Debir was the king of Eglon, one of the five Amorite kings who formed an alliance against Gibeon after the Gibeonites made a peace treaty with Joshua and Israel. He was defeated and killed by the Israelites during Joshua's conquest of Canaan.
Événements clés
The Alliance Against Gibeon
Debir, the king of Eglon, joined a coalition of five Amorite kings led by Adoni-Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, to attack Gibeon because the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel.
1When Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living among them,
5Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces and marched up with all their armies. They took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.
Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army to defend Gibeon. The Lord threw the Amorites into confusion, and the Israelites inflicted a great defeat on them.
6The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal: "Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly, save us, and help us, for all the Amorite kings of the hill country have joined forces against us."
10The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who struck them down in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the road up to Beth-horon, and cut them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
During the flight of the Israelites, the Lord threw large hailstones down on the Amorites, and more died from the hailstones than from the swords of the Israelites.
11As they fled before Israel down the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD hurled great hailstones on them from the sky all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hailstones than from the swords of the Israelites.
Debir and the other four kings fled and hid in a cave at Makkedah. Joshua ordered that large stones be rolled in front of the entrance to the cave to trap them inside.
After the rest of the enemy had been defeated, Joshua had the five kings, including Debir of Eglon, brought forward. The commanders of Israel placed their feet on the kings' necks, and then the kings were killed and hung on five trees.
24When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of the troops who had gone with him, "Come here, put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came forward and put their feet on their necks.
27At sunset Joshua gave the order, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. Then they placed large stones over the mouth of the cave, and those stones remain there to this very day.