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Joshua 10

Joshua 10:2

The Day the Sun Stood Still · Joshua 10:1–15
Read Joshua 10

Translations

Modern
So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
Traditional
That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
Literal
…that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
Latin
…timuit valde. Urbs enim magna erat Gabaon, et una civitatum regalium, et major oppido Hai, omnesque bellatores ejus fortissimi.

Original

Hebrew
English
So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.

Notes

Joshua 10:2

Gibeon was apparently not a royal city. It may have been under the control of Canaan. They controlled Jerusalem before Gibeon made a covenant with Joshua. Or Gibeon could have been an independent town led by a few leading families.

Joshua 10:1–43

Gibeon and its neighboring cities were on a plateau (high flat place) north of Jerusalem (see study note on 7:2). With Gibeon now as an ally with Israel, Israel controlled the plateau and the central hill country near Gibeon. Historically, controlling the plateau often meant controlling the hill country. The kings of Canaan had to conquer Gibeon, or they would fail.

Joshua 7:1–12:24

This second major section of the book records Joshua's southern and northern campaigns against two coalitions of kings from Canaan. Joshua's victories allowed Israel to settle the hill country from Galilee in the north to the Negev in the south.

Theme notes and profiles

Joshua

Events

Places

Ai: A Canaanite city conquered by Joshua after initial defeat Gibeon: Hivite city that tricked Joshua into a peace treaty

Glossary

Adoni-Zedek Amorites Beth-Horon Conquest and Allotment of the Land Gibeon, Gibeonites Joshua (Person) Joshua, Book of Judges, Book of Tribe of Dan

Topics

Adoni-Zedek: A King of Jerusalem Armies: March in Ranks: Confederated Cities: Designated as Royal Cities: Different Kinds of Royal Confederacies of Kings Gibeonites: A Mighty and Warlike People Gibeonites: Attacked by the Kings of Canaan Jerusalem: King of, Joined with the Four Other Kings of the Amorites Against Joshua and the Armies of Israel The Amorites: Western Kings of, Confederated Against Israel War of Extermination