“Come up to me and help me. Let’s strike Gibeon; for they have made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.”
Parallel Translations
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“Come up to me and help me. Let’s strike Gibeon; for they have made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.”
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Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.
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'Come up unto me, and help me, and let us smite Gibeon; for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.'
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Joshua 10:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 9:15 Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live. The princes of the congregation swore to them.
- Joshua 10:1 Now when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them,
- Isaiah 8:9-10 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered! Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”
- Isaiah 41:5-7 The islands have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach, and come. Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, “Be strong!” So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good;” and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.
- Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
- John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
- John 16:2-3 They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
- Acts 9:23-27 When many days were fulfilled, the Jews conspired together to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates both day and night that they might kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket. When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
- Acts 21:28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place. Moreover, he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place!”
- 2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
- James 4:4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
- 1 Peter 4:4 They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, blaspheming.
- Revelation 16:14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty.
- Revelation 20:8-10 and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (5 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jos 10:4 Come up unto me, and help me,…
Jos 10:4 Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.
Ver. 4. That we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua.] This was the quarrel: and to be revenged upon the Gibeonites, these kings would not care to weaken themselves by wasting their forces upon them: as the bee, for like cause, loseth her sting and becometh a drone, if not her life.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Come up unto me, and help me, that we…
Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon,.... For which he thought himself not a match, not only because it was a great city, and full of mighty men, and had other cities subject to it, but because he might reasonably judge that Joshua would come to their assistance if possible, being in league with him; he sends to these kings in an authoritative manner, as if they were in some respects subject to him; and he proposes Jerusalem as the place of their rendezvous, and which it seems lay higher than their cities, though they were in the mountainous part of the country:
for it hath made peace with Joshua, and with the children of Israel; their avowed enemies, and so had separated themselves from their countrymen, and from their common interest; and therefore it was thought proper to make an example of them, that others might fear to do the same.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. for it hath made peace] The enterprise was…
4. for it hath made peace] The enterprise was directed primarily not against Joshua, but against Gibeon which had made peace with him. Comp. Jos_9:15.
4. When in describing the assault on Lachish the writer of the Book of Joshua tells us it was the second day before it succeeded, he undesignedly leads us to suspect that Lachish was a stronghold; and on consulting other portions of the history of the Jews we discover that suspicion to be confirmed; and on the whole a coincidence results very characteristic of truth and accuracy, and this in a narrative full of the miraculous. Blunt’s Undesigned Coincidences, pp. 107, 108.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Come up . . . that we may…
(4) Come up . . . that we may smite Gibeon.—It is remarkable that we do not read of one direct attack upon Joshua and his army in all the wars of Canaan. The Canaanites seem to have acted strictly upon the defensive: and this fact tallies with what we read of the alarm and depression that spread among them at the passage of Jordan by Israel. And the armies which did take the field were attacked by Joshua in each instance before they had ventured to attack him. In the present instance it was thought necessary to smite Gibeon, not only to make an example of the inhabitants, but also because of its importance as a stronghold in the hands of Israel. The position of the Hivite tetrapolis was strong enough to command the country. The fact that a man of Gibeon was afterwards selected to reign over Israel, and that the tabernacle was stationed there, so that Gibeon became a sort of metropolis during the latter portion of Saul’s reign, is a significant comment upon this.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Come up unto me. Most of these kings were…
Come up unto me. Most of these kings were in the lowlands. Hence the expression "Come up" is accurate in the mouth of the king of Jerusalem, and strengthens the claim of the narrative to be regarded as authentic. That we may smite Gibeon. Or, and we will smite Gibeon. The conjunction w. often, but not always, signifies the purpose with which a thing is done. Here there is nothing to guide us in the decision whether the passage indicates the purpose or the result. It is in keeping with the whole history, and is one of the life-like touches with which it abounds, that the king of Jerusalem does not dare to suggest an attack upon Joshua. He can only venture upon assailing Gibeon, standing in less fear of it than of the divinely protected invaders, and hoping at least by this measure to deprive Joshua of formidable allies. "Cure anima humana Verbo Dei se sociaverit, dubitare non debet, statim se inimicos habituram, et eos, quos ante habuerit amicos, in adversa-rios vertendos". (Orig., Hom. 2 on Joshua. See also Ecc_2:1 2Ti_3:12) "As Satan, so wicked men, cannot abide to lose any of their communitie. If a convert come home, the angels welcome him with songs, the Devils follow him with uprore and furie, his old Partners with seorne and obloquie" (Bp. Hall).
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Ver. 4. Connection with the Church a source of worldly trouble.
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The trouble which came upon Gibeon through her connection with Israel affords an illustration of the experience of all who associate themselves with the career and destinies of the Church.
I THE EXISTENCE OF THIS TROUBLE. Though the true Church is an ark of safety, she is an ark upon stormy waters. He who joins the Church on earth joins the Church militant, and shares her dangers. (Joh_15:18)
(1) So long as the world is at enmity with God, they who stand on the side of the people of God will be subject to the assaults of the world in
(a) persecution,
(b) social ostracism,
(c) calumny,
(d) ridicule, etc.
(2) While the Church is fulfilling her mission to conquer the world for Christ, she will bring the hatred of the world upon all who are identified with her. (2Co_11:23-27)
(3) It is vain to expect to receive the advantages of religion and to escape from the cost of them. (Luk_14:28) He who would win heaven must lose something on earth. (Mat_6:24)
II THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS TROUBLE. All trouble permitted by Providence is blessing in disguise. So is this:
(1) It serves as a test of genuineness. We may join the Church
(a) from motives of selfish pride and profit,
(b) under the influence of superficial sentiment.
Worldly trouble directly arising out of our Church relations proves the genuineness of our attachment to Christ by showing whether we are willing to risk danger and suffer loss for Him. (Mat_3:12 Mat_13:21)
(2) It promotes union among Christians. The Gibeonites were drawn closer to the Israelites by the threatened danger. Selfish isolation, mutual jealousy, divisions, and ecclesiastical quarrels spring up in times of peace. Sympathy and charity are developed in seasons of adversity.
(3) It cultivates unworldliness. The friendship of the world is a dangerous snare. The favour of the world brings with it the spirit of the world. In worldly prosperity the Church tends to worldly habits. The enmity of the world drives us to the sympathy of God and refuges of unworldly living.
III THE REMEDIES FOR THIS TROUBLE. Gibeon was threatened with destruction, but on her appeal to Israel her allies fought for her, and God secured them the victory.
(1) The remedy for worldly trouble arising from our religious associations will be found in mutual help. The Christian Church is a brotherhood. We are called to bear one another"s burdens. (Gal_6:2) The rich should help the poor, the strong the weak, the prosperous at home the persecuted abroad.
(2) The remedy will also be found in the Divine aid. God fought with Israel in the defence of Gibeon (ver. 13). They who are brought into danger for the cause of God will find that God is on their side and will secure their deliverance. The real danger is to those who are fighting against God. It is safer to be in trouble with the people of God than in prosperity with their enemies, for God must and will triumph in the end, and then His people will share His victory. W.F.A. (Joh_16:33)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.