Bible Strands
Joshua 11:8
and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who struck them down and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down, leaving no survivors.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the immediate aftermath of Joshua’s sudden attack on the northern coalition at the waters of Merom. The text records Israel’s pursuit of the routed enemy forces following divine intervention.
The words — The verb וַ/יִּתְּנֵ֨/ם (va/i.yi.te.Ne/m, H5414) literally renders "and He gave them," marking the moment Yahweh transfers the enemy into Israel’s control. The phrase בְּ/יַֽד\־ יִשְׂרָאֵל (be./yad- Yis.ra.'El) specifies "in the hand of Israel," denoting complete military subjugation.
The thread — The pursuit to Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim maps directly onto the territorial boundaries later detailed in Joshua 13:6 and Joshua 19:28. The geographic marker echoes the ancestral lineage of Sidon recorded in Genesis 10:15.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to identify military victory as the direct execution of divine command rather than human strategy. It demands recognition that total elimination of the enemy fulfills the explicit boundary markers of the land grant.
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 the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth–maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.
Cross-references
- Joshua 13:6 All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim—all the Sidonians—I Myself will drive out before the Israelites. Be sure to divide it by lot as an inheritance to Israel, as I have commanded you.
- Joshua 19:28 It went on to Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.
- Genesis 10:15 And Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites,
- Genesis 49:13 Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon.
- Joshua 11:3 to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
- Joshua 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
- Zechariah 9:2 and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.