Bible Strands
Joshua 12:1
Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites struck down and whose lands they took beyond the Jordan to the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah eastward:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The biblical compiler introduces a catalog of defeated eastern kings immediately following the narrative of Israel’s military campaigns. It establishes the geographic scope of the eastern conquest from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon.
The words — וַ/יִּֽרְשׁ֣וּ (va/i.yir.Shu) translates literally as “and they took possession,” marking the shift from battlefield victory to permanent territorial occupation.
The thread — The eastern campaign appears in Deuteronomy 3:8, Numbers 21:13, and Numbers 21:24, which document the same military actions and their geographic markers.
Why it lands — The text records the exact boundaries of Israel’s eastern inheritance, requiring the reader to acknowledge the completed territorial distribution before examining the specific rulers who lost their domains.
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
Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 3:8 At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon—
- Numbers 21:13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends into the Amorite territory. Now the Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.
- Numbers 21:24 And Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok—but only up to the border of the Ammonites, because it was fortified.
- Joshua 1:15 until the LORD gives them rest as He has done for you, and your brothers also possess the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you may return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of that which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan.”
- Judges 11:18 Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.
- Deuteronomy 2:24 “Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.
- Deuteronomy 4:48 extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),
- 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 11:17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death.
- Joshua 22:4 And now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as He promised them, you may return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you across the Jordan.