Chapter 11 of Sefer Yehoshua opens a new stage in the wars of conquest. Until now we dealt with the southern flank of the Land of Israel: the five kings and the cities around them, of which it was said, "And all these kings and their land Yehoshua captured at one time." One should not think that the work was thereby completed, as the Malbim stressed earlier; rather, all those conquests were in the south of the Land. Now all the kings of the north gather into one great war alliance, with a numerous people and horse and chariot, and from here the chapter proceeds to describe the victory, the conquest of Chatzor, and the conclusion of the seven years of conquest with "and the land had rest from war."
The Gathering of the Kings of the North
וַיְהִי כִּשְׁמֹעַ יָבִין מֶלֶךְ־חָצוֹר וַיִּשְׁלַח אֶל־יוֹבָב מֶלֶךְ מָדוֹן וְאֶל־מֶלֶךְ שִׁמְרוֹן וְאֶל־מֶלֶךְ אַכְשָׁף׃ - And it came to pass, when Yavin king of Chatzor heard of it, that he sent to Yovav king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaf.
The Malbim says: after the five kings and other cities on the southern side were conquered, now the kings on the northern side gather. The Ralbag adds that here the nations tried to head off the blow before it came: they reasoned that if Yehoshua continued to advance, he would conquer them one by one and prevail over them. But if they all gathered into one great host, they could wage battle at the gate and defend themselves against him. And therefore they come with as much people as the sand on the seashore, to make war against Israel.
וְאֶל־הַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר מִצְּפוֹן בָּהָר וּבָעֲרָבָה נֶגֶב כִּנְרוֹת וּבַשְּׁפֵלָה וּבְנָפוֹת דּוֹר מִיָּם׃ - And to the kings that were on the north, in the mountains, and in the Arava south of Kinneret, and in the lowland, and in the regions of Dor on the west.
The king of Chatzor calls to all those kings we mentioned - Yovav, Madon, Achshaf - and also to all the kings who are in the north, so that they should come together to fight against Yehoshua. "South of Kinneret" the Radak explains: south of Kinneret. And Kinneret is Ginosar, a place that Chazal describe as an exceedingly rich place. The Gemara relates that they would sit and eat of the fruits of Ginosar, and a fly that landed on the nose would slip off from the abundance of oil on their faces, because of the special fruits of the land of Ginosar. And "the regions of Dor" - regions are districts, the surrounding areas of that place. This is also the meaning of the expression "yefeh nof": not in the sense that the view there is beautiful, but that the district is beautiful. Nof is like nafah (region), and the region of Dor is the district of Dor.
הַכְּנַעֲנִי מִמִּזְרָח וּמִיָּם וְהָאֱמֹרִי וְהַחִתִּי וְהַפְּרִזִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי בָּהָר וְהַחִוִּי תַּחַת חֶרְמוֹן בְּאֶרֶץ הַמִּצְפָּה׃ - The Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Emori, and the Chitti, and the Perizzi, and the Yevusi in the mountains, and the Chivvi under Chermon in the land of Mitzpah.
All these kings, who are on the northern flank, the king of Chatzor recruits for the war.
The Land of Mitzpah - A Place Fit for Salvation
What is "the land of Mitzpah"? The Radak explains that all the kings gathered in the land of Mitzpah to fight with Yehoshua, and he notes that we encounter Mitzpah many times as a place of assembly, to which Israel would always gather. When they needed to assemble, they would gather to Mitzpah. The reason is that in this place there was a great salvation. It is also quite possible that it was an open place able to hold a large crowd, and therefore they would gather specifically there.
The Radak adds: in Yehoshua's war with the five kings, though there was a great salvation there, there were only five kings and no more. And here you see an enormous number of kings coming and gathering, and here they truly need a great salvation. And it is quite possible that specifically here Yehoshua built an altar in Mitzpah, because of the great salvation that occurred in prevailing over all these kings. And from that time on, whenever Israel needed salvation, or war and rescue from the hand of their enemies, they gathered to Mitzpah - for there was an altar there, there was salvation there, and the place had already become a place that is fit.
And so we find with Yiftach, "before Hashem in Mitzpah"; in the incident of the concubine at Givah it says, "to Hashem at Mitzpah"; Shmuel says in the war with the Pelishtim, "gather all Israel to me at Mitzpah"; and when he crowns Shaul - "and Shmuel called the people together to Hashem at Mitzpah." The Radak says: you see from here that there was an altar there, and that it was a place sanctified for prayer and for the assembly of Israel whenever they needed salvation.
