Joshua 10:38

38 Then Joshua and his army turned back to Debir and attacked 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Joshua 10:38 In-Context

36 After this, Joshua and his army went from Eglon up into the hills to Hebron, attacked it

37 and captured it. They killed the king and everyone else in the city as well as in the nearby towns. Joshua condemned the city to total destruction, just as he had done to Eglon. No one in it was left alive.

38 Then Joshua and his army turned back to Debir and attacked it.

39 He captured it, with its king and all the nearby towns. They put everyone there to death. Joshua did to Debir and its king what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.

40 Joshua conquered the whole land. He defeated the kings of the hill country, the eastern slopes, and the western foothills, as well as those of the dry country in the south. He spared no one; everyone was put to death. This was what the Lord God of Israel had commanded.