Chapter commentary
Joshua Chapter 10
1
Jos 10:1-5.
English original
Jos 10:1-5.
FIVE KINGS WAR AGAINST GIBEON.
1. Adoni-zedek--"lord of righteousness"--nearly synonymous with Melchizedek, "king of righteousness." These names were common titles of the Jebusite kings.
Jerusalem--The original name, "Salem"
(Ge 14:18; Ps 76:2),
was superseded by that here given, which signifies "a peaceful possession," or "a vision of peace," in allusion, as some think, to the strikingly symbolic scene
(Ge 22:14)
represented on the mount whereon that city was afterwards built.
inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them--that is, the Israelites; had made an alliance with that people, and acknowledging their supremacy, were living on terms of friendly intercourse with them.
2
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2. 他們就甚懼怕——以色列人迅速的征服所引起的恐懼，因著基遍這樣人口眾多、勢力強盛的邦國竟也覺得順服侵略者的權勢和條件為上策，而大大加深了。
像 royal 的一樣——基遍本身雖是共和政體
(書 9:3)，
卻大而設防堅固，一如本國首長們通常建都的那些地方。
English original
2. they feared greatly--The dread inspired by the rapid conquests of the Israelites had been immensely increased by the fact of a state so populous and so strong as Gibeon having found it expedient to submit to the power and the terms of the invaders.
as one of the royal cities--Although itself a republic
(Jos 9:3),
it was large and well-fortified, like those places in which the chiefs of the country usually established their residence.
3
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3、4. 耶路撒冷王亞多尼洗德……打發人……說，求你上來幫助我——他們圖謀聯合進攻基遍，不僅是要懲治基遍人背棄本族之業的罪，更要藉傾覆此城來攔阻以色列人繼續深入。巴勒斯坦南部的山地諸王結成這同盟，由耶路撒冷王發起牽頭，因為他的疆土最為暴露於危險之中——基遍距他不過六英里；同時也因為他顯然在鄰近諸王中享有某種優越的地位。
English original
3, 4. Wherefore Adoni-zedek . . . sent, . . . saying, Come up unto me, and help me--A combined attack was meditated on Gibeon, with a view not only to punish its people for their desertion of the native cause, but by its overthrow to interpose a barrier to the farther inroads of the Israelites. This confederacy among the mountaineers of Southern Palestine was formed and headed by the king of Jerusalem, because his territory was most exposed to danger, Gibeon being only six miles distant, and because he evidently possessed some degree of pre-eminence over his royal neighbors.
5
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5. 五個亞摩利王——這一強大好戰的部族本居於摩押境內；但他們在約旦西南也取得了大片地業，因此這整片地域似乎都以其名為統治之號
(撒下 21:2)，
儘管希伯崙住的是赫人或希未人
(書 11:19)，
耶路撒冷住的是耶布斯人
(書 15:63)。
English original
5. the five kings of the Amorites--The settlement of this powerful and warlike tribe lay within the confines of Moab; but having also acquired extensive possessions on the southwest of the Jordan, their name, as the ruling power, seems to have been given to the region generally
(2Sa 21:2),
although Hebron was inhabited by Hittites or Hivites
(Jos 11:19),
and Jerusalem by Jebusites
(Jos 15:63).
6
Jos 10:6-9.
書 10:6-9。
約書亞救援基遍
6-8. 基遍的人打發人見約書亞——他們的呼籲十分迫切，其求保護的要求更無可推諉，不僅基於恩情與同情，也是基於公義。約書亞攻伐迦南人，原已從神得了必勝的總括應許
(書 1:5)。
但本地諸王結成如此可畏的聯軍，這消息似乎使他心中沉重，憂懼地以為這是神對他們倉促草率地與基遍人結盟而施的懲治。這一戰顯然是生死存亡之爭，不僅關乎基遍，也關乎以色列人。據此而論，神此時賜給他的啟示正合其時、令人振奮。他看來在出兵之前，曾求問神並得了答覆。
English original
Jos 10:6-9.
JOSHUA RESCUES IT.
6-8. the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua--Their appeal was urgent and their claim to protection irresistible, on the ground, not only of kindness and sympathy, but of justice. In attacking the Canaanites, Joshua had received from God a general assurance of success
(Jos 1:5).
