Bible Strands
Exodus 17:13
So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records Joshua’s military action immediately after Moses’ hands remained steady through Aaron and Hur’s support, marking the conclusion of the battle against Amalek.
The words — וַ/יַּחֲלֹ֧שׁ (va/i.ya.cha.Losh) = and/ he defeated [H2522]; חָֽרֶב (Cha.rev) = [the] sword [H2719]. The text uses the verb for overcoming or subduing alongside the phrase “to the mouth of the sword” to describe total military defeat.
The thread — The pattern of divine intervention followed by Joshua’s execution of judgment appears in Joshua 10:28, where a captured city and its king are put to the sword, and Joshua 10:32, where the LORD delivers Lachish into Israel’s hand for capture. Joshua 10:42 records the LORD fighting for Israel as Joshua secures the land and its rulers.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that military victory depends on sustained intercession and results in complete subjugation of the enemy. It requires the reader to track how divine action and human execution operate sequentially in Israel’s conquest narratives.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Cross-references
- Joshua 10:42 And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.
- Joshua 10:28 On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and put it to the sword, along with its king. He devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. So he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
- Joshua 10:32 And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, and Joshua captured it on the second day. He put all the people to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.
- Joshua 10:37 They captured it and put to the sword its king, all its villages, and all the people. Joshua left no survivors, just as he had done at Eglon; he devoted to destruction Hebron and everyone in it.
- Joshua 11:12 Joshua captured all these kings and their cities and put them to the sword. He devoted them to destruction, as Moses the LORD’s servant had commanded.