Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This king of Jerusalem, unlike his famous predecessor, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, Genesis 14:18, (Salem here being understood as an earlier name for Jerusalem), was an evil man. And like every wicked man, he was utterly blind to the presence and purpose of God which promulgated the invasion of Canaan. Notice that Adoni-Zedek did not fear God, but only Joshua. He failed to see that Joshua was not his primary enemy, but that God Himself was the Person who would drive the wicked Canaanites out of Palestine, and that Joshua was only God’s INSTRUMENT in that operation.’
Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem is quite disturbed because he knows Ai has been utterly destroyed, just as Jericho was, Joshua 10:1, and he also knew that the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel, Joshua 10:1.
Gibeon was one of the royal cities and Gibeon had many mighty men, Joshua 10:2, therefore, in all of this, he greatly feared Joshua, Joshua 10:2, and he then sends word to four other kings to come up and fight against Gibeon, Joshua 10:3-5.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Hoham was situated in the mountains, southward of Jerusalem, from which it was about thirty miles distant. It fell to the tribe of Judah. There were two cities of Piram named, one belonged to the tribe of Issachar, Joshua 21:29, that mentioned here fell to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:35, it is supposed to have been about eighteen miles distant from Jerusalem.
Japhia is celebrated in Scripture, in that city Amaziah was slain by conspirators, 2 Kings 14:19. It was besieged by Sennacherib, 2 Kings 18:14 / 2 Kings 18:17, and without effect by the king of Assyria, as we learn from Isaiah 37:8, it was also besieged by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, see Jeremiah 34:7, it also fell to the lot of Judah, Joshua 15:39. Where Debir was situated is very uncertain but we learn from Joshua 15:39, that it fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah.’
Unger, in his commentary, says the following.
‘When Israel entered Canaan (about 1400 B.C.), there were more than 25 of these city-states (like the ones mentioned in this chapter), but by 1390 B.C., Israel had swallowed up many of them. The Tel El-Amarna letters reveal that by 1375 B.C., there remained only four main independent states.’
Now the people of Gibeon are disturbed and they send for Joshua for help and they plead, as servants, to be saved, Joshua 10:6. Joshua responds immediately to their plea, Joshua 10:7, this time he remembered to consult God. God tells him not to be afraid of them because He has given them into Israel’s hand and He tells Joshua that not one of them will be able to withstand Israel, Joshua 10:8.
After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise, Joshua 10:9. The Lord confused them before Israel and so there was a great slaughter, Joshua 10:10.
Notice that as they fled on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, Joshua 15:35-41, the Lord performed two miracles to aid Israel, firstly, He sent large hailstones, Joshua 10:11. As a result of this, more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.
Unger, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Joshua chased them down the steep descent between Beth-Horon the Upper (altitude of 2,022 feet) to Beth-Horon the Lower (altitude of 1,210 feet). On that terrible descent, the Lord sent that disastrous storm of darkness and hail, killing more by the hail than Israel slew by the sword.’
Henry, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The attackers of Gibeon had affronted the true God and robbed him of his honour by worshipping the host of heaven, giving that worship to the creature, which is due to the Creator only, and now the host of heaven fights against them, and that part of the creation which they had idolized is at war against them!’
On that same day, God gave the Amorites over to Israel, and Joshua said God in the presence of Israel sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon, Joshua 10:12.
Here is the second miracle, God caused the sun to stand still and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar, Joshua 10:13. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day, Joshua 10:13.
Some people might question this miracle, but why can’t the one who created the sun and the moon, Genesis 1:16, not be able to stop it in its tracks for a whole day? I read somewhere something interesting about this, whether it’s true or not I don’t know but it is interesting to say the least.
Apparently Mr Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore Maryland and a consultant in the space program, says the following.
‘They were checking the position of the sun, moon, and planets out in space where they would be 100 years and 1000 years from now. They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries and it came to a halt. They found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time and after scratching their heads, they couldn’t come up with an answer. Finally, a Christian man on the team said, ‘You know, one time I was in Sunday School and they talked about the sun standing still.’ While they didn’t believe him, they didn’t have an answer either, so they said, ‘show us’ and so he took them to this event in the Book of Joshua. The astronauts and scientists said, ‘there is the missing day.’
They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua’s day was 23 hours and 20 minutes, not a whole day, they read the end of Joshua 10:13, and pointed out that the sun stopped for ‘about a full day.’
As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went backwards. The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the Bible again and read the words in 2 Kings 20, that told of the following story. Hezekiah, on his deathbed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof.
Isaiah said in 2 Kings 20:9-10 “This is the LORD’s sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?” “It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.” Isaiah spoke to the Lord and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees backwards! Guess what! Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes. Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in 2 Kings make the missing day in the universe.’
So not only does the Bible agree that this miracle actually happened, but if this story is true, then even scientists also have to believe it because they have no other explanation.
We are told that there has never been a day like it before or since, a day when God listened to a human being, which was proof that God was fighting for Israel, Joshua 10:14 Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal, Joshua 10:15.