But the intelligence of so formidable a combination among the native princes seems to have depressed his mind with the anxious and dispiriting idea that it was a chastisement for the hasty and inconsiderate alliance entered into with the Gibeonites. It was evidently to be a struggle of life and death, not only to Gibeon, but to the Israelites. And in this view the divine communication that was made to him was seasonable and animating. He seems to have asked the counsel of God and received an answer, before setting out on the expedition.
9
Untitled
9. 約書亞就終夜從吉甲上前來，猛然臨到他們——這話由下句加以說明：他率領精選之兵，一夜之間強行軍走完二十六英里；而按東方軍隊和商隊緩慢的步速，這原是三天的路程
(書 9:17)。
English original
9. Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly--This is explained in the following clause, where he is described as having accomplished, by a forced march of picked men, in one night, a distance of twenty-six miles, which, according to the slow pace of Eastern armies and caravans, had formerly been a three days' journey
(Jos 9:17).
10
Jos 10:10, 11.
書 10:10、11。
神用冰雹與他們爭戰
10、11. 耶和華使他們潰亂——希伯來文作「驚嚇」、「使亞摩利聯軍驚惶」，大概是用可怕的閃電雷鳴之暴風。這詞通常正是這樣用的
(撒上 7:10；
詩 18:13；144:6)。
在基遍大大地殺敗他們——這是指以色列人攻擊圍城之敵。顯然在基遍高地周圍曾有過一番苦戰，因為直到日頭偏西敵軍才開始逃遁。
沿伯和崙的上坡路追趕他們——伯和崙意即「洞穴之屋」，至今仍可見其遺跡。此名原有相鄰的兩個村莊，一上一下。上伯和崙距基遍最近——約十英里，要沿一條又長又陡的峽谷緩緩上坡才能到達。這是逃遁的第一程。潰兵翻過上伯和崙的高嶺，正全力奔向下伯和崙的下坡路。兩地之間的路多石崎嶇，須在岩石上鑿出階梯才能通行 [ROBINSON]。約書亞便沿此隘口乘勝追擊。正是在這裏，主親自介入，以一場暴風助祂的百姓；這風暴大概醞釀了一整天，此刻迸發出不可抵擋的狂威，「被冰雹打死的，比以色列人用刀殺死的還多」。東方的冰雹乃是可怕的災器；雹塊是如核桃般大小的冰團，有時甚至大如雙拳；其體積之巨、墜落之猛，常使財物大受損害，甚至奪人性命。這場落在亞摩利軍身上的風暴，其神奇之處在於：以色列人卻完全未受其毀壞之害。
English original
Jos 10:10, 11.
GOD FIGHTS AGAINST THEM WITH HAILSTONES.
10, 11. the Lord discomfited them--Hebrew, "terrified," confounded the Amorite allies, probably by a fearful storm of lightning and thunder. So the word is usually employed
(1Sa 7:10; Ps 18:13; 144:6).
and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon--This refers to the attack of the Israelites upon the besiegers. It is evident that there had been much hard fighting around the heights of Gibeon, for the day was far spent before the enemy took to flight.
chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon--that is, "the House of Caves," of which there are still traces existing. There were two contiguous villages of that name, upper and nether. Upper Beth-horon was nearest Gibeon--about ten miles distant, and approached by a gradual ascent through a long and precipitous ravine. This was the first stage of the flight. The fugitives had crossed the high ridge of Upper Beth-horon, and were in full flight down the descent to Beth-horon the Nether. The road between the two places is so rocky and rugged that there is a path made by means of steps cut in the rock [ROBINSON]. Down this pass Joshua continued his victorious rout. Here it was that the Lord interposed, assisting His people by means of a storm, which, having been probably gathering all day, burst with such irresistible fury, that "they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword." The Oriental hailstorm is a terrific agent; the hailstones are masses of ice, large as walnuts, and sometimes as two fists; their prodigious size, and the violence with which they fall, make them always very injurious to property, and often fatal to life. The miraculous feature of this tempest, which fell on the Amorite army, was the entire preservation of the Israelites from its destructive ravages.
12
Jos 10:12-15.
且那高地不久便會遮住將落之日
English original
Jos 10:12-15.
THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL AT THE WORD OF JOSHUA.
