John Calvin Commentary Joshua 11

And it came to pass when Jabin, etc. In this new league, we also see a bright manifestation of God's more than paternal care in warding off dangers from His people, and also in assisting their weakness with kindness and indulgence. If Jabin, with the confederates now mentioned, had openly declared himself the ally of the neighboring kings, a much more formidable war would have broken out against the Israelites, and greater concern and anxiety would surely have seized their minds.

Indeed, it would have been easy for the Lord to rout all their forces at once, as well as to dissipate all fear and dread of them. However, He was unwilling to overwhelm His own people, who were otherwise weak, lest the excessive numbers of the enemy should strike them with terror and drive them to despair.

Therefore, He kept the many nations—who would naturally have rushed hastily to arms—in a state of lethargy and amazement, until the chosen people had been emboldened by significant victories to carry on the wars that still remained. They pillage and devastate a large territory, leaving it destitute of inhabitants and stripped of resources. None of the neighboring powers, who are afterwards to act on the offensive, makes the least movement. The Israelites revisit their wives and children in safety.

When they had gathered courage and were ready for a new war, a very large army suddenly appears, composed of different nations who had, until then, by remaining quiet, provided an opportunity for victory. Their coming forward at this later period was the same as if they had entered into a truce. Thus, God not only fought for His chosen people but, by dividing the enemy, greatly increased their strength.

How formidable the onset would have been, if the Israelites had not been gradually trained to confidence in battle and, at the same time, experienced the manifest assistance of God! First, their numbers are compared to the sand of the sea, and then they have horses and chariots. As the Israelites were completely lacking cavalry, it is surprising that they were not terrified by this array.

Therefore, they were gradually brought forward until they were able to bear it. For, in their former battles, He had only exercised them through a kind of pleasant preludes. It may be added that the Lord had, by several victories, repeatedly borne testimony to His power, so that they might not think of it more lightly than was fitting.

If all their enemies had been routed at once, they might, indeed, have magnificently celebrated the praises of God, but they might also have easily lost the remembrance of His deeds. It was necessary, therefore, that repeated proofs, distinct and separate from each other, should be presented to them, lest they attribute any single victory to a stroke of fortune.

And the Lord said unto Joshua, The greater the labor and difficulty of destroying an army so numerous and so well equipped, the more necessary it was to inspire them with new confidence. The Lord, therefore, appears to His servant Joshua and promises the same success He had previously given him on several occasions.

It is to be carefully observed that as often as He reiterates His promises, men are reminded of their forgetfulness, their sloth, or their fickleness. For unless new nourishment is given to faith every now and then, they immediately faint and fall away. And yet, such is our perverse fastidiousness that to hear the same thing twice is usually felt to be irksome.

Therefore, let us learn, as often as we are called to engage in new contests, to recall the remembrance of the divine promises, which may correct our languor or rouse us from our sloth. And especially, let us apply what is said here in general to our daily practice, as the Lord now intimates that what He had declared concerning all nations would be especially sure and stable on the present occasion.

We infer from the account of the time employed that these kings had marched a considerable distance to attack Joshua and the people in Gilgal. For immediately after the divine intimation, mention is made of Joshua’s swiftness. He is promised the victory on the following day.

Hence, they were not far distant. And the lake of Merom, where they had pitched their camp, is adjacent to the Jordan and much nearer to Gilgal than Gennesaret, from which district some of the enemy had come. It is said that this lake diminishes or increases according to the freezing of the snow on the mountains or its melting.

Moreover, the command given to Joshua and the people to cut the legs or thighs of the horses and to burn the chariots was undoubtedly intended to prevent them from adopting those more studied modes of warfare that were in use among profane nations. It was indeed necessary that they should serve as soldiers and fight strenuously against the enemy, but still they were to depend only on the Lord, to consider themselves strong only in His might, and to rely on Him alone.