The five kings who fled and hide in the cave at Makkedah, Joshua 10:16. When Joshua found out about where they were hiding, he tells his men to roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave and post some men there to guard it, Joshua 10:17-18.
He tells his men to keep in pursuing their enemies and attack them from the rear and don’t let them reach their cities, for God has given them into their hand, Joshua 10:19.
Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely, however, a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities, Joshua 10:20. When the army then returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, no one uttered a word against the Israelites, Joshua 10:21.
Joshua now asks to remove the rock from the cave which he ordered to be put in place earlier, Joshua 10:18, and bring out the five kings, Joshua 10:22. The five kings brought out of the cave were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon, Joshua 10:23.
Notice that Joshua summons all the men of Israel and tells the army commanders who had come with him, to put their feet on the necks of these kings and they did so, Joshua 10:24.
Morton, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The purpose of this ceremony of placing their feet upon the necks of the kings was no doubt designed to encourage the whole people. It was certainly commendable that Joshua should have assigned his chief leaders to enact this ceremony instead of taking the honour unto himself, as most of the military leaders of that era would surely have done. One may see many examples of this type of ceremony in the sculptures and artistic depictions frequently uncovered by the excavations of the archaeologist. It serves here as a token of encouragement, symbolizing what the Lord will do to all the enemies of Israel, Psalms 110:1.’
Joshua tells them not to be afraid or discouraged but be strong and courageous, Joshua 10:25 because this is what God is going to do with all their enemies, Joshua 10:25. Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening, Joshua 10:26 / Deuteronomy 21:22-23.
The bodies were to be removed from the poles at sunset and then thrown into the cave where they had been hiding in, Joshua 10:16, and at the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day, Joshua 10:27.
After the search and capture of the five kings, they were executed, Joshua 10:22-27, the campaign was carried to other cities in Canaan, Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This city was near Makkedah, Joshua 15:42, and fell to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 10:20 / Joshua 10:42, and was given to the priests, Joshua 21:13. Sennacherib besieged it, after he had been obliged to raise the siege of Lachish, 2 Kings 19:8 / Isaiah 37:8.’
That day Joshua took Makkedah, destroyed the city and everyone in it, Joshua 10:28. He left no survivors and did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho, Joshua 10:28 / Joshua 6:1-20.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Of interest in this verse is the fact that Makkedah was not mentioned as a member of the coalition formed by Adoni-Zedek, yet the city was utterly destroyed. Note too that it is not recorded that Jerusalem was destroyed, despite the fact that Adoni-Zedek was the leader of the anti-Israelite coalition.’
Joshua and all Israel now move on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it, Joshua 10:29, and once again, God gave that city and its king into Israel’s hand, Joshua 10:30. The city and everyone were totally destroyed, and there were no survivors, and Joshua did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho, Joshua 10:30 / Joshua 6:1-20.
Joshua and all Israel now move on from Libnah to Lachish, Joshua 10:31. He took up positions against it and attacked it, Joshua 10:31, and once again God gave Lachish into Israel’s hands, and Joshua took it on the second day, Joshua 10:31-32.
The city and everyone were totally destroyed, just as he had done to Libnah, Joshua 10:32. However, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army, until no survivors were left, Joshua 10:33.
Then Joshua and all Israel now move from Lachish to Eglon, Joshua 10:34. They took up positions against it, attacked it and captured it that same day and destroyed the city and everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish, Joshua 10:34-35 / Joshua 10:31-32.
Then Joshua and all Israel move from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it, Joshua 10:36. They took the city and killed its king, destroyed its villages, and killed everyone in it and left no survivors, Joshua 10:37 / Joshua 15:11-17. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it, Joshua 10:37 / Joshua 10:34-35.
Then Joshua and all Israel turned around and attacked Debir, Joshua 10:38. Once again, they took the city, killed its king, destroyed its villages, and left no survivors, Joshua 10:39. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah, and its king, Joshua 10:29-30, and to Hebron, Joshua 10:39 / Joshua 10:36-37.
All the land and hill country was taken, the Negev, the lowland, and the slopes and so, the southern campaign is now complete, Joshua 10:40. Joshua left no survivors and he totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the God of Israel, had commanded, Joshua 10:40.
Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon, Joshua 10:41. All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, was only possible because the God of Israel fought for Israel, Joshua 10:42. Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal, Joshua 10:43.
As Christians we must learn to fight our battles with God’s help, which sometimes involves us just being still, Exodus 14:14. Even when we feel afraid, we must turn to God as our refuge, Deuteronomy 3:22 / Joshua 23:10 / Isaiah 41:10 / 2 Corinthians 10:4 / 2 Chronicles 20:17.
God wants It’s all so easy to give in when difficult battles come our way, but God wants to go before us, He wants us to be like Joshua, courageous and strong, Joshua 1:9. He wants us to be on our guard, He wants us to stand firm in the faith, and He wants us to be courageous and strong, 1 Corinthians 16:13.