Joshua 11 Study Notes

11:1 The role of King Jabin of Hazor as the leader of the towns of the northern region, corresponded to the king of Jerusalem (10:3) in the south. Situated north of the Sea of Galilee, Hazor was the largest ancient site in Israel. It was the dominant city of the entire land and governed trade to the north where it is mentioned in texts as far away as cities on the Euphrates River. The initial phrase When King Jabin . . . heard duplicates those in 5:1 and 9:1 and signals that there will be a battle against Israel. Madon is unknown. It may be a variant of Merom, found in vv. 5 and 7.

Shimron (modern Tel Shimron) was located in the foothills near the western end of the Jezreel Valley. It lay at the southern end of Galilee. Achshaph (modern Tell Keisan) was situated to the west in the Acco Plain. If Madon/Merom is identified as modern Tel Qarnei Hittin, it lay to the east near the Sea of Galilee. The effect is to identify important sites scattered across the populated areas around the Sea of Galilee to the north and westward along the Jezreel Valley and over to the Acco Plain and the Mediterranean Sea.

11:2 Chinnereth (modern Tel Kinrot) was a site on the northwest end of the Sea of Galilee. Chinnereth was also the name of the sea at that time, so the southern portion of the area could include both the region around the sea and the Jordan Valley farther south. The Judean foothills translates Shephelah, a word meaning only “low hills.” Although the Bible often uses this term to describe the western foothills of Judah, here it probably refers to the foothills of Samaria, farther north and more in agreement with this description of lands and towns in the north. The Slopes of Dor is a translation of “Naphoth Dor,” an otherwise unknown name.

11:3 The Hivites were previously associated with Gibeon, but here they are found farther north at the foot of Mount Hermon. The Jebusites, often associated with Jerusalem, are more generally located in the hill country. Apparently these were people groups who populated more than one location. The reference to Mizpah anticipates the Valley of Mizpeh to the east in v. 8. The modern Mount Hermon lies at the southern tip of the Anti-Lebanon range. Mizpeh could refer to the southern end of the Beqa‘a Valley where the Litani River flows south and then west to Tyre.

11:4 The huge number of the armies suggests a larger force than that of the southern coalition. As with Tyre (v. 1), these towns and cities tended to be more populous than those mentioned in chap. 10. The horses and chariots were the most sophisticated technology available in ancient warfare, used to move archers around the battlefield on a mobile firing platform.

11:5 Although there is a site known as Merom in upper Galilee, its location makes it unlikely as a strategic place for a battle. Modern Tel Qarni Hattin near the Horns of Hattin, a site famous for Crusader battles, seems more appropriate as the identification of Merom. It lay in the hills west of the Sea of Galilee and served as a dominating position for trade and armies coming south from Syria and for those coming east from the coast and the Jezreel Plain. The plan of these armies to attack Israel suggests that what follows would be a defensive war for Israel.

11:6 God promised to cause all of them to be killed before Israel. Again, the Lord did the fighting, and Israel reaped the benefits.

11:7 Again Joshua used the tactic of surprise (cp. 10:9).

11:8 Greater Sidon lay at the northwestern corner of Israel. Misrephoth-maim may have been at the northeastern end at the valley of the Litani River. Thus the attack began south of the Sea of Galilee and went westward and north to Sidon before turning eastward to Misrephoth-maim, where it turned south along the Valley of Mizpeh/Mizpah (v. 3). Twice the text records how Israel struck them down as if to emphasize the complete success of the mission.

11:9 Joshua and Israel obeyed God’s commands from v. 6.

11:10 The size and strategic location of Hazor made it the most important city in Palestine throughout the second millennium BC.

11:11-13 Today’s ruins in Hazor do have a destruction layer from the thirteenth century BC. This may be the one associated with Joshua (if one accepts a late date for the exodus). The temples of this period were destroyed and the images broken. The destruction layer attests to the burning of the city. No other city in Palestine among those mentioned as destroyed in chaps. 1-11 has clear evidence of a burn layer like this during the time of Joshua. This attests to the fact that Israel did not burn any of the cities . . . except Hazor.

11:14 The treatment of these captured towns, in which Israel killed all the people but plundered all the spoils, resembles that of Ai (8:2,27). Unlike Jericho, at Ai God allowed his people to keep the plunder. Apparently this practice continued elsewhere in the land.

11:15 The battle accounts themselves dramatize the purpose of showing how Joshua and the Israel of his generation were obedient to God’s commands. Their faithfulness resulted in God’s gift of the land.

11:16 The summary of Israel’s battles and victories begins with the regions. Those in the south are followed by those in the north. The land of Goshen may refer to the region with the town of that name in 10:41, in Judah (15:51). Perhaps it is a variant for the kingdom of Geshur, north of the Sea of Galilee. However, see note at 13:13.

11:17 The summary turns to the boundaries of the newly acquired land. Mount Halak (modern Jebel Halaq) lay midway between Kadesh-barnea and the southern tip of the Dead Sea. It thus defined the southern border with Seir (Edom). The precise location of Baal-gad . . . at the foot of Mount Hermon is unknown. The Valley of Lebanon may refer to the Valley of Mizpeh (v. 8; see note at v. 3), or to both it and the Beqa‘a—the entire region between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountain ranges.

11:18 In contrast to the speed with which the previous campaigns were fought, the northern campaign took a long time. Appropriately, chap. 12 lists rulers conquered that are not mentioned in chap. 11. See note at 14:10.

11:19 On Gibeon, see notes at 9:3. Hivites first appear in 3:10 and are associated with Gibeon in 9:6-7.

11:20 Exodus 4-14 repeats how God would harden the heart of Pharaoh. Here God treated the kings and warriors of Canaan in a similar manner; thus, the reason for the destruction as given here did not lie in other sins of Canaan or in their origins, but in their refusal to recognize Israel’s God or to allow Israel access to the land.

11:21 The Anakim represent legendary warriors (Dt 2:10-11). By the time of Joshua they had lived for hundreds of years in Palestine, as attested in Egyptian sources. The three Anakim in Jos 14:15 may correspond to the three towns mentioned here, perhaps as rulers. Anab may refer to the site of ‘Unnab ets-Tseghur about fifteen miles southwest of Hebron. With Debir, these are all located in southern Palestine. When Joshua completely destroyed the three cities, he may have been represented by Caleb (15:14-15).

11:22 The remnants of the Anakim in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod anticipate the arrival of the Philistines and the presence of a giant such as Goliath (1Sm 17:4).

11:23 The inheritance that Joshua presented to Israel uses a word that occurs in Joshua for the first time, but it will occur dozens of times in the remainder of the book. It serves as a transition from the battles to the division of the inheritance.