Joshua 11:18

A long time. Literally, “many days.” According to eh. 14:7-10, the conquest of Canaan must have required 6 or 7 years. Caleb, who was 40 when Moses sent him as a spy from Kadesh-bamea, about 2 years after they had left Egypt, was now 85 years old. Thus it was between 38 and 39 years from Kadesh to the time when Israel laid siege to Jericho. Subtracting 78 or 79 from 85 leaves 6 or 7 years for the campaign. It would seem that the writer, by inserting the statement here to the effect that the wars continued a long time, designed to guard the reader against the impression that, since the record of these wars is very brief, the space of time in which they were accomplished was also brief. God had given a definite reason for prolonging the time of conquest: “lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee” (Deut. 7:22). Perhaps, also, the long series of arduous struggles was designed to develop the faith of His people.