And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.
When he showed them how to get into the city, they attacked the city and killed everyone with their swords. But they let the man and his entire family go free.
This verse shows that the Israelites kept their promise to spare the man and his family who helped them capture the city, even while they destroyed everyone else.
📚 Historical Context
In the book of Judges, which describes the period after Joshua's death when the Israelites were conquering and settling the Promised Land, the tribe of Joseph attacked the city of Bethel as part of their efforts to drive out the Canaanites. A man from the city revealed the entrance to the Israelite forces, enabling them to capture it swiftly and destroy it with the sword. However, they spared the man and his family, likely as an act of mercy or in recognition of his cooperation, reflecting the selective judgments often seen in Israel's conquest narratives.
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