they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
- KJV That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
- NKJV that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.
- NASB that they met together with one purpose, to fight with Joshua and with Israel.
- NLT These kings combined their armies to fight as one against Joshua and the Israelites.
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 unite with one accord to fight Joshua and Israel. The nations band together in common opposition.
Overview
Faced with Israel's advance, the kings choose alliance and war rather than submission to the God of Israel. Their united resistance stands in contrast to the Gibeonites, who seek peace by deception. The scene illustrates the world's instinct to oppose God's purposes, even as God remains sovereign over the outcome.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 8:12“Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live in dread.
- Acts 4:26–28The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’
- Isa 8:9–10Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
- Ps 2:1–2Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Prov 11:21Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.
- Joel 3:9–13Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
- Rev 20:8–9and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
- Isa 54:15If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
- Rev 16:14These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
- 2 Chr 20:1–30After this, the Moabites and Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat.
- Ps 83:2–8See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 9:2 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.