A vast people with horses and chariots - shifting the balance of power
וַיֵּצְאוּ הֵם וְכָל־מַחֲנֵיהֶם עִמָּם עַם־רָב כַּחוֹל אֲשֶׁר עַל־שְׂפַת־הַיָּם לָרֹב וְסוּס וָרֶכֶב רַב־מְאֹד׃ - And they went out, they and all their camps with them, a vast people, as numerous as the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
The Malbim says: their hearts did not embolden them to go out singly like the earlier kings, so they gathered together. And there is another shift in the balance here: they bring horses and chariots, which had not been the case before.
וַיִּוָּעֲדוּ כֹּל הַמְּלָכִים הָאֵלֶּה וַיָּבֹאוּ וַיַּחֲנוּ יַחְדָּו אֶל־מֵי מֵרוֹם לְהִלָּחֵם עִם־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And all these kings assembled, and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to make war with Israel.
"Vayivaadu" - the Metzudat Tzion explains that this is a term of gathering and assembly, meaning they gathered, an expression of coming together. The Malbim, by contrast, explains that this is a term of setting an appointed time: they fixed a time at which they would all convene, a time for the assembling of the kings. And they come and encamp together at the waters of Merom to make war with Israel.
"Do not fear them" - a command not to be alarmed
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אַל־תִּירָא מִפְּנֵיהֶם כִּי־מָחָר כָּעֵת הַזֹּאת אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן אֶת־כֻּלָּם חֲלָלִים לִפְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־סוּסֵיהֶם תְּעַקֵּר וְאֶת־מַרְכְּבֹתֵיהֶם תִּשְׂרֹף בָּאֵשׁ׃ - And Hashem said to Yehoshua: Do not fear them, for tomorrow at this time I am delivering all of them slain before Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.
Here the concern is very great: this is not a war against five kings but against an enormous number of kings, and therefore Yehoshua needs encouragement and strengthening from Hashem. "Tomorrow at this time" - in another twenty four hours, at this very point in time, I am delivering all of them slain before Israel.
The Malbim explains that the warning "do not fear them" is like the language of the Torah, "and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, do not fear them." This is a command from the Torah, in which the Torah warns the people going out to battle not to be alarmed by the kings or by the enemy. Why? Because the moment fears begin, there is the beginning of faintheartedness, and the chance of falling in battle is very great. Therefore the anointed priest, before they would go out to battle, would deliver a motivational talk to the soldiers: know that whoever trusts in Hashem and knows that he is fighting the war of Hashem is assured that he will return in peace. And he would speak to them words of strengthening and encouragement, so that the people would go forth with faith and trust in Hashem. And there is a prohibition in this - "do not fear them." And so here the Holy One, blessed be He, warns Yehoshua not to be alarmed.
"You shall hamstring their horses" - so that they will not trust in horses
Why was Yehoshua commanded to hamstring the horses? The Malbim says: we have a warning that the king is cautioned not to accumulate many horses, and here, when the enemy comes with a vast people and many horses, there is a great temptation to take the horses and use them for wars. Therefore they were commanded to hamstring them. And what is "hamstring"? To remove their hooves, the lower part of their legs - their essential part - in such a way that on the one hand the horses will not die and can continue to graze in the meadow, and on the other hand they are no longer fit for battle. The horse can still walk, but it cannot run or make war. And with this they will not use them to increase horses for Israel or for the king, for the Torah warns not to rely on many horses but to know that salvation belongs to Hashem and to trust in Him in war.
The surprise and the pursuit
וַיָּבֹא יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְכָל־עַם הַמִּלְחָמָה עִמּוֹ עֲלֵיהֶם עַל־מֵי מֵרוֹם פִּתְאֹם וַיִּפְּלוּ בָּהֶם׃ - And Yehoshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and they fell upon them.
They gather and assemble for war, and they do not expect that we will surprise them, and this is exactly what happened. We surprised them before they even thought to surprise us.
