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Joshua 12

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Kings Defeated East of the Jordan 1–6

1
Now these are the kings of the land, whom the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising, from the valley of the Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the Arabah eastward: ​
2
Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, the border of the children of Ammon; ​
3
and the Arabah unto the sea of Chinneroth, eastward, and unto the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, eastward, the way to Beth-jeshimoth; and on the south, under the slopes of Pisgah:
4
and the border of Og king of Bashan, of the remnant of the Rephaim, who dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, ​
5
and ruled in mount Hermon, and in Salecah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
6
Moses the servant of Jehovah and the children of Israel smote them: and Moses the servant of Jehovah gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ​

Kings Defeated West of the Jordan 7–24

7
And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel smote beyond the Jordan westward, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even unto mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir (and Joshua gave it unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; ​
8
in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the South; the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite): ​
9
the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one; ​
10
the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; ​
11
the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
12
the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
13
the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
14
the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
15
the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
16
the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Beth-el, one; ​
17
the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
18
the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lassharon, one;
19
the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; ​
20
the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
21
the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
22
the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
23
the king of Dor in the height of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;
24
the king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Joshua 12

Verse 1

from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon — The land east of the Jordan, 'toward the rising of the sun' (mizrach). Arnon, 'the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites' (Num 21:13), is its southern limit; Hermon, which 'the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir' (Deut 3:9), its northern. 'Other side Jordan' is the same word, eber, as 'this side' in v.7.

Verse 2

Sihon king of the Amorites — The Amorite king who 'dwelt in Heshbon' and 'ruled' (mashal) from Aroer on the Arnon to the Jabbok. The Jabbok was 'the border of the children of Ammon', and Israel was forbidden that land, which the LORD had given 'unto the children of Lot' (Deut 2:19). Sihon's defeat is recalled in the Psalms: 'for his mercy endureth for ever' (Ps 136:19).

Verse 4

the remnant of the giants — 'Giants' is rapha, the Rephaim; 'remnant' is yether. Og was the last of them: 'only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron' (Deut 3:11). He dwelt at Ashtaroth and Edrei, and Israel met him in battle at Edrei (Num 21:33–35).

Verse 6

Moses the servant of the LORD — The title ebed is given to Moses twice in this verse, once for the victory and once for the gift of the land: he 'gave it for a possession' to Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh (Num 32:33). It is also how the book of Joshua first names him, 'after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD' (Josh 1:1).

Verse 7

on this side Jordan on the west — The viewpoint changes with the speaker: eber, 'beyond', was the east bank in v.1 and is now the west. The line runs from Baalgad to mount Halak, the two limits already named in Josh 11:17. Joshua gave the land 'according to their divisions' (machaloqeth); the kings of this side are counted in v.24.

Verse 8

the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites — The six peoples are the ones the LORD named when he promised to bring Israel in and cut them off (Ex 23:23). The six regions before them, hill country, valleys, plains, springs, wilderness and south country, are the same terrain Joshua swept in Josh 10:40 and 11:16.

Verse 9

The king of Jericho, one — The list repeats 'one' (echad) after each name, a count of kings, one by one. Jericho is first (Josh 6), then Ai, whose king was hanged on a tree until evening (Josh 8:29). Ai is placed 'beside Bethel' (tsad); Bethel's own king stands separately in v.16.

Verse 10

The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one — Both kings were among the five brought out of the cave at Makkedah (Josh 10:23). A defeated king did not settle the city: Judah 'could not drive them out', the Jebusites of Jerusalem (Josh 15:63), and fought against Jerusalem and Hebron afterwards (Judg 1:8, 10).

Verse 16

the king of Bethel, one — Bethel, 'house of God' (Beth-El), was named by Jacob, though 'the name of that city was called Luz at the first' (Gen 28:19). Makkedah was taken in one day, with its king (Josh 10:28). Bethel's later fall is told when 'the house of Joseph… went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them' (Judg 1:22).

Verse 19

The king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one — Jabin of Hazor summoned Jobab of Madon in the northern league (Josh 11:1), and Hazor 'beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms' (Josh 11:10). It was the only one of those cities Israel burned: 'Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only' (Josh 11:13). A Jabin reigns there again in Judg 4:2.

Verse 24

all the kings thirty and one — Counted from v.9, fifteen pairs and then Tirzah make thirty-one kings west of the Jordan, besides Sihon and Og on the east (vv.2–5). Tirzah is last in the list; it later became a royal city, where Omri reigned: 'six years reigned he in Tirzah' (1 Kgs 16:23).