Section 10:28–43 The Israelites conquered the towns of southern Canaan

Joshua defeated seven other important towns in Southern Canaan.

Here is another possible section heading:

Israel defeated the southern towns

Paragraph 10:28–30

10:28a

On that day: The phrase On that day indicates that Joshua and the Israelite army attacked and captured Makkedah on the same day that they killed the five kings.

Joshua captured Makkedah: The clause Joshua captured Makkedah indicates that Joshua and the Israelite army captured the town of Makkedah. It may be necessary in some languages to make explicit that the Israelite army also fought, and that Joshua did not capture Makkedah by himself. For example:

Joshua and the Israelites captured the town of Makkedah on that day

Makkedah: The town of Makkedah was about 40 kilometers southwest of Gibeon. The cave where the five Amorite kings hid was near Makkedah. After Joshua killed the five kings, he and his army proceeded to capture this nearby town.

10:28b

and put it to the sword, along with its king: This indicates that Joshua and the Israelite army killed the king of Makkedah and the people who lived there.

put it to the sword: The phrase put it to the sword is a Hebrew idiom. The word “smote” is the past tense of “smite.” It means “hit.” This idiom means that they killed the king and the people of Makkedah.

Here is another way to translate this Hebrew idiom:

Joshua killed its king and everyone else in the town (Contemporary English Version)

10:28c

He devoted to destruction everyone in the city: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as devoted to destruction everyone comes from the same root word as the term “devoted for destruction” used in 6:17b. It refers to people or things that are claimed by Yahweh and cannot be bought back by any means. They must be destroyed. If possible, translate this word in the same way as you did in 6:17b. For example:

he devoted to destruction every person in it (English Standard Version)

leaving no survivors: The clause leaving no survivors indicates that not a single person was left alive in the town.

10:28d

So he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho: The pronoun he refers to Joshua. The clause he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho indicates that Joshua killed the king of Makkedah. It may be clearer to make this information explicit. For example:

and he killed the king of Makkedah as he had killed the king of Jericho (New Living Translation (2004))

A similar phrase was used in 8:2 referring to the king of Ai.

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