Bible Strands
Joshua 10:40
So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes, together with all their kings—leaving no survivors. He devoted to destruction everything that breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Joshua’s military summary immediately after the capture of Debir and before the geographic recap in verse 41. This moment concludes the southern campaign phase of the Israelite conquest.
The words — וַיַּכֶּה (va.ya.kheh) literally means "and he defeated," marking the active subjugation of the region. כָּל הָאָרֶץ (kol ha'aretz) translates to "all the land," specifically naming the hill country, Negev, and foothills that were brought under control.
The thread — The directive to devote everything to destruction directly parallels Deuteronomy 7:2 and Deuteronomy 7:24, which mandate wiping out enemy rulers and leaving no survivors. The territorial scope aligns with Exodus 23:31, which maps the promised borders from the Red Sea to the Euphrates.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to observe that Israel’s territorial gain was executed through exact compliance with a specific divine command rather than military innovation. It demands acknowledgment of the conquest mandate’s absolute nature without softening its historical description.
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
So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Exodus 23:31 And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
- Deuteronomy 7:24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
- Deuteronomy 20:16 However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
- Joshua 6:17 Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.
- 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 8:27 Israel took for themselves only the cattle and plunder of that city, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.
- Joshua 9:24 The Gibeonites answered, “Your servants were told clearly that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we have done this.
- Joshua 10:35 That day they captured Eglon and put it to the sword, and Joshua devoted to destruction everyone in the city, just as he had done to Lachish.
- 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.