Passage

Joshua 11.20-21

Book: Joshua · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"18. 60 made war a long time with all those kings. 19. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: they took all in battle."

"20. For it was of Jehovah to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as Jehovah commanded Moses. 21. And Joshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim from the hill-country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill-country of Judah, and from all the hill-country of Israel: Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities."

"22. There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain. 23. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that Jehovah spake unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land had rest from war." (Joshua 11:18-23, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"18. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took all in battle."

"20. For it was of Yahweh to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 21. Joshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel: Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities."

"22. There were none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain. 23. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that Yahweh spoke to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. The land had rest from war." (Joshua 11:18-23, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"18. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle."

"20. For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses. 21. And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities."

"22. There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained. 23. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war." (Joshua 11:18-23, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"18. Many days hath Joshua made with all these kings war; 19. there hath not been a city which made peace with the sons of Israel save the Hivite, inhabitants of Gibeon; the whole they have taken in battle;"

"20. for from Jehovah it hath been to strengthen their heart, to meet in battle with Israel, in order to devote them, so that they have no grace, but in order to destroy them, as Jehovah commanded Moses. 21. And Joshua cometh at that time, and cutteth off the Anakim from the hill-country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, even from all the hill-country of Judah, and from all the hill-country of Israel; with their cities hath Joshua devoted them."

"22. There hath not been left Anakim in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, were they left. 23. And Joshua taketh the whole of the land, according to all that Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses, and Joshua giveth it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions, by their tribes; and the land hath rest from war." (Joshua 11:18-23, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: narrator
Audience: Israel; downstream, the covenant-community
Location: the hill-country of Judah and Israel; the Anakim-centers at Hebron, Debir, Anab
Time period: end of the main conquest campaign, c. 1399 BC

Theological reading

The verse pair supplies the explicit theological-rationale for the conquest-[[H2763 - charam|charam]]. Three features are theologically-decisive. (1) YHWH's sovereign-hardening: v. 20 names YHWH as the one who hardened their hearts to come against Israel in battle so that they might come under the charam-judgment. The construction parallels the Exodus-Pharaoh-hardening pattern (Ex 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17); the conquest-charam sits under the same divine-sovereignty-over-rebellion logic. The narrative-theological force: the Canaanite-coalition's choice to make war against Israel is real and culpable, and YHWH's overarching-sovereignty is real, the two are simultaneously affirmed without dissolution. (2) The Hivite carve-out at v. 19: the Gibeonites (Josh 9, Hivites of Gibeon) are explicitly noted as the one city-people that made-peace and escaped the charam by covenantal-pivot, supplying textual confirmation of the escape-hatch principle (the charam admits individual-and-corporate escape by covenantal-pivot). (3) The Anakim-elimination at v. 21: the legendary giant-clan of the southern hill-country, the same Anakim whose presence terrified the spies at Num 13:33 and produced the 40-year wilderness delay, are explicitly named as eliminated. The Anakim-narrative thread carries theological-cosmological-significance in the divine-council framework (Michael Heiser); the conquest is not mere territorial-conquest but cosmic-judgment on the Nephilim-lineage corruption traced from Gen 6:1-4 → Num 13:33 → the Rephaim genealogies → David's elimination of Goliath and the four giants of Gath (1 Sam 17; 2 Sam 21:15-22). The framework treats the conquest as the historical execution of cosmic-judgment with theological-cosmological-stakes.

Key words

H2763 - charam, haḥarimam + yaḥarimem, the charam execution-verb deployed twice (vv. 20-21); the narrative-arc-closing application.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.