Joshua Chapter 11 verse 20 Holy Bible
For it was of Jehovah to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
read chapter 11 in ASV
For the Lord made them strong in heart to go to war against Israel, so that he might give them up to the curse without mercy, and that destruction might come on them, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.
read chapter 11 in BBE
For it was of Jehovah that their heart was hardened, to meet Israel in battle, that they might be utterly destroyed, and that there might be no favour shewn to them, but that they might be destroyed, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
read chapter 11 in DARBY
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
read chapter 11 in KJV
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
read chapter 11 in WBT
For it was of Yahweh to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
read chapter 11 in WEB
for from Jehovah it hath been to strengthen their heart, to meet in battle with Israel, in order to devote them, so that they have no grace, but in order to destroy them, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
read chapter 11 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 20. - To harden their hearts (cf. Exodus 4:21; Exodus 7:23). Muller, 'Christian Doctrine of Sin,' 2:412, says that "Scripture never speaks of God's hardening men's hearts, save in connection with His revelations through Moses or Christ." This passage evidently had not occurred to him when writing. His explanation of the difficulty is hardly satisfactory. We are not to suppose that the free will of the Canaanites was in any way interfered with. God no doubt left them to themselves as the due punishment of their iniquities. Sin in general, by God's own appointment, and especially the sensual sins in which the Canaanites were steeped, has a tendency to produce insensibility to moral or even prudential considerations, and to beget a recklessness which urges on the sinner to his ruin. Some have argued that had they all come, like the Gibeonites, as suppliants, they must all have been massacred in cold blood. But this is not likely. Rather we must imagine that God foresaw that they would not believe the signs He would give in favour of the Israelites, and that by meeting them in battle they brought a swift and speedy destruction on themselves.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(20) It was of the Lord to harden their hearts . . . that he might destroy them.--Or rather to strengthen their heart--i.e., render them obstinate. These words go to prove what has been said elsewhere, that the conquest of Canaan was not intended to be a massacre of the unresisting inhabitants.