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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, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east: ​
2
Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; ​
3
And from the plain to the sea of Chinneroth on the east, and unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way to Bethjeshimoth; and from the south, under Ashdothpisgah:
4
And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, ​
5
And reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
6
Them did Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel smite: and Moses the servant of the LORD 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 country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; ​
8
In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: ​
9
The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, 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 Bethel, one; ​
17
The king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
18
The king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;
19
The king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; ​
20
The king of Shimronmeron, 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 of Carmel, one;
23
The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one;
24
The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · 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).