The Conquest of Canaan (Part 2)

Wars of the Bible 

In Part 1, we looked at the opening phases of Israel’s campaign to conquer the lands of Southern Canaan. Joshua’s campaign saw him capture the cities of Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir, beginning Israel’s hold on the region as God fulfilled His promise to give the land to His people.  

With Southern Canaan largely under Israelite control, the narrative now shifts in Joshua 11:1–23 to a new threat. A broad northern alliance of Canaanite kings forms under King Jabin of Hazor, determined to resist Israel’s expansion and defend their homelands. As the biblical text notes, this northern coalition brought together rulers from the mountains, the Arabah valley, the western foothills, and coastal plains, and marshaled a large army with many horses and chariots to confront Israel.

Conquests in Northern Canaan

11 When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, 3 to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

6 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8 And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. 9 And Joshua did to them just as the Lord said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

10 And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction;[a] there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. 15 Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

16 So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. 22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

Joshua 11: 1-23

The Lands and Tribes of Northern Canaan

Archaeological surveys and texts, such as the Amarna Letters, reveal that during the Late Bronze Age (roughly the 14th–13th centuries BCE), Canaan was not a unified state but a patchwork of small city-kingdoms. Rulers of cities like Hazor, Shimron, Madon, Akshaph, and others are known from both the biblical text and extra-biblical inscriptions, showing a vibrant political landscape of competing polities.

The Northern Campaign of the Conquest in Canaan showing Joshua’s advance against a coalition of northern Canaanite kings, their gathering at the Waters of Merom, the pursuit northward toward Sidon and the Valley of Mizpeh, and the capture of Hazor — the key northern stronghold.

These cities were fortified centers with their own elites, religious practices, and economic systems, and they regularly entered into alliances or conflicts with one another. This aligns with the biblical presentation of a northern coalition, not a single empire, but a league of regional powers responding to a common threat.

Hazor

Hazor, at Tel el-Qedah, the modern Arabic name for Tel Hazor, was by far the largest city in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age, with a fortified core and extensive lower city covering ~200 acres. Ruled by King Jabin, whose name is a personal name or dynastic title meaning “he understands.” Another Jabin appears in Judges 4–5, suggesting either a dynastic reuse of the name or a later tradition linked to Hazor’s rulership.

Tel Hazor (תל חצור): Major Canaanite city and archaeological tell in the Upper Galilee, central to the northern coalition in Joshua 11.

Excavations have uncovered massive palaces, temples, and wealth indicative of a major political center, consistent with biblical “head of kingdoms.” Archaeologists found a thick destruction layer with ash, burned buildings, and toppled cultic statues, and clay tablets in cuneiform that mention kings whose names linguistically resemble “Jabin,” giving some basis for a historical ruler of Hazor in the relevant era. Hazor’s destruction is dated to the Late Bronze Age (often around the 13th c. BCE), though exact synchrony with Joshua’s timeline is debated among scholars.

Madon 

The precise location of Madon isn’t universally established. This city-state was ruled by a king named Jobab, which means something like “howler” or “shouter,” but as with most of these rulers, we have no independent inscriptions directly tied to him. 

Archaeological layers at the generally accepted site show Late Bronze Age pottery and destruction debris, indicating the city was inhabited and violently ended around the period traditionally associated with the conquest. After destruction, some sites in the region show gaps in occupation, suggesting depopulation or cultural change. 

Shimron

Shimron’s king is also called to the northern alliance against Israel’s forces, though we don’t get a personal name for him. Many scholars attribute Tel Shimron in the Jezreel Valley to Shimron, where excavations are ongoing. Learn more about the dig here.

Aerial view of the Tel Shimron archaeological site.

Fortifications and settlement infrastructure spanning from roughly 1800–1200 BCE have been uncovered, indicating the city’s strategic importance. Recent work has revealed monumental architecture and cultic deposits that may reflect the presence of elites and civic organization typical of Bronze Age city-states. While specific destruction layers dated precisely to the conquest aren’t universally accepted, Late Bronze Age occupation layers end abruptly in some trench contexts.

Achshaph

Achshaph’s king is listed among the coalition leaders in Joshua’s northern war, but like the King of Shimron, we do not get a personal name for him. Proposed sites for Achshaph include Tell Keisan, Tell Harbaj, and Tell an-Nakhl, showing some uncertainty among scholars due to overlapping ancient settlement remains.

In the Acco Plain region, pottery and Late Bronze Age destruction horizons (including Mycenaean IIIA2 imports) suggest a substantial Late Bronze Age settlement that was violently ended around the traditional conquest period. Achshaph also appears in Egyptian sources (e.g., the Papyrus Anastasi and Amarna texts), indicating it was known in the wider Near Eastern political world.

Although the exact tel remains debated, the archaeological pattern shows Achshaph’s region was part of a thriving Late Bronze Age landscape that later experienced disruptive destruction, consistent with the biblical picture of northern military activity.

The Other Members of the Alliance

Beyond the four named rulers, Joshua lists: the Kings of the northern hills, Kings in the Arabah (Jordan Valley), Kings in the western foothills, Kings of Naphoth-Dor, and various Canaanite ethnic groups, including the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Hivites.

These terms reflect regional and ethnic categories rather than specific rulers. For example, Naphoth-Dor is known from Egyptian and Assyrian texts and refers to a coastal district south of Mount Carmel with multiple settlements rather than a singular city. Many of these regions show Bronze Age habitation with fortifications or administrative centers, though not every site has clear destruction layers assignable to the conquest narrative. 

While Hazor has the strongest archaeological footprint and clear evidence of a major destruction layer, the other cities fit a pattern found across northern Canaan:

• Late Bronze Age urban centers with significant remains.

• Indications of violent destruction or sudden occupational breaks in the 13th–14th c. BCE strata.

• Many sites also appear in Egyptian texts (Amarna correspondence, Execration texts), showing they were known city-states interacting with empires beyond Canaan itself.

  
  

This suggests a network of fortified polities, not a single empire or kingdom, whose kings could conceivably band together in response to external threats, such as an advancing Israelite confederation.

My Spiritual Takeaway 

Here, we complete the Israelite conquest of Canaan as we see God fulfill His promise to His people to bring them into the Promised Land. To finish out this two-part series, I want to hone in on one key line in the scripture that serves as a good reminder for us when we face seemingly insurmountable odds. Let’s read the verse: 

And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.

Joshua 11:4

As we see in this chapter, this massive accumulation of worldly power could not withstand the Lord. When we are fearful, we should remember one thing. 

God is Mighty 

Such a massive force would strike fear into most, but the Israelites had God on their side, and they swept them away. When we face fear in our own lives, we often try to find solutions on our own rather than turning to the Lord. I am guilty of this. I have to remind myself, or be reminded, to be still and pray, for the Lord is with us. 

In the next blog, we’ll look at Joshua’s successor, Judah, as he attempts to complete the conquest of Canaan in the Book of Judges. 

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Sources 

1. Ben-Tor, A. (2016). Hazor: Canaanite metropolis, Israelite city. Israel Exploration Society.

2. Ben-Tor, A., & Bonfil, R. (1997). Hazor V: An account of the fifth season of excavations, 1968. Hebrew University.

3. Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Joshua 11 (English Standard Version). https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+11&version=ESV

4. Biblical Archaeology Society. (2010). Hazor excavations reveal destruction of Canaanite city. Biblical Archaeology Review, 36(3), 34–41.

5. Dever, W. G. (2003). Who were the early Israelites and where did they come from? William B. Eerdmans.

6. Finkelstein, I., & Silberman, N. A. (2001). The Bible unearthed: Archaeology’s new vision of ancient Israel and the origin of its sacred texts. Free Press.

7. Goren, Y., Finkelstein, I., & Na’aman, N. (2004). Inscribed in clay: Provenance study of the Amarna tablets and other ancient Near Eastern texts. Emery and Claire Yass Publications.

8. Joshua 12. (n.d.). In The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version. National Council of Churches.

9. Killebrew, A. E. (2005). Biblical peoples and ethnicity: An archaeological study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and early Israel. Society of Biblical Literature.

10. Maeir, A. M. (2017). Cities, kings, and coalitions in Late Bronze Age Canaan. Near Eastern Archaeology, 80(2), 72–85.

11. Mazar, A. (1990). Archaeology of the land of the Bible, 10,000–586 BCE. Doubleday.

12. Na’aman, N. (1994). Canaanite city-states in the Late Bronze Age. Ugarit-Forschungen, 26, 397–418.

13. Redford, D. B. (1992). Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in ancient times. Princeton University Press.

14. Stager, L. E. (2001). The archaeology of the family in ancient Israel. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 321, 1–35.

15. Tel Shimron Excavations Project. (n.d.). Tel Shimron: Excavations and research overview. https://www.telshimronexcavations.com

16. Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Achshaph. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achshaph

17. Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Hazor. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Hazor

18. Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Jabin. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabin

Images

1. Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). The conquest of Canaan: The northern campaign [Map]. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv-study-bible/old-testament/maps/the-conquest-of-canaan-the-northern-campaign.cfm

2. Museum of the Bible. (2024, February 29). Updates from the field: Tel Shimron with Dr. Daniel Master. https://www.museumofthebible.org/magazine/featured/updates-from-the-field-tel-shimron-with-dr.-daniel-master

3. Precept Austin. (n.d.). Joshua 10 commentary [Illustrations and exposition]. https://www.preceptaustin.org/joshua-10-commentary

4. Wikimedia Commons. (n.d.). Tel Hazor [Photograph]. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D7%9C_%D7%97%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%A8.jpg