared to utter a word against the Israelites”, which answers to Exodus 11:7, where not even a dog would snarl at Israel. There it marked the plague of the firstborn, and here a country in arms.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

The children of Israel - That is, a party of them by the command of Joshua; for Joshua himself went not with them, but abode in the siege before Makkedah, ver. 21.
And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel,....

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.

  • וַיְהִי֩and it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • כְּכַלּ֨וֹתwhen finished

    kekhalotH3615 →208 times

  • יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַJoshua

    yehoshua'H3091 →218 times

  • וּבְנֵ֣יand [the] people of

    uveneiH1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • לְהַכּוֹתָ֛םto strike down them

    lehakotamH5221 →499 times

  • מַכָּ֥הa defeat

    makahH4347 →

  • גְדוֹלָֽה־great

    gedolah-H1419 →526 times

  • מְאֹ֖דvery

    meodH3966 →300 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • תֻּמָּ֑םwere finished they

    tumamH8552 →63 times

  • וְהַשְּׂרִידִים֙and the survivors

    vehaseridimH8300 →28 times

  • שָׂרְד֣וּthey survived

    sareduH8277 →

  • מֵהֶ֔םof <the> them

    mehem

  • וַיָּבֹ֖אוּand they went

    vaiyavouH935 →2568 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • עָרֵ֥י[the] cities of

    ʾareiH5892 →1090 times

  • הַמִּבְצָֽר׃<the> fortification

    hamivtzarH4013 →37 times

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

Related verses

8 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.

Jeremiah 4:5Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’4 worksJoshua 8:24When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and put it to the sword as well.3 worksDeuteronomy 20:16However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.2 worksJoshua 10:10And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.2 works2 Chronicles 13:17Then Abijah and his people struck them with a mighty blow, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.2 worksJeremiah 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 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 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 worksJoshua 10:19But 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.”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 8:14

    Why 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,…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 23:15

      Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout…

    • Jeremiah 9:15

      Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 20:16

    However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 11:14

      The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they put all the people to the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed.

    • Numbers 21:2–3

      So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”

    • Joshua 6:17–21

      Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies…

    • Deuteronomy 7:1–4

      When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations…

  • Through

    Joshua 10:10

    And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 18:14

      He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.

    • Joshua 16:5

      This was the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: The border of their inheritance went from Ataroth-addar in the east to Upper Beth-horon

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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.

Read on in Joshua 10 →