************************************************************* THE TANACH STUDY CENTER [http://www.tanach.org] In Memory of Rabbi Abraham Leibtag Shiurim in Chumash & Navi by Menachem Leibtag ************************************************************* Yehoshua - chapters 11 -> 12 Completing the Conquest At first glance chapters 11 thru 12 in Sefer Yehoshua appear to lack the ‘excitement’ found in earlier chapters. Nevertheless, they do contain the details of several very important events; in fact, from a military perspective, they describe the primary account of Yehoshua’s conquest of the land. In the following shiur, we discuss the book's presentation of those events from the prophetic perspective as well. INTRODUCTION In our shiurim thus far, our 'military discussion' has focused on how Yehoshua solved his two primary military problems, namely: 1) A large group of nations gathering against him, and 2) The difficulty of taking walled cities. With divine assistance, and a rather fortunate combination of events, Yehoshua had successfully defeated the military powers in the South. This success now presented a serious threat to the kings of the North, as they assumed that they would become Yehoshua's next target. Therefore, instead of waiting for Yehoshua to attack them, they gathered forces against him: "And it came to pass, when Yabin king of Hazor heard [of Yehoshua's victories in the south], he sent to Yobab king of Madon,.and to the kings that were on the north, in the hill-country and in the plains south of the Kinneret.... to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill-country, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. And all these kings met together, and they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel." (see 11:1-5) To plan a joint frontal attack against Yehoshua, they assembled at a place called Mei Merom, from where they planned to march south to engage Yehoshua in battle. Even though this was the exact scenario that Bnei Yisrael had feared most (see 7:9!), this gathering by the kings of the north also presented Yehoshua with a unique opportunity. Considering that these kings had now gathered their armies outside their walled cities, if he could somehow defeat those armies in the open field, it would solve his problem of conquering their walled cities! But to do so, once again, Yehoshua needs a good battle plan. THE BLITZ This time, Yehoshua’s strategy was quite daring. Instead of taking a defensive position against this coalition, with God's assurance and encouragement - he opts to attack them, BEFORE they attack him: "And Hashem said unto Joshua: 'Be not afraid because of them; for to-morrow at this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel; thou shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.' So Yehoshua came suddenly, and all the people of war with him, against them by Mei Merom, and fell upon them. And God delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they smote them, and chased them... until they left them none remaining." (see 11:6-8) As was the case with his attack against the Five Kings, Yehoshua employs an element of surprise, catching the enemy at their 'staging base' in Mei Merom totally off guard; thus causing them to disperse and flee. As they fled in all directions, Yehoshua routed their armies, and razed the city of Chazor (the "group leader" – see 11:1). However the other walled cities, even though their armies were defeated, were not destroyed (see 11:10-14). As a result of this conquest, Yehoshua secured military control of the northern part of Eretz Canaan. This victory marked an important milestone; for the first time since they entered the land, Bnei Yisrael were no longer under threat of annihilation should the nations of Canaan gather against them. Once again, Yehoshua reaped the fruits of a sound military strategy, and was able to avoid the need to lay sieges to walled cities. A WEANING PROCESS Note the many parallels between the battle against the southern kings in chapter 10 and the battle against the northern kings in chapters 11. Both stories begin with a joint effort to attack Bnei Yisrael; in both battles Yehoshua employs a surprise attack, and in both cases Yehoshua routs the enemy as they retreat. [See commentary of Daat Mikra on chapter 11 for a more complete explanation.] However, despite theses numerous similarities, there is one very major difference - for unlike all the previous battles in Sefer Yehoshua, in the battle against the northern kings there doesn't appear to be any miracles! Furthermore, if Yehoshua’s victories over both the Southern and the Northern kingdoms can be explained by his wise planning and proper strategy, then where do we find the 'Hand of God' in these battles? We posit that the lack of any obvious miracle in this final battle is thematically significant, for it reflects a very interesting progression of events that spans the first half of Sefer Yehoshua. Note, that as we progress from one battle to the next from chapters six thru eleven, God appears to be less and less involved. The following summary will highlight the nature of this progression: 1. The battle of Jericho God helped by providing an undeniable miracle, causing the walls to fall down; thus enabling an easy victory. 