So the children went in and possessed the land
Not the fathers of the Israelites that came out of Egypt, they died in the wilderness, all excepting two, but their children, which seems to be the reason of this manner of expression, see ( Numbers 14:30-33 )
and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the
Canaanites;
by means of Joshua, the general of the armies of Israel; there is an elegant paronomania in the word for "subdue", and the Canaanites, which cannot be expressed in our language:
and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of
the land, that they might do with them as they would;
no less than thirty one kings, see ( Joshua 12:9-24 ) .