Joshua 12

The Kings Defeated East of the Jordan

1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites struck down and whose lands they took beyond the Jordan to the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah eastward:

2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along the middle of the valley, up to the Jabbok River (the border of the Ammonites), that is, half of Gilead,

3 as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth ^[a] to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ^[b]), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

4 And Og king of Bashan, ^[c] one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.

5 He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all of Bashan up to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

6 Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites had struck them down and given their land as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

The Kings Defeated West of the Jordan

7 And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance

8 the hill country, the foothills, ^[d] the Arabah, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negev—the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites):

9 the king of Jericho, one;

10 the king of Jerusalem, one;

11 the king of Jarmuth, one;

12 the king of Eglon, one;

13 the king of Debir, one;

14 the king of Hormah, one;

15 the king of Libnah, one;

16 the king of Makkedah, one;

17 the king of Tappuah, one;

18 the king of Aphek, one;

19 the king of Madon, one;

20 the king of Shimron-meron, one;

21 the king of Taanach, one;

22 the king of Kedesh, one;

23 the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, ^[e] one;

24 and the king of Tirzah, one.

Joshua 12 Commentary

Chapter 12

The two kings conquered by Moses. (1-6) The kings whom Joshua smote. (7-24)

Verses 1-6 Fresh mercies must not drown the remembrance of former mercies, nor must the glory of the present instruments of good to the church diminish the just honour of those who went before them, since God is the same who wrought by both. Moses gave to one part of Israel a very rich and fruitful country, but it was on the outside of Jordan. Joshua gave to all Israel the holy land, within Jordan. So the law has given to some few of God's spiritual Israel worldly blessings, earnests of good things to come; but our Lord Jesus, the true Joshua, provided for all the children of promise spiritual blessings, and the heavenly Canaan.

Verses 7-24 We have here the limits of the country Joshua conquered. A list is given of the kings subdued by Israel: thirty-one in all. This shows how fruitful Canaan then was, in which so many chose to throng together. This was the land God appointed for Israel; yet in our day it is one of the most barren and unprofitable countries in the world. Such is the effect of the curse it lies under, since its possessors rejected Christ and his gospel, as was foretold by Moses, ( Deuteronomy 29:23 ) . The vengeance of a righteous God, inflicted on all these kings and their subjects, for their wickedness, should make us dread and hate sin. The fruitful land bestowed on his chosen people, should fill our hearts with hope and confidence in his mercy, and with humble gratitude.

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, the Sea of Galilee
• [b]. That is, the Dead Sea
• [c]. LXX; Hebrew And the territory of Og king of Bashan
• [d]. Hebrew Shephelah or lowlands; that is, the western foothills of Judea
• [e]. Or in the heights of Dor; Naphath-dor is a variant of Naphoth-dor; see Joshua 11:2.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 12

This chapter gives a short account of the conquests made by the Israelites, both in the times of Moses and of Joshua, and first of the kingdom of Sihon and Og on the other side Jordan, in the times of Moses, and which he gave to the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and which are particularly described, Jos 12:1-6; and then of the kings and the countries on this side Jordan whom Joshua conquered, Jos 12:7,8; and the names of the thirty one kingdoms are recited, that so it might be exactly known and observed what were afterwards divided among the tribes and possessed by them, Jos 12:9-24.