NOTES for Jos 12:1-24
The battles are summed up and the victories listed. The defeated kings are listed as well, their names preserved for history only in these lines.
There is some meaning, not entirely clear, in listing the names of the destroyed enemies and preserving the memory not only of the victors but also of the vanquished. Perhaps here we see that feature of military ethics, still barely discernible through streams of blood, which in time would prepare people to understand and accept what would be called love for one’s enemies.