Joshua 10:2
WEB
they were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
BSB
So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
KJV
That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
Matthew Henry
Hebrew interlinear
H3372
v — fear, revere, frighten
Derivation: a primitive root;
to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten
KJV: affright, be (make) afraid, dread(-ful), (put in) fear(-ful, -fully, -ing), (be had in) reverence(-end), × see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).
vb — fear
יָרֵא vb. fear
Qal
1. fear, be afraid
2. stand in awe of
3. fear, reverence, honour
Niph.
1. be fearful, dreadful
2. cause astonishment and awe
3. inspire reverence, godly fear, and awe
Piel. make afraid, terrify
H3966
a — vehemence, vehemently, wholly, speedily
Derivation: from the same as 181;
properly, vehemence, i.e. (with or without preposition) vehemently; by implication, wholly, speedily, etc. (often with other words as an intensive or superlative; especially when repeated)
KJV: diligently, especially, exceeding(-ly), far, fast, good, great(-ly), × louder and louder, might(-ily, -y), (so) much, quickly, (so) sore, utterly, very ( much, sore), well.
n.m — muchness
מְאֹד n.m. muchness, force, abundance, exceedingly
1. force, might
2. in diff. idioms (298 t.) to express the idea of exceedingly, greatly, very (whether of magnitude or degree)
H3588
conj — relative conjunction
Derivation: a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent;
(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
KJV: and, (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), but, certainly, doubtless, else, even, except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, (al-) though, till, truly, until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.
conj — that
כִּי conj. that, for, when
1. that
2.
a. Of time, when, of the past
b. elsewhere כִּי has a force approximating to if, though it usu. represents a case as more likely to occur than אִם
c. when or if, with a concessive force, i.e. though
3. Because, since
relative conjunction
כִּי אם־
1. each part. retaining its independent force, and relating to a different clause:
a. that if
b. for if
2. (About 140 t.) the two particles being closely conjoined, and relating to the same clause—
a. limiting the prec. clause, except
b. the if being neglected, and treated as pleonastic, so that the clause is no longer a limitation of the preceding clause but a contradiction of it: but rather, but
c. after an oath, surely
forasmuch as
כִּי עַל כֵּן forasmuch as
H5892
n-m — city, waking, encampment, post
Derivation: or (in the plural) עָר; or עָיַר; (Judges 10:4), from 5782
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)
KJV: Ai (from margin), city, court (from margin), town.
n.f — city
עִיר 1092 n.f. city, town
1. city, town, abode of men
2. of fortress in a city
3. appar. fortified place, of any size
n.[m.] — excitement
עִיר n.[m.] excitement;—of terror; of rage
H1419
a n-pr-m — great, older, insolent
Derivation: or גָּדֹל; (shortened) from 1431;
great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent
KJV: aloud, elder(-est), exceeding(-ly), far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, × sore, (×) very.
adj — great
גָּדוֹל 622 adj. great
1. in magnitude and extent
2. in number
3. in intensity
4. in sound, loud
5. in age
6. in importance
7. in phrases
8. cstr.
9. as subst. concr. do great things
10. † as subst. neut. greatness of arm
n.pr.m — aloud
הַגְּדוֹלִים n.pr.m. father of Zabdiel Ne 11:14 (RV & so most; but 𝔊 RVm al. the great).
H1391
n-pr-loc — Gibon
Derivation: from the same as 1387; hilly;
Gibon, a place in Palestine
KJV: Gibeon.
n.pr.loc — father of Gibeon
גִּבְעוֹן n.pr.loc. Levitical city in tribe of Benjamin; cf. also as n.pr.m.
H259
a — united, one, first
Derivation: a numeral from 258;
properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first
KJV: a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-) ly, each (one), eleven, every, few, first, highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together,
adj.num — one
אֶחָד 972 adj.num. one
1. one
2. = each, every
3. = a certain
4. = indef. art.
5. only, & (fem.) once
6. one … another, one … the other
7. as ordinal first
8. in combin.
H4467
n-f — dominion, rule, realm
Derivation: from 4427;
dominion, i.e. (abstractly) the estate (rule) or (concretely) the country (realm)
KJV: kingdom, king's, reign, royal.
n.f — kingdom
מַמְלָכָה n.f. kingdom, sovereignty, dominion, reign
1. kingdom, realm, chiefly non-Isr.
