Bible Strands
Joshua 10:33
At that time Horam king of Gezer went to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Joshua’s campaign at the precise moment he captures Lachish and immediately confronts a relief force from Gezer. This event occurs between the fall of Lachish and Joshua’s onward march to Eglon.
The words — The verb עָלָ֗ה ('alah) literally means "he came up" and marks Horam’s military advance to reinforce Lachish. The text states that Joshua struck him down with his entire army, leaving no survivors.
The thread — The defeat of Gezer’s king stands in contrast to later Israelite failures to fully displace its population, as recorded in Joshua 16:10 and Judges 1:29. The geographic focus on Gezer also appears in Joshua 16:3 as part of Ephraim’s territorial boundary.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to observe that military success depends on executing complete removal before advancing to the next objective. It asks readers to note the pattern of total judgment preceding the next campaign without softening the command.
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 Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.
Cross-references
- Joshua 16:10 But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.
- Judges 1:29 Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.
- Joshua 16:3 Then it descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-horon and on to Gezer, and it ended at the Sea.
- Joshua 12:12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
- Joshua 21:21 they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,
- 1 Kings 9:15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the house of the LORD, his own palace, the supporting terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
- 1 Chronicles 6:67 They were given Shechem (a city of refuge) with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer,
- 1 Chronicles 20:4 Some time later, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, a descendant of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued.