Joshua 10:38

38 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it:

Joshua 10:38 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 10:38

And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir
A city, according to Kimchi, which he passed by when he went to Hebron, and did not fight against it; but, when he had taken Hebron, returned and took it; and which Bunting ^F8 says was but a mile from it, and twenty two miles from Jerusalem, towards the south; it is the same with Kirjathsepher and Kirjathsannah, ( Joshua 15:15 Joshua 15:49 ) ; the city of a book or books; and the Rabbins say ^F9, that with the Persians Debir signifies the same, and had its name from a library which was here kept, or from the archives in which the most memorable things since the flood were recorded; or from the making of paper or parchment, or whatsoever was made use of for writing, and of which volumes of books were made:

and fought against it;
it refusing to submit to him upon his summons.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F8 Travels of the Patriarchs p. 96.
F9 T. Bab. Avodah Zarah, fol. 24. 2.

Joshua 10:38 In-Context

36 And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, to Hebron; and they fought against it:

37 And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and its king, and all its cities, and all the souls that [were] in them; he left none remaining (according to all that he had done to Eglon) but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that [were] in it.

38 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it:

39 And he took it, and its king, and all its cities, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that [were] in them; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to its king; as he had done also to Libnah, and to its king.

40 So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.