Bible Strands
Joshua 11:22
No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the territorial outcome of Joshua’s campaign after he has driven the Anakim from the hill country of Judah and Israel. The account marks the conclusion of the military conquest before the land is divided among the tribes.
The words — עֲנָקִים ('a.na.Kim) identifies the Anakites, a specific lineage noted in the southern coastal cities. The verb נוֹתַ֣ר (no.Tar) specifies that only a remnant survived in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
The thread — This remnant reappears in Gath as the origin of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4), while Gaza and Ashdod remain Philistine territories cited in Joshua 15:46 and 1 Chronicles 18:1.
Why it lands — The text states that Joshua’s forces cleared the hill country entirely but acknowledges the continued presence of Anakites in the coastal cities. A reader must observe the geographic boundary between total conquest in the highlands and the incomplete clearance of the Philistine plain.
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
There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 17:4 Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
- Joshua 15:46 from Ekron to the sea, all the cities near Ashdod, along with their villages;
- 1 Chronicles 18:1 Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from the hand of the Philistines.
- Judges 3:3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.
- 1 Samuel 5:1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod,
- 2 Samuel 21:16 Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David.
- 1 Kings 2:39 After three years, however, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”
- 1 Chronicles 8:13 and Beriah and Shema (who were the heads of families living in Aijalon and who drove out the inhabitants of Gath).
- 1 Chronicles 29:4 three thousand talents of gold (the gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings,
- 2 Chronicles 26:6 Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines.