Joshua 11:13

13 Israel did not burn the cities standing on their mounds, except Hazor alone, [which] Joshua burned.

Joshua 11:13 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 11:13

But as for the cities that stood still in their strength
Whose walls were not demolished when taken, as Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it, or that "stood upon their heaps" ^F25; upon an eminence, being built on hills and mountains:

Israel burned none of them;
but reserved them for their own habitations, being well fortified, and having no need of new walls being built to them, or being in a very agreeable situation:

save Hazor only, [that] did Joshua burn;
because it was the chief city where the scheme was formed, and the combination against Israel was made, and was the rendezvous of the confederate forces against them: the Jews have a tradition ^F26, that God said to Moses, and Moses said to Joshua, that he should burn it, and that only.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (Mlt le) "super tumulum eorum", Montanus; "quae erant in collibus et in tamulis sitae", V. L.
F26 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 81. fol. 71. 1.

Joshua 11:13 In-Context

11 He struck all the people that [were] in it with {the edge of the sword}, utterly destroying them. {There was no one left who breathed}, and he burned Hazor with fire.

12 And Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings, and he utterly destroyed them with {the edge of the sword}, as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded.

13 Israel did not burn the cities standing on their mounds, except Hazor alone, [which] Joshua burned.

14 And all the spoil and livestock of these cities the {Israelites} took as booty; they struck the people with {the edge of the sword}, until they had destroyed them--they left behind no one who breathed.

15 Just as Yahweh commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did; he left nothing undone that Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "mound"