וַיִּתְּנֵם יְהוָה בְּיַד־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּכּוּם וַיִּרְדְּפוּם עַד־צִידוֹן רַבָּה וְעַד מִשְׂרְפוֹת מַיִם וְעַד־בִּקְעַת מִצְפֶּה מִזְרָחָה וַיַּכֻּם עַד־בִּלְתִּי הִשְׁאִיר־לָהֶם שָׂרִיד׃ - And Hashem delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they smote them and pursued them as far as great Tzidon, and as far as Misrefot Mayim, and as far as the valley of Mitzpeh eastward, and they smote them until they left none of them remaining.
Hashem delivers them into the hand of Israel, and they smite them and pursue them as far as great Tzidon. The Radak says: from the fact that it says "great Tzidon," apparently there was also a lesser Tzidon, a smaller Tzidon, and when it writes the great Tzidon the verse comes to distinguish it from the small one. And what is "Misrefot Mayim"? Targum Yonatan translates it "the trenches of the sea": they would make trenches in the ground, the seawater would collect in them, the sun would dry out the place, the salts would crystallize below, and they would crumble them and sell them as salt. In this way they would extract salt from the seawater.
וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמַר־לוֹ יְהוָה אֶת־סוּסֵיהֶם עִקֵּר וְאֶת־מַרְכְּבֹתֵיהֶם שָׂרַף בָּאֵשׁ׃ - And Yehoshua did to them as Hashem had said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
Yehoshua does exactly as Hashem commanded. The Radak says: the verse comes to teach us that you should not think the matter was said merely as a recommendation or permission, but rather as an outright command. And therefore, as soon as he finishes the war, this is what he does: he hamstrings the horses.
Why they were commanded about the horses specifically here
The Radak asks: why was this warning stated specifically here? In all the previous wars we did not see such a command. And he answers a simple answer: because in the previous wars there were no horses and chariots. And it was not because this was a modern weapon that they only now thought of, but rather that in the previous wars we entered the cities in order to fight, and when one enters a city there are no horses and chariots. Horses and chariots are present when there is an attack of army against army in the field. Even the five kings came in order to capture Givon, and did not need horses and chariots. But here they go out to war face to face, and therefore they come with horses and chariots, and here Israel needs the warning. And in the language of the Radak: therefore the Almighty did not want Israel to plunder from them the horses and chariots, so that they would not trust in them and think in their hearts that with the horses they would wage their wars. That they should not say: we now have modern weaponry, with it we will win the battles. Rather, "these come with chariots and these with horses, but we call upon the name of Hashem our God," and if so, we need neither their chariots nor their horses.
The conquest of Chatzor - the head of all the kingdoms
וַיָּשָׁב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בָּעֵת הַהִיא וַיִּלְכֹּד אֶת־חָצוֹר וְאֶת־מַלְכָּהּ הִכָּה בֶחָרֶב כִּי־חָצוֹר לְפָנִים הִיא רֹאשׁ כָּל־הַמַּמְלָכוֹת הָאֵלֶּה׃ - And Yehoshua turned back at that time and captured Chatzor, and its king he smote with the sword, for Chatzor formerly was the head of all these kingdoms.
Why does he begin with Chatzor? Because Chatzor was then the head of all the kingdoms, and therefore he fought against it first. As is known, when one fights against the central city and you bring it down, it is much easier afterward to bring down the rest of the cities, for the people say: if he brought down the central city, if it could not stand against him, what will the hyssops of the wall do? And this instills fear in their hearts. This was also the reason we saw earlier that Yericho was captured first: Yericho was a very central city, with many great walls, and consequently this was supposed to give it the greatest assurance that it would not fall into Yehoshua's hand. And it is specifically that city which Yehoshua conquers first, to prove that even the great city falls into our hands, and if so you have no reason even to think of fighting against us.
And by the way, the king of Chatzor is the one who gathered them all for war, and specifically because he was the king of the central city. A small king cannot gather the great ones for war, for they would say to him: I do not take orders from you. But the king of Chatzor, who was considered the great city there, was able to gather them all. And therefore there are two things here: first, he gathered them all for war; second, he was the head of all these kingdoms, and therefore him he smote first.
"Did Not Remain" and "Did Not Leave" - A Wonderful Precision in the Malbim
וַיַּכּוּ אֶת־כָּל־הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־בָּהּ לְפִי־חֶרֶב הַחֲרֵם לֹא נוֹתַר כָּל־נְשָׁמָה וְאֶת־חָצוֹר שָׂרַף בָּאֵשׁ׃ - And they struck all the souls that were in it by the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; not a soul remained, and Chatzor he burned with fire.
