Joshua 10:38

38 Yehoshua returned, and all Yisra'el with him, to Devir, 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.

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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 Yehoshua went up from `Eglon, and all Yisra'el with him, to Hevron; and they fought against it:

37 and they took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and the king of it, and all the cities of it, and all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to `Eglon; but he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls who were therein.

38 Yehoshua returned, and all Yisra'el with him, to Devir, and fought against it:

39 and he took it, and the king of it, and all the cities of it; and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hevron, so he did to Devir, and to the king of it; as he had done also to Livna, and to the king of it.

40 So Yehoshua struck all the land, the hill-country, and the South, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, commanded.