TEXT [Commentary]
2. Joshua’s conquests west of the Jordan (12:7-24)
7 The following is a list of the kings that Joshua and the Israelite armies defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir. (Joshua gave this land to the tribes of Israel as their possession, 8 including the hill country, the western foothills,[*] the Jordan Valley, the mountain slopes, the Judean wilderness, and the Negev. The people who lived in this region were the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.) These are the kings Israel defeated:
9 The king of Jericho
The king of Ai, near Bethel
10 The king of Jerusalem
The king of Hebron
11 The king of Jarmuth
The king of Lachish
12 The king of Eglon
The king of Gezer
13 The king of Debir
The king of Geder
14 The king of Hormah
The king of Arad
15 The king of Libnah
The king of Adullam
16 The king of Makkedah
The king of Bethel
17 The king of Tappuah
The king of Hepher
18 The king of Aphek
The king of Lasharon
19 The king of Madon
The king of Hazor
20 The king of Shimron-meron
The king of Acshaph
21 The king of Taanach
The king of Megiddo
22 The king of Kedesh
The king of Jokneam in Carmel
23 The king of Dor in the town of Naphoth-dor[*]
The king of Goyim in Gilgal[*]
24 The king of Tirzah.
In all, thirty-one kings were defeated.
NOTES
12:7 Baal-gad . . . Seir. See note on 11:17.
the valley of Lebanon. This is modern Lebanon’s Beqaa (“valley” in Arabic); it separates the coastal Lebanon range from the inland Anti-Lebanon range.
12:8 the hill country . . . the Negev. See respective sections under “The Physical Geography of Canaan” in the Introduction.
Hittites . . . Jebusites. See note on 3:10; only the Girgashites are missing from this list.
These are the kings Israel defeated. This statement is not in the Hebrew but is supplied from the context for clarity.
12:9-24 Following each city name, the Hebrew text has the ordinal, ’ekhad [TH259, ZH285] (one). The reader should experience the somber gravity of the text by reading aloud and reading “one” following each place name: “the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, near Bethel, one; the king of Jerusalem, one”; etc.
12:24 were defeated. The verbal phrase is not in the Hebrew but is supplied by the NLT for clarity.
COMMENTARY [Text]
In this first half of Joshua, the author takes great care at every opportunity to emphasize that the conquest of Canaan was for God’s purposes. For Israel, God’s purpose was to give them their promised inheritance. For Canaan, God’s purpose was to bring the long-delayed judgment. In view of this, the roster of defeated kings should be read as a litany of the accomplishment of God’s purposes. It is a solemn yet joyful recital for Israel, summarizing and symbolizing God’s mighty acts on behalf of his people, for the exaltation of his own great name.
As the name of Moses, Israel’s leader to the Promised Land, climaxes the first section of this chapter (12:6), so the name of Joshua, Israel’s leader in the conquest of the Promised Land, leads off the second section (12:7). Moses and Joshua had faithfully carried out the tasks God had given them. In this summarizing list that showcases their successes, they receive proper recognition for their faithfulness.
Again, the careful use of names for the geographical divisions of the land is evident. Only those regions are included that Joshua had conquered and that Israel would receive in the allotment to be described in the following chapters. Of course, this allotment is referred to here as in the past, “Joshua gave,” because it was past at the time of the writing of the chapter. The six ethnic names concluding verse 8 match the six geographical names of the first part of the verse. In fact, no verb or adjective occurs in 12:8; it is a list of six nouns (regions), followed by a list of six nouns (peoples).
The first half of this list of 31 kings and their towns (i.e., the first 16) refers to locations in the south of Canaan, from Ai and Bethel southward. The second half of the list (i.e., the final 15 names), are in the north and the north-central part of Canaan. It is important to note that this list is not a claim to have conquered these towns, though some were conquered. The list claims Joshua defeated the kings of 31 towns who brought their forces to fight against Israel—most of them in the two campaigns summarized in chapters 10 and 11.
The list of the 31 defeated kings is at once solemn and moving; the Hebrew is achingly beautiful in its measured cadences. This is a surprisingly poetic passage in the stark, spare simplicity of its presentation. All these kings died fighting Israel and Israel’s God, whom they neither knew nor understood. Each king is presented as an unknown soldier, his city named, but not he himself. These men, renowned in their own place and time, could not have imagined a more grievous fate than to be referred to but left unnamed, as they are here. Most of them (but cf. 10:3) rest somewhere in Canaan until the end of time, unknown and unremarked, except in this somber litany affirming the righteousness of God’s judgments upon all the earth.
Joshua’s conquering work was done. The remaining inhabitants of the hill country, the Shephelah, the Arabah, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negev (12:8) would not be able to prevent Israel from settling into their inheritance. God had brought Israel into the land as he had promised Abraham so long ago (Gen 22:15-18). To the allotment of the land, then, Joshua would turn his attention next.