Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck the king of it with the sword: for Hazor before was the head of all those kingdoms.
Perhaps these were the older more influential towns that previous generations had rebuilt on their former ruins. [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 122.] If this is the meaning, probably Joshua did not burn them because he wanted to preserve these towns with time-honored sites for the Israelites’ occupation.