the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
We have here a breviate of Joshua's conquests. I. The limits of the country he conquered. It lay between Jordan on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and extended from Baal-gad near Lebanon in the north to Halak, which lay upon the country of Edom in the south, v. 7. The boundaries are more largely described, Num 34:2, etc.
Commenting on Joshua 12:7-24
The king of Jericho, one,.... Who was first taken, and so named first, Jos 6:21, the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; who was next taken and though Bethel was so near Ai, it had a king of its own, after mentioned, see Jos 7:1.
THE ONE AND THIRTY KINGS ON THE WEST SIDE OF JORDAN, WHICH JOSHUA SMOTE. (Jos. 12:7-24) Baal-gad . . . even unto . . . Halak--(See on Jos 11:17). A list of thirty-one chief towns is here given; and, as the whole land contained a superficial extent of only fifteen miles in length by fifty in breadth, it is evident that these capital cities belonged to petty and insignificant kingdoms.
Commenting on Joshua 12:7-24