10:1 Adoni-Zedek Means “My Lord is Righteous,” with “righteous” translating the Hebrew word tsedeq (compare Gen 14:18). Tsedeq was a Canaanite deity known in Jerusalem.

Joshua captured Ai See Josh 8.

had utterly destroyed it See note on 6:17.

Gibeon had made peace with Israel Described in ch. 9.

10:2 like one of the royal cities the royal cities Refers to one of the cities ruled by a king. Chapter 9 did not mention a king leading Gibeon.

larger than Ai Indicates the city was larger and likely more fortified.

Hebron Hebron was formerly called Kiriath-Arba, which was the city of the Anakim giant clan in Num 13:22, 32–33 (the population that caused Israel to doubt God, leading to the 40 years of wilderness wandering; compare Josh 14:13–15).

10:4 it has made peace with Joshua See ch. 9.

10:5 the five kings of the Amorites The term “Amorites” was occasionally used with reference to giant clans (see vv. 3; Deut 1:4; 2:22–24; 3:10–13; 4:47; 31:4). The Israelite southern campaign is heading directly into the territory of the enemies they feared 40 years earlier.

Giant Clans in the Old Testament

10:6 at Gilgal See Josh 5:9–10; 9:6.

10:7 all the fighting men with him The Israelites honor the treaty with Gibeon, despite having been tricked into joining it (see ch. 9).

10:9 by marching up all night from Gilgal Gilgal was approximately 21 miles from Gibeon.

10:10 threw them into panic The Hebrew verb used here, hamam, frequently occurs in descriptions when God helps Israel in battle—especially when God uses meteorological phenomena (see Exod 14:24; Psa 77:16–18; Judg 4:15; 5:20–21; 1 Sam 7:10; 2 Sam 22:15; Pss 18:14; 144:6; compare Josh 10:11).

struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah A summary of the engagement; the fighting is still at Beth-horon in v. 11.

10:12 Sun in Gibeon, stand still The sun’s location over Gibeon in the east suggests this event occurs in the morning. Gibeon is due east of Aijalon.

in the valley of Aijalon The road of Beth-horon descends westward into this valley.

10:13 the moon stopped The account suggests that the sun and moon stopped at the same time on opposite horizons.

the scroll of Jashar The wording here does not require that these verses are a direct quotation from this now lost book, only that the book recorded the event. Nothing else is known of this book. It apparently was a chronicle of epic or nationalistic poems (see 2 Sam 1:19–27; 1 Kgs 8:12–13 may have also come from this book).

for about a full day Suggests the event must be viewed as a true miracle; this is also true of the hailstones of Josh 10:11 with respect to the timing.

10:14 There has not been a day like this before it or after The exceptional nature is due to the specificity of the prayer and immediacy of the response. Even the life of Moses has nothing so immediate and dramatic with such a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

10:16 hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah The events of this passage occurred in connection with the battle (v. 19).

10:18 Roll large stones against the mouth of What the five kings had considered their way of escape now becomes their prison.

10:19 Do not allow them to go into their cities Joshua commands his troops to not let them escape.

10:20 into the fortified cities This battle was in defense of the Gibeonites; it was not part of the cherem (see note on Exod 22:20; note on Josh 2:10).

10:21 all the people Apparently refers to the Gibeonites. Given the victory, no one from Gibeon should complain about Israel’s loyalty to the treaty (see v. 6).

spoke against Indicates that no one said a word against Israel.

10:24 put your feet on the necks of A gesture of contempt for a defeated foe.

10:25 Do not be afraid Joshua uses the victory as an object lesson. The cities of these kings were home to the Canaanites they feared most—the giant clans (see vv. 3–5).

10:26 hanging on the trees until the evening As in the case of the king of Ai (and apparently Jericho), the Israelites executed these kings and left their bodies exposed until evening. See 8:29.

10:27 they took them down from the trees See 8:29; compare Deut 21:22.

10:28 he utterly destroyed it and everyone This engagement was independent of the Gibeonite defense, so the principle of cherem is once again operative. See note on 6:16; see note on 6:17.

just as he did to the king of See note on v. 26.

10:30 He left in it no survivor According to the cherem principle (see note on 6:17).

just as he did to the king of See vv. 1, 28.

10:31 he laid siege to it The Hebrew phrase used here is not cherem (see v. 1), but v. 32 indicates that the Israelites had followed the principle of cherem (6:16–17). See note on v. 40.

10:32 and everyone in it The king of Lachish had already been killed—he was one of the five kings in collaboration against Gibeon (see vv. 23–27). See note on v. 31.

10:33 until he left no survivor behind The language of cherem (see note on 6:16; note on 6:17; compare v. 35). The Israelites killed only the king of Gezer and his army, not the entire population of Gezer. This is consistent with comments in 16:10 and Judg 1:29 that Gezer’s population was not entirely destroyed.

10:35 all the people that were in it on that day he utterly destroyed The language of cherem. The king of Eglon, whose name was Debir (Josh 10:3), was already dead, as he was one of the five kings in collaboration against Gibeon (see vv. 23–27). The Debir of vv. 38–39 was a city, not this king of Eglon.

10:36 to Hebron The king of Hebron had already been killed, as he was one of the five kings in collaboration against Gibeon (see vv. 23–27).

10:38 to Debir Refers to the city of Debir, not the king of Eglon (whose name is Debir; v. 3).

10:39 Libnah See vv. 29–30.

10:40 the Negev Often refers to the territory at the southern border of Canaan (the northern Sinai), but can also refer to a desert area.

Yahweh the God of Israel commanded Other passages in Joshua and Judges indicate that the complete destruction of some of these people groups was not completed until sometime later (compare note on 6:17). For example, Hebron (15:13–14; Judg 1:9–10, 20) and Debir (Josh 15:15–17; Judg 1:11–13) are mentioned later in the book as still needing subjugation.

10:41 Goshen Not the Goshen located in the Nile Delta in Egypt (see Gen 45:10).