Here it is written "not a soul remained," and later, in verse 14, it is written "until they had destroyed them, they left not a soul." The Malbim asks: what is the difference between "leaving" (hishir) and "remaining" (notar)? He gives a wonderful answer, and if we examine it carefully we will see that even in our own language we understand it this way. "Leaving" is done intentionally, whereas "remaining" happens on its own. A person says: I left you a few boxes there, take them - he would not say "I remained you." On the other hand, when there is something extra, he says: take it, this remained here. An expression of surplus, something left over on its own.
Accordingly, in verse 8 and verse 14 the wording is "they did not leave," meaning they did not leave anyone intentionally - and it is true, says the Malbim, that some fled without their knowledge, unintentionally. But here, in Chatzor, the verse emphasizes "none remained": not only did they not leave anyone intentionally, but nothing remained even on its own. They killed them all.
Seven Years of Conquest and the Cities Standing on Their Mounds
וְאֶת־כָּל־עָרֵי הַמְּלָכִים־הָאֵלֶּה וְאֶת־כָּל־מַלְכֵיהֶם לָכַד יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וַיַּכֵּם לְפִי־חֶרֶב הֶחֱרִים אוֹתָם כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד יְהוָה׃ - And all the cities of these kings, and all their kings, Yehoshua captured, and he struck them by the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, as Moshe the servant of Hashem had commanded.
The Malbim says: "Yehoshua captured" - this did not happen all at once, but over seven years of conquest, as is explained later in verse 18.
רַק כָּל־הֶעָרִים הָעֹמְדוֹת עַל־תִּלָּם לֹא שְׂרָפָם יִשְׂרָאֵל זוּלָתִי אֶת־חָצוֹר לְבַדָּהּ שָׂרַף יְהוֹשֻׁעַ׃ - Only all the cities that stood on their mounds Israel did not burn, except for Chatzor alone, which Yehoshua burned.
What does "standing on their mounds" mean? The Radak explains: standing in their strength, in their firmness, meaning that they did not knock down their walls when they captured them. And the Metzudat David explains "on their mounds" as at their full height, the same idea: that the walls did not fall when they conquered them. This is in the sense of "a city upon its mound," a mound being an expression for a high place, and therefore walls standing on their mounds are walls standing at their full height. He did not burn all of them, only Chatzor, and as we said: since Chatzor was the head of the kingdoms, by burning it the other nations and remaining kings would be afraid.
Why Chatzor's Fate Was Burning - The Words of the Midrash
On what is said here, "as Moshe the servant of Hashem had commanded," the Midrash says: Moshe transmitted to him that he should burn Chatzor, and in accordance with this Yehoshua acted and burned Chatzor. And so they said: Rabbi Eliezer says, by tradition he burned it - that is, this was transmitted to Yehoshua from Moshe our teacher, that he should receive the instruction to burn the city of Chatzor. The Holy One, blessed be He, said it to Moshe, and Moshe said it to Yehoshua.
And the Sages further say: they sought to pursue, but the Holy One, blessed be He, did not allow them. That is, the nations wanted to pursue Israel, and Hashem did not let them. And where did they gather? In Chatzor. And since this was so, he burned it. And as we have mentioned several times: when we wage the war in the natural way, we are the ones who take the spoils. But when Hashem wages the war for you, the spoils are holy, as was the case in Yericho - Hashem fought for them at Yericho, and therefore Yericho was holy. And according to the Midrash this is very wonderful: there was here a miracle and a rescue, they gathered in Chatzor in order to pursue us, and the One who fought against them was the Holy One, blessed be He, and therefore the law is that their property is to be burned. And the Radak adds that this is one of three places where the nations of the world gathered to wage war with the children of Yaakov and the Holy One, blessed be He, did not allow them.
וְכֹל שְׁלַל הֶעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וְהַבְּהֵמָה בָּזְזוּ לָהֶם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רַק אֶת־כָּל־הָאָדָם הִכּוּ לְפִי־חֶרֶב עַד־הִשְׁמִדָם אוֹתָם לֹא הִשְׁאִירוּ כָּל־נְשָׁמָה׃ - And all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the children of Israel took as plunder for themselves, but every person they struck by the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them; they left no soul remaining.
This was in accordance with Hashem's command to leave no soul remaining. They took the spoil of all the cities, and it would seem from here that even in Chatzor, which they burned, the spoil was not forbidden. For the ruling that a city be burned means only that they do not enter to dwell in its houses but burn the city, while its spoil may very well be included in "all the spoil of the cities they took as plunder for themselves."
"He left nothing out" - an exact tradition from Moshe to Yehoshua
כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת־מֹשֶׁה עַבְדּוֹ כֵּן־צִוָּה מֹשֶׁה אֶת־יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְכֵן עָשָׂה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לֹא־הֵסִיר דָּבָר מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת־מֹשֶׁה׃ - As Hashem had commanded Moshe His servant, so did Moshe command Yehoshua, and so did Yehoshua do; he left nothing out of all that Hashem had commanded Moshe.
Everything that Hashem commanded Moshe, Moshe left out nothing in transmitting to Yehoshua. As it is written, "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua" - just as he received it, so did he transmit it. And even though, had the conquest been carried out by Moshe, there would have been more miracles in it than there were through Yehoshua, in the mitzvah itself, how to conquer, he changed nothing. The conquest, the division, all of it was according to the word of Hashem to Moshe and the word of Moshe to Yehoshua. And the Midrash says: even that which He did not command him explicitly, he intuited on his own to match what Hashem had commanded Moshe, and this is the meaning of "he left nothing out."
The boundaries of the conquest: the land of Goshen and the smooth mountain
וַיִּקַּח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶת־כָּל־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת הָהָר וְאֶת־כָּל־הַנֶּגֶב וְאֵת כָּל־אֶרֶץ הַגֹּשֶׁן וְאֶת־הַשְּׁפֵלָה וְאֶת־הָעֲרָבָה וְאֶת־הַר יִשְׂרָאֵל וּשְׁפֵלָתֹה׃ - And Yehoshua took all this land, the hill country and all the Negev and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Aravah and the mountain of Israel and its lowland.
What is "the land of Goshen"? The Radak says: this is not the Goshen of Egypt, but rather these are two distinct places. On the other hand, the Radak also brings a Midrash that it was the Goshen of the land of Egypt, and it was absorbed within the mountains of Israel, as it says "and he went up to meet his father, to Goshen" - which teaches that they were going up toward the Land of Israel. And in the merit of Yehudah going on his father's mission to lead the way before him to Goshen, he merited that his portion would be the land of Goshen, which was considered a superior place. According to this, it refers to a place that extended from Egypt, from the edge of Egypt to the edge of the Land of Israel. And "the mountain of Israel" - the Metzudat David explains that this is the place where Yisrael our father dwelled, and it is called by his name.
מִן־הָהָר הֶחָלָק הָעוֹלֶה שֵׂעִיר וְעַד־בַּעַל גָּד בְּבִקְעַת הַלְּבָנוֹן תַּחַת הַר־חֶרְמוֹן וְאֵת כָּל־מַלְכֵיהֶם לָכַד וַיַּכֵּם וַיְמִיתֵם׃ - From the smooth mountain that rises toward Seir and up to Baal Gad in the valley of the Levanon beneath Mount Chermon, and all their kings he captured and struck down and put to death.
At first glance there is a contradiction here: it is either smooth or Seir. But this is no difficulty, for the mountain is smooth and it rises and reaches a place called Seir. And what is "the smooth mountain"? Rashi brings "tura she'i'a," slippery: the mountain itself was smooth, and whoever climbed it found the ascent difficult and would slip. "She'i'a" means smooth, and likewise "and Esav was a hairy (se'ir) man" versus "and Yaakov was a smooth (chalak) man," which is rendered "gevar she'i'a." This is the expression we use today, "clean shaven (le-mash'i)," meaning in a smooth manner. And this mountain extends "up to Baal Gad" at the eastern border, says Rashi, and Yehoshua did not manage in his lifetime to conquer the entire border up to the north, as brought in the Tosefta. And the Radak brings in the name of Targum Yonatan "tura peliga," and explains that "chalak" is not from the term for slippery, but from the term for divided: the mountain, part of which was split off to here and part split off to there, the divided mountain.
"Many days" - wars in which there is no strategy
יָמִים רַבִּים עָשָׂה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶת־כָּל־הַמְּלָכִים הָאֵלֶּה מִלְחָמָה׃ - For many days Yehoshua waged war against all these kings.
