Joshua 10:24

Jos 10:24 And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.

Ver. 24. Put your feet upon the necks of these kings.] Not as proudly insulting over them, as that pope did over the emperor at Venice; but to show that he had quite subdued them, as Christ also hath all our spiritual enemies, {Rom 8:37} and will tread Satan himself under our feet shortly. {Rom 16:20} What, then, though that old serpent shoot his sting into our heel, and make us halt, as that martyr said? yet let us go on, though halting, to heaven, whence the devil is cast down. {Rev 12:9}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jos 10:24. Put your feet on the necks, &c. — This he commanded, not in insolence and pride, but in token that these kings and their countries were brought into an absolute subjection to the Israelites, that God had fulfilled his promise in part, (Deu 33:29,) and to assure his captains that he would completely fulfil it, and subdue the proudest of their enemies under their feet.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:24 Victorious commanders in the ancient Near East would commonly put their feet on defeated kings’ necks to symbolize their subjugation.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Signifying what should become of the rest of God’s enemies, seeing that kings themselves were not spared.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

put your feet upon the necks of these kings--not as a barbarous insult, but a symbolical action, expressive of a complete victory (Deu 33:29; Psa 110:5; Mal 4:3).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. Put your feet upon the necks of these kings.] This act was done symbolically, as a token, not only of the present complete victory, but of their approaching triumph over all their adversaries, which is the interpretation given of it by Joshua in the succeeding verse.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) The captains.—The original word occurs here for the first time (see Jdg_11:6; Jdg_11:11), and seems to mean the actual leaders, not merely the official heads, of the people, who had borne the brunt of the battle. These men having laboured, deserved to see the fruits of their labour; and the action of Joshua was well calculated to inspirit them, and to fire them with courage to lead their followers to the charge in battles that were yet to come.

Put your feet upon the necks of these kings.—Comp. 2Sa_22:41, “Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies;” and Gen_49:8.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. put your feet upon the necks] According to the usage portrayed on the monuments of Assyria and Egypt, which seems also to have been practised by the Byzantine emperors long after the Christian era. For this symbol of complete subjection comp. Psa_110:1; 1Co_15:25.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Joshua said, rest not, nor be dismayed,.... Not meaning at the kings, who perhaps lay bound upon the ground, or however were not in a condition to make any resistance, so that they had nothing to fear from them; but this respects future time, and what other enemies they should meet with; who would be brought into subjection to them as these were, and therefore from hence should take heart:

be strong, and of good courage; and go on valiantly in subduing the rest of their enemies, and not be afraid of them:

for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight; put them into their hands, and give them power to tread on their necks: this shows that what Joshua did, or ordered to be done, was of the Lord.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Put your feet upon the necks of these kings - A symbol of complete subjugation (compare the marginal references and 1Co 15:25).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Feet, as Moses had foretold, Deuteronomy xxxiii. 29. The conduct of Josue would appear cruel, if we did not reflect that he was only the executioner of the divine justice, which was pleased thus to punish these proud and impious princes, that others might not imitate their example.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Put your feet upon the necks of these kings: this he did not from pride and contempt of their dignity in itself; but, partly, as a punishment of their impious rebellion against their sovereign Lord; partly, in pursuance of that curse of servility due to all this people, Gen 9:25; partly, as a token to assure his captains that God would subdue the proudest of them all under their feet; and partly, to oblige and teach his people severely to execute the judgment of God upon them, and not to spare any of them, either out of a foolish pity, or out of respect to their dignity, as Saul afterwards spared Agag to his own ruin.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Which went with him. There is a very unusual Hebrew phrase here. Not only is the article used instead of the relative pronoun rva which occasionally occurs, as in 1Ch_29:17, but the form of the verb is Arabic. None of the commentators give a satisfactory explanation of this fact, and perhaps the suggestion of Houbigant is to be adopted, that the a which follows Wklh has been accidentally doubled by the transcriber. Kennicott thinks that some Arabic transcriber has inadvertently given the verb an Arabic form, which is very improbable. Keil thinks that it is a sort of intermediate step between the more ancient termination W and the more modern one in W. But if so, it is strange that we should only meet with it twice in Holy Scripture. Haverniek (Introduction, B) regards it as an archaic form. Put your feet on the necks of these kings. This was a most common Oriental practice, as the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments prove. Calvin explains the otherwise "boundless arrogance" of the act by the Divine command. But, as Keil remarks, it was a "symbolical act, intended to inspirit the people." See also Psa_110:1 1Co_15:25. The fact that this was done, not by Joshua, but by the captains (yxiq from hxq to cut off), i.e., the inferior officers of the Israelitish army, makes a wide distinction between this and the usual arrogance of Oriental conquerors, and marks the very great moral superiority of Joshua over any other leader known to history either in his own time or in subsequent ages. For whereas the act was usually an act of arrogant triumph on the part of the leader himself, here the leader modestly disclaims any such superiority, and calls upon his subordinates to assume it, as a sign that the Israelitish people, whose representatives they were, should triumph over all their enemies. The next verse explains the reason of the injunction. To the kings themselves no insolence was displayed, for it was but the well known and perfectly understood symbol of their undeniable condition of subjection at that moment. But, of course, we are not to look for that gentleness and humanity in so far distant an age, which would at the present day be shown by a Christian general, or even for the moderation and clemency displayed in the hour of victory by an Alexander, a Scipio, a Caesar, trained under the maxims of Latin and Greek philosophy. See a fuller discussion of the subject in the Introduction. Origen remarks here, "Atque utinam Dominus meus Jesus filius Dei mihi istud concedat, et jubeat me pedibus meis conculcare spiritum fornicationis, et caleare super cervices spiritus iracundise et furoris, calcare avaritise daemonem, caicare jactantiam, conterere pedibus superbiae spiritum.

