Joshua 10:39

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.

Joshua 10:39 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 10:39

And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities
thereof
For this also was a royal city, and had others dependent on it; and therefore must lie further from Hebron than before suggested; and indeed Burchard ^F11 says it was five or six miles from it, and another writer ^F12 says ten miles:

and they smote them with the edge of the sword;
the inhabitants of Debir, and the other cities adjacent to it;

and utterly destroyed all the souls that [were] therein, he left none
remaining;
and yet it seems this city recovered again, and was reinhabited, and after the death of Joshua was taken by Othniel, ( Judges 1:11-13 ) ; unless, as before observed, with respect to Hebron, there is there a more particular account of the taking of it at this time:

as he had done to Hebron, so did he to Debir, and to the king thereof,
as he had done also to Libnah and her king;
that is, slew them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Apud Masium in loc.
F12 Fuller's Pisgah Sight of Palestine, B. 2. c. 13. p. 276.

Joshua 10:39 In-Context

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.

41 Yehoshua struck them from Kadesh-Barnea even to `Aza, and all the country of Goshen, even to Giv`on.