The Radak asks: was it not said earlier that Yehoshua captured all of them at once? He answers that this is no difficulty: there the reference is to the five kings and to the kings captured in the south, and those Yehoshua captured at once. But here the discussion is about the war of the north, and concerning it, it says, "For a long time Yehoshua waged war with all these kings."
Incidentally: a certain Jew once studied at a military academy in the United States, where they learn battle strategies, how one wages war and in what manner, and analyze historical wars: how the war was conducted, what brought about victory, and what were the strategic mistakes of the losing side. After one of the lectures he asked the lecturer: why in all your lectures do you not bring even a single story from the wars of the Jewish people? There were brilliant victories there, there is much to learn from them. The lecturer said to him: are you Jewish? Come with me to my office, I want to speak with you. That Jew was a bit alarmed, wondering whether there was antisemitism here. And when he arrived, the lecturer said to him: look, we analyze wars that were fought by the power of the sword, wars decided by strategy. But the wars that took place in the Land of Israel were all miracles, and there is nothing for us to analyze in them. There is no natural logic by which the Jewish people would succeed in six days in what they did, and there is no natural logic by which all the Arab armies coming to attack from the south would one day decide to halt the attack, as in the Yom Kippur War. By simple logic they should have reached here and conquered everything, and they on their own decided to stop, and the element of surprise was also very much to our disadvantage. There are all kinds of explanations about miracles and about fears they had that they were being flanked, and that is why they stopped, but these are miracles, and from miracles we have nothing to learn. One must study things that involve strategy.
Midrash: why did Yehoshua live only one hundred and ten years
The Radak says: there is a homiletical teaching on this, that Yehoshua was punished for being lax in the war of the kings, as it says, "a long time." The question is: the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Yehoshua, "As I was with Moshe I will be with you," and Moshe lived one hundred and twenty years, so Yehoshua too should have lived one hundred and twenty, so why did he live one hundred and ten? Rather, Yehoshua said: if I settle the Land for Israel quickly, I will die immediately, as happened with Moshe Rabbeinu, who the moment he completed his task departed from the world. Yehoshua said: if I finish the task quickly, I will die quickly, so I will prolong the wars and thereby lengthen my days.
One should not think his intention was for himself. What does it give a man of one hundred and thirty or one hundred and forty to add another ten years? More pleasures? What is there in that for him? Rather, the entire gain was that through this the people would remain righteous and servants of Hashem for more years: that was his calculation. But the mistake was: there is no counsel and no understanding against Hashem. Since Hashem said to conquer and to hurry and to fulfill the mitzvah, one should not make calculations against that. And everyone who made calculations throughout history, as we have learned many times in the talks on the weekly parashiyot, ultimately failed. Adam too had a calculation as to why it was worthwhile to serve Hashem through a greater test involving desires. Shaul too had a calculation as to why, in the end, not to kill Amalek. And all these calculations ultimately collapsed. From here we learn that a person must fulfill Hashem's command with wholeheartedness.
Why did no city make peace with Israel
לֹא־הָיְתָה עִיר אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁלִימָה אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּלְתִּי הַחִוִּי יֹשְׁבֵי גִבְעוֹן אֶת־הַכֹּל לָקְחוּ בַמִּלְחָמָה׃ - There was not a city that made peace with the Children of Israel, except the Chivi, the inhabitants of Givon; they took everything in battle.
The Malbim says that here Scripture teaches us that this was from Hashem, and it connects to the previous verse. For if immediately after the first victory Yehoshua had gone and fought against all the cities, the cities would have sought peace. And according to the Malbim's approach, which we explained above based on the view of the Rambam, if the nations had turned to peace, Israel would have been compelled to make peace with them and could not have killed them, but only to levy tribute from them and make them servants. But the Holy One, blessed be He, did not want this; rather He wanted that none of them remain here at all. Therefore, because the war dragged on for a long time, the enemies said: behold, this is not going as we thought; do not be alarmed, see that he is floundering and not succeeding, let us hold firm and in the end we will manage to overcome him. But had he conquered them all at once, they would have been terrified and would immediately have come to make peace, and Yehoshua would have had no choice but to make peace with them. And this is what we gained: "they took everything in battle," and no situation arose in which we were compelled to make peace and leave them here.
