Joshua 10:8

And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) And the Lord said unto Joshua.—A distinct command is given for the commencement of this attack, as for all the important steps in the conquest of Canaan.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:7-14 The meanest and most feeble, who have just begun to trust the Lord, are as much entitled to be protected as those who have long and faithfully been his servants. It is our duty to defend the afflicted, who, like the Gibeonites, are brought into trouble on our account, or for the sake of the gospel. Joshua would not forsake his new vassals. How much less shall our true Joshua fail those who trust in Him! We may be wanting in our trust, but our trust never can want success. Yet God's promises are not to slacken and do away, but to quicken and encourage our endeavours. Notice the great faith of Joshua, and the power of God answering it by the miraculous staying of the sun, that the day of Israel's victories might be made longer. Joshua acted on this occasion by impulse on his mind from the Spirit of God. It was not necessary that Joshua should speak, or the miracle be recorded, according to the modern terms of astronomy. The sun appeared to the Israelites over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Ajalon, and there they appeared to be stopped on their course for one whole day. Is any thing too hard for the Lord? forms a sufficient answer to ten thousand difficulties, which objectors have in every age started against the truth of God as revealed in his written word. Proclamation was hereby made to the neighbouring nations, Behold the works of the Lord, and say, What nation is there so great as Israel, who has God so nigh unto them?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The language reflects the urgency of the crisis. Accordingly Joshua made a forced march, accompanied only by his soldiers Joshua 10:7, and accomplished in a single night the distance from Gilgal to Gibeon (about 15 miles in a direct line), which on a former occasion had been a three days' journey Joshua 9:17.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jos 10:6-9. Joshua Rescues It.

6-8. the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua—Their appeal was urgent and their claim to protection irresistible, on the ground, not only of kindness and sympathy, but of justice. In attacking the Canaanites, Joshua had received from God a general assurance of success (Jos 1:5). But the intelligence of so formidable a combination among the native princes seems to have depressed his mind with the anxious and dispiriting idea that it was a chastisement for the hasty and inconsiderate alliance entered into with the Gibeonites. It was evidently to be a struggle of life and death, not only to Gibeon, but to the Israelites. And in this view the divine communication that was made to him was seasonable and animating. He seems to have asked the counsel of God and received an answer, before setting out on the expedition.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Lord said unto Joshua,.... Either when upon the march, and while he was proceeding on in his journey to the assistance of the Gibeonites, or rather before he set out; and it is highly probable he consulted the Lord on this occasion, having, it may be, some doubt on his mind, whether he should go to their assistance, since the league between them was obtained by fraud; and the words may be rendered, "and the Lord hath said" (n): before he set forward with his men of war:

fear them not; the five kings, and their combined army:

for I have delivered them into thine hand; had determined to do it, and which was as certain as if it had been actually done:

there shall not a man of them stand before thee; but be either cut off, or obliged to flee.

(n) "et dixerat", Masius, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Geneva Study Bible

And the LORD said unto Joshua, {c} Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.

(c) Lest Joshua should have thought that God had sent this great power against him for his unlawful league with the Gibeonites, the Lord here strengthens him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. Fear them not] Comp. Joshua 11:6; Jdg 4:14.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - Fear not. The key-note of Joshua's career, as of the career of every soldier of God (see Joshua 1:9; Joshua 11:6). Joshua 10:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Lord then renewed the assurance of His help in this particular war, in which Joshua was about to fight for the first time with several allied kings of Canaan (cf. Joshua 2:24; Joshua 6:2; Joshua 8:1, Joshua 8:18).