Joshua 11:23 Komentář

This chapter continues and concludes the history of the conquest of Canaan; of the reduction of the southern parts we had an account in the foregoing chapter, after which we may suppose Joshua allowed his forces some breathing-time; now here we have the story of the war in the north, and the happy success of that war. I. The confederacy of the northern crowns against Israel (Jos 11:1-5). II. The encouragement which God gave to Joshua to engage them (Jos 11:6). III. His victory over them (Jos 11:7-9). IV. The taking of their cities (Jos 11:10-15). V. The destruction of the Anakim (Jos 11:21, Jos 11:22). VI. The general conclusion of the story of this war (Jos 11:16-20, Jos 11:23).

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 11 This chapter relates how that the kings of the northern parts of Canaan combine together against Joshua, Jos 11:1; and that the Lord encouraged him to fight with them, and did deliver them into his hands, who, with all their people, were smitten by him, Jos 11:6; and how that he took their cities, and destroyed the inhabitants of them, and took the spoil of them for a prey, Jos 11:12; and so became master of the whole country, both southern and northern, which is described Jos 11:16; and the chapter is concluded with an account of his cutting off the Anakim from various parts, which finished the conquest of the whole land, Jos 10:21.

So Joshua took the whole land,.... Of Canaan, the far greater and better part of it, all before described; all that he went against, he failed not in any of his attempts; no place stood out against him that he besieged or summoned, all yielded to him: according to all that the Lord said unto Moses: in Deu 11:23, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel, according to their divisions by their tribes; as is after related in this book: and the land rested from war; there were no combinations of any of the dispersed Canaanites, or insurrections made by them, nor any annoyance given to Israel by the Philistines, who inhabited five principal cities, with what belonged to them; nor did Joshua attempt anything more in a warlike manner: and so it became a land of rest, as the heavenly Canaan will be to the spiritual Israel and church of God, after their militant state is ended, in which they now are; being engaged with many spiritual enemies, the Canaanites that are in the land, but then their warfare will be ended. Next: Joshua Chapter 12

It did not say that by war Jesus [Joshua] took some and did not take others but that he took all into his possession, that is, he captured and destroyed all. And, indeed, the Lord Jesus has purged every kind of sin and destroyed all. For we all “were irrational, unbelieving, errant, serving various desires, acting in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another,” and [we possessed] every type of sin that is found in persons before they believe. Therefore, it is well said that Jesus kills all who have gone to war. For Jesus—who is the Word and the “wisdom of God”—is greater than any kind of sin, no matter how terrible. For he overcomes and conquers all sins. Or do we not believe this, that every kind of sin is carried away when we come to the saving bath? For the apostle Paul also alludes to this, who, when he had enumerated the whole class of sins, adds something after them all and says, “And indeed you were these; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Therefore, in this way, Jesus [Joshua] is said to have seized all in battle and to have destroyed all. It happened that, through the work of the Lord, their heart predominated and they hastened into battle against Israel and were exterminated.

I do not see that Jesus [Joshua] the son of Nun took possession of all the earth. For how much of the earth does one take who seizes only Judea? But our Lord Jesus truly took possession of all the earth, because a multitude of believers from all over the earth and out of all the nations flock to him. After these things, after “Jesus [Joshua] took possession of all the earth,” it is also added, “And the earth rested from wars.” How will this phrase—that “the earth rested from wars”—seem to have been uttered truthfully concerning the son of Nun, when the earth never entirely rested from wars in his time? This is fulfilled in my Lord Jesus Christ alone. Consider yourself—you have come to Jesus and through the grace of baptism have attained the remission of sins; and now in you “the flesh” does not “fight against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.” Your land has ceased from wars if you still “carry around the death of Jesus Christ in your body” so that, after all battles have ceased in you, you may be made “peaceable” and you may be called “a child of God.”

The Kings of Hazor, Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, with those of the mountains, plains, etc., and various chiefs of the Canaanites and Amorites, confederate against Israel, Jos 11:1-3. They pitch their tents at the waters of Merom, Jos 11:4, Jos 11:5. The Lord encourages Joshua, Jos 11:6. He attacks and discomfits them, Jos 11:7, Jos 11:8. Houghs all their horses, and burns all their chariots, Jos 11:9. Takes and burns several of their cities, Jos 11:10-13. The Israelites take the spoils, Jos 11:14, Jos 11:15. An account of the country taken by Joshua, Jos 11:16-18. The Gibeonites only make peace with Israel, Jos 11:19. All the rest resist and are overcome, Jos 11:20. Joshua cuts off the Anakim, Jos 11:21, Jos 11:22. The conquered lands are given to Israel, and the war is concluded, Jos 11:23.

So Joshua took the whole land - All the country described here and in the preceding chapter. Besides the multitudes that perished in this war, many of the Canaanites took refuge in the confines of the land, and in the neighboring nations. Some suppose that a party of these fugitive Canaanites made themselves masters of Lower Egypt, and founded a dynasty there known by the name of the shepherd kings; but it is more probable that the shepherds occupied Egypt long before the time that Jacob went thither to sojourn. It is said they founded Tingris or Tangier, where, according to Procopius, they erected two white pillars with an inscription in the Phoenician language, of which this is the translation: We Are the Persons Who Have Fled from the Face of Joshua the Plunderer, the Son of Nave or Nun. See Bochart, Phaleg and Canaan, lib. i., c. xxiv., col. 476. Many, no doubt, settled in different parts of Africa, in Asia Minor, in Greece, and in the different islands of the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea: it is supposed also that colonies of this people were spread over different parts of Germany and Sclavonia, etc., but their descendants are now so confounded with the nations of the earth, as no longer to retain their original names, or to be discernible. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel - He claimed no peculiar jurisdiction over it; his own family had no peculiar share of it, and himself only the ruined city of Timnath-serah, in the tribe of Ephraim, which he was obliged to rebuild. See Jos 19:49, Jos 19:50, and see his character at the end of the book, Jos 24:33 (note). And the land rested from war - The whole territory being now conquered, which God designed the Israelites should possess at this time. According to the apostle, Heb 4:8, etc., Joshua himself was a type of Christ; the promised land, of the kingdom of heaven, the victories which he gained, of the victory and triumph of Christ; and the rest he procured for Israel, of the state of blessedness, at the right hand of God. In this light we should view the whole history, in order to derive those advantages from it which, as a portion of the revelation of God, it was intended to convey. Those who finally reign with Christ are they who, through his grace, conquer the world, the devil, and the flesh; for it is only of those who thus overcome that he says, "They shall sit with me on my throne, as I have overcome, and am set down with the Father on the Father's throne;" Rev 3:21. Reader, art thou a conqueror?

DIVERS KINGS OVERCOME AT THE WATERS OF MEROM. (Jos 11:1-9) And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things--The scene of the sacred narrative is here shifted to the north of Canaan, where a still more extensive confederacy was formed among the ruling powers to oppose the further progress of the Israelites. Jabin ("the Intelligent"), which seems to have been a hereditary title (Jdg 4:2), took the lead, from Hazor being the capital of the northern region (Jos 11:10). It was situated on the borders of lake Merom. The other cities mentioned must have been in the vicinity though their exact position is unknown.

Joshua took the whole land--The battle of the take of Merom was to the north what the battle of Beth-horon was to the south; more briefly told and less complete in its consequences; but still the decisive conflict by which the whole northern region of Canaan fell into the hands of Israel [STANLEY]. Next: Joshua Chapter 12