Joshua 12

Joshua 12: List of Defeated Kings

Synopsis

This passage simply sums up all of the kings that have been defeated by the Israelites, to date.

First, the kings that were defeated under Moses’ leadership:

• Sihon, king of the Amorites
  • Some detail is given as to how much territory Sihon’s kingdom covered, which now belongs to the Israelites
• Og, king of Bashan
  • Some detail is given as to how much territory Og’s kingdom covered, as well. Also, it’s mentioned that Og was the last of the Rephaites, although that doesn’t mean anything to me.

After this, the kings that were defeated by the Israelites under Joshua’s leadership are mentioned; they conquered the kings of: Jericho, Ai, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, Gezer, Debir, Geder, Hormah, Arad, Libnah, Adullam, Makkedah, Bethel, Tappuah, Hepher, Aphek, Lasharon, Madon, Hazor, Shimron Meron, Acshaph, Taanach, Megiddo, Kedesh, Jokneam (in Carmel), Dor (in Naphoth Dor), Goyim (in Gilgal), and Tirzah.

No detail is given about any of these kingdoms; how much territory they covered, or anything about them. They’re simply listed.

Thoughts

Even though we’re only about halfway through the book of Joshua, the action is pretty much finished, by this point; most of the rest of the book is concerned with the LORD’s instructions on how to divide up the land. Not that the Israelites have finished taking the land over—the next passage, Joshua 13:1–7, will make that clear—but they’ve taken over all that they’re going to take over under Joshua’s leadership. (Over the last few passages, we’ve seen the Israelites defeat kingdom after kingdom, but I don’t think it happened all at once; it probably took years for the Israelites to take over as much of the Promised Land as they have up to this point.)