nog FOSHU A
maritan chronicle?, the fignal or watch-word was, “* God is ftrong in battel, God is his name.” ¥. y¥.20. And it came to pafs when Fofoua and the\&c. children of I/rael, 8cc.| Fofbua feems to have pitchedhis camp at Makkedah, whilft the reft of his army purfued the flying Canaanites; and when he ‘and they were at different places: had made an end of flaying them with a very great flaughter, till According to the Sa- Fofbua ordered them, and in obedience to him their general. a 25. And Fofoua faid, fear not, nor be difmayed, Not meaning at the kings, who perhaps lay bound upon the ground, or however were not in a condition to make any refiftance, fo that they had nothing to fear from them; but this refpeéts future time, and what other enemies they thould mee they with; who would be brought into fubjeétien to were confumed, and not to be feen in any large bo- them as thefe were, and therefore from hence fhould dies, but fcattered here and there: that the reft take heart: be firong, and of good courage; and go which remained of them entered into fenced cities;- to which they belonged, and which were afterwards taken, as related in the latter part of this chapter.
y.21, And all the people returned to the camp to fofoua at Makkedah in peace, &cc.] Sound and well, as not one killed or miffing, fo not.one wounded, on valiantly in fubduing the reft of their enemies, and not be afraid of them: for thus hall the Lord do to all your enemies againft whom ye fight; put them into their hands, and give them power to tread on their necks; this fhews that what Yo/hua did or ordered to be done, was of the Lord.
y. 26. And afterwards Fofbua fmote them and asthe Vulgate Latin verfion, ‘ found and in full number:” none moved his tongue againft any of the children of Ifrael, as to curfe them, reproach them, and fpeak ill of them, for invading them, and ufing them in the manner they did, fuch was the terror that was upon them.
not a dog moved his tongue, as in Exod. xi. 7. few them, &c.] With the fword; either by his own hands, or by others whom he ordered to flay them: and hanged them on five trees; to their fhame and difgrace, and the terror of others: and they were banging upon the trees until the evening: by way of It may be fupplied jcontempt of them, and as a fpectacle o terror to as it others, efpecially to the inhabitants of Makkedab, was with them when they came out of Egypt, fo it was when they entered the land of Cavaan. It feems to be a proverbial expreffion, as Ben Gerfom obferves, fignifying that no hurt was done to them -by word or deed.
¥.22. Then faid Fofbua, open the mouth of the cave, &c.] That is, ‘roll away the great ftones that were laid atthe mouth of it: aad bring out thofe five kings unto me out of the cave; to receive their fentence in a public manner for the encouragement of his troops, and the terror of the Canaanites, particularly Makkedab, now befieged by him.
¥.23. And they did fo, &c.| Opened the mouth and their king they were now befieging.
¥. 27. And it came to pa/s at the time of the going down of the Jun, &c.| Which was the time fixed by the law of God for taking down bodies that were hanged, Deut. xxi. 23. that Fofbua command= ed, and they took them down off the trees + not from any refpect to them, but that they might not defile the land, as dead bodies in a ceremonial fenfe did’, Deut. xxi..23. and this Fo/fbua was the more careful of, as they were juft entered into it, and were’ taking poffeffion of it: and they caft them into the cave wherein they had been hid; fo that what had been their hiding place now became their grave;
of the cave, by rolling away the ftones: brought forth thofe five kings unto bim out of who are next mentioned by name, one by one, according to their dignity, and in the order they were andjand according to the Samaritan chronicle 2, the trees the cave;|alfo on which they were hanged, were caft in with them: and laid great ftones in the cave’s mouth: not asa monumental pile, as in the inflances of brought unto him: she king of Ferufalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Farmuth, the king of Lachifh, -gnd the king of Eglon, who are particularly named tor the greater glory of the conqueft, and the triumph over them. _ ¥. 24. And it came to pafs, when they brought out thefe kings unto Fofbua, &c.\) And fet them before him and he had pafied fentence on them: that he.called for all the men of I/rael, that is, for the chief men, the principal officers of the army: and feid unto the captains of the men of war which went with him; the chiliarchs and centurions, the cap-, tains of thoufands and hundreds,” of the feveral re-. giments in the army who went out to. battle: with the necks of thefe kings not in a contemptuous and infulting manner, not through vanity and haughtinefs, but for the mortification of thekings; and as a; token of their extreme fubjection, and as a proper punifhment for their crimes of idolatry, tyranny, andcruelty;.and by way of terror to others. of the kings of Canaan that fhould fight againft them, and asa pledge and confirmation of the fub-| jection of the reft, as well as to fulfil the promifes and, predictions of God, Deut. xxxiiiy 29. and which was done not of.himfelf, but by the order, and according’ to the: wilk:of:God: and they came neat, and put their feet upon the necks of them; as
Achan and the «king of 4, ch. vii. 26. and viii, 29. but to prevent their carcafes being dragged out, and eaten by wild beafts, as fome think; or that they might not be taken out, and buried ina more
-|honourable manner: which remain until this ver day; when ‘Fofhua was this book.; ¥. 28. And that day Fofhua took Makkedab, &c.] Some fay it was the day on which the fun ftood fill, but it feems to mean the day in which the five kings werehanged: and {mote it with the edge of the fw by and the king thereof; flew the inhabitants of it and their king, after having entered and taken it: pe utterly deftroyed them and all the fouls that were therein, be let none remain; that is, all huma fouls or perfons; for the cattle were taken for; prey: and he did to the king of Makkedab, as be did unto the king of Fericho; flew him with the fword, along with the inhabitants, but did not hang hich up, as he did the king of 4 and the Mie;
grown old, the writer of iter ¢
© ¥.29. And Fofhua paffed from Makkedah,
After he had taken it, and deftroyed its BB and its ‘king: and all Ijrael with him, that is, all the men of war he took with him from the camp at Gilgal, from whence he went to the relief of Gibeon: unto Libnah, and fought againft Libnab; a city that fell to the tribe of Yudab, ch. xv. 42. Jerom fays, in his time it was a village, in there- gion of Eleutheropolis, and was called Lobnab; according to Bunting «it was but two miles from Makkedab. MS 3 y. 30. And the Lord deliveréd it alfo, and the king thereof, into the hand of Ijrael, 8c.) At once, no oppolition being made, that we read of: and be fnote it with the edge of the fword, and all the fouls that were therein, bé let none remain in it; that is, Trael {mote it, or Fofoua, and indeed both; and this was according to the orders given them to be obferved with refpect to all the cities and nations of Canaan; and that becaufe of their abominable fins and wickednefs, and to make way and room for the people of Jrael, Deut. vii. 1, 2. but did unto the king thereof, as be did unto the king of Jericho, flew - him with the inhabitants.
