Joshua 11:4-9

Cross-references For Better Understanding a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

Summary

• Warhorses are hamstrung and no longer usable in battle. War chariots are destroyed.

Details and/or Comments

• These horses had been trained for use in war. They were disabled (so that they could never again be used for war), but not killed.

• This was not the same as the situation in Genesis 49:6, in which hamstringing animals (oxen) was an expression of cruelty. In Genesis, it was done as a crude form of entertainment. Here, it was done in order to prevent their use in the killing of humans.

Scripture

Joshua 11:4-9 - Israel vs. a much larger army...

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
Jos 11:4 They went out, they and all their armies with them, many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. Jos 11:5 All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel. Jos 11:6 Yahweh said to Joshua, "Don't be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire."	God says he will "deliver them up." God commanded that they hamstring the horses. This would prevent their use in battle. Israel was not to use horses in battle - at least large numbers of them, Deuteronomy 17:16. (They were to trust in the Living God, instead.) But eventually (during the times of the kings), they disobeyed this command. Hamstringing Animals Horses He also commanded that the chariots be destroyed, so that they would not be used in battle, either.
Jos 11:7 So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell on them. Jos 11:8 Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward. They struck them until they left them none remaining. Jos 11:9 Joshua did to them as Yahweh told him. He hamstrung their horses and burnt their chariots with fire.	God uses Israel's surprise attack as the means by which he would "deliver them up." How God Wages War Joshua obeyed God's command to hamstring the horses and destroy the chariots.

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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——

The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.