2. sovereignty, dominion
3. reign
H1931
p — he, she, it, self, same, this, that, as, are
Derivation: of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is הִיא; he a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular;
he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are
KJV: he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.
m — he
הוּא m. הִיא f., pron. of the 3rd ps. sing. he, she, used also (in both genders) for the neuter it
1. an emph. he (she, it, they), sometimes equivalent to himself (herself, itself, themselves), or (esp. with the art.) that (those)
2. It resumes the subj. with emph.
3. Where, however, the pron. follows the pred., its position gives it the minimum of emphasis, and it expresses (or resumes) the subject as unobtrusively as possible
4. It anticipates (as it seems) the subject
5. As an emph. predicate, of God
6. In a neuter sense, that, it (of an action, occurrence, matte, etc.)
7. With the art.: so regularly when joined to a subst. defined itself by the art.
H4480
prep — part, from, out of
Derivation: or מִנִּי; or מִנֵּי; (constructive plural) (Isaiah 30:11); for 4482;
properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
KJV: above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, × neither, × nor, (out) of, over, since, × then, through, × whether, with.
prep — out of
מִן־, and מִ, before יְ, prep. expressing the idea of separation, hence out of, from, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not
1. with verbs expressing (or implying) separation or removal
a. from, against
b. מן also, without a verb of similar significance, sometimes expresses the idea of separation, away from, far from
c. of position, off, on the side of, on
2. Out of, Gk. ἐκ, Lat. ex
3. Partitively
4. Of time—
a. as marking the terminus a quo, the anterior limit of a continuous period from, since
b. as marking the period immediately succeeding the limit after
c. towards, to
5. (וְעַד) עַד … מִן from … even to
6. In comparisons, beyond, above
7. מן is prefixed to an infin.:
a. with causal force, from, on account of, through
b. after verbs implying restraint, prevention, cessation, etc.
c. with a temporal force, since, after
8. Once as a conj. before a finite verb. that
9. In compounds:
n. [m.] — portion
[מֵן] n. [m.] portion
H5857
n-pr-loc — Ai, Aja, Ajath
Derivation: or (feminine) עַיָּא; (Nehemiah 11:31), or עַיָּת; (Isaiah 10:28), for 5856;
Ai, Aja or Ajath, a place in Palestine
KJV: Ai, Aija, Aijath, Hai.
n.pr.loc — Ai
עַי, עַיָּ֑ת, עַיָּה 40 n.pr.loc.
1. old Canaanit. city
2. E. Jordan city
H3605
n-m — whole, all, any, every
Derivation: or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל; from 3634;
properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
KJV: (in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).
n.m — the whole
כֹּל once כּוֹל n.m. the whole, all
1. with foll. gen. (as usually) the whole of, to be rendered, however, often in our idiom, to avoid stiffness, any or every
2. Absolutely:
a. without the art., all things, all
b. with the art. הַכֹּל
(a). where the sense is limited by the context to things (or persons) just mentioned
(b). in a wider sense, all, whether of all mankind or of all living things, the universe, or of all the circumstances of life (chiefly late)
H376
n-m — man
Derivation: contracted for 582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant);
a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)
KJV: also, another, any (man), a certain, champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), none, one, people, person, steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy. Compare 802.
n.m — man
אִישׁ 2166 n.m. man (= vir)
H1368
a — powerful, warrior, tyrant
Derivation: or גִּבֹּר; (shortened) intensive from the same as 1397;
powerful; by implication, warrior, tyrant
KJV: champion, chief, × excel, giant, man, mighty (man, one), strong (man), valiant man.
adj — strong
גִּבּוֹר 159 adj. strong, mighty
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Verses 1–6
Joshua 10:1–6
Joshua and the hosts of Israel had now been a good while in the land of Canaan, and no great matters were effected; they were made masters of Jericho by a miracle, of Ai by stratagem, and of Gibeon by surrender, and that was all; hitherto the progress of their victories had not seemed proportionable to the magnificence of their entry and the glory of their beginnings. Those among them that were impatient of delays, it is probable, complained of Joshua's slowness, and asked why they did not immediately penetrate into the heart of the country, before the enemy could rally their forces to make head against them, why they stood trifling, while they were so confident both of their title and of their success. Thus Joshua's prudence, perhaps, was censured as slothfulness, cowardice, and want of spirit. But, 1. Canaan was not to be conquered in a day. God had said that by little and little he would drive out the Canaanites, Exo 23:30. He that believeth will not make haste, or conclude that the promise will never be performed because it is not performed so soon as he expected. 2. Joshua waited for the Canaanites to be the aggressors; let them first make an onset upon Israel, or the allies of Israel, and then their destruction will be, or at least will appear to be, the more just and more justifiable. Joshua had warrant sufficient to set upon them, yet he stays till they strike the first stroke, that he might provide for honest things in the sight, not only of God, but of men; and they would be the more inexcusable in their resistance, now that they had seen what favour the Gibeonites found with Israel. 3. It was for the advantage of Israel to sit still awhile, that the forces of these little kings might unite in one body, and so might the more easily be cut off at one blow. This God had in his eye when he put it into their hearts to combine against Israel; though they designed thereby to strengthen one another, that which he intended was to gather them as sheaves into the floor, to fall together under the flail, Mic 4:12. Thus oftentimes that seeming paradox proves wholesome counsel, Stay awhile, and we shall have done the sooner.
After Israel had waited awhile for an occasion to make war upon the Canaanites, a fair one offers itself. 1. Five kings combine against the Gibeonites. Adoni-zedec king of Jerusalem was the first mover and ring-leader of this confederacy. He had a good name (it signifies lord of righteousness), being a descendant perhaps from Melchizedek, king of righteousness; but, notwithstanding the goodness of his name and family, it seems he was a bad man, and an implacable enemy to the posterity of that Abraham to whom his predecessor, Melchizedek, was such a faithful friend. He called upon his neighbours to join against Israel either because he was the most honourable prince, and had the precedency among these kings (perhaps they had some dependence upon him, at least they paid a deference to him, as the most public, powerful, and active man they had among them), or because he was first or most apprehensive of the danger his country was in, not only by the conquest of Jericho and Ai, but the surrender of Gibeon, which, it seems, was the chief thing that alarmed him, it being one of the most considerable frontier towns they had. Against Gibeon therefore all the force he would raise must be leveled. Come, says he, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon. This he resolves to do, either, (1.) In policy, that he might retake the city, because it was a strong city, and of great consequence to this country in whose hands it was; or, (2.) In passion, that he might chastise the citizens for making peace with Joshua, pretending that they had perfidiously betrayed their country and strengthened the common enemy, whereas they had really done the greatest kindness imaginable to their country, by setting them a good example, if they would have followed it. Thus Satan and his instruments make war upon those that make peace with God. Marvel not if the world hate you, and treat those as deserters who are converts to Christ. 2. The Gibeonites send notice to Joshua of the distress and danger they are in, Jos 10:6. Now they expect benefit from the league they had made with Israel, because, though it was obtained by deceit, it was afterwards confirmed when the truth came out. They think Joshua obliged to help them, (1.) In conscience, because they were his servants; not in compliment, as they had said in their first address (Jos 9:8), We are thy servants, but in reality made servants to the congregation; and it is the duty of masters to take care of the poorest and meanest of their servants, and not to see them wronged when it is in the power of their hand to right them. Those that pay allegiance may reasonably expect protection. Thus David pleads with God (Psa 119:94), I am thine, save me; and so may we, if indeed we be his. (2.) In honour, because the ground of their enemies' quarrel with them was the respect they had shown to Israel, and the confidence they had in a covenant with them. Joshua cannot refuse to help them when it is for their affection to him, and to the name of his God, that they are attacked. David thinks it a good plea with God (Psa 69:7), For thy sake I have borne reproach. When our spiritual enemies set themselves in array against us, and threaten to swallow us up, let us, by faith and prayer, apply to Christ, our Joshua, for strength and succour, as Paul did, and we shall receive the same answer of peace, My grace is sufficient for thee, Co2 12:8, Co2 12:9.
Cross-references: Exod 23:30 · Mic 4:12 · Josh 10:6 · Josh 9:8 · Ps 119:94 · Ps 69:7 · 2Cor 12:8 · 2Cor 12:9