John Gill Commentary Joshua 10

Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem
So called, perhaps by anticipation, Jerusalem, since it seems to have had this name given it by the Israelites, when they had got possession of it: and Jerusalem signifies "the possession of Salem" ^F23 , and in memory of this its ancient name, the Jews say ^F24 , they do not put "jod" in Jerusalem between "lamed" and "mem"; though some make the signification of it, "they shall see peace" ^F25 ; and others, nearer to its old name, and with respect to it, "fear Salem", O you enemies.

Now the king of this place had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it ;
which, being nearer to him than Jericho, the more alarmed him:

as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her
king ;
burnt the one, and slew the other; and this terrified him, lest he and his city should undergo the same fate:

and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were
among them ;
which as it weakened the interest of the kings of Canaan, might set an example to other places to do the like. Abarbinel suggests, that the Gibeonites making peace with Israel secretly, without the knowledge of their king, as he supposes, made Adonizedek fearful, lest his subjects should do the like.

The Jewish chronologers say ^F26 , that these three acts respecting Jericho, Ai, and Gibeon, were all finished within three months.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: Reland, p. 833.
• F24: Gloss. in T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 16. 1.
• F25: Vid. Stockium, p. 480.
• F26: Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31.

That they feared greatly
The king of Jerusalem and his people, lest they should fall into the hands of the Israelites, and be used as Jericho and Ai, and the kings and inhabitants of them were, and that they would be the next that should fall a sacrifice to them; for Gibeon was fifty furlongs from Jerusalem, as Josephus says ^F1 ; and in another place he says ^F2 but forty, which were but five miles; and if fifty, but little more than six miles; according to Bunting ^F3 , it was but four miles: and what added to their terror was,

because Gibeon [was] a great city ;
being a metropolitan city, and having others subject to it; therefore the surrender of that to the Israelites might intimidate other cities, and lead them by example to do the like, and so of bad consequence:

as one of the royal cities ;
the Vulgate Latin version omits the note of similitude, and reads, "and one of the royal cities"; and sometimes "caph" or "as" is not a note of likeness, but of reality; yet as we nowhere read of a king of Gibeon, the sense may be, that though it was not a royal seat, it was equal to those that were, and like one, being a metropolitan city: and

because it [was] greater than Ai :
had more inhabitants in it, and perhaps better fortified:

and all the men thereof [were] mighty ;
men of strength, courage, and valour, warlike men, and therefore for such a city to yield so easily, and in such a base, mean, and cowardly way, was setting a very bad example.

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 19. sect. 1.
• F2: Antiqu. l. 7. c. 11. sect. 7.
• F3: Travels of the Patriarchs p. 98.

Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron Which, according to Jerom ^F4 was twenty two miles from Jerusalem; it was an ancient city built seven years before Zoan in Egypt; (See Gill on Genesis 13:18) and (See Gill on Numbers 13:22):

and unto Piram king of Jarmuth ; a city which fell to the lot of Judah, as did Hebron, (Joshua 15:35Joshua 15:54) ; according to Jerom ^F5 , it was four miles distant from Eleutheropolis; according to Procopius ^F6 fourteen, about the village Eshtaol, near to which Samson was buried, (Judges 16:31) ; but Jerom ^F7 speaks of a city called Jermus, in the tribe of Judah, which seems to be the same with this; and which he says in his day was a village, that went by the name of Jermucha, ten miles from Eleutheropolis, as you go to Aelia or Jerusalem; and as Eleutheropolis lay twenty miles from Jerusalem, this place must be ten miles from it, lying between them both:

and unto Japhia king of Lachish ; Which the above writer says ^F8 was a city in the tribe of Judah, and in his time a village, seven miles from Eleutheropolis, as you go to Daroma, or the south; and, according to Bunting ^F9 , it lay between Eleutheropolis and Hebron, and was twenty miles from Jerusalem towards the southwest:

and unto Debir king of Eglon ; Which the Septuagint version calls Odollam or Adullam; and Jerom, following this version, makes Eglon the same with Adullam, when it is certain they were different places, and had distinct kings over them, (Joshua 12:12Joshua 12:15) ; and which he says ^F11 in his time was a very large village, twelve miles from Eleutheropolis to the east; and, according to Bunting ^F12 it was twelve miles from Jerusalem southward. To these four kings the king of Jerusalem sent:

saying ; as follows.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: De loc. Heb. fol. 87. E.
• F5: lb. fol. 92. H.
• F6: Apud Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. l. 2. p. 505.
• F7: Ut supra, (De loc. Heb. fol. 92.) I.
• F8: Ib. M.
• F9: Travels, p. 99.
• F11: De loc. Heb. fol. 91. A.
• F12: Travels, p. 92.

Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon
For which he thought himself not a match, not only because it was a great city, and full of mighty men, and had other cities subject to it, but because he might reasonably judge that Joshua would come to their assistance if possible, being in league with him; he sends to these kings in an authoritative manner, as if they were in some respects subject to him; and he proposes Jerusalem as the place of their rendezvous, and which it seems lay higher than their cities, though they were in the mountainous part of the country:

for it has made peace with Joshua, and with the children of Israel ;
their avowed enemies, and so had separated themselves from their countrymen, and from their common interest; and therefore it was thought proper to make an example of them, that others might fear to do the same.

Therefore the five kings of the Amorites For though they were chiefly Hittites that dwelt in Hebron, and Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; yet as the Amorites were the most powerful people in the land, and had dispersed themselves in the several parts of it, and seem to have the greatest authority in it, they were all called Amorites, and perhaps the kings of those cities were of them, and set over them by them; so we find that the Gibeonites, who were Hivites, are said to be of the remnant of the Amorite, (2 Samuel 21:2) ;

the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they, and all their hosts ; that is, to Jerusalem, the place of their rendezvous, and from thence they marched:

and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it : by besieging it, and attacking it in some of its forts.