and he took it, and the king of it, and all the cities of it; and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king of it; as he had done also to Libnah, and to the king of it.
"Joshua, at this stage of the campaign, did not seem to be interested in completely destroying each one of the sites, or in occupying them." [Note: Davis and Whitcomb, p. 70.] 