1. And when Jabin king of Asor had heard [these things], he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the King of Semeron, and to the king of Achsaph; 2. and to the kings of the North, who dwelt in the mountains and in the plain over against the south of Ceneroth, and in the level places also, and [in] the regions of Dor by the sea-side; 3. to the Canaanite also, on the East and on the West, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Pherezite, and the Jebusite in the mountains; the Hevite too, who dwelt at the foot of Hermon in the land of Maspha. 4. And they all went out with their troops — a people exceeding many, as the sand which is on the sea-shore; [their] horses also and chariots of an immense multitude. 5. And all these kings assembled together at the Waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. 6. And the Lord said to Joshua: Fear them not; for tomorrow, at this same hour, I will deliver all these to be slain in the sight of Israel: thou shalt hamstring their horses, and shalt burn their chariots with fire. 7. And Joshua came, and all the army with him, against them at the Waters of Merom suddenly, and fell upon them; 8. and the Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel. And they smote them, and pursued them as far as great Sidon, and the Waters of Maserephoth, and the field of Masphe, which is on the East part thereof. He smote them all, so that he left none of them remaining. 9. And he did as the Lord had commanded him: he hamstrung their horses, and burned their chariots with fire. 10. And returning, he presently took Asor, and smote its king with the sword. For Asor of old held the chief place among all these kingdoms. 11. And he smote all the souls that abode there: he left not in it any remains, but laid [all] waste even to utter destruction, and destroyed the city itself with fire. 12. And all the cities round about, and their kings, he took, smote, and destroyed, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded him. 13. Except the cities that were situated on hills and on mounds, the rest Israel burned: one only, Asor the best-fortified, [Israel] consumed with flame. 14. And the children of Israel divided among themselves all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, all the men being slain. 15. As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and he fulfilled all [things]: he passed over nothing of all the commandments, not even one
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word which the Lord had commanded Moses. 16. So Joshua took all the mountainous land, and the southern [land], and the land of Gosen, and the plain, and the western region, and the mountain of Israel, and its champaign [lowlands]; 17. and the part of the mountain that goes up to Seir, as far as Baalgad, through the plain of Libanus, under Mount Hermon: all their Kings he took, smote, and slew. 18. For a long time Joshua warred against these kings. 19. There was not a city that delivered itself to the children of Israel, except the Hevite who dwelt in Gabaon: for he took all by war. 20. For it was the sentence of the Lord that their hearts should be hardened, and [that] they should fight against Israel, and fall, and not merit any clemency, and perish, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 21. At that time Joshua came, and slew the Enakim from the mountains — Hebron, and Dabir, and Anab, and from all the mountain of Judah and Israel — and destroyed their cities. 22. He left not any of the stock of Enakim in the land of the children of Israel, except the cities Gaza, and Geth, and Azotus, in which alone they were left. 23. Joshua therefore took all the Land, as the Lord had spoken to Moses, and delivered it in possession to the children of Israel, according to their portions and tribes; and the Land rested from wars.
COMMENTARY
I call this war the Jabinite, because its chief author and Leader was Jabin, King of Asor; and the Northern, because it stretched into the Northern region of the land of Canaan. And it is described in this ch. 11, of which there are 6 parts. In the first is the warlike preparation of the enemies against the Israelites; for just as above (ch. 10) Adonizedek, King of Jerusalem, joined to himself against the Israelites those same Kings and peoples, so now also Jabin King of Asor, from v. 1 to 4. In the second, the advance of the same enemies to the appointed place of battle (vv. 4 and 5). In the third is the divine confirmation of Joshua, and [his] onset upon the enemies (vv. 6, 7). In the fourth, the victory (vv. 8 and 9). In the fifth, the following-up of the victory — as to the occupation, devastation, and plundering of the various cities and lands (v. 10 to 23). In the sixth is the end of the war (v. 23).