Chapter 10. Defeat of the Canaanite Confederacy - The Invasion of the South.
In this chapter we read of an alliance of five Canaanite kings against the Gibeonites, who then appeal to Joshua for assistance, in virtue of their treaty rights, something which has to Joshua grant. This is followed by the slaughter of the Canaanite armies by the forces of Israel, chiefly as a result of hailstones from heaven, and of the standing still or ‘silence' of the sun and of the moon while vengeance was being taken on them. The five kings then hide in a cave, and we learn of what was done to them when they were taken. This is followed by the taking of Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir, which indicated the initial conquest of the southern part of the hill country and lowlands.
‘ Now it happened that, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, for 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.'
News soon reached surrounding city states about what had happened. One of these was Jerusalem, whose king was made aware of the full situation. Israel had captured both Jericho and Ai and had totally destroyed them and annihilated their inhabitants, and had now entered into a treaty-covenant with the Gibeonite confederacy. There is total silence about the treaty-covenant with Shechem. That is because the writer was concentrating on conveying the picture of the capture of the land by Joshua, and did not want the picture to be affected by such an idea. He was writing a record of the triumph of YHWH, not the history of the conquest. The Gibeonite treaty was a different matter as it was obtained by subterfuge and resulted in the total submission of Gibeon to slavery. However, the total picture is clear. The way into Canaan over the Jordan and the central hill country was now mainly in the hands of the Israelites, while the way had been laid open for the settling of the southern hill country and lowlands..
“Adoni-zedek”. The name means ‘my lord is righteous' or ‘Zedek is my lord'. We can compare the former king of Jerusalem ‘Melchizedek - my king is righteous' or ‘Zedek is my king'. There is not sufficient evidence for a god Zedek in Canaan so that the other meanings may well be the right ones. At the time of the Amarna letters the king of Jerusalem was Abdi-heba. The letters also referred to Uru-salim as the name of the city.