This could scarcely have been the case if they had been provided with cavalry and an array of chariots. For we know how such showy equipment dazzles the eye and intoxicates the mind with overweening confidence. Moreover, a law had been enacted (Deuteronomy 17:16) that their kings were not to provide themselves with horses and chariots, obviously because they would have been extremely apt to ascribe to their own military discipline what God claimed for Himself. Hence the common saying (Psalms 20:7)

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”

God wished to deprive them of all stimulants to audacity, so that they might live quietly contented with their own limits and not unjustly attack their neighbors. And experience showed that when a bad ambition had impelled their kings to buy horses, they engaged in wars not less rashly than unsuccessfully. It was necessary, therefore, to render the horses useless for war by cutting their sinews and to destroy the chariots, so that the Israelites might not become accustomed to the practices of the heathen.

And the Lord delivered them, etc. The greatness of the overthrow can be inferred from the fact that the slaughter continued as far as Sidon, which was a great distance from the lake of Merom. Sidon is called "great" because of its fame as a commercial center and its large population. This is not a comparison between it and a smaller town of the same name. The Hebrew noun Mozerephoth, which some retain unchanged as a proper name, we have preferred to translate as “the boiling of the waters,” because it is probable that thermal springs, which boiled, were located there.

Moreover, the panic that hurried them away into such a scattered flight plainly shows that they were driven headlong by the secret terror of the Lord. Thus, it is certain that the Israelites, who dared to follow the fugitives through so many dangers, were elevated to a valor beyond human capability by divine power.

Praise is given to Joshua both for his restraint and for his prompt obedience. He would not have submitted so willingly to the loss of so many horses and chariots if the fear of God had not overawed him. For such is human ingenuity in devising excuses, it would have been plausible to argue that even though he could not adapt them for military use, their value was by no means to be despised.

But he believed he had no right to consider anything but God's will. Then, because he had succeeded through his own good conduct in making the people willing and obedient, he, as an individual, justly received praise for what had been accomplished by all.

And all the cities of those kings, etc. Having routed the army, they began to plunder and lay waste the country, and to take and demolish the towns. From its being said that the cities which remained entire were not burned, it may be inferred with some probability that some were taken by force and assault, and so razed.

Hazor, alone, after the siege was over, and the heat of the struggle had cooled, was destroyed by fire because it had held forth the torch which enkindled the war. But in accordance with the explanation already given, it is repeatedly and more clearly stated in this passage that Joshua did not give loose reins to his passion when he slew all from the least to the greatest.

For there is now a distinct statement of what had not yet been expressed, namely, that Joshua faithfully performed his part by fulfilling everything which the Lord had enjoined by Moses. It is just as if he had placed his hands at the disposal of God when he destroyed those nations according to his command.

And so we ought to hold that, though the whole world should condemn us, it is sufficient to free us from all blame, that we have the authority of God. Meanwhile, we should prudently consider what each person’s vocation requires, lest anyone, by giving license to his zeal, wishing to imitate Joshua, may be judged cruel and bloodthirsty, rather than a strict servant of God.

So Joshua took all that land, and so on. In the uninterrupted series of victories, when the land, of its own accord, expelled its former inhabitants to give free possession to the Israelites, it was clearly evident, as is said in the Psalm (Psalms 44:3).

They got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou had a favor unto them.

The purpose of listing the places and districts is to show us that God continued to carry on the work He had begun without interruption.

However, it is a mistake to suppose, as some do, that the name Israel refers to a specific mountain. For it will be clear from the end of the chapter (Joshua 11:21) that the term is applied without distinction to the mountainous regions of both Israel and Judah.

Therefore, there is an enlargement in this listing, because the mountains of the ten tribes are implicitly compared with the mountains of Judah. Accordingly, an antithesis should be understood.

Regarding the other mountain mentioned (Joshua 11:17), its name is ambiguous. Some understand it to mean division, as if it had been cut in two; others interpret it as smooth, because it was bare of trees, just as a head is made smooth by baldness. Since this point is uncertain and of little importance, the reader is free to choose.