Bible Strands
Joshua 12:24
and the king of Tirzah, one. So there were thirty-one kings in all.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua’s narrator concludes a catalog of defeated Canaanite monarchs by listing the king of Tirzah and recording a final tally. The passage functions as a mathematical capstone to the preceding list of conquered territories.
The words — The text uses אֶחָד ('echad) to count the single king of Tirzah, then employs כָּל־ מְלָכִים שְׁלֹשִׁים וְאֶחָד (kol-melakhim shloshim ve'echad) to state "all kings thirty and one." These terms operate as a precise ledger closing the inventory.
The thread — The completed count of thirty-one rulers aligns with the comprehensive removal of hostile leadership in Deuteronomy 7:24. The city of Tirzah reappears as a political center in 1 Kings 16:23 and 2 Kings 15:14.
Why it lands — The verse first records the accumulation of defeated monarchs before establishing that the conquest reached its predetermined limit. It requires the reader to acknowledge the systematic completion of the campaign rather than treating each victory as isolated.
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
The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 1 Kings 16:23 In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.
- 2 Kings 15:14 Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, struck down and killed Shallum son of Jabesh, and reigned in his place.