Israel, And he spake in the sight of Israel. Sun, on Gibeon rest still,113 And moon, on the

valley of Ajalon! And still rested the sun, And the moon stood, Till the people were

avenged on their foes. (Is not this written in the 'Book of the Pious?') And the sun stood

in mid-heaven, And hasted not to go - like (as on) a complete day.114 And there was not

like that day, before or after, That Jehovah hearkened to the voice of man - For Jehovah

warred for Israel! And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him to the camp, to Gilgal."  115

And God hearkened to the voice of Joshua. Once more the sun burst forth, and the daylight was

miraculously protracted till Israel was avenged of its enemies. Onwards rolled the tide of fugitives, hotly

pursued by Israel, through the pass of Nether Beth-horon to Azekah, and thence to Makkedah.116 Here

tidings were brought to Joshua, that the five kings had hid themselves in one of the caves with which that

district abounds. But Joshua would not be diverted from his object. He ordered large stones to be rolled to

the mouth of the cave, and its entrance to be guarded by armed men, while the rest of the army followed the

enemy and smote their "rearguard." Only broken remnants of the fugitives found shelter in the "fenced

cities." Joshua himself had camped before the city of Makkedah. Thither the pursuing corps returned, and

thence the war was afterwards carried on (10:21, 29). On the morning after the victory, the five confederate

kings were brought from their hiding-place. In a manner not uncommon in ancient times,117 Joshua made his

captains put their feet upon the necks of the prostrate kings, who had so lately gone forth boastfully in all

the pride and. pomp of war. But the lesson which Israel was to learn from their victory was not one of self-

confidence in their supposed superiority, but of acknowledgment of God and confidence in Him: "Fear not,

nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall Jehovah do to all your enemies against

whom ye fight."

The death of these five kings proved only the beginning of a campaign which may have lasted weeks, or

even months, for we find that successors of these five kings afterwards shared their fate. In the end, the

whole south of Canaan was in the hands of Israel, though some of the cities taken appear to have been

afterwards again wrested from them, and occupied by the Canaanites.118 The extent of the conquest is

indicated (10:41) by a lin e drawn south and north, westwards - "from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza" - and

eastwards, "from the district of Goshen119 unto Gibeon."

The campaign thus finished in the south had soon to be renewed in the north of Canaan. The means, the

help, and the result were the same as before. Only, as the danger was much greater, from the multitude of

Israel's opponents - "even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore," - and from their formidable mode of

warfare ("horses and chariots very many"), hitherto unknown to Israel, the Lord once more gave express

assurance of victory: "I will deliver them up all slain before Israel." At the same time He enjoined "to hough

(or hamstring) their horses, and burn their chariots with fire," lest Israel should be tempted to place in future

their trust in such weapons. The allied forces of the northern enemy were under the leadership of Jabin,120

king of Hazor,121 which "beforetimes was the head of all those kingdoms." They consisted not only of the

three neighboring "kings" (or chieftains) of Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph,122 but of all the kings "in the

north and (on the mountain" (of Naphtali, Joshua 20:7), of those in the Arabah, south of the Lake of

Gennesaret, of those "in the plains," or valleys that stretched to the Mediterranean, and in "the heights of

Dor," at the foot of Mount Carmel - in short, of all the Canaanite tribes from the Mediterranean in the south-

west up to Mizpeh123 "the view") under Mount Hermon in the far north-east.

With the rapidity and suddenness which characterized all his movements, Joshua fell upon the allied camp

by the Lake Merom (the modern el-Huleh), and utterly routed the ill-welded mass of the enemy. The fugitive

Canaanites seem to have divided into three parts, one taking the road north-west to "Zidon the Great,"

another that west and south-west to the "smelting-pits by the waters" (Misrephoth-Maim), and the third

that to the east leading to the valley of Mizpeh. In each direction they were hotly pursued by the Israelites.

One by one all their cities were taken. Those in the valleys were burnt, but those on the heights, with the

exception of Hazor, left standing, as requiring only small garrisons for their occupation. Altogether the war

in the south and north must have occupied at least seven years,124 at the end of which the whole country

was in the possession of Israel, from the "smooth mountain (Mount Halak) that goeth up to Seir," - that is,