So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
Parallel translations
- WEB They were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- KJV That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
- NKJV that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- NASB that he feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- NLT He and his people became very afraid when they heard all this because Gibeon was a large town—as large as the royal cities and larger than Ai. And the Gibeonite men were strong warriors.
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
The Canaanite kings are terrified because Gibeon was a great, royal-sized city full of mighty men. Its surrender signaled real danger to them.
Overview
Gibeon's size and strength made its peace with Israel especially alarming, since such a formidable city had chosen submission over war. The fear that grips these kings echoes the dread Rahab described earlier (Joshua 2), confirming that the Canaanites sensed God's hand against them. Their terror, rightly directed, should have led to surrender like Gibeon's rather than to doomed resistance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 11:25No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
- Josh 2:24“The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
- Exod 15:14–16The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
- Prov 1:26–27in turn I will mock your calamity; I will sneer when terror strikes you,
- 2 Sam 12:26Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
- 1 Sam 27:5Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
- Rev 6:15–17Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
- Prov 10:24What the wicked man dreads will overtake him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
- Ps 48:4–6For behold, the kings assembled; they all advanced together.
- Josh 2:9–13and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you.
- Heb 10:27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
- Heb 10:31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- Deut 28:10Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.
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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.
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Original language
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