Joshua 10:4
in Joshua 10“Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Come up unto me, and help me, and let us smite Gibeon; for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.
KJV
Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.
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This verse in Joshua 10
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
to Hoham king of Hebron
on Joshua 10:3-5
The five cities, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon, lie in the hills and lowland south of Gibeon. This is the first alliance in the book, so from here Joshua meets armies instead of single towns. All five are called Amorites, a name Scripture uses of one people and of the land’s inhabitants at large, as at Genesis 15:16, and the same five are counted again at 12:10-12.
This site's exposition
We will attack Gibeon
The kings aim first at Gibeon, the town that made peace with Joshua. Matthew Henry reads Joshua's answer in the light of that peace. His promise to let the Gibeonites live bound him, Henry says, to keep others from killing them when he had the power, and he cites Proverbs 24:11-12.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
There is no doubt that when a human soul associates itself with the Word of God, it is immediately going to have enemies, and that those it once considered friends will be changed into adversaries. The soul should not only expect to suffer this from humans, but it should also know that such will likewise be forthcoming from opposing powers and spiritual iniquities.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But Joshua knew that his promise to let them live obliged him, not only not to slay them himself, but not to stand by and see them slain when it was in the power of his hand to prevent it, Prov. xxiv. He knew that when they embraced the faith and worship of the God of Israel they came to trust under the shadow of his wings ( Ruth ii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon,....
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֲלֽוּ־ | ʾalu- | come up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֵלַ֣י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְעִזְרֻ֔נִי | veizruni | and help me | H5826 → | 81 times |
| וְנַכֶּ֖ה | venakeh | so we may attack | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| גִּבְע֑וֹן | givon | Gibeon | H1391 → | 38 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִשְׁלִ֥ימָה | hishlimah | it has made peace | H7999 → | 116 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and with | H854 → | 929 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
עֲלֽוּ־come up
ʾalu-H5927 →890 times
אֵלַ֣יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
וְעִזְרֻ֔נִיand help me
veizruniH5826 →81 times
וְנַכֶּ֖הso we may attack
venakehH5221 →499 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
גִּבְע֑וֹןGibeon
givonH1391 →38 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הִשְׁלִ֥ימָהit has made peace
hishlimahH7999 →116 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
וְאֶת־and with
veetH854 →929 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 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
James 4:4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
it leads to
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Romans 8:7
because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
- John 15:19
If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
- Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and…
- Galatians 1:10
Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
- 1 John 2:15–16
Through
John 15:19If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
it leads to
- 1 John 4:4–5
You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
- John 17:14–16
I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
- Ephesians 1:4–11
For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
- 1 John 4:4–5
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 11.2.