Joshua 11 · a question people ask
"For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts" (11:20). Then were the kings to blame?
The chapter gives it as the reason no city made peace: "There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took all in battle. For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses" (11:19-20) (tap harden). In Hebrew, harden their hearts is the verb and the word of "I will harden his heart" (Exodus 4:21) and "I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians" (Exodus 14:17). The honest question in Exodus 4 sets out how Christians read the hardening of Pharaoh, and Deuteronomy 2 gives the same two readings for Sihon (Deuteronomy 2:30). Joshua 11:20 adds two things. It is given as the reason there was no peace, with Gibeon the one exception (11:19). And it is tied to the command of Moses: "that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor" (11:20), where Moses had said, "you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them" (Deuteronomy 7:2) (tap favor). Both readings agree that the verse names the LORD's purpose, and that the kings themselves "went out, they and all their armies with them" (11:4) and "met together… to fight with Israel" (11:5).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
The LORD's purpose comes first
Those who hold this view start from the verse itself, which says the hardening was "of the LORD" and gives its purpose, "that he might utterly destroy them" (11:20). Before the battle the LORD had already said, "tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel" (11:6). Writing of Pharaoh, Paul concludes, "he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires" (Romans 9:18).
Joshua 11:20 · Joshua 11:6 · Romans 9:18
The LORD confirmed their own choice
Those who hold this view note that the chapter opens with a king's own act: "When Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, he sent" (11:1). They set beside it others in the land who had heard: Rahab said, "I know that the LORD has given you the land" (2:9), and the people of Gibeon said, "we were very afraid for our lives because of you" (9:24), and Joshua made peace with them (9:15), the one exception 11:19 names. They read these as people who heard and answered differently, and the LORD's hardening as giving the kings over to the war they had set out to fight.
Joshua 11:1 · Joshua 2:9 · Joshua 9:15 · Joshua 9:24 · Joshua 11:19
The verses
“There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took all in battle. For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.”
“The LORD said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.”
“Behold, I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after them. I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.”
“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today.”