Discovery BoxJoshua 10:1-6 
Context10:1 Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, 1 heard how Joshua captured Ai and annihilated it and its king as he did Jericho 2 and its king. 3 He also heard how 4 the people of Gibeon made peace with Israel and lived among them. 10:2 All Jerusalem was terrified 5 because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai and all its men were warriors. 10:3 So King Adoni-Zedek of Jerusalem sent this message to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon: 10:4 “Come to my aid 6 so we can attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.” 10:5 So the five Amorite kings (the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon) and all their troops gathered together and advanced. They deployed their troops and fought against Gibeon. 7
10:6 The men of Gibeon sent this message to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, “Do not abandon 8 your subjects! 9 Rescue us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings living in the hill country are attacking us.” 10
1 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
2 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
3 tn Heb “as he had done to Jericho and to its king, so he did to Ai and to its king.”
4 tn Heb “and how.”
5 tn This statement is subordinated to v. 1 in the Hebrew text, which reads literally, “When Adoni-Zedek…they feared greatly.” The subject of the plural verb at the beginning of v. 2 is probably the residents of Jerusalem.
6 tn Heb “Come up to me and help me.”
7 tn Heb “and they camped against Gibeon and fought against it.”
8 tn Heb “do not let your hand drop from us.”
9 tn Heb “your servants!”
10 tn Heb “have gathered against us.”