Vers. 24, 25. The conquered kings.

The fate of those kings has its moral analogies. We may regard them as typical of the principles and powers of spiritual evil, and their end as suggestive of the certain issue of God"s conflict with those evil powers. Observe

I THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN. It deludes the transgressor, and leads him blindfold to ruin. It moves men to seek false refuges, inspires them with a vain hope. They think to hide themselves, but God"s laws and retributions always find them out. Jonah would fain "flee from the presence of the Lord," but God"s "strong wind" was swifter than his flight, and the sea, by which he thought to escape, only brought him face to face with his Judge. The subterfuges to which men resort in any guilty way often become the very means of their detection and punishment. The kings dream of safety in their cave; it turns out to be the very thing that shuts them up hopelessly to Joshua"s vengeance. As Matthew Henry puts it: "That which they thought would have been their shelter, was made their prison first, and then their grave." So do sinful purposes often defeat themselves. "The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands". (Psa_9:16)

II THE HUMILIATION THAT, SOONER OR LATER, BEFALLS A PROUD DEFIANCE OF DIVINE AUTHORITY. See here an illustration of high handed rebellion against God. Its overthrow in the end is sure. "The wheel of fortune turns and lowers the proud." Kings are as helplessly subject to the Divine power by which that wheel revolves as other men. (Psa_76:12 Isa_41:25) Into what abject misery have they sometimes fallen, under the mighty hand of God, who once, in the career of their ambition, set all Divine and human law at defiance, and made the earth to tremble! Let not the wicked exalt themselves; there is a power that can easily lay them low.

III THE VICTORY THAT REWARDS FAITHFUL AND PATIENT MORAL CONFLICT. The captains are called, in the presence of all the men of Israel, to "put their feet upon the necks" of these doomed kings. So shall it be the honour and joy of all earnest warrior souls to see their enemies at last subdued under them. "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly". (Rom_16:20) "Tis hard work to be continually fighting against some form of evil in the world without or the world within; to have continually to confront some new foe, or "old foes with new faces;" to be compelled often to drag forth some lurking iniquity from its hiding place in our own hearts that it may be slain. But let us be resolute and patient and we shall "come off more than conquerors through him who hath loved us," and at last plant our feet proudly on the necks of all our adversaries.

IV THE FINAL GLORIOUS VICTORY OF CHRIST. It is the eternal purpose of God that every stronghold of evil should fall before Him and all His enemies be put beneath His feet, and the events of time are all helping in some way or other to bring about that issue. W. (Psa_110:1 1Co_15:25 Php_2:9-11)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Put your feet on the necks - This he did not from pride and contempt; but as a punishment of their impious rebellion against their Sovereign Lord; in pursuance of that curse of servitude due to all this people, and as a token to assure his captains, that God would subdue the proudest of them under their feet.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

every man of Israel

Here the men of Israel represent only those who were soldiers. (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

king

Joshua

Israel

commander

Yahweh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.