The Malbim examines the wording precisely: seemingly it should have said "that made peace with (et) the Children of Israel," and what is written, "toward (el) the Children of Israel," comes to teach that they did not fight with them at all, as it says, "and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you." "Made peace with (et)" means that there was a war at the beginning and afterward one made peace; but "made peace toward (el)" means that from the outset they did not fight against them, but rather we conquered them immediately.
כִּי מֵאֵת יְהוָה הָיְתָה לְחַזֵּק אֶת־לִבָּם לִקְרַאת הַמִּלְחָמָה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמַעַן הַחֲרִימָם לְבִלְתִּי הֱיוֹת־לָהֶם תְּחִנָּה כִּי לְמַעַן הַשְׁמִידָם כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת־מֹשֶׁה׃ - For it was from Hashem to harden their hearts to go to war against Israel, in order to utterly destroy them, that they should have no favor, but that they should be destroyed, as Hashem commanded Moshe.
Why did Hashem bring it about that they would not make peace? For two reasons. The first, that their measure of sin was full and Hashem wished to punish them, and this is "in order to utterly destroy them, that they should have no favor," that they should have no clemency. As it says, "for the sin of the Emori is not yet complete until now," and when the sin of the Emori would be complete, then they would be destroyed, and this is what is happening now. The second, so that Israel would fulfill the mitzvah of "you shall not let any soul live."
And all those who remained here ultimately became thorns in our eyes and pricks in our sides: they oppressed us and also caused us to sin. See how much we suffered from the Pelishtim throughout all the days of our being here until the era of David, and we see how the matter of the Pelishtim recurs many times, because we did not root them out. Furthermore, they caused us to sin and brought upon us idolatry, following what we learned from the deeds of the nations who remained here in the Land. Thus, it was from Hashem that we drive out all of them, and in the end the fault was ours, that we did not complete the task.
Cutting Off the Anakim
וַיָּבֹא יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בָּעֵת הַהִיא וַיַּכְרֵת אֶת־הָעֲנָקִים מִן־הָהָר מִן־חֶבְרוֹן מִן־דְּבִר מִן־עֲנָב וּמִכֹּל הַר יְהוּדָה וּמִכֹּל הַר יִשְׂרָאֵל עִם־עָרֵיהֶם הֶחֱרִימָם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ׃ - And Yehoshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Chevron, from Devir, from Anav, and from all the hill country of Yehudah, and from all the hill country of Yisrael; Yehoshua utterly destroyed them together with their cities.
The Radak asks: but is it not written further on that Kalev drove them out? And moreover, does it not appear in Sefer Shoftim that after the death of Yehoshua it was the children of Yehudah who drove out the Anakim? The Radak answers: in truth, during the lifetime of Yehoshua, Yisrael did conquer the city of Chevron, and they also drove out the Anakim of the hill country of Chevron; all of them they destroyed. And as for what is written that Kalev drove them out, this is because Yehoshua gave Chevron to him by the word of Hashem, as we have seen, and therefore the war is called by his name and by the name of his tribe, the tribe of Yehudah, for they toiled in this war more than all the others, since the matter concerned a man of their tribe.
The Malbim explains: "And Yehoshua came at that time" refers to those seven years during which Yisrael conquered the land. And even though from Chevron itself it was not Yehoshua but Kalev who drove them out, as the Malbim resolved above, Yehoshua drove them out from the city itself, while Kalev and Yehudah drove them out from the outskirts, that is, from the surroundings of the city. Thus Yehoshua conquered the city proper, and the outskirts were later conquered by Kalev and Yehudah.
לֹא־נוֹתַר עֲנָקִים בְּאֶרֶץ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רַק בְּעַזָּה בְּגַת וּבְאַשְׁדּוֹד נִשְׁאָרוּ׃ - None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Yisrael; only in Azzah, in Gat, and in Ashdod did some remain.
Once again the Malbim is precise according to the rule we mentioned: "nishar" means left over intentionally, and "notar" means remained on its own. And the Malbim says: in the land of Yisrael "none were left" (lo notar), not even unintentionally. And only in Azzah, in Gat, and in Ashdod "did they remain" (nishar), meaning they were deliberately left over by Hashem, in order to test Yisrael through them, as appears in Sefer Shoftim, chapter three, that the nations who remained here were left as a test for us.
