And they utterly destroyed them and their cities. — The meaning of the verb which is here employed is to devote to destruction, and hence to destroy utterly. It does not clearly appear whether this destruction was effected at once, or whether the fulfilment of the vow took place at a later period. (See Joshua 12:14; Judges 1:17.) If the attack of the Canaanites was made at the time of the final departure from Kadesh, the latter view must be maintained, as it can scarcely be supposed that the cities could have been rebuilt and again destroyed in so short an interval.
And he called the name of the place Hormah. — Better, And the name of the place was called Hormah. The word Hormah — i.e., a devoted thing — is cognate with the verb which occurs in this and the preceding verse, and which is rendered utterly destroy. The place is so called by anticipation in Numbers 14:45, and, as in regard to other names (e.g., Bethel and Jacob), the name was probably given anew to the place on a later occasion (Judges 1:17).