12-15. Then spake Joshua to the Lord . . . and . . . he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still . . . and thou, Moon--The inspired author here breaks off the thread of his history of this miraculous victory to introduce a quotation from an ancient poem, in which the mighty acts of that day were commemorated. The passage, which is parenthetical, contains a poetical description of the victory which was miraculously gained by the help of God, and forms an extract from "the book of Jasher," that is, "the upright"--an anthology, or collection of national songs, in honor of renowned and eminently pious heroes. The language of a poem is not to be literally interpreted; and therefore, when the sun and moon are personified, addressed as intelligent beings, and represented as standing still, the explanation is that the light of the sun and moon was supernaturally prolonged by the same laws of refraction and reflection that ordinarily cause the sun to appear above the horizon, when it is in reality below it [KEIL, BUSH]. Gibeon ("a hill") was now at the back of the Israelites, and the height would soon have intercepted the rays of the setting sun. The valley of Ajalon ("stags") was before them, and so near that it was sometimes called "the valley of Gibeon"
(Isa 28:21).
It would seem, from
Jos 10:14,
that the command of Joshua was in reality a prayer to God for the performance of this miracle; and that, although the prayers of eminently good men like Moses often prevailed with God, never was there on any other occasion so astonishing a display of divine power made in behalf of His people, as in answer to the prayer of Joshua.
Jos 10:15
is the end of the quotation from Jasher; and it is necessary to notice this, as the fact described in it is recorded in due course, and the same words, by the sacred historian
(Jos 10:43).
16
Jos 10:16-27.
書 10:16-27。
五王被懸
16-27. 這五個王……藏在洞裏——希伯來文作「那洞」。
在瑪基大——追擊毫不間斷地一直追到西部山麓的瑪基大，約書亞似乎帶大部隊在那裏駐紮，同時派一支分隊前去掃蕩，追剿散兵，其中有少數人逃到了鄰近的城邑。最後一幕大概是次日處置俘虜，五王在其中被判了被殺的極刑
(申 20:16、17)；
其後屍身被掛在五棵樹上，直到黃昏。
English original
Jos 10:16-27.
THE FIVE KINGS HANGED.
16-27. these five kings . . . hid themselves in a cave--Hebrew, "the cave."
at Makkedah--The pursuit was continued, without interruption, to Makkedah at the foot of the western mountains, where Joshua seems to have halted with the main body of his troops while a detachment was sent forward to scour the country in pursuit of the remaining stragglers, a few of whom succeeded in reaching the neighboring cities. The last act, probably the next day, was the disposal of the prisoners, among whom the five kings were consigned to the infamous doom of being slain
(De 20:16, 17);
and then their corpses were suspended on five trees till the evening.
24
Untitled
24. 你們把腳踏在這些王的頸項上——這不是野蠻的侮辱，而是象徵完全得勝的舉動
(申 33:29；
詩 110:5；
瑪 4:3)。
English original
24. put your feet upon the necks of these kings--not as a barbarous insult, but a symbolical action, expressive of a complete victory
(De 33:29; Ps 110:5; Mal 4:3).
28
Jos 10:28-42.
書 10:28-42。
又征服七王
28-42. 約書亞當日奪了瑪基大——以下數節記述接連而來、迅速的勝利與滅盡，將整個巴勒斯坦南部盡收入以色列之手。「約書亞將這些王和他們的地一時都奪了，因為耶和華以色列的神為以色列爭戰。約書亞和以色列眾人就回到吉甲的營中。」
English original
Jos 10:28-42.
SEVEN MORE KINGS CONQUERED.
28-42. that day Joshua took Makkedah--In this and the following verses is described the rapid succession of victory and extermination which swept the whole of southern Palestine into the hands of Israel. "All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal."
書 10:1-5。
五王攻打基遍
1. 亞多尼洗德——意即「公義之主」，與麥基洗德（「公義之王」）幾乎同義。這些都是耶布斯王常用的尊號。
耶路撒冷——原名「撒冷」
(創 14:18；
詩 76:2)，
後來被此處所給之名取代，意即「平安的產業」，或「平安的異象」；有人以為這是暗指後來建城之山上的那一幕寓意深遠的景象
(創 22:14)。
基遍的居民與以色列人立了和約，住在他們中間——即住在以色列人中間；他們已與那民結盟，承認其主權，並與他們和睦相處。