Numbers 13:28

Hebrew Bible

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land. 27 They told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 But the inhabitants are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, “Let us go up and occupy it, for we are well able to conquer it.”

Joshua 11:21

Hebrew Bible

19 No city made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon); they had to conquer all of them, 20 for the Lord determined to make them obstinate so they would attack Israel. He wanted Israel to annihilate them without mercy, as he had instructed Moses. 21 At that time Joshua attacked and eliminated the Anakites from the hill country—from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua annihilated them and their cities. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory, though some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23 Joshua conquered the whole land, just as the Lord had promised Moses, and he assigned Israel their tribal portions. Then the land was free of war.

 Notes and References

"... The narrator acknowledges for the first time that the war and conquest have taken a long time (Joshua 11:18). According to Joshua 11:21 Joshua has also wiped out the Anakites. He destroys their settlements in the hill country from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from the hills of Judah to those of Israel. The statement is quite thorough: “No Anakites remained in the land of the Children of Israel. Only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did they remain” (Joshua 11:22). In other words, Joshua’s victory sounds comprehensive, especially since it follows the record of his vast successes in taking many other territories. And yet, the second phrase sounds an alarm ... Numbers offers a description of the Anakites embedded in a broader statement of what the spies find in the land: “The people who dwell in the land are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large; and also children of the Anakites we saw there” (Numbers 13:28). The verse begins with a general description of a powerful people and fortified cities but singles out the Anakites as an illustration of the threat. The reference to the Anakites provides sufficient data for the argument opposing an attempted conquest. The Israelites should not dare to take them on. The spies reinforce their awe of the Anakites and their power by concluding their report ..."

Leveen, Adriane Biblical Narratives of Israelites and Their Neighbors: Strangers at the Gate (pp. 64-65) Routledge, 2017

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