And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
Parallel translations
- WEB Afterward Joshua struck them, put them to death, and hanged them on five trees. They were hanging on the trees until the evening.
- BSB After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening.
- NKJV And afterward Joshua struck them and killed them, and hanged them on five trees; and they were hanging on the trees until evening.
- NASB So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees; and they were hung on the trees until evening.
- NLT Then Joshua killed each of the five kings and impaled them on five sharpened poles, where they hung until evening.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joshua executes the five kings and hangs their bodies on trees until evening. Their public death seals the judgment.
Overview
After striking the kings down, Joshua exposes their bodies on trees as a sign of God's curse on His enemies (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). The display until evening shows both the seriousness of the judgment and obedience to the law's limits. The image of cursed ones hung on a tree finds its deepest echo in Christ, who became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Josh 8:29And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
- Judg 8:21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.
- Deut 21:22–23And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
- 1 Sam 15:33And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
- 2 Sam 21:9And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
- 2 Sam 21:6Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
- Esth 2:23And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.
- Esth 7:9–10And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
- Gal 3:13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
- Num 25:4And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.
- Matt 27:25Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 10:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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