"And the Land Rested from War"
וַיִּקַּח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶת־כָּל־הָאָרֶץ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וַיִּתְּנָהּ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְנַחֲלָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמַחְלְקֹתָם לְשִׁבְטֵיהֶם וְהָאָרֶץ שָׁקְטָה מִמִּלְחָמָה׃ - And Yehoshua took the whole land, according to all that Hashem had spoken to Moshe, and Yehoshua gave it as an inheritance to Yisrael according to their divisions by their tribes, and the land rested from war.
Yehoshua takes the whole land according to all that Hashem had spoken, meaning during the seven years of conquest, and gives it as an inheritance to Yisrael according to their divisions by their tribes, that is, he divided it up by the tribes. And what is meant by "and the land rested from war"? The Radak says: the Canaanites no longer roused themselves to come and gather to fight against Yisrael, since they saw that in all the wars, whoever fought against us met with defeat. In today's language we would say: they were deterred, they took into account that it was dangerous to tangle with Yehoshua and his people.
But the Radak adds another dimension: at that time Yisrael too settled in the land they had conquered and did not rouse themselves to conquer further, and this is already a mark of disgrace for the people of Yisrael, that they did not continue to conquer. After all, we were supposed to conquer the whole land in its entirety, and if one conquers the whole land, then afterward every place upon which the sole of your foot treads, even outside the land, becomes like part of the Land of Yisrael. Yet here they had not even finished conquering the Land of Yisrael itself. Therefore, when Yehoshua grew old, Hashem tells him to urge Yisrael to conquer what remained of the land, and to divide the land while he was still alive.
He begins with the two tribes, Yehudah and Yosef, for so it was told to him through the holy spirit, that they would inherit first since they are the heads of Yisrael, and they would stand at the border of Yisrael: Yehudah in the south and Yosef in the north, and the seven tribes, says the Radak, would be between them. And since the lot fell for these tribes and they conquered the border, everyone felt secure: the borders are in our hands, and if so, the land is ours. In the west we have no border but the sea, and there is nothing to conquer from there; in the east the Jordan and the Kinneret; and in the south and north Yehudah and Yosef. It turns out that all the borders are in our hands, and if the borders are in our hands, then the whole land has been conquered. This gave them a sense of calm: why continue to fight? War is not a pleasant thing, and one can finally rest after years of fighting.
Therefore the Radak says: seven tribes were too lazy to conquer until they came to Shilo. Since they were not concerned, the borders being in our hands, the rest of the tribes who were supposed to inherit the interior did not hurry to conquer the land, and the Canaanites remained there within the land. And all of Yisrael, says the Radak, had many cities to dwell in within the conquered land, and therefore they did not trouble to divide the land among the tribes, but rather: we have where to dwell, and each one settled wherever he found a place. And when they later came to Shilo, fourteen years after they came to Gilgal, Yehoshua told them to write down the cities between Yehudah and Yosef, who are the two ends of the land, and to divide them into seven portions, and to cast lots through the box to divide the land among the seven tribes who remained without cities of their own, meaning they had where to dwell, but they had no inheritance of their own, and they were dwelling scattered about. Just as the people of Yisrael today dwell scattered about and are not divided by tribes, and we see that the Torah wants there to be a division by tribes. And then Yehoshua, by the word of Hashem, divided the land among those seven tribes.
In summary:
In chapter 11 the kings of the north gather into one great war alliance, a people as numerous as the sand on the seashore, with horse and chariot, hoping that sheer numbers would stand for them. The Holy One, blessed be He, commands Yehoshua "do not fear them," and adds an absolute command to hamstring the horses and burn the chariots, so that Israel would trust not in weapons but in Hashem alone. Yehoshua surprises them at the Waters of Merom, strikes and pursues until no survivor is left, captures Chatzor, the head of those kingdoms, and burns it in keeping with the tradition of Moshe, and cuts off the giants. The wars lasted many days, and in this itself was the hand of Hashem, that no city would make peace with Israel, so that the mitzvah of destruction would be fulfilled and the measure of their sin would be complete. And at the end of the chapter, over seven years of conquest, the entire land is taken and apportioned as an inheritance. Yet alongside "and the land rested from war" there also echoes a note of reproach: the slackness in completing the conquest, whose price was thorns in our eyes and barbs in our sides for generations. And from here comes the great lesson of the chapter, as we saw in the midrash about the ten years that were subtracted from Yehoshua: there is no counsel and no understanding against Hashem, and a person must fulfill Hashem's command with wholeheartedness and alacrity, without calculations.