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.
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.
- KJV And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon 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.
- 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 8:29He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening, and at sundown Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised a great heap of stones on it that remains to this day.
- Judg 8:21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks.
- Deut 21:22–23If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree;
- 1 Sam 15:33Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.
- 2 Sam 21:9He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before Yahweh, and all seven of them fell together. They were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.
- 2 Sam 21:6let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Yahweh.” The king said, “I will give them.”
- Esth 2:23When this matter was investigated, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king’s presence.
- Esth 7:9–10Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!”
- Gal 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
- Num 25:4Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.”
- Matt 27:25All the people answered, “May 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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