Joshua 10:40
“So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country, the South, the lowland, the slopes, and all their kings. He left no one remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded.”
What does Joshua 10:40 mean?
This passage describes Joshua's military campaign after the miraculous victory at Gibeon, when he swept through Canaan to secure the land God had promised to Israel. The "all that breathed" language reflects the ancient Near Eastern style of recording complete military victories, emphasizing total conquest rather than necessarily describing individual battles with perfect historical precision. For readers today, this can be a difficult text because it describes violence on a massive scale. It's worth remembering that this was written centuries after the events, from the perspective of a people who understood their survival and land as a gift from God. The Israelites faced genuine threats from surrounding peoples, and this text frames their military actions as obedience to God's command, even though modern readers might wrestle with what that means. If you're troubled by this passage, you're not alone. Many faithful people throughout history have grappled with how God works through human warfare and violence. What matters is bringing your honest questions to God rather than pretending the difficult parts of Scripture don't exist.