Joshua charged them with an oath at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before Yahweh, that rises up and builds this city Jericho: with the loss of his firstborn shall he lay the foundation of it, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
The following chapters show that the Israelites’ conquest of Canaan was well planned. First they won control of the central region (Chapters 6-9). This created a division between the northern and southern regions, and so prevented Canaanite tribes throughout the country from joining forces. Israel then had a much easier task in conquering the rest of Canaan, first the south (Chapter 10), then the north (Chapter 11).