Joshua 10:36

Jos 10:36 And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it:

Ver. 36. Unto Hebron.] See more of this victory in Jos 14:13-15; Jos 15:13

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.

Verse 36. - 37. Hebron - and the king thereof] See the note on Jos 10:3. From Jos 10:23 we learn that the king of Hebron was one of those five whom Joshua slew and hanged on five trees at Makkedah. How then can it be said that he slew the king of Hebron when he took the city, which was some days after the transactions at Makkedah? Either this slaying of the king of Hebron must refer to what had already been done, or the Hebronites, finding that their king fell in battle, had set up another in his place; which was the king Joshua slew, after he had taken the city and its dependencies, as is related Jos 10:37.

It appears that the city of Hebron had fallen back into the hands of the Canaanites, for it was again taken from them by the tribe of Judah, Jdg 1:10. Debir had also fallen into their hands, for it was reconquered by Othniel, the son-in-law of Caleb, Jdg 1:11-13. The manner in which Calmet accounts for this is very natural: Joshua, in his rapid conquests, contented himself with taking, demolishing, and burning those cities; but did not garrison any of them, for fear of weakening his army. In several instances no doubt the scattered Canaanites returned, repeopled, and put those cities in a state of defence. Hence the Israelites were obliged to conquer them a second time. This is a more rational way of accounting for these things, than that which supposes that the first chapter of Judges gives the more detailed account of the transactions recorded here; for there it is expressly said, that these transactions took place after the death of Joshua, (see Jdg 1:1), and consequently cannot be the same that are mentioned here.

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

36. unto Hebron] which lay next in a tolerably direct line. He is said to have “gone up” to it, for, in order to invest it, he had to march from the plain to the hill country.

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 they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword,

and the king thereof,.... For though the king of Hebron was one of the kings that were taken in the cave of Makkedah, and hanged; yet before Joshua came up to it, they had set up another king over them:

and all the cities thereof; for Hebron was a metropolitan city, and had other cities dependent on it, and subject to it:

and all the souls that were therein; both in Hebron, and in the cities subject to it:

he left none remaining; in any of them:

according to all that he had done to Eglon; the last place he came from:

but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein; but it seems that afterwards some that made their escape before the taking of the city, and other Canaanites driven out of their habitations, repeopled it; so that after Joshua's death it was recovered again by the tribe of Judah, Jdg 1:10; unless there is given in that place a more particular account of the taking of this city, with others at this time; but the former seems most likely.

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

Which though they took and killed all its inhabitants, yet they did not keep it; and therefore when Joshua and his army had forsaken it, and were returned to Gilgal, it seems the giants and other Canaanites being burnt out, or driven away from their former seats, planted and fortified themselves there; which made it necessary for Caleb to take it a second time, as is recorded Jos 15:14; Jdg 1:10. Or this is the same story, and the same conquest of Hebron, which is here generally related, and afterwards repeated, and more particularly described, Jos 15:13,14.

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

Went up. The accuracy of the geographical details must here be noticed. Joshua "passes" from one city to another in the plain. He "goes up" to Hebron, which is situated among the hills. See note on ver. 3; cf. Jos_11:21 Jos_14:12. Hebron. Commentators of the school of Maurer and De Wette regard the taking of Hebron and Debir as irreconcilable with Jos_11:21, Jos_14:12, Jos_15:13-17. But this is by no means certain. The operations of Joshua were sudden, and, so far as they went, decisive, But it is never pretended that his conquest of southern Palestine was complete. It is impossible to assert this in the face of such passages as Jos_16:10, Jos_17:12, Jos_17:13, and especially in the face of such a fact as the continued existence of the Philistine power. Joshua extirpated the inhabitants of the cities he took, but there were many others some of at least equal importance which he did not take. We may instance Gaza, Garb, and Ashdod. See Jos_11:22. Their inhabitants came and occupied again the cities which Joshua had destroyed, first when he was engaged in operations in the north and west, and again when the Israelites had begun to repose upon their laurels, and to neglect the task God had set them, namely, the complete extermination of the Canaanite race from Palestine. Thus Joshua returned from the north and found a large part of the country he had subdued reoccupied by the giant tribes of the south. He "cut them off from Hebron and Debir," i.e ., he compelled them to evacuate those cities, but there was no necessity for a second of either. Yet at a later period they still lurked in the neighborhood, (Jos_14:12) perhaps in the mountain fastnessess (a very common thing in the history of nations, as the history of our own country, of the Basques in the Pyrenees, and of Swiss freedom shows), and were strong enough to regain Debir. (Jos_15:17) Jerusalem itself (see also note on ver. 1) had a similar fate. After the capture of Jerusalem the Israelites were unable to hold it permanently. (Jos_15:63; cf. Jud_1:8, 21) And such expressions as "all the cities thereof" show that the south of Palestine was thickly populated. Each city was, like Gibeon, the head of a small confederacy. And as the chief cities smitten by Joshua would have been but a tithe of the confederations existing in the south, the task of reoccupying must have been an easy one. It seems to be implied in Judges 1 that Caleb took Hebron and Debir after Joshua"s death.

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

Unto Hebron - The conquest of Hebron is here generally related, afterwards repeated, and more particularly described, chap. xv, 13, 14.

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

Eglon

This is the name of a city. See how you translated this in Joshua 10:3. (See: How to Translate Names)

They captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword

The sword represents the army of Israel and striking expresses the idea of slaughter and destruction. AT: "They captured and killed and destroyed" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Joshua

Israel

Hebron

sword

king

creature

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