Joshua 10:28-39, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Joshua 10:28-39
Southern Cities Fall in a Repeated Campaign
Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, and Gezer's failed relief
That day Joshua takes Makkedah, smites it with the sword, and utterly destroys it and all the souls therein; he lets none remain, doing to its king as to Jericho's king. He passes to Libnah; the LORD delivers it and its king; again none remain. He encamps against Lachish, takes it on the second day, and smites all souls therein as at Libnah. Horam king of Gezer comes up to help Lachish; Joshua smites him and his people until none remain.
Eglon, Hebron, Debir: the formula repeats
From Lachish they pass to Eglon, take it that day, and utterly destroy all souls therein as at Lachish. They go up to Hebron, take it, smite king, cities, and all souls; none remain, utterly destroyed as at Eglon. They return to Debir, take it, its king, and its cities, and utterly destroy all souls; none remain, as at Hebron and Libnah.
The narrative compresses a southern sweep into repeated no-survivor lines. Compression is not permission. The formulas do not authorize mass killing, erase civilian victims inside 'all the souls,' or establish modern ownership of these locations. A relief force from Gezer dies on the way; that notice does not make the campaign surgical.
How this should shape us
Read a repeated 'none remain' as a moral alarm, not as efficiency. Do not let formula hide the people inside it, and do not treat these names as a deed to land you did not receive.
Teach it back
Explain Joshua 10:28-39 in your own words. Include its movement, relation to Deuteronomy and the rest of Joshua, one material uncertainty or ethical cost, and one modern use the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters differ over the composition, historical value, textual form, geography, and theological judgment of “Southern Cities Fall in a Repeated Campaign.” Confidence is strongest in the final-form movement summarized here; reconstructions beyond it remain labeled and limited.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Joshua 10:28-39, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clauses, names, repeated roots, boundary formulas, covenant terms, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Josh.xml, 10:28–39
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew, textual, translation, list, number, geographical, historical, and cross-reference notes.
NET Bible Joshua PDF, printed pp. 432-434, translation and translator notes on 10:28–39
Supports: Whole-book movement, literary boundaries, composition, history and archaeology limits, geography, theology, and material interpretive alternatives.
Nelson, 'Joshua,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 166-167, discussion of 10:28–39
Supports: Modern research plurality across textual criticism, composition, history, archaeology, geography, violence, ideology, and reception.
Dozeman, 'The Book of Joshua in Recent Research,' Currents in Biblical Research 15.3 (2017), printed pp. 270–288; research categories and bibliography applied cautiously to 10:28–39
Supports: The conquest narrative's violent literary and ideological functions and the need for explicit modern ethical resistance.
Barnard and Meyer, 'A Theological Response to Biblical Violence,' Scriptura 119.1 (2020), printed pp. 1–15, especially pp. 7–15 on Joshua 6–11, literary setting, social identity, hybridity, courage, fear, and ethical response; 10:28–39
Supports: One modern recovery-reading alternative that distinguishes divine speech from Joshua's actions and explicitly rejects genocidal application.
Bang, 'A Reading of Recovery for an Ethical Interpretation of Joshua Herem Passages,' KJOTS 27.1 (2021), official English abstract and article record for pp. 61–96; case-study scope 10:28–39
Supports: Masoretic, Old Greek, Qumran, and revision evidence plus a focused case study showing why ancient textual differences require visible limits.
De Troyer, 'The Battle against Ai and the Textual History of the Book of Joshua,' JSCS 48 (2015), printed pp. 39–53, especially pp. 39–43 on book-wide MT-OG differences and pp. 43–53 on Joshua 8; applied to 10:28–39
Supports: Natural-science, omen, mythological, theological, literary, and millwheel proposals, with no basis for a single certain physical mechanism.
Kruger, 'Sun and Moon Grinding to a Halt,' HTS 55.4 (1999), official article, abstract, and linked PDF survey of Joshua 10:9–14; applied to 10:28–39
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Joshua 10:28-39, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Joshua
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clauses, names, repeated roots, boundary formulas, covenant terms, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Josh.xml, 10:28–39
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Joshua with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew, textual, translation, list, number, geographical, historical, and cross-reference notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Joshua PDF, printed pp. 432-434, translation and translator notes on 10:28–39
Open source ↗scholarly commentary article
Joshua
Richard D. Nelson
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, edited by John Barton and John Muddiman, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, literary boundaries, composition, history and archaeology limits, geography, theology, and material interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: Nelson, 'Joshua,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 166-167, discussion of 10:28–39
Open source ↗peer reviewed research review
The Book of Joshua in Recent Research
Thomas B. Dozeman
Currents in Biblical Research 15.3, 2017
Supports: Modern research plurality across textual criticism, composition, history, archaeology, geography, violence, ideology, and reception.
Exact location: Dozeman, 'The Book of Joshua in Recent Research,' Currents in Biblical Research 15.3 (2017), printed pp. 270–288; research categories and bibliography applied cautiously to 10:28–39
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access ethical and literary study
A Theological Response to Biblical Violence
Erika Barnard and Esias E. Meyer
Scriptura 119.1, 2020
Supports: The conquest narrative's violent literary and ideological functions and the need for explicit modern ethical resistance.
Exact location: Barnard and Meyer, 'A Theological Response to Biblical Violence,' Scriptura 119.1 (2020), printed pp. 1–15, especially pp. 7–15 on Joshua 6–11, literary setting, social identity, hybridity, courage, fear, and ethical response; 10:28–39
Open source ↗peer reviewed article record and abstract
A Reading of Recovery for an Ethical Interpretation of Joshua Herem Passages
Ki-Min Bang
Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 27.1, 2021
Supports: One modern recovery-reading alternative that distinguishes divine speech from Joshua's actions and explicitly rejects genocidal application.
Exact location: Bang, 'A Reading of Recovery for an Ethical Interpretation of Joshua Herem Passages,' KJOTS 27.1 (2021), official English abstract and article record for pp. 61–96; case-study scope 10:28–39
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access textual study
The Battle against Ai and the Textual History of the Book of Joshua
Kristin De Troyer
Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies 48, 2015
Supports: Masoretic, Old Greek, Qumran, and revision evidence plus a focused case study showing why ancient textual differences require visible limits.
Exact location: De Troyer, 'The Battle against Ai and the Textual History of the Book of Joshua,' JSCS 48 (2015), printed pp. 39–53, especially pp. 39–43 on book-wide MT-OG differences and pp. 43–53 on Joshua 8; applied to 10:28–39
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access exegetical study
Sun and Moon Grinding to a Halt: Exegetical Remarks on Joshua 10:9-14 and Related Texts in Judges
H. J. A. Kruger
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 55.4, 1999
Supports: Natural-science, omen, mythological, theological, literary, and millwheel proposals, with no basis for a single certain physical mechanism.
Exact location: Kruger, 'Sun and Moon Grinding to a Halt,' HTS 55.4 (1999), official article, abstract, and linked PDF survey of Joshua 10:9–14; applied to 10:28–39
Open source ↗