Joshua 10:1

1 And when Adoni-bezec king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Gai, and had destroyed it, as he did to Jericho and its king, even so they did to Gai and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gabaon had gone over to Joshua and Israel;

Joshua 10:1 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 10:1

Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem
So called, perhaps by anticipation, Jerusalem, since it seems to have had this name given it by the Israelites, when they had got possession of it: and Jerusalem signifies "the possession of Salem" ^F23, and in memory of this its ancient name, the Jews say ^F24, they do not put "jod" in Jerusalem between "lamed" and "mem"; though some make the signification of it, "they shall see peace" ^F25; and others, nearer to its old name, and with respect to it, "fear Salem", O ye enemies. Now the king of this place

had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it;
which, being nearer to him than Jericho, the more alarmed him:

as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her
king;
burnt the one, and slew the other; and this terrified him, lest he and his city should undergo the same fate:

and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were
among them;
which as it weakened the interest of the kings of Canaan, might set an example to other places to do the like. Abarbinel suggests, that the Gibeonites making peace with Israel secretly, without the knowledge of their king, as he supposes, made Adonizedek fearful, lest his subjects should do the like; the Jewish chronologers say ^F26, that these three acts respecting Jericho, Ai, and Gibeon, were all finished within three months.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Reland, p. 833.
F24 Gloss. in T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 16. 1.
F25 Vid. Stockium, p. 480.
F26 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31.

Joshua 10:1 In-Context

1 And when Adoni-bezec king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Gai, and had destroyed it, as he did to Jericho and its king, even so they did to Gai and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gabaon had gone over to Joshua and Israel;

2 then they were greatly terrified by them, for knew that Gabaon a great city, as one of the chief cities, and all its men mighty.

3 So Adoni-bezec king of Jerusalem sent to Elam king of Hebron, and to Phidon king of Jerimuth, and to Jephtha king of Lachis, and to Dabin king of Odollam, saying,

4 Come up hither to me, and help me, and let us take Gabaon; for the Gabaonites have gone over to Joshua and to the children of Israel.

5 And the five kings of the Jebusites went up, the king of Jerusalem, and the king of Chebron, and the king of Jerimuth, and the king of Lachis, and the king of Odollam, they and all their people; and encamped around Gabaon, and besieged it.