What Does Joshua 10:30 Mean?
And the LORD gave it, and its king, into the hand of Israel; and he struck it with the mouth of the sword, and all the living souls within it; he left none remaining in it, but did to its king as he did to the king of Jericho.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the LORD delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho.THE KEY
The verse’s “delivered” is the Hebrew verb “gave”: the transfer of Makkedah into Israel’s hand leads directly to the killing of every living person there.
THE MEANING
Here the LORD gives Makkedah and its king into Israel’s hand, and Israel strikes the city with the sword. “All the souls” names its living people, and the verse says that no survivor is left. The passage holds transfer and mass killing in the same sentence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that “delivered” means everyone in the scene is rescued; here the city is handed to Israel while its inhabitants are killed.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתְּנָהּ
wayyittenah
GROWS FROM
נתן
natan
To give, set, or place.
“gave” in this verse is wayyittenah. The verse uses a form of נתן (natan), “give, set, or place,” and the phrase “into the hand of Israel” completes the image as a transfer of control. The city and its king are placed in Israel’s hand, and the verse then states the consequence plainly: Israel strikes, and no living person remains.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This verb is the root behind “delivered” and gives the transfer into Israel’s hand its concrete wording.
mattanah: A gift or something given.
מַתָּנָה
This noun shares the root of “delivered”; together, the forms show the range from an act of giving to what is given.
הַנֶּפֶשׁ
han-nefesh
GROWS FROM
נפשׁ
nafash
To refresh oneself or take respite.
“living souls” in this verse is han-nefesh. The Hebrew phrase uses הַנֶּפֶשׁ (han-nefesh), “the living soul” or “person,” for the people in the city. Nephesh names a living self, so “all the souls” here points to the actual people whose lives the sword takes.
ALSO GROWS
nefesh: A living soul, person, or self.
נֶפֶשׁ
This is the word used for the people in the city, keeping the verse’s focus on lives rather than an abstract idea of souls.
vayyinnaphash: Was refreshed or took respite.
וַיִּנָּפֵשׁ
This verb shares the root and shows its connection to a living self’s restoration or rest, a stark contrast to the lives ended in this verse.
THE PATTERN
In these conquest passages, taking a territory as possession is joined to the command or act of killing everything living within it.
But from the cities of these peoples, which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall keep alive nothing with breath.And they devoted to destruction all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and donkey, with the mouth of the sword.So Joshua struck all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the lowland, and of the slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but devoted all that had breath to destruction, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.THE THREAD
When the LORD your God gives them before you, you shall strike them and devote them to destruction. You shall cut no covenant with them, nor show them favor.The same verb, נתן (natan), “give, set, or place,” stands behind “deliver” in both verses. Here the transfer is immediately paired with striking and destruction, making explicit the violence compressed into Joshua’s account.
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