And it is written: “I will place a mark of leprosy.” Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: Is this good tidings for them, that leprosy will befall them? Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai taught: When the Canaanites heard that Israel was coming upon them, they arose and concealed their money in the houses and in the fields. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I promised their ancestors that I will take their descendants into a land full of everything good,’ as it is stated: “Houses full of everything good” (Deuteronomy 6:11).
What does the Holy One blessed be He do? He brings leprosy in one’s house, and [the owner] demolishes it and finds the concealed cache. Who came and told the Canaanites that Israel was entering the land? Rabbi Yishmael bar Naḥman said: Joshua sent three missives to them.
One who wishes to evacuate, let him evacuate. One who wishes to make peace, let him make peace. One who wishes to wage war, let him do so. The Girgashite stood and evacuated; therefore they were given a land as fine as their [previous] land.
That is what is written: “Until I arrive and take you to a land like your land” (Isaiah 36:17); this is Africa. The Givonites made peace, as it is stated: “That the inhabitants of Givon had made peace” (Joshua 10:1). The thirty-one kings waged war and were defeated.