Joshua 6:21

Israel utterly destroyed every living thing in the city by the sword, as God had commanded. Jericho fell under the ban as an act of divine judgment. This severe command is sobered by reverence and is much discussed among faithful readers.

Cross-references · 15

• Ps 137:8–9Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who rewards you, as you have served us.
• Jer 48:18“You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds.
• Josh 10:28Joshua took Makkedah on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king. He utterly destroyed it and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. He did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
• 1 Kgs 20:42He said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’”
• Josh 9:24–25They answered Joshua, and said, “Because your servants were certainly told how Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
• Rev 18:21A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all.
• Deut 2:34We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left no one remaining.
• 1 Sam 15:8He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
• Josh 11:14The children of Israel took all the plunder of these cities, with the livestock, as plunder for themselves; but every man they struck with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They didn’t leave any who breathed.
• 1 Sam 15:3Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
• 1 Sam 15:18–19and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
• Deut 7:16You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you.
• Deut 7:2–3and when Yahweh your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;
• Deut 20:16–17But of the cities of these peoples, that Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes;
• Josh 10:39He took it, with its king and all its cities. They struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. As he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to its king; as he had done also to Libnah, and to its king.

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