Joshua 10:2
in Joshua 10So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
KJV
That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
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This verse in Joshua 10
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This confederacy among the mountaineers of Southern Palestine was formed and headed by the king of Jerusalem, because his territory was most exposed to danger, Gibeon being only six miles distant, and because he evidently possessed some degree of pre-eminence over his royal neighbors.
This site's exposition
Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard
on Joshua 10:1-2
Jerusalem is named for the first time, after Genesis 14:18 called the place Salem. Albert Barnes sets its king’s name, Adoni-zedek, lord of righteousness, beside Melchizedek, king of righteousness, and reads it as a title of the Jebusite kings. A treaty moves the coalition, since Gibeon was “a great city”.
This site's exposition
like one of the royal cities
Gibeon is compared to a royal city, and Wesley notes it seems to have had no king, since at 9:11 its elders send the envoys. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain why Jerusalem led the alliance. Gibeon lay only six miles from it.
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
Thy - That is, he and his people, the king being spoken of ver. 1, as a publick person representing all his people. Royal cities - Either really a royal city, or equal to one of the royal cities, though it had no king, but seems to have been governed by elders, chap. ix, 11.
That they feared greatly,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
As one of the royal cities - Not a regal city, but great, well inhabited and well fortified, as those cities which served for the royal residence generally were.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּֽירְא֣וּ | vaiyireu | and they were afraid | H3372 → | 315 times |
| מְאֹ֔ד | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עִ֤יר | ʾir | [was] a city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| גְּדוֹלָה֙ | gedolah | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| גִּבְע֔וֹן | givon | Gibeon | H1391 → | 38 times |
| כְּאַחַ֖ת | keachat | like one of | H259 → | 971 times |
| עָרֵ֣י | ʾarei | [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַמַּמְלָכָ֑ה | hamamlakhah | <the> royalty | H4467 → | |
| וְכִ֨י | vekhi | and for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִ֤יא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| גְדוֹלָה֙ | gedolah | [was] great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| מִן־ | min- | more than | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָעַ֔י | haai | <the> Ai | H5857 → | 40 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲנָשֶׁ֖יהָ | ʾanasheiha | men its | H582 → | 566 times |
| גִּבֹּרִֽים׃ | giborim | [were] warriors | H1368 → | 158 times |
וַיִּֽירְא֣וּand they were afraid
vaiyireuH3372 →315 times
מְאֹ֔דvery
meodH3966 →300 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
עִ֤יר[was] a city
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
גְּדוֹלָה֙great
gedolahH1419 →526 times
גִּבְע֔וֹןGibeon
givonH1391 →38 times
כְּאַחַ֖תlike one of
keachatH259 →971 times
עָרֵ֣י[the] cities of
ʾareiH5892 →1090 times
הַמַּמְלָכָ֑ה<the> royalty
hamamlakhahH4467 →
וְכִ֨יand for
vekhiH3588 →4482 times
הִ֤יאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
גְדוֹלָה֙[was] great
gedolahH1419 →526 times
מִן־more than
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָעַ֔י<the> Ai
haaiH5857 →40 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲנָשֶׁ֖יהָmen its
ʾanasheihaH582 →566 times
גִּבֹּרִֽים׃[were] warriors
giborimH1368 →158 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
Deuteronomy 11:25No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
it leads to
- Joshua 5:1
Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 23:27
I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.
- Joshua 1:5
No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 2:25
This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”
- Joshua 5:1
Through
Joshua 2:24“The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
it leads to
- Exodus 23:31
And 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…
- Joshua 21:44–45
And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their…
- Numbers 13:32–33
So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.
- Exodus 23:31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joshua
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 11.2.