And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them:
Joshua 10:18 belongs to the account of Israel's battles in conquering several petty Canaanite kingdoms during the campaign against the Canaanite kings. It records Joshua's order to roll large stones upon the mouth of the cave to cover its entrance and to set men by it to guard the trapped kings held inside. To have spared those peoples would have been a perversion of mercy, because they would have continued to spread the same kind of seed.
Elsewhere in the same chapter the word rendered souls means whole persons, even a person or living creature. Destroying the souls of a city therefore means destroying its people. Those who were slain are described as souls, including by the expression dead soul.
Joshua 10:18 belongs to the account of Israel's battles in conquering several petty Canaanite kingdoms during the campaign against the Canaanite kings. It records Joshua's order to roll large stones upon the mouth of the cave to cover its entrance and to set men by it to guard the trapped kings held inside. To have spared those peoples would have been a perversion of mercy, because they would have continued to spread the same kind of seed.
Elsewhere in the same chapter the word rendered souls means whole persons, even a person or living creature. Destroying the souls of a city therefore means destroying its people. Those who were slain are described as souls, including by the expression dead soul.