by Brian Godawa
“Lidunnamu. How did you come back? Where is the rest of your entourage?”
“My lord,” said Lidunnamu, “I need to speak with you.”
Joshua brought him to his war tent with Caleb and his seven commanders of thousands.
“My name is not Lidunnamu, and I am not from Mesopotamia. My name is Yassib. I am the king of Gibeon.”
Joshua’s head spun. Caleb swallowed. They knew Gibeon was a city of Hivvites a few miles away from Ai over the hill. They had been tricked into a covenant with this liar, and now he was back to flaunt it in their faces.
Caleb grabbed Yassib by the scruff of his neck and said, “Shall I execute him, Commander?”
Yassib whimpered.
Joshua said, “No. We cut a covenant with them, and swore before Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel. I will not violate my word made under oath.” He turned to Yassib, “What were the other cities of your accomplices?”
“Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim, all Gibeonite sister cities.”
Caleb huffed audibly. “That is just great. We are making treaties with half the cities in Canaan we are supposed to be destroying.”
Yassib said, “We feared for our lives. We are in your hands to do with us as you please.”
Joshua clenched his teeth. But he had no idea what was coming next. He made a decision, “You will give us your mightiest warriors to fight with us. Do you have any Hittite citizens with a knowledge of siege warfare?”
“We do, my lord.”
“Good. They will help us with these Canaanite walled cities. And lastly, inhabitants from every one of your cities will become cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation of Israel and for the altar of Yahweh. Perpetually.”
“Yes, my lord,” said Yassib. “It is all appropriate.”
Yassib paused with a guilty look. “But I must confess. I am here to press for our rights under the covenant.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “What have you not told us now?”
He quivered with fear as he told them, “King Adonizedek has heard of our treaty with you and how you are on a campaign to conquer the land. So he has sent a five-coalition army of Amorites to make war with Gibeon in revenge against us. He has surrounded the city walls as we speak.”
Caleb said, “First, you deceive us into a treaty, then you drag us into a fight with terrible odds. Is there any other surprise you would like to impair us with?”
Joshua said, “Who are the other cities in alliance?”
“Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, and Kiriath-arba.”
“You are being too hasty with your judgment,” said Joshua to Caleb. “Those are all cities in our campaign anyway. If we defeat their kings away from their cities without their full armies or city defenses, then we kill five rats with one sling shot.”
Caleb began to follow him. “And all five cities will then be without their leadership and their strongest forces. That is why I am proud to serve you, Commander.”
Joshua said, “We will travel through the night to Gibeon with our full forces. But first, we will inquire of Yahweh.”
Chapter 48
Sheshai and Talmai hugged the mountain ridge a half-mile out from the plains of Jericho where the Habiru camped at Gilgal. They had a small section unit of six other Anakim warriors with them. They had to be as stealthy as possible because their dangerous plan necessitated the element of surprise.
But the small number was sufficient for their goal because they watched below them the full army of Israel marching away into the mountains toward Gibeon. There would only be a minimal guard left at Gilgal to protect the civilians—to protect Rahab.
It would be an easy slaughter for these giant warriors. Like a viper entering a hutch of rabbits.
They waited until late in the night to make their move. Donatiya had provided them with a rough layout of the entire camp and the specific location of Caleb’s family tents where Rahab would be. She also described Rahab and the number of family members. Her intimate experience with the family would be their bane of doom.
The Anakim split up into two groups of four. Sheshai and Talmai took two warriors with them to find Rahab. The other four were to create a diversion by attacking on the opposite side of the camp. It was to be a speedily executed seek and destroy mission. Assassinate the harlot wench, do some destruction to create terror, and get back to Kiriath-arba.
The tabernacle’s gates faced southwest toward Jerusalem. Caleb’s tribe of Judah was at that southwest edge of the camp just past the priests’ tents. So the squad of four Anakim saboteurs circled around to the far northeastern edge of the camp by Ephraim and Benjamin to make their surprise attack.
They did not know how many soldiers were left to guard the camp, but there appeared to be a couple hundred around the entire camp holding watch, spread out in posts a few hundred feet apart. No doubt there were reserves of several hundred others sleeping lightly in their own tents ready for mustering.
Sheshai and Talmai would take out their post with stealth so as not to draw attention, while the other team was to create a loud ruckus with their battle on the opposite side. This would draw other watchmen to join their fray. Once the brothers Arba had accomplished their mission, they were free to wreak a little death and destruction on the rest of the camp just to strike terror into their hearts. No one messes with the Anakim and walks away unscathed.
Sheshai and Talmai crawled up to the Judah post. They saw half a dozen sleepy watchmen with another twenty asleep behind them.
They were fifty feet out.
All four of them drew their bows and targeted four of the most awake watchmen. They released simultaneously and the four dropped to the ground.
They immediately dropped their bows and ran full force toward the other two who were nodding off in the soft moonlight. By the time the watchmen realized what was happening and shook themselves awake, Sheshai and Talmai had pounced and cut off their heads with socket axes.
The four of them then proceeded to move around the sleeping men chopping heads.
Success.
At just that moment, as planned, they heard an Anakim war cry followed by an Israelite ram’s horn on the opposite side of the camp. It ripped apart the quiet night with alarm, but the war horn choked and went dead too quickly. The other Anakim squad had launched.
Sheshai and Talmai made their way to Caleb’s tents.
• • • • •
The other team of four had carried shields and just ran at their watchmen with spears, skewering them alive. The Israelite soldiers had awakened and tried to engage the enemy, but they were simply not ready. The Anakim slaughtered them with ease.
Their challenge would be the several hundred other soldiers, newly awakened and rushing to the aid of their comrades.
• • • • •
Sheshai entered Rahab’s tent and approached the sleeping form. He ripped off the covers—only to discover Rahab’s mother and father in wide-eyed fear.
So, the cunning little bastard child was not entirely forthright, he thought. Donatiya’s misinformation to the Anakim would give Rahab a few moments of warning to escape from her real location. It was the little girl’s way of trying to amend for her betrayal.
Well, it is not going to work, thought Sheshai as he cut the parents down with one swipe of his sword.
Talmai’s half-whispered, half—yelling voice came from a couple tents away, “Sheshai!”
Sheshai ran over to find Talmai outside another tent holding Rahab by her newly grown-in hair like a fish from a line. She was grimacing with pain.
“So that little twat got the best of you, I see,” jabbed Talmai.
Sheshai ignored the insult about Donatiya’s lie and walked up to Rahab.
• • • • •
The other squad had jettisoned their spears and was now using their shields, swords, and battle-axes to annihilate their Israelite enemies.
They had set tents afire with wild torches.
One swing of a bat
tle-axe would cut three soldiers in half.
An iron Anakite sword would chop right through an Israelite shield.
The numbers were increasing against them. But this was an elite team of gibborim. They were mincing the Israelites into pieces.
They started to back away toward the perimeter, so as not to get surrounded.
• • • • •
The other Anakim dragged Rahab’s brothers and sisters out into the opening. He had completely missed Achsah, who had been hiding when he entered. She had heard the commotion in the camp and had slid beneath a pile of blankets.
As soon as she was alone in the tent, she rushed to grab her bow and arrows. Caleb had taught her how to use a bow after she had almost been killed by the marauding Aradians years ago.
And she had been practicing. She was the best marksman of all the women in the camp. She could hit a pomegranate at fifty yards.
Now would be her first chance at a giant’s head, which according to her calculations was about twenty times the size of a pomegranate. It should be easy.
What she had not anticipated was how different it would be aiming at a living person’s head.
She stepped out of the tent.
She heard Sheshai say, “There should be one more.”
The giant turned back to her tent to get her.
Achsah aimed at the giant’s eye.
But she froze.
Even though he was an evil giant, she had never killed anything before and it made her shiver.
The monster kept coming.
She dropped her aim. She couldn’t do it.
But she accidentally released the arrow and hit him in the leg.
He cursed in pain and limped the rest of the way to her.
She looked up into his eyes. He was red with rage.
Behind him, Sheshai yelled, “Do not harm her, Dragol! Or you die!”
The giant had his hand around her neck. She could feel the six fingers ready to snap her in two.
Instead he took the bow and snapped it in half. He pulled out the arrow from his leg with a wince, and carried her over to the rest of the captives.
Sheshai pulled his dagger. He stepped in close to get a good look at Rahab.
She could smell his hot putrid breath on her.
“I can see why Caleb chose this slut whore for his own. She is rather comely. Though I still do not understand why their god chose her.”
Rahab spit into his face.
He smiled. “On the other hand, such beauty and defiance does make for a better rape by the deity.”
Sheshai looked around. The others were holding Baraket and Baxilet, Shiba and Yasha, and Achsah in their arms.
“Bind them and bag them. We are taking them back to Kiriath-arba.”
“What?” said Talmai. “The king said…”
“I know what the king said. But I have a far better offer for his majesty.”
“What are you talking about?”
“These Israelites are the descendants of Abraham, our blood enemies. Killing the seedline is not enough satisfaction. If we use them as hostages—and torture them—we can cause a multiplication of Israel’s pain beyond imagination.”
Now Talmai was smiling with agreement. That would be more fun.
Sheshai finished, “They become a human shield for our interests—before we wipe them from the face of the earth. Now let us get them out of here. We are wasting time.”
They tied them up and were about to carry them out in sacks when a contingent of twenty Israelite warriors noticed them and shouted for attack.
But twenty warriors was not a sufficient number to threaten these elite Anakim gibborim.
It would take much more than that.
• • • • •
Across the camp, the other four Anakim heard the horn announcing the getaway of their commander.
The Anakim immediately withdrew to escape out into the night. They would lead the Israelites away from the camp and into the wilderness, which would also aid Sheshai’s escape.
They melted into the forest of the night. The Israelites would never find them.
They had massacred over two hundred men.
• • • • •
Sheshai put away his horn. His team had wiped out the twenty Israelites who had discovered them.
They retreated for the woods to make their rendezvous with the others.
But the giant that Achsah had hit with an arrow was limping. It was not serious, but he was a bit slower. So Talmai swung his sword and decapitated his weakened comrade.
The body fell to the ground with a thud, the head kept rolling for a good twenty feet before coming to a stop.
The warriors kept running.
They could not afford to be slowed down, no matter how minor the inconvenience.
They were well on their way into the hills with their sacks full of hostages by the time a second force of Israelite searchers chased after them on horses.
Anakim could run as fast as horses.
Chapter 49
Joshua had marched his forces all night to reach Gibeon. It was a full moon which gave them light enough for their speedy journey over eight miles. But a storm had been brewing on the horizon and began to release just as the Israelites arrived. When they broke through in the early morning mists, they appeared like phantoms of a storm god attacking the fivefold force of Amorite kings. The Gibeonite army exited the city and joined the Israelites in a two-pronged attack.
The impact was like a tsunami hitting the Amorite coalition. Though they outnumbered the Israelites and Gibeonites three to one, Yahweh struck fear into the hearts of Adonizedek and the other kings.
The Anakim warriors of Hoham were the only flies in the ointment. They held their ground fearlessly. These were not the mightiest gibborim giants of Kiriath-arba, but they were mighty enough. They pounded the Gibeonites backward.
The Anakim would have been the rallying call for a turn in the battle, had it not been for the fact that the other four armies withdrew in panic at the order of their kings. This left the bulk of the Anakim numbers alone and surrounded by fighting mad Israelites and vengeful Gibeonites.
Lightning flashed and thunder cracked overhead. And then it began to rain, which slowed down their skills and stuck them in the slippery muck. The Anakim did great damage on their enemies that day, killing several hundred Israelites and Gibeonites. But they were now the outnumbered and eventually succumbed to the wave of fury.
This served to strike even more fear into the Amorite armies. They retreated toward the plateau of Beth-horon not far away. The Israelite allies chased them, but when they arrived at the plateau they stopped in awe at the miracle that played out before them.
The rain and wind whipped about with ferocity. The clouds overhead had darkened the sky.
As the Amorite coalition descended the plateau of Beth-horon, a sudden hailstorm began to hit the slopes. Joshua and his army backed off to stay out of the danger zone of the falling ice. They were at the very edge of the storm.
At first the hail was normal frozen pebble-like pieces of ice. But then Joshua noticed that they were followed by massive blocks of hail, some the size of a man.
Yahweh was throwing rocks from heaven upon Joshua’s enemies. It was a massive slaughter. Amorites were killed by the droves under the crushing weight of the huge hailstones. It was truly a miracle.
And then it all stopped. The forces had been decimated. The Amorites had lost half of their men. More had been killed by the hailstones than by battle with Israel.
There were only a couple thousand survivors left. They had stopped their flight to tend to the wounded at the bottom of the plateau.
But that was only the beginning of Yahweh’s war with them.
Caleb approached Joshua on his horse. “You know, these Amorites worship the sun and moon as the gods Shemesh and Yarikh. They follow omens of the heavenly host.”
“So?”
“Today is the fifteenth of the month, an
d if the sun and moon stand waiting in the sky in opposition they believe that is favorable to their enemies.”
It was part of the Canaanite celestial study of omens. At mid-month of the full moon, the sun and moon would be visible in the early morning, standing in opposition on the east and west horizons. If the moon did not set before the sun rose, it was considered to “wait” or “stand,” and the sun was considered as “not hurrying to set.” If this standing of opposition occurred on the fourteenth of the month, it was a good omen for the Amorites and marked a full-length day, which was favorable. If it occurred on the fifteenth instead, it was a bad omen that indicated a less than full-length day. Unfortunately, the previous day had been cloudy so no one knew what celestial event had occurred yesterday morning.
“What are you suggesting?” asked Joshua.
“This storm is fast moving. If you pray to Yahweh to clear the clouds and make this the omen of disadvantage, they will be further demoralized by their own superstitions. There is nothing more easy to conquer than an army that has lost its hope.”
Joshua smiled widely. “That is why you are my Right Hand, Caleb.”
Joshua got off his horse and knelt in prayer before Yahweh.
After he stood back up, he had an idea.
He got up and walked to the edge of the plateau. The Amorites below saw him raise his javelin in the air and shout with a mighty voice that echoed through the valley, “O SUN, WAIT OVER GIBEON, AND MOON, OVER THE VALLEY OF AIJALON!”
Then the clouds cleared.
Everyone could see the moon was indeed visible in the lower western horizon opposing the sun in the east.
The Amorites stood like stunned deer in the aim of a crossbow. This Habiru foreigner just commanded their gods and they obeyed.
In fact, what had happened was that Yahweh had heeded the voice of a man, and there would never be another day like it.
The Israelites blew their ram’s horns, gave a mighty war cry, and descended the plateau to smite the Amorites to the last man. It was a massacre of carnage and destruction. Yahweh fought for Israel.