They feared, i.e. he and his people, the king being spoken of Joshua 10:1, as a public person representing all his people. Or, he and the following kings, Joshua 10:3. But this fear is mentioned, Joshua 10:2, as the cause why he sent to those kings. As one of the royal cities; either,
1. Really a royal city, the Hebrew particle caph oft signifying the truth of a thing, as Hosea 4:4, Hosea 5:10, and oft elsewhere. Or,
2. Equal to one of the royal cities, though it had no king, but seems to be governed aristocratically by their elders, Joshua 9:11.