1Now when Jabin king of Hazor heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph; 2to the kings of the north in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Chinnereth, in the foothills,a and in Naphoth-dorb to the west; 3to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
4So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots. 5All these kings joined forces and encamped at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
6Then YHVH said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.”
7So by the waters of Merom, Joshua and his whole army came upon them suddenly and attacked them, 8and YHVH delivered them into the hand of Israel, who struck them down and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down, leaving no survivors. 9Joshua treated them as YHVH had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned up their chariots.
10At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword, because Hazor was formerly the head of all these kingdoms. 11The Israelites put everyone in Hazor to the sword, devoting them to destruction.c Nothing that breathed remained, and Joshua burned down Hazor itself.
12Joshua captured all these kings and their cities and put them to the sword. He devoted them to destruction, as Moses YHVH’s servant had commanded. 13Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua burned.
14The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they put all the people to the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed.15As YHVH had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. That is what Joshua did, leaving nothing undone of all that YHVH had commanded Moses.
16So Joshua took this entire region: the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah, and the mountains of Israel and their foothills, 17from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death.
18Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long period of time. 19No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites living in Gibeon; all others were taken in battle. 20For it was of YHVH to hardend their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as YHVH had commanded Moses.
21At that time Joshua proceeded to eliminate the Anakim from the hill country of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction, along with their cities. 22No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive.
23So Joshua took the entire land, in keeping with all that YHVH had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to the allotments to their tribes. Then the land had rest from war.
Joshua 11
“To Ibni-[Addu]…Thus Irpa [says]…Regarding bringing the young woman in the care of…A certain woman, Aba…Raised objections…Thus she(said):’Until…”
The major destruction observed at the end of stratum XVI at Tell el-Kedah included a severe conflagration which produced a meter of ash and debris in both the Lower and Upper city, marking the end of the MBA archaeology and the city destroyed by Joshua.
David Rohl
The Kings Defeated East of the Jordan
1Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites struck down and whose lands they took beyond the Jordan to the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah eastward:
2Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along the middle of the valley, up to the Jabbok River (the border of the Ammonites), that is, half of Gilead, 3as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinneretha to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Seab), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.
4And Og king of Bashan,c one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei. 5He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all of Bashan up to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
6Moses, the servant of YHVH, and the Israelites had struck them down and given their land as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
The Kings Defeated West of the Jordan
7And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance 8the hill country, the foothills,d the Arabah, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negev—the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites):
9the king of Jericho, one;
the king of Ai, which is near Bethel, one;
10the king of Jerusalem, one;
the king of Hebron, one;
11the king of Jarmuth, one;
the king of Lachish, one;
12the king of Eglon, one;
the king of Gezer, one;
13the king of Debir, one;
the king of Geder, one;
14the king of Hormah, one;
the king of Arad, one;
15the king of Libnah, one;
the king of Adullam, one;
16the king of Makkedah, one;
the king of Bethel, one;
17the king of Tappuah, one;
the king of Hepher, one;
18the king of Aphek, one;
the king of Lasharon, one;
19the king of Madon, one;
the king of Hazor, one;
20the king of Shimron-meron, one;
the king of Achshaph, one;
21the king of Taanach, one;
the king of Megiddo, one;
22the king of Kedesh, one;
the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
23the king of Dor in Naphath-dor,e one;
the king of Goiim in Gilgal,f one;
24and the king of Tirzah, one.
So there were thirty-one kings in all.
Joshua 12
MB IIB archaeology at Tell el-Khalil, Tel Arad, Tel Beit Mirsim, Tel ed-Duweir, Tel el-Kedah and Beitin fit the destruction of Hebron, Hormath, Aram, Debir, Lachish, Hazor and Bethel in the Joshua Conquest narratives