2. The battle of ha'Ai (the 2nd battle) God provided Yehoshua with a complete battle plan (including ambushes and decoy strategy). Yehoshua held his "kidon" up high during that entire battle, so that everyone would recognize that God was fighting for them. 3. The battle against the Five Kings and the south Yehoshua made his own battle plan, and did most of the fighting - God provided logistical assistance with the miracle by holding the sun in the sky (to give them ample time to complete their victory), and with the "avnei elgabish" (stones) falling from heaven on the enemy retreating. 4. The battle against the kings of the North God merely gave Bnei Yisrael some 'encouragement' (see 11:6), but did not perform any explicit miracles. It appears that Yehoshua had planned the battle as well. Clearly, as the battles progress, we find that God becomes less and less involved. This pattern may suggest that ideally, God would rather Bnei Yisrael fight their battles through natural means, in the hope that they would recognize the Hand of God even WITHOUT a miracle. However, to emphasize to Bnei Yisrael that it was indeed God who was helping them, it was necessary for God to first show His assistance in a more explicit manner. If the nation would internalize this message, God would then slowly 'wean' Bnei Yisrael from this need - by providing less direct assistance in each successive battle. By the time Bnei Yisrael fought their battle against the northern kings, God no longer needed to perform miracles. His expectation was that by the people would recognize God's assistance, even when their victory was achieved through natural ways. [In our study of Sefer Shmuel, we will show how this level was truly achieved by David ha'melech in his battles, as reflected in his "shira" / see II Shmuel chapters 22-23.)] WHO NEEDS CHARIOTS? To complement this explanation, it is important to note the one special commandment that God did instruct Yehoshua to perform in relation to his battle against the Kings of the North: "And God told Yehoshua: Do not be afraid of them; tomorrow at this time I will have them all lying slain before Israel, and YOU SHALL HAMSTRING THEIR HORSES AND BURN THEIR CHARIOTS!" (11:6) This commandment appears to be quite strange. Usually, when one army defeats another, the spoils of war – especially the weapons – go to the victor. However, in this battle God instructed Yehoshua to MAIM the horses and DESTROY the chariots instead of collecting them for use by his own army! To understand why, we must return to Sefer Devarim. There in addition to the command that the king cannot amass too much silver and gold (see 17:17), the king is also warned that: "He shall not collect too many horses..." (see17:16) In Biblical times, horses were used by armies, for both cavalry and to pull chariots. Therefore, the Torah fears that by owning too many horses, the king would likely become haughty, causing him (and his nation) to become overly dependent on their own might - and forget about their dependence upon God. Apparently, just as owning too much 'silver & gold' can cause an individual to become haughty, so too in regard to military equipment. As the underlying reason for this commandment against too many horses is similar to the reason for the miracles that God performs for Bnei Yisrael during the early stages of their conquest - in this final battle God instructs Yehoshua to destroy the chariots and horses instead of taking them as part of the booty. [Note also II Shmuel 8:4 where David captured some 1700 chariots, then destroyed all except 100 of them, most likely for the same reason.] STAGE ONE: COMPLETE Now that the military conquest of the north was complete, Bnei Yisrael entered a new phase in their mission to conquer and settle the land. First of all, controlling the land as they now did, they no longer faced the danger of a united attack by the combined armies of Canaan. Therefore, there was no longer a need for the armies of all twelve tribes to remain together in case of such an attack. Instead, it was now possible for each tribe to organize its own army and begin securing the borders of its own inheritance. Furthermore, the women and children no longer needed to remain in the camp in Gilgal for protection. Each tribe could now move to their own "nachalah" (inheritance) and begin to set up homes, etc. Therefore, precisely at this point in Sefer Yehoshua, we find a summary of the conquest: "Yehoshua conquered this entire land, the mountain range and the entire NEGEV, the entire Goshen land, the SHEFEYLA, the ARAVA, the hill country and the coastal plain.… from Mount Chalak near Seir [in the extreme south] to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon at the foot of the HERMON [the extreme north].… Yehoshua waged war with all those kings over a long time. Only the Hivites of GIVON made peace with Yehoshua; no others came to terms with them... for God hardened their hearts... in order that they might be wiped out..." (see 11:16-20) STAGE TWO: JUST BEGINNING Despite this 'grand finale', suggesting that the conquest was complete, as we continue our study of Sefer Yehoshua, we will find that there remained much land that was not conquered. [For example, see 13:1-7,18:1-3, 23:1-6 & Shoftim 1:27-36.] How can we explain this discrepancy? Did Yehoshua conquer the land, or didn't he? The concluding verse of this chapter can provide us with a clue: "So Yehoshua took the whole land, according to all that Hashem spoke unto Moshe; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land had rest from war." (11:23) Note carefully how the book summarizes this conquest: "Yehoshua took the whole land, according to all that Hashem spoke unto Moshe". Even though it is usually understand that this second phrase describes WHAT land Yehoshua captured - (i.e. all of Eretz Canaan, as God had spoken to Moshe) - we claim that it explains HOW Yehoshua took the land - i.e. just as God spoke to Moshe in Devarim 11:24 and Yehoshua 1:3 that "anywhere where you will go, I will give you...". In other words, God kept His promise to help Bnei Yisrael capture the land - when they themselves took the initiative. That was 'all the land' that they conquered. In regard to all the remaining areas, as described in Yehoshua 13:1-7 and Shoftim 1:27-26), Bnei Yisrael did not take an initiative, and hence, God did not assist them. Once again, Sefer Yehoshua emphasizes how God had kept His promise - and should something not be complete, the people were to blame. BETWEEN KIBUSH & NACHALA One could suggest an additional answer to explain this apparent discrepancy between the land that was conquered and the land that was not settled. To do so, we must differentiate between two phases of the conquest. In the first stage, Yehoshua needed to attain overall military control of the country. This included establishing military control of the main highways, high hills, important cities and strategic intersections. This was accomplished on the NATIONAL level, by Yehoshua’s army defeating the standing armies of the existing nations, to the point that they no longer posed a threat to Bnei Yisrael’s survival. Yehoshua reached this stage of conquest at the conclusion of Chapter 11, with the defeat of the Northern kings. However, at this point it became the responsibility of EACH AND EVERY TRIBE to complete the conquest of its own nachala, i.e. to go from hill to hill and set up cities and industries etc. This was not a job for the joint national army; rather this needed to be accomplished at the tribal level. Should any tribe not continue with this second stage, as we will see all too clearly in Sefer Shoftim, another nation would do so instead. Therefore, from the perspective of Stage One, the assessment of 11:16-20 is correct. Yehoshua, with God’s assistance, indeed succeeded in securing military control of the entire country. However, there were many 'pocket holes' remaining. As we will see in our study of Chapters 13-19, some of the tribes completed Stage Two, while many others did not. THE SHIRA As the account of Stage One of the conquest reaches its conclusion, we find a "shira" (song) in chapter 12, listing the thirty-one kings that Yehoshua conquered. On the one hand, this SHIRA reflects that the conquest was now complete. However, its simplicity (and lack of detail) may also suggest that the "conquest" still left much to be desired. [The style of how it is written certainly reminds us of Shirat Haazinu - in contrast to the "shira" sung that reminds us of "shirat ha'yam" (and not by chance). ] A quick glance at the parallel song sung by David at the conclusion of his (more complete) conquest of the land (see II Shmuel Chapter 22) can give us a better idea of what this SHIRA of Sefer Yehoshua 'could have been', In summary, one of the primary messages of Sefer Yehoshua is to show us how God fulfilled His promise to help Bnei Yisrael conquer the land, and how Bnei Yisrael, at least partially, fulfilled their responsibility to complete that conquest. In our next shiur, as we study chapters 13-19, we will discuss the efforts taken by each tribe (for good or for bad) to inherit its portion of the land.