Joshua 10:39

39 and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.

Joshua 10:39 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 10:39

And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities
thereof
For this also was a royal city, and had others dependent on it; and therefore must lie further from Hebron than before suggested; and indeed Burchard ^F11 says it was five or six miles from it, and another writer ^F12 says ten miles:

and they smote them with the edge of the sword;
the inhabitants of Debir, and the other cities adjacent to it;

and utterly destroyed all the souls that [were] therein, he left none
remaining;
and yet it seems this city recovered again, and was reinhabited, and after the death of Joshua was taken by Othniel, ( Judges 1:11-13 ) ; unless, as before observed, with respect to Hebron, there is there a more particular account of the taking of it at this time:

as he had done to Hebron, so did he to Debir, and to the king thereof,
as he had done also to Libnah and her king;
that is, slew them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Apud Masium in loc.
F12 Fuller's Pisgah Sight of Palestine, B. 2. c. 13. p. 276.

Joshua 10:39 In-Context

37 and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it.

38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Debir and fought against it

39 and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.

40 So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the LORD God of Israel commanded.

41 And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon.