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Joshua 11:17

in Joshua 11

from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

from mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and put them to death.

KJV

Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal–gad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.

This verse in Joshua 11

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up unto Seir,.... Or the "smooth" and "bald" mountain, which had no trees on it, as some interpret it, observed by Kimchi; it was a mount on the borders of Edom, to which the land of Canaan reached on that side: even unto Baalgad, in the valley of Lebanon, under Mount Hermon; and so describes the northern part of the land conquered by Joshua: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them; both in the southern and northern parts of the land.

This site's exposition

So Joshua took all that

on Joshua 11:16-18

The summary sweeps from mount Halak going up to Seir in the far south to Baalgad under Hermon in the north, which is the length of the country in one line. Verse 18 is the check on reading chapters 10 and 11 as a few weeks of fighting, because it says Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. Caleb supplies the arithmetic at Joshua 14:7-10, forty years old when Moses sent him and eighty-five when he asks for Hebron, and the forty-five years he counts leave about seven years of campaigning after the crossing on the usual reckoning.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The mount Halak - See the margin and reference. The name serves to mark the southern limit of Joshua’s conquests. It suits equally well several of the ranges near the south border of Palestine, and it is uncertain which of them is the one here indicated. Baal-gad Jos 12:7; Jos 13:5 is probably Paneas, the Caesarea Philippi of later times. The name means “troop or city of Baal,” or a place where Baal was worshipped as the giver of “good luck.” Compare Isa 65:11. It was probably the same as Baal-Hermon (Jdg 3:3; 1Ch 5:23; and see Deu 3:9).

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

The bare, divided mountain. A smooth mountain. 5 It was so called because there were no trees on it. It was divided between Yaakov and Eisov. The part belonging to Yaakov was bare and smooth as Yaakov himself. See Bereishis:11.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 11:17:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
For many days did Yehoshua. This verse was said to criticize Yehoshua, who intended to delay the conquest of the land, in order to lengthen his days, for it is said, “And you will apportion it to them.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 11:18:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

19 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.

  • מִן־from

    min-H44801188 times

  • הָהָ֤רthe mountain

    haharH2022546 times

  • הֶֽחָלָק֙<the> Halak

    hechalakH2510

  • הָעוֹלֶ֣הwhich goes up

    haolehH5927890 times

  • שֵׂעִ֔ירSeir

    seirH816539 times

  • וְעַד־and to

    vead-H57041261 times

  • בַּ֤עַלBaal

    baalH11716 times

  • גָּד֙Gad

    gadH11716 times

  • בְּבִקְעַ֣תin [the] valley of

    bevikatH123720 times

  • הַלְּבָנ֔וֹן<the> Lebanon

    halevanonH384471 times

  • תַּ֖חַתunder

    tachatH8478505 times

  • הַר־[the] mountain of

    har-H2022546 times

  • חֶרְמ֑וֹןHermon

    chermonH276813 times

  • וְאֵ֤תand <obj.>

    veetH85310935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H36055413 times

  • מַלְכֵיהֶם֙kings their

    malkheihemH44282525 times

  • לָכַ֔דhe captured

    lakhadH3920121 times

  • וַיַּכֵּ֖םand he struck them

    vaiyakemH5221499 times

  • וַיְמִיתֵֽם׃and he killed them

    vaymitemH4191839 times

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

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

    Deuteronomy 33:2

    He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

    it leads to

    • Habakkuk 3:3

      God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth.

    • Jude 1:14

      Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones

    • Revelation 5:11

      Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.

    • Psalms 68:17

      The chariots of God are tens of thousands— thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.

    • Acts 7:53

      you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 7:24

    He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 10:8

      The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have delivered them into your hand. Not one of them shall stand against you.”

    • Joshua 23:9

      The LORD has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and to this day no one can stand against you.

    • Joshua 10:42

      And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

The Walls of Jericho Fall Down, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Walls of Jericho Fall Down, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.