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Joshua 11:13

in Joshua 11

Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua burned.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.

KJV

But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.

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This verse in Joshua 11

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
Render: “But the cities standing each on its own hill” (compare Jer 30:18). The meaning is simply that, with the exception of Hazor, Joshua did not burn the cities, but left them standing, each on its former site. This site is spoken of as a hill, because such was the ordinary site chosen for cities in Canaan (compare Mat 5:14).

This site's exposition

all the cities of those

on Joshua 11:12-14

Only Hazor is burnt. The towns that stood still in their strength are left standing, which Keil and Delitzsch read as the cities sitting on their own mounds, so Israel receives houses it did not build, exactly as Deuteronomy 6:10-11 promised. Spoil and cattle are kept as a prey under the allowance of Deuteronomy 20:14, and the contrast with Jericho is sharp, since there the whole city was the accursed thing at Joshua 6:18-19 and Achan died over a wedge of gold. Jericho was the firstfruits and went whole to God, and the rest of the land is not held under that rule.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

In their strength - Hebrew. with their fence, walls or bulwarks, that is, which were not ruined with their walls in taking them. Save Hazor - Because this city began the war, and being the chief and royal city, might renew the war.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Remained with their walls intact. Their walls were not destroyed like Yericho, whose walls fell, and similarly Ai, as it is said, “[And Yehoshua burned Ai] and made it into a mound forever, a ruin.” 3 See Chapter:28 above.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 11:13:1, 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

15 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.

  • רַ֣קonly

    rakH7535 →109 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הֶעָרִ֗יםthe cities

    hearimH5892 →1090 times

  • הָעֹֽמְדוֹת֙which were standing

    haomedotH5975 →521 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • תִּלָּ֔םmounds their

    tilamH8510 →

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • שְׂרָפָ֖םit burned them

    serafamH8313 →117 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • זוּלָתִ֛יexcept

    zulatiH2108 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • חָצ֥וֹרHazor

    chatzorH2674 →18 times

  • לְבַדָּ֖הּto alone it

    levadahH905 →200 times

  • שָׂרַ֥ףhe burned

    sarafH8313 →117 times

  • יְהוֹשֻֽׁעַ׃Joshua

    yehoshua'H3091 →218 times

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

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

5 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 30:18

    This is what the LORD says: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be rebuilt on her own ruins, and the palace will…

    it leads to

    • Haggai 2:7–9

      I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.

    • Psalms 102:13

      You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor— the appointed time has come.

    • Jeremiah 30:3

      For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD. I will restore them to the land that I gave to…

    • Jeremiah 33:7

      I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times.

    • Jeremiah 49:39

      “Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity,” declares the LORD.

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

The Walls of Jericho Fall Down — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Walls of Jericho Fall Down — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 11 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 11 →