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Joshua 10:39

in Joshua 10

And they captured Debir, its king, and all its villages. They put them to the sword and devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. Joshua did to Debir and its king as he had done to Hebron and as he had done to Libnah and its king.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to the king thereof.

KJV

And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.

This verse in Joshua 10

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Destroyed all the souls - ויחרימו את כל נפש vaiyacharimu eth col nephesh, they brought every person under an anathema; they either slew them or reduced them to a state of slavery. Is it reasonable to say those were slain who were found in arms, of the others they made slaves?

This site's exposition

and fought against it

on Joshua 10:38-39

Debir is Kiriath-sepher, and at 15:15-17 Caleb offers his daughter to the man who takes it, and Othniel, the first judge at Judges 3:9, does. The same doubling stands here as at Hebron, the town falling in this chapter and fought for again in the allotment.

This site's exposition

devoted to destruction everyone in the city

Adam Clarke takes the Hebrew behind devoted to destruction as putting every person under an anathema. In his reading that meant death or slavery. He asks whether those found in arms were killed and the rest made slaves.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

One king that brought in his forces for the relief of Lachish, that had lost its king, proved to meddle to his own hurt; it was Horam king of Gezer, who, either in friendship to his neighbours or for his own security, offered to stop the progress of Joshua's arms, and was cut off with all his forces,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

that day Joshua took Makkedah--In this and the following verses is described the rapid succession of victory and extermination which swept the whole of southern Palestine into the hands of Israel. "All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+odd-straight-quotes

The words behind it

29 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.

  • וַֽיִּלְכְּדָ֞הּand he captured it

    vaiyilkedahH3920 →121 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מַלְכָּ֤הּking its

    malkahH4428 →2525 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • עָרֶ֙יהָ֙cities its

    ʾareihaH5892 →1090 times

  • וַיַּכּ֣וּםand they struck them

    vaiyakumH5221 →499 times

  • לְפִי־to [the] mouth of

    lefi-H6310 →498 times

  • חֶ֔רֶב[the] sword

    cherevH2719 →413 times

  • וַֽיַּחֲרִ֙ימוּ֙and they totally destroyed

    vaiyacharimuH2763 →52 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • נֶ֣פֶשׁperson

    nefeshH5315 →754 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • בָּ֔הּ[was] in <the> it

    bah

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • הִשְׁאִ֖ירhe left

    hishirH7604 →133 times

  • שָׂרִ֑ידa survivor

    saridH8300 →28 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֨רjust as

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • עָשָׂ֜הhe had done

    ʾasahH6213 →2628 times

  • לְחֶבְר֗וֹןto Hebron

    lechevronH2275 →72 times

  • כֵּן־so

    ken-H3651 →771 times

  • עָשָׂ֤הhe did

    ʾasahH6213 →2628 times

  • לִדְבִ֙רָה֙to Debir <towards>

    lidvirahH1688 →14 times

  • וּלְמַלְכָּ֔הּand to king its

    ulemalkahH4428 →2525 times

  • וְכַאֲשֶׁ֥רand just as

    vekhaasherH834 →5497 times

  • עָשָׂ֛הhe had done

    ʾasahH6213 →2628 times

  • לְלִבְנָ֖הto Libnah

    lelivnahH3841 →18 times

  • וּלְמַלְכָּֽהּ׃and to king its

    ulemalkahH4428 →2525 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

    Obadiah 1:18

    Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble—Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it. Therefore…

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 12:6

      On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right…

    • Isaiah 10:17

      And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles.

    • Ezekiel 37:19

      you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with…

    • Micah 5:8

      Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which…

    • Isaiah 5:24

      Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected…

  • Through

    Joshua 11:8

    and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who struck them down and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh.…

    it leads to

    • Joshua 13:6

      All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim—all the Sidonians—I Myself will drive out before the Israelites. Be sure to divide it by lot as an inheritance to Israel, as I…

    • Joshua 19:28

      It went on to Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 3:3

    So the LORD our God also delivered Og king of Bashan and his whole army into our hands. We struck them down until no survivor was left.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 21:35

      So they struck down Og, along with his sons and his whole army, until no remnant was left. And they took possession of his land.

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.