And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.
He captured the city, its king, and all the surrounding towns. They killed everyone with their swords and completely destroyed all the people living there, leaving no survivors. He did to Debir and its king exactly what he had done to Hebron, and the same as he had done to Libnah and its king.
This verse describes Joshua's complete military conquest of Debir, where he destroyed the city and killed all its inhabitants, just as he had done to other Canaanite cities.
📚 Historical Context
This occurred during Joshua's southern campaign to conquer the Promised Land around 1400-1200 BC. The Israelites were following God's specific commands to completely destroy the Canaanite peoples to prevent their corrupt religious practices from influencing Israel. This was part of God's judgment on nations that had become extremely wicked over centuries.
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