¥. 31. And Fofoua paffed from Libnah, and all Virael with him unto Lachifh, &&c.| Which according to Bunting ¢ was eight miles from Libnab, and 20 miles from Ferufalem to the fouth-welt of this city 5 fee x. 5. and encamped againft it, and fought againft it, for it feems this city ftood out, and would not furrender at once, which obliged Fo/bua to encamp about it, and befiege it.
y. 32. And the Lord delivered Lachifh into the hand of Ifrael, which he took on the fecond day, &c.
Either the fecond day from the flaughter of the kings, or rather the fecond day of the encampment or fiege; fo Kimchi: and fmote it with the edge of the fword, and all the fouls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnab, nomention is made of its king, becaufe he was one of the, five kings that had been hanged up; fo that at the taking of this city there was no king.
¥. 33. Then Horam king of Gezer eame up to help Lachifh, &c.} Perhaps the rather induced to it, becaufe it had no king to defend it. In Ferom’s « time it was a village called Gazera, four miles from Nicopolis, or Emmaus, to the north: if this king came before the city was taken, he was not able to raife the fiege; and if he came after, and fo too late, he fell into the hands of Fo/fbua: and Fofhua mote him, and his people, until be had left him none remaining, deftroyed him and all his army, {fo that there were none left to return and relate their unhappy cafe.
y¥. 34. And from Lachifh Fofbua paffed unto Eglon, 8&c.] Which according to Bunting * was eight miles from Lachifb, and twelve from Ferufalem fouthward, of which fee y. 5. and all Ifrael with him, and they encamped againft it, and fought againft if; it not furrendering at once, but attempted to hold out a fiege.
¥. 35. And they took it on that day, &c.] The fame day they encamped about it and befieged it; the befieged finding they were not able to keep it: and [mote it with the edge of the fword, and all the fouls that were therein he utterly deftroyed that day; made an utter devaftation of all its inhabitants: according to all that he bad done to Lachifh, the latt city he took; this having no king as that had not, irs king being one of the five that had been hanged.
¥. 36. And Fofhua went up from Eglon, and all Tfrael with bim unto Hebron, &c.) Which lay in the hill-country, and therefore they are faidto go up to it from &glon, which lay lower; and according to Bunting * it was fixteen miles from it: tion Mo/fes gives of it, though he never faw it Deut. viii. 7. he left none remaining, but utterly deand they Jtroyed all that breathed, that is, all human crea- ought againft it, it making fome refiftance at frit and did not furrender at onceas demanded.;
¥.37. And they took it, and fmote it with the edge of the fword, and the king thereof, &c.) For though the king of Hebron was one of the kings that were taken in the cave of Makkedab, and hanged; yet before Fo/bua came up to it, they had fet up another king over them: and all thé cities thereof; for Hebron was a metropolitan city, and had other cities dependent on it, and fubject to it: and all the fouls that were therein, both in Hebron, and in the cities fubject to it: be left none remaining; in any of them: according to all that be had done to Fglon; the laft place he came from: dut deftroyed it utterly, and ali the fouls that were therein; but itfeems that afterwards fome that made their efcape before the taking of the city, and other Canaanites driven out of their habitations, re-peopled it; fo that after Yo/bua’s death it was recovered Pais by the tribe of Fudah, Fudg. i. 10. unlefs there is given in that place a more particular account of the taking of this city, with others at this time; but the former feems moft likely.;
¥. 38. And Fofbua returned and all Ifrael with him to Debir, &c.] A city, according to Kimchi which he pafled by when he went to Hebron, and did not fight againft it; but when he had taken Uiebron, returned and took it; and which Buypyving “tays was but a mile from it, and 22 miles from ‘Ferufalem, towards the fouth; it is the fame with Kirjath-fepber and Kirjath-fannab, ch. Xv. 15 49. the city of a book or books; and the Rabbins fay’, that with the Perfians Debir fignifies the fame, and had its name from a library which was here kept, or from the archives in which the moft memorable things fince the flood were recorded; or from the making of paper or parchment, or whatfoever was made ufe of for writing, and of which volumes of books were made: and fought againft it; it refufing to fubmit to him upon his fummons.
¥. 39. And be took it, and the king thereof, and. all the cities thereof, &c.| For this alfo was a royal city, and had others dependent on it; and therefore muft lie farther from Hedronuthan