Verse 36. - Went up. The accuracy of the geographical details must here be noticed. Joshua "passes" from one city to another in the plain. He "goes up" to Hebron, which is situated among the hills. See note on ver. 3; cf. also Joshua 11:21; Joshua 14:12. Hebron. Commentators of the school of Maurer and De Wette regard the taking of Hebron and Debir as irreconcilable with Joshua 11:21; Joshua 14:12; Joshua 15:13-17. But this is by no means certain. The operations of Joshua were sudden, and, so far as they went, decisive, But it is never pretended that his conquest of southern Palestine was complete. It is impossible to assert this in the face of such passages as Joshua 16:10, 17:12, 13, and especially in the face of such a fact as the continued existence of the Philistine power. Joshua extirpated the inhabitants of the cities he took, but there were many others - some of at least equal importance - which he did not take. We may instance Gaza, Garb, and Ashdod. See Joshua 11:22. Their inhabitants came and occupied again the cities which Joshua had destroyed, first when he was engaged in operations in the north and west, and again when the Israelites had begun to repose upon their laurels, and to neglect the task God had set them, namely, the complete extermination of the Canaanite race from Palestine. Thus Joshua returned from the north and found a large part of the country he had subdued reoccupied by the giant tribes of the south. He "cut them off from Hebron and Debir," i.e., he compelled them to evacuate those cities, but there was no necessity for a second of either. Yet at a later period they still lurked in the neighborhood (Joshua 14:12), perhaps in the mountain fastnessess (a very common thing in the history of nations, as the history of our own country, of the Basques in the Pyrenees, and of Swiss freedom shows), and were strong enough to regain Debir (Joshua 15:17). Jerusalem itself (see note on ver. 1) had a similar fate. After the capture of Jerusalem the Israelites were unable to hold it permanently (Joshua 15:63; cf. Judges 1:8, 21). And such expressions as "all the cities thereof" show that the south of Palestine was thickly populated. Each city was, like Gibeon, the head of a small confederacy. And as the chief cities smitten by Joshua would have been but a tithe of the confederations existing in the south, the task of reoccupying must have been an easy one. It seems to be implied in Judges 1. that Caleb took Hebron and Debir after Joshua's death.
10:28-43 Joshua made speed in taking these cities. See what a great deal of work may be done in a little time, if we will be diligent, and improve our opportunities. God here showed his hatred of the idolatries and other abominations of which the Canaanites had been guilty, and shows us how great the provocation was, by the greatness of the destruction brought upon them. Here also was typified the destruction of all the enemies of the Lord Jesus, who, having slighted the riches of his grace, must for ever feel the weight of his wrath. The Lord fought for Israel. They could not have gotten the victory, if God had not undertaken the battle. We conquer when God fights for us; if he be for us, who can be against us?
And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron,.... Which lay in the hill country, and therefore they are said to go up to it from Eglon, which lay lower; and, according to Bunting (g), it was sixteen miles from it:
and they fought against it; it making some resistance at first, and did not surrender at once, as demanded.
and they fought against it; it making some resistance at first, and did not surrender at once, as demanded.
(g) Ibid. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 96.)