The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Smote” it comes from the Hebrew Word “nakah” which means “to strike, to smite.”
With the south secured, Joshua turns his attention to an even larger coalition of enemies in the north. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Joshua 11.
Hearing of Israel’s victories, Jabin, king of Hazor, gathers an enormous coalition of northern kings, along with horses and chariots “even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude.” God reassures Joshua not to be afraid of them, promising to deliver them all up slain before Israel by the next day. Joshua and his army come suddenly upon this massive coalition at the waters of Merom, and the Lord delivers them into Israel’s hand, “and they smote them,” “nakah” in Hebrew, chasing them until none remain, houghing their horses and burning their chariots exactly as God commanded.
Joshua turns back and captures Hazor itself, killing its king and burning the city, since Hazor had formerly been the head of all these northern kingdoms. Israel takes all the spoil and cattle of these conquered cities for themselves, though they strike every person with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them exactly as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded.
The chapter summarizes Joshua’s complete, sweeping conquest of the land, taking the entire region from the mountains, the south country, the vale, and the plain, along with their kings, leaving none remaining, exactly as the Lord commanded Moses. Joshua gives the land as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by tribe, and “the land rested from war,” a fitting close to this long, difficult military campaign that began all the way back at the Jordan River.
The chapter closes with a phrase easy to skim past but worth pausing on, the land rested from war. After decades of slavery, wandering, and now sustained warfare, Israel finally reaches a genuine season of rest. Long, difficult seasons of struggle do eventually give way to rest, even when that rest takes far longer to arrive than anyone originally hoped.
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