This verse reveals that God's hardening of hearts wasn't about creating malice, but about leaving them to their own stubbornness and pride, which ultimately sealed their fate according to His prior commands. It highlights that their "coming against Israel" wasn't a random act but a divine appointment, ensuring their complete destruction without mercy, fulfilling His judgment.
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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Joshua's conquest has been swift and overwhelming, with the Israelites sweeping through Canaan and destroying its inhabitants as God commanded. This passage explains that the Canaanites’ decision to fight Israel rather than make peace was not accidental, but part of God’s plan to ensure their complete destruction and the Israelites’ full inheritance of the land. The chapter concludes with the land finally at rest from war, with Joshua having accomplished all that God directed.
How can God 'harden' hearts, and what does that mean for the choices people make?
This verse touches on one of the most profound mysteries in Scripture: God's sovereignty and human responsibility. It says, 'it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts.' This doesn't mean God forces people to sin against their will. Instead, it speaks to His ultimate control over all things.
Think of it like this: people had already rejected God and embraced wickedness. Their hearts were already inclined towards sin and rebellion. God, in His sovereign plan, allowed this hardness to persist, or even intensified it, ensuring their actions would align with His judgment. He didn't create their evil desires, but He used their existing sinfulness to accomplish His purposes. This is seen as a judgment upon them for their prior choices and deep-seated rebellion.
Why such extreme judgment on the Canaanites? What does 'devoted to destruction' really mean?
The phrase 'devoted to destruction' refers to the practice of herem (Hebrew for 'devoted' or 'utterly destroyed'). This was a severe form of judgment where everything – people, animals, possessions – was set apart for destruction as an offering to God, meaning nothing was to be kept or spared. It wasn't random violence; it was a divinely ordained judgment on the Canaanites for their extreme wickedness and idolatry, which had reached a point of no return.
God had been patient, giving them time to repent. However, their continued sin and rebellion demonstrated they were beyond repentance. God commanded this judgment to protect Israel from corrupting influences and to ensure His holy purposes for the land would be fulfilled. It underscores the terrifying reality of God's justice against persistent sin.
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Understand the original words
YHWH · Hebrew Proper Noun
Refers to the sovereign God of Israel, the covenant-keeping Creator. He is the central actor in history, directing events to fulfill His redemptive purposes.
chazaq · Hebrew Verb
A theological concept describing God’s sovereign action upon the human will. It refers to God confirming a person in their rebellious state so that they continue to reject Him and face the consequences of their sin, often in judgment.
cherem · Hebrew Noun
A severe judgment where something or someone is set apart exclusively for God's holy purpose, which, in the case of the Canaanite nations, meant total destruction to prevent idolatrous corruption.
rachamim · Hebrew Noun
An attitude of compassion, kindness, and withholding deserved punishment. God is frequently described as compassionate and merciful, though His judgment against persistent rebellion is also righteous.
This verse highlights God's sovereign hand in the conquest of Canaan. The hardening of the Canaanites' hearts wasn't arbitrary but a judgment upon their entrenched wickedness, ensuring their complete destruction as commanded by God to Moses, thus preparing the land for Israel's inheritance.
c. 1446 BC
Exodus from Egypt
The Israelites, after centuries of slavery, are liberated from Egypt under Moses' leadership, marking the beginning of their journey to the Promised Land.
c. 1406 BC
Israel Crosses the Jordan River
Under Joshua's command, the Israelites cross the Jordan River, entering the land of Canaan and initiating the conquest.
c. 1405-1398 BC— this verse
Conquest of Southern Canaan
Joshua leads the Israelites in a series of swift military campaigns, defeating numerous Canaanite kings and securing a significant portion of the land.
c. 1398 BC
Division of the Land
After the major military campaigns, the land of Canaan is systematically divided among the twelve tribes of Israel as their inheritance.
This passage describes God hardening Pharaoh's heart, paralleling the hardening of the Canaanites' hearts in Joshua, showing a consistent pattern of God's judgment on those who refuse to obey.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2This directly relates to Joshua 11:20, as it's the command Moses received to devote these nations to destruction, highlighting the divine mandate behind the actions in Joshua.
Romans 9:17-18Paul uses the Pharaoh and Canaanite examples to explain God's sovereignty in hardening hearts and showing mercy, offering a theological perspective on the 'why' behind God's actions described in Joshua.
Isaiah 6:10This prophecy, quoted in the New Testament, describes God's people being sent to prophesy with the result of hardening hearts, showing that hardening can be a judgment that prevents response to God's message.
calvinJoshua 11:16-23: "So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;"
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Quia a Jehova fuit, ut induraretcor eorum in occursum belli c…
clarkeJoshua 11:20: "For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses."
It was of the Lord to harden their hearts - They had sinned against all the light they had received, and God left them justly to the hardness, obstinacy, and pride of their own hearts; for as they chose to retain their idolatry, God was determined that th…
This verse reveals that God's hardening of hearts wasn't about creating malice, but about leaving them to their own stubbornness and pride, which ultimately sealed their fate according to His prior commands. It highlights that their "coming against Israel" wasn't a random act but a divine appointment, ensuring their complete destruction without mercy, fulfilling His judgment.
Joshua's conquest has been swift and overwhelming, with the Israelites sweeping through Canaan and destroying its inhabitants as God commanded. This passage explains that the Canaanites’ decision to fight Israel rather than make peace was not accidental, but part of God’s plan to ensure their complete destruction and the Israelites’ full inheritance of the land. The chapter concludes with the land finally at rest from war, with Joshua having accomplished all that God directed.
Joshua's conquest has been swift and overwhelming, with the Israelites sweeping through Canaan and destroying its inhabitants as God commanded. This passage explains that the Canaanites’ decision to fight Israel rather than make peace was not accidental, but part of God’s plan to ensure their complete destruction and the Israelites’ full inheritance of the land. The chapter concludes with the land finally at rest from war, with Joshua having accomplished all that God directed.
"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." — This verse reveals that God's hardening of hearts wasn't about creating malice, but about leaving them to their own stubbornness and pride, which ultimately sealed their fate according to His prior c…
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Last reviewed October 2026
