Joshua 6:21 (DBY)

Passage

And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city; both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

Nearby Context

Joshua 6:19 And all the silver, and gold, and vessels of copper and iron, shall be holy to Jehovah; they shall come into the treasury of Jehovah.

Joshua 6:20 And the people shouted, and they blew with the trumpets. And it came to pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpets, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat; and the people went up into the city, each one straight before him, and they took the city.

Joshua 6:21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city; both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

Joshua 6:22 And Joshua said to the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house and bring out thence the woman, and all that she has, as ye swore unto her.

Joshua 6:23 And the young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had: all her kindred did they bring out, and they left them outside the camp of Israel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "utterly", "destroyed", "city", "both", "woman", "young", and "edge". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "utterly", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "And the people shouted and they blew..." into verse 22's "And Joshua said to the two men...", so "sheep" and "utterly" belong inside that flow. In Joshua context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sheep" and "utterly" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.