Verse 40

Joshua defeated the whole land, including the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, the slopes, and all their kings. He left no survivors. He annihilated everything that breathed, just as the LORD God of Israel had commanded.

Referenced Verses

  • Deut 7:2-9 : 2 and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy! 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. 5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, cut down their sacred Asherah poles, and burn up their idols. 6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. He has chosen you to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth. 7 The Basis of Israel’s Election It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the LORD favored and chose you– for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 8 Rather it is because of his love for you and his faithfulness to the promise he solemnly vowed to your ancestors that the LORD brought you out with great power, redeeming you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 So realize that the LORD your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 but who pays back those who hate him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve! 11 So keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that I today am commanding you to do. 12 Promises of Good for Covenant Obedience If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the LORD your God will faithfully keep covenant with you as he promised your ancestors. 13 He will love and bless you, and make you numerous. He will bless you with many children, with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your oil, the offspring of your oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land which he promised your ancestors to give you. 14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness among you or your livestock. 15 The LORD will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you. 16 Exhortation to Destroy Canaanite Paganism You must destroy all the people whom the LORD your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
  • Deut 7:24 : 24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them.
  • Deut 20:16-17 : 16 Laws Concerning War with Canaanite Nations As for the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing to survive. 17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them– the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites– just as the LORD your God has commanded you,
  • Deut 26:16-17 : 16 Narrative Interlude Today the LORD your God is commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do with all your heart and soul. 17 Today you have declared the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him.
  • Josh 6:17 : 17 The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the LORD; only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.
  • Josh 8:2 : 2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!”
  • Josh 8:27 : 27 But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in keeping with the LORD’s orders to Joshua.
  • Josh 9:24 : 24 They said to Joshua,“It was carefully reported to your subjects how the LORD your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified we would lose our lives, so we did this thing.
  • Josh 10:35 : 35 That day they captured it and put the sword to all who lived there. That day they annihilated it just as they had done to Lachish.
  • Josh 10:37 : 37 They captured it and put the sword to its king, all its surrounding cities, and all who lived in it; they left no survivors. As they had done at Eglon, they annihilated it and all who lived there.
  • Josh 12:8 : 8 including the hill country, the foothills, the rift valley, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negev– the land of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites:
  • Josh 15:21-63 : 21 These cities were located at the southern extremity of Judah’s tribal land near the border of Edom: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron(that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshbon, Beth Pelet, 28 Hazar Shual, Beer Sheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon– a total of twenty-nine cities and their towns. 33 These cities were in the foothills: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah(or Gederothaim)– a total of fourteen cities and their towns. 37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah– a total of sixteen cities and their towns. 42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah– a total of nine cities and their towns. 45 Ekron and its surrounding towns and settlements; 46 from Ekron westward, all those in the vicinity of Ashdod and their towns; 47 Ashdod with its surrounding towns and settlements, and Gaza with its surrounding towns and settlements, as far as the Stream of Egypt and the border at the Mediterranean Sea. 48 These cities were in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath Sannah(that is, Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh– a total of eleven cities and their towns. 52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kiriath Arba(that is, Hebron), and Zior– a total of nine cities and their towns. 55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah– a total of ten cities and their towns. 58 Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon– a total of six cities and their towns. 60 Kiriath Baal(that is, Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah– a total of two cities and their towns. 61 These cities were in the wilderness: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the city of Salt, and En Gedi– a total of six cities and their towns. 63 The men of Judah were unable to conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this very day.
  • Josh 18:21-19:8 : 21 These cities belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba– a total of twelve cities and their towns. 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city(that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath– a total of fourteen cities and their towns. This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. 1 Simeon’s Tribal Lands The second lot belonged to the tribe of Simeon by its clans. Their assigned land was in the middle of Judah’s assigned land. 2 Their assigned land included Beer Sheba, Moladah, 3 Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, 6 Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen– a total of thirteen cities and their towns, 7 Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan– a total of four cities and their towns, 8 as well as all the towns around these cities as far as Baalath Beer(Ramah of the Negev). This was the land assigned to the tribe of Simeon by its clans.
  • Josh 19:40-48 : 40 Dan’s Tribal Lands The seventh lot belonged to the tribe of Dan by its clans. 41 Their assigned land included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, 46 the waters of Jarkon, and Rakkon, including the territory in front of Joppa. 47 (The Danites failed to conquer their territory, so they went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. They put the sword to it, took possession of it, and lived in it. They renamed it Dan after their ancestor.) 48 This was the land assigned to the tribe of Dan by its clans, including these cities and their towns.
  • 1 Kgs 15:29 : 29 When he became king, he executed Jeroboam’s entire family. He wiped out everyone who breathed, in keeping with the LORD’s message that he had spoken through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.
  • Ps 9:17 : 17 The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol; this is the destiny of all the nations that ignore God,
  • 2 Thess 1:7-9 : 7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. 8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength,
  • Exod 23:31-33 : 31 I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. 32 “You must make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
  • Exod 34:12 : 12 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you.
  • Deut 1:7 : 7 Head out and resume your journey. Enter the Amorite hill country, and into all its neighboring areas, including the rift valley, the hill country, the foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain– all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates.