Joshua chapter ten recounts, in abbreviated fashion, the conquest of the southern part of Canaan. Chapter eleven recounts the conquest of the northern territory. We know the account is abbreviated because the north is conquered in twenty-three verses and yet, the writer of Joshua says it took a “long time.” Additionally, though the land “had rest from war,” the entirety of the land was not taken.
Why don’t we have more explicit details?
Perhaps because the writer wanted to emphasize that the whole affair went extraordinarily well. How could it go otherwise? It was all God’s doing and was all dependent on Him.
In the end, thirty-one kings were defeated. Israel, however, has no king but God. It would appear that she can do quite well without an earthly ruler if she will but trust and be obedient to God – a fact she will soon forget.