Joshua 10:21

"When Joshua and the children of Israel had finished killing them with a very great slaughter until they were consumed, and the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities,"

Key Reflection

The verse describes Joshua's military campaign against enemy tribes in Canaan, where the Israelites achieved a devastating victory, leaving few survivors. The original audience would have understood this as part of a broader narrative justifying the conquest of the Promised Land, reflecting the common practice of total war and displacement among ancient Near Eastern peoples, which aimed to clear the land completely for the Israelite settlement.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Joshua himself remained at Makkedah with the guards set before the cave. The other warriors would not return from the pursuit until the evening of the overthrow of the Amorites; and the execution of the kings and the capture of Makkedah itself belong, no doubt, to the day followingJoshua 10:27-28. None moved his tongue -See the marginal reference and note.

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