Commentary - Joshua 10:29-43

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of Joshua 10, we are given a rapid-fire account of the southern campaign. After the miraculous deliverance at Gibeon, where God fought with hailstones and extended daylight, Joshua and the armies of Israel move with divine speed and efficacy. This is not a story about military tactics or strategic brilliance. It is a story about the thoroughness of God's judgment and the faithfulness of His covenant promises. The text is repetitive for a reason. City after city falls, king after king is executed, and the refrain "he left no survivor remaining" echoes like a drumbeat of divine justice. The central point is hammered home in verse 42: this all happened "because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel."

This is the business end of God's long-suffering. For centuries, God had warned that the iniquity of the Amorites was filling up, and now the cup has run over (Gen. 15:16). Israel is the instrument of God's judgment, His consecrated sword. The language is stark and absolute because the judgment is stark and absolute. This is a one-time historical event, a sacred work of demolition to prepare the ground for the planting of God's people, which itself was a type of the greater kingdom to come.

Outline

Context In Joshua

This passage is the direct outworking of the events earlier in chapter 10. After Israel defended the Gibeonites, God gave them a stupendous victory over the five Amorite kings. The execution of those kings at Makkedah (10:22-27) was the firstfruits of this broader judgment. The momentum is now unstoppable. What we are reading is the mopping-up operation, but it is an operation conducted entirely by the hand of God. This section serves as a detailed fulfillment of the commands given to Moses, and then to Joshua, to utterly drive out the inhabitants of the land (Deut. 7:1-2; 20:16-18). It demonstrates Israel's obedience (at this stage) and, more importantly, God's power to accomplish His purposes through them.

Key Issues

Beginning: Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 29-30 Joshua moves from Makkedah to Libnah. The pattern is established immediately. First, the human action: they "fought against Libnah." But the outcome is never in doubt because of the divine action: "And Yahweh gave it also with its king into the hands of Israel." Israel's fighting is the instrument, but Yahweh's giving is the cause. The result is total: "he struck it and every person...with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor remaining." This is not ethnic cleansing; it is divine judgment on a culture saturated with idolatry and wickedness, including child sacrifice. The action is benchmarked against a previous act of judgment: "just as he had done to the king of Jericho." This is God's consistent, righteous wrath against unrepentant sin.

v. 31-32 The army moves to Lachish, a significant fortified city. The result is the same. "And Yahweh gave Lachish into the hands of Israel." The text notes the speed: "he captured it on the second day." This is a blitzkrieg, a lightning war, possible only because God is clearing the path. The thoroughness is repeated: "struck it and every person...according to all that he had done to Libnah." The repetition is not lazy writing; it is theological emphasis. God's judgments are not haphazard. They are consistent, thorough, and patterned.

v. 33 Here we have an interruption. Horam, king of Gezer, comes up "to help Lachish." This is the folly of man thinking he can interfere with the decrees of God. When God is judging a people, coming to their aid is simply to sign up for the same judgment. Horam and his people are not part of the original coalition, but they insert themselves into the path of God's holy war. The result is predictable: "Joshua struck him and his people down until there was no survivor remaining for him." You cannot help those whom God has determined to judge.

v. 34-35 From Lachish to Eglon. The pattern continues, but with a key theological term introduced: "every person who was in it, he devoted to destruction on that day." The Hebrew word is herem. This is not just killing in the heat of battle. It is a consecrated act, like a sacrifice. These cities and their inhabitants are being offered up to God as a holy judgment. They were devoted to false gods, and now they are devoted to the true God's justice. The standard of judgment is consistent: "according to all that he had done to Lachish."

v. 36-37 They move up from the lowlands to the hill country, to Hebron. This was the city of the Anakim, the giants who had terrified the faithless spies a generation earlier (Num. 13:33). But with God fighting for Israel, giants are nothing. They capture it, strike its king, its satellite cities, and all its people. "He left no survivor remaining." The herem is applied again: "he devoted it and every person who was in it to destruction." The faith of Joshua and Caleb is vindicated, and the cowardice of the previous generation is rebuked.

v. 38-39 Joshua then turns back to Debir. The campaign is not a neat line on a map; it is a comprehensive sweep. And again, the result is identical. Capture, striking with the sword, and devoting every person to destruction. "He left no survivor remaining." The text explicitly links the actions: "Just as he had done to Hebron...and as he had also done to Libnah." The justice of God is methodical.

v. 40 This verse provides the summary of the whole campaign. Joshua struck "all the land." The regions are specified to show the comprehensive nature of the victory: the southern hill country, the Negev desert, the western foothills (Shephelah), and the slopes. He struck "all their kings." The totality is emphasized again: "He left no survivor remaining." And here is the ultimate justification for this terrible work: "but he devoted to destruction all who breathed, just as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded." Joshua was not acting on his own initiative. This was an act of obedience to a direct, explicit, and unique command from the sovereign Lord of history.

v. 41 The geographical extent of the campaign is laid out, from Kadesh-barnea in the south to Gaza on the coast, and the region of Goshen (a different one from the one in Egypt) up to Gibeon. This was a massive swath of territory, subdued in one continuous campaign.

v. 42 This is the theological capstone of the entire chapter. "And Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel." The phrase "at one time" signifies the swift, miraculous nature of the conquest. And the reason is stated plainly. It was not Joshua's military prowess. It was not the strength of Israel's army. It was because God Himself was at war. He was the Divine Warrior, and Israel was simply the army He was using. Their swords were His sword.

v. 43 Having completed the task assigned by God for this phase, "Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal." Gilgal was their base of operations, the place where they had been circumcised and had celebrated the Passover. They return to the place of their covenant identity, their mission accomplished.

Key Words

Herem, "Devoted to Destruction"

The Hebrew word herem is a technical term for the consecration of people or things to the Lord, either by dedicating them to His service or by utterly destroying them as a judgment. In the context of the conquest, it refers to the latter. The Canaanite cities were under a divine ban. They were so polluted by idolatry and moral corruption that they were to be treated as a spiritual contagion, to be completely eradicated. This was not a command for all time, but a specific, historical judgment that prefigured the final judgment when all that is unholy will be removed from God's presence forever.

Application

So what do we do with a passage like this? First, we must refuse to be embarrassed by it. This is the Word of the holy God, and His judgments are true and righteous altogether. This is not a pattern for us to imitate physically. The command to put the Canaanites to the sword was a unique, non-repeatable command for a specific time in redemptive history. The church is not a geo-political nation, and our weapons are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:4).

However, the principle of herem warfare is absolutely applicable to our spiritual lives. We are commanded to show no mercy to our own sin. We are to be utterly ruthless with our pride, our lust, our bitterness, our idolatry. We are to leave "no survivor remaining." The Christian life is a holy war against the flesh, the world, and the devil. We must not make treaties with our pet sins. We must devote them to destruction.

Most importantly, this passage shows us that victory belongs to the Lord. Israel conquered "because Yahweh...fought for Israel." In our fight against sin, in our efforts to advance the kingdom of God through the Great Commission, our victory is not dependent on our strength or cleverness. It is dependent on the fact that the true Joshua, Jesus Christ, has already fought the decisive battle on the cross and won. He has conquered sin, death, and Satan. We fight now not for victory, but from victory. He is the one who gives our enemies into our hands, and we are called to walk in obedient faith, putting to the sword all that stands against His righteous reign in our hearts, our homes, and our communities.