Joshua 12:13

Study note

Setting — The narrator catalogs defeated Canaanite rulers following the military campaigns detailed in the preceding verses. This entry functions as a single line in a systematic list positioned between the kings of Eglon and Gezer and the kings of Hormah and Arad.

The words — מֶלֶךְ (Me.lekh) identifies the ruling authority over a specific city, while אֶחָד ('e.Chad) quantifies each ruler as a single, distinct individual. The text pairs these terms to explicitly name the king of Debir and the king of Geder.

The thread — The military action against Debir is recorded in Joshua 10:38, where Joshua and Israel attack the city. The location Geder reappears in Joshua 15:36 as part of a tribal land allotment, and regional kings coordinate in Joshua 10:3.

Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to verify the exact geographic and political boundaries of Israel’s conquest. It presents a factual inventory of defeated rulers to establish the completed scope of the military campaign.

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.