Joshua 10:37

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:28-43 Joshua made speed in taking these cities. See what a great deal of work may be done in a little time, if we will be diligent, and improve our opportunities. God here showed his hatred of the idolatries and other abominations of which the Canaanites had been guilty, and shows us how great the provocation was, by the greatness of the destruction brought upon them. Here also was typified the destruction of all the enemies of the Lord Jesus, who, having slighted the riches of his grace, must for ever feel the weight of his wrath. The Lord fought for Israel. They could not have gotten the victory, if God had not undertaken the battle. We conquer when God fights for us; if he be for us, who can be against us?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The king thereof - No doubt the successor of the king slain at Makkedah Joshua 10:23.

All the cities thereof - i. e. the smaller towns dependent upon Hebron. The expression marks Hebron as the metropolis of other subject towns.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jos 10:28-42. Seven More Kings Conquered.

28-42. that day Joshua took Makkedah—In this and the following verses is described the rapid succession of victory and extermination which swept the whole of southern Palestine into the hands of Israel. "All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The king thereof; either him mentioned before, Joshua 10:23 whose death is here repeated in this account of the general destruction of all the inhabitants of that place, or his heir or successor.

All the cities thereof which were subject to its jurisdiction; this being, it seems, a royal city, as Gibeon was, Joshua 10:2, and having cities under it as that had, Joshua 9:17.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword,

and the king thereof,.... For though the king of Hebron was one of the kings that were taken in the cave of Makkedah, and hanged; yet before Joshua came up to it, they had set up another king over them:

and all the cities thereof; for Hebron was a metropolitan city, and had other cities dependent on it, and subject to it:

and all the souls that were therein; both in Hebron, and in the cities subject to it:

he left none remaining; in any of them:

according to all that he had done to Eglon; the last place he came from:

but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein; but it seems that afterwards some that made their escape before the taking of the city, and other Canaanites driven out of their habitations, repeopled it; so that after Joshua's death it was recovered again by the tribe of Judah, Judges 1:10; unless there is given in that place a more particular account of the taking of this city, with others at this time; but the former seems most likely.

Geneva Study Bible

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

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

37. and the king thereof] The successor doubtless of the chief who fell at Makkedah. See above, Joshua 10:23.

all the cities thereof] i.e. all the smaller towns dependent upon it; “alle the burgh touns of that region,” Wyclif.

Joshua 10:37

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

From Eglon he went up from the lowland to the mountains, attacked Hebron and took it, and did to this town and its king, and the towns belonging to it, as he had already done to the others. The king of Hebron cannot of course be the one who was taken in the cave of Makkedah and put to death there, but his successor, who had entered upon the government while Joshua was occupied with the conquest of the towns mentioned in Joshua 10:28-35, which may possibly have taken more than a year. "All the cities thereof" are the towns dependent upon Hebron as the capital of the kingdom.