Bible Strands
Joshua 10:29
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes Joshua leading Israelite forces from Makkedah to Libnah immediately after the destruction of the former city. This occurs during the southern conquest campaign, following the events at Gibeon and the long day at Aiath.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יַּעֲבֹ֣ר (va/i.ya.'a.Vor) literally means "and he passed on" or "moved on," denoting military transit. The verb וַ/יִּלָּ֖חֶם (va/i.yi.La.chem) translates to "and he engaged in battle," marking the shift from travel to armed confrontation at Libnah.
The thread — Libnah appears in Israel’s wilderness itinerary as a camping site (Numbers 33:20), in Judah’s tribal boundary list (Joshua 15:42), and later as a Levitical city (Joshua 21:13). This verse situates that same location within the active conquest narrative rather than its later administrative or wanderings context.
Why it lands — The passage records a sequential military advance, requiring the reader to track the deliberate progression from one fortified city to the next. It asks for recognition of the text's structural emphasis on completed judgment before the narrative moves forward.
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
Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah:
Cross-references
- Joshua 21:13 So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,
- Joshua 15:42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan,
- Numbers 33:20 They set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.
- Joshua 6:21 With the edge of the sword they devoted to destruction everything in the city—man and woman, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
- Joshua 8:2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”
- Joshua 8:29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.
- 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 12:15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
- 2 Kings 8:22 So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time.
- 2 Kings 19:8 When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.