What Does Joshua 10:1 Mean in the King James?
Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew root שׁלם (sh-l-m, wholeness) makes peace a bond that places Gibeon among Israel, beside cities devoted to destruction.
THE MEANING
You see two outcomes held together: Ai is devoted to destruction, while Gibeon makes an agreement and becomes “among” Israel. Peace here is a public bond that changes belonging and power, not a private mood.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Peace is only a pause in hostility; here, the agreement changes who belongs among Israel.
THE ROOT
הִשְׁלִימוּ
hishlimu
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
To be whole or complete; to bring a relationship into settled accord.
The verb behind “made peace” shares its root with words for wholeness and completeness, and the next phrase shows the agreement’s concrete result: Gibeon is “among them.” Jerusalem’s name, יְרוּשָׁלַם (Yerushalayim, Jerusalem carrying the association of shalom, wholeness), bears that same association, so its king hears a bond forming around another city.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness; peace.
שָׁלוֹם
This branch shows the depth within “made peace”: the agreement binds Gibeon into a shared whole.
shalem: Whole; complete.
שָׁלֵם
This branch connects peace with a settled relationship, rather than a passing feeling of calm.
וַיַּחֲרִימָהּ
wayyaḥarimah
GROWS FROM
חרם
ḥ-r-m
To place under the ban; to devote to destruction.
“utterly destroyed” in this verse is wayyaḥarimah. The wording marks Ai’s fate as an act of placing the city under a destruction-ban, not merely defeating its king. This severity stands beside Gibeon’s agreement, so the verse keeps annihilation and negotiated inclusion in the same frame.
ALSO GROWS
ḥērem: A ban; something devoted to destruction.
חֵרֶם
This noun from the same root makes the force of “utterly destroyed” more specific than an ordinary defeat.
wayyaḥarimu: They devoted to destruction.
וַיַּחֲרִימוּ
The same verb form appears in the account of Jericho, linking the fate of Ai to the verse’s earlier mention of that city.
אֲדֹנִי־צֶדֶק
ʾAdonî-ṣedeq
GROWS FROM
צדק
ṣ-d-q
Alignment; right order.
“Adoni-zedek” in this verse is ʾAdonî-ṣedeq. The name joins “lord” with alignment or right order, compressing the sense “my lord is alignment.” The ruler hears that Gibeon’s allegiance has shifted, making the relation between rule and alignment part of the scene.
ALSO GROWS
ṣedeq: Alignment; rightness.
צֶדֶק
This word supplies the name’s second element and frames the ruler through the idea of right order.
ṣaddiq: A person who is aligned or right.
צַדִּיק
This related word shows how the same root can describe a person in relation to right order.
THE PATTERN
Peace changes relationships from hostility toward shared order and belonging.
That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;THE THREAD
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.The same שׁלם (sh-l-m, wholeness) verb makes peace a concrete covenant bond, and this verse names survival and an oath as its terms. Joshua 10:1 shows the bond’s visible result: Gibeon is “among” Israel.
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