Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.

JOSHUA 10:33KJV
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Joshua 10:33 (KJV)

What does Joshua 10:33 mean?

Joshua 10:33 describes an attempt by another king to help Lachish during Joshua’s attack. Horam, the king of Gezer, brings his people to Lachish’s aid, but Joshua defeats them completely.

The verse is told by the narrator rather than spoken by one of the people in the story. Following the attack on Lachish in verse 32, Horam’s arrival brings a force from outside the city into the account.

The Hebrew behind Joshua 10:33

  • “help” — עָזַר (ʿazar): This means to assist or come to someone’s aid. The word presents Horam’s arrival as support for Lachish, rather than as an attack undertaken on his own behalf.
  • “smote” — נָכָה (nakah): This word can mean to strike or defeat. Here, “smote him and his people” describes Joshua’s defeat of Horam and those with him.

Why Joshua 10:33 matters

  • Horam acts on behalf of another city. The phrase “came up to help Lachish” connects Gezer’s king with the fight at Lachish, even though he rules a different place.
  • The defeat extends beyond Horam himself. The words “him and his people” include those who came with the king, and “none remaining” describes the completeness of their defeat.
  • Joshua 10:33 places Horam’s intervention within the account of Lachish’s fall. That placement shows that the fighting involved a force arriving from outside Lachish as well as the city itself.

Where else these words appear

“Gezer” Hebrew H1507 · used in 14 verses

  • Joshua 12:12 The king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
  • Judges 1:29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
  • 1 Kings 9:17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether,

“Lachish” Hebrew H3923 · used in 22 verses

  • Joshua 10:3 Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
  • Joshua 12:11 The king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
  • 2 Chronicles 25:27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.

“remaining” Hebrew H8300 · used in 28 verses

  • Numbers 21:35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.
  • Joshua 10:39 And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.
  • Isaiah 1:9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

“help” Hebrew H5826 · used in 77 verses

  • Genesis 49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
  • 2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
  • Psalms 107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.