John Calvin Commentary Joshua 10:40

"So Joshua smote all the land, the hill-country, and the South, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, commanded." — Joshua 10:40 (ASV)

So Joshua smote all the country, etc. Here the divine authority is again interposed to completely acquit Joshua of any charge of cruelty. If he had proceeded of his own accord to commit an indiscriminate massacre of women and children, no excuse could have exculpated him from the guilt of detestable cruelty—cruelty surpassing anything we read of as having been perpetrated by savage tribes scarcely raised above the level of animals. But what all would otherwise be justly horrified at, they should embrace with reverence, as proceeding from God.

Clemency is justly praised as one of the principal virtues, but it is the clemency of those who moderate their wrath when they have been injured and when they would have been justified, as individuals, in shedding blood. However, since God had destined the swords of His people for the slaughter of the Amorites, Joshua could do nothing else than obey His command.

Therefore, by this fact, not only are all mouths stopped, but all minds are also restrained from presuming to pass censure. When anyone hears it said that Joshua killed all who came in his way without distinction, even though they threw down their arms and humbly begged for mercy, the calmest minds are stirred by the bare and simple statement. But when it is added that God had so commanded, there is no more ground for obloquy against him than there is against those who pronounce sentence on criminals.

Although, in our judgment at least, the children and many of the women also were without blame, let us remember that the judgment seat of heaven is not subject to our laws. Indeed, rather, when we see how the green plants are thus burned, let us, who are dry wood, fear a heavier judgment for ourselves. And certainly, anyone who will thoroughly examine himself will find that he is deserving of a hundred deaths.

Why, then, should not the Lord perceive just cause for one death in any infant who has only passed from its mother’s womb? In vain will we murmur or make noisy complaint that He has doomed the whole offspring of an accursed race to the same destruction; the potter will nevertheless have absolute power over his own vessels, or rather, over his own clay.

The last verse confirms the observation already made: that the fixed station of all the people was in Gilgal, and that the soldiers who had gone out to war returned there, both so that they might rest from their fatigues and place their plunder in safety. It would not have been proper to allow them to be more widely scattered until the casting of the lot had shown where each was to have his permanent home.