יהושע, פרק ח׳, פסוק כ״ח

The absolute destruction of the city is immortalized for generations through both its physical state and its very name. It is possible that the city's title itself stems from a phrase meaning a heap of ruins, suggesting it was already a surviving remnant of an earlier, devastated settlement [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Following its burning, the site was transformed into a permanent mound. It became a landscape covered in piles of rubble and debris, intended to remain an uncleared wasteland forever. However, this striking image of an everlasting and absolute ruin is actually an intentional exaggeration meant to emphasize the sheer scale of the devastation [מצודת ציון].