Joshua 10:20

And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Joshua 10:20-21. Joshua and the children of Israel — Rather, the children of Israel, by the command of Joshua; for Joshua himself went not with them, but abode at the siege before Makkedah. And all the people returned to the camp — To the body of the army, who were encamped there with Joshua, to besiege that place. In peace — That is, in safety; all that detachment sent to pursue the enemies came back safe to the camp; not a man of them was lost, or so much as wounded. None moved his tongue — Not only their men of war could not find their hands, but they were so confounded that they could not move their tongues to reproach any of the children of Israel, as doubtless they did when the Israelites were first repulsed and smitten at Ai: but now they were silenced as well as conquered.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:15-27 None moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. This shows their perfect safety. The kings were called to an account, as rebels against the Israel of God. Refuges of lies will but secure for God's judgment. God punished the abominable wickedness of these kings, the measure of whose iniquity was now full. And by this public act of justice, done upon these ringleaders of the Canaanites in sin, he would possess his people with the greater dread and detestation of the sins of the nations that God cast out from before them. Here is a type and figure of Christ's victories over the powers of darkness, and of believers' victories through him. In our spiritual conflicts we must not be satisfied with obtaining some important victory. We must pursue our scattered enemies, searching out the remains of sin as they rise up in our hearts, and thus pursue the conquest. In so doing, the Lord will afford light until the warfare be accomplished.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The thread of the narrative, broken by the four intermediate verses, Joshua 10:12-15, is now resumed from Joshua 10:11.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jos 10:16-27. The Five Kings Hanged.

16-27. these five kings … hid themselves in a cave—Hebrew, "the cave."

at Makkedah—The pursuit was continued, without interruption, to Makkedah at the foot of the western mountains, where Joshua seems to have halted with the main body of his troops while a detachment was sent forward to scour the country in pursuit of the remaining stragglers, a few of whom succeeded in reaching the neighboring cities. The last act, probably the next day, was the disposal of the prisoners, among whom the five kings were consigned to the infamous doom of being slain (De 20:16, 17); and then their corpses were suspended on five trees till the evening.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

i.e. Joshua by the children of Israel; or the children of Israel, i.e. a party of them, by the command, direction, and encouragement of Joshua; for Joshua himself went not with them, but abode in the siege before Makkedah, Joshua 10:21.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel,.... Joshua seems to have pitched his camp at Makkedah, while the rest of his army pursued the fleeing Canaanites, and when he and they were at different places:

had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed: and not to be seen in any large bodies, but scattered here and there:

that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities; to which they belonged, and which were afterwards taken, as related in the latter part of this chapter, Joshua 10:28.

Geneva Study Bible

And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. the rest] i.e. broken remnants of the fugitives.

fenced cities] “the strengthid citees,” Wyclif, = the fortified towns of great strength and impregnable position. Comp. Numbers 32:17; Deuteronomy 3:5; Deuteronomy 9:1; Joshua 14:12; 1 Samuel 6:18, &c. The fortifications of the cities of Palestine regularly fenced, consisted of one or more walls crowned with battlemented parapets, having towers at regular intervals (2 Chronicles 32:5; Jeremiah 31:38), on which in later times engines of war were placed, and in time of war watch was kept night and day (Jdg 9:46-47; 2 Kings 9:17; 2 Chronicles 26:9; 2 Chronicles 26:15). The earlier Egyptian fortifications consisted of a quadrangular and sometimes double wall of sun-dried brick, fifteen feet thick, and often fifty feet in height, with square towers at intervals of the same height as the walls, both crowned with a parapet, and a round-headed battlement in shape like a shield. See Smith’s Bib. Dict. 1:616.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - Until they were consumed. An expression not necessarily involving the destruction of every individual, but the entire annihilation of them as an army. A few scattered fugitives only remained, who sought the protection of the fortified towns. "Si ca quae per Moysen de tabernaculo vel sacrificiis, et omni illo cultu adumbrabantur, typus ct umbra dicuntur esse ccelestium, sine dubio et bella quae per Jesum geruntur, et regmn et hostium strages, ecelestium rerum umbra et typus esse dicenda aunt, eorum auntaxat bellorum quae Dominus noster Jesus cure suo exercitu et magistratibus id est credentium populis atquo eorum ducibus contra diabolum et ejus angelos praeliatur" (Orig., Hom. 12 on Joshua). Fenced cities. These were

(1) walled,

(2) crowned with battlements (פִנּות), and

(3) defended by towers. See for further information the article in Smith's 'Dictionary of the Bible.' Joshua 10:20

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

When the great battle and the pursuit of the enemy were ended, and such as remained had reached their fortified towns, the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace, i.e., without being attacked by anybody. "There pointed not (a dog) its tongue against the sons of Israel, against any one" (see at Exodus 11:7). לאישׁ is in apposition to ישׂראל לבני, and serves to define it more precisely. It is possible, however, to regard the ל as a copyist's error, as Houbigant and Maurer do, in which case אישׁ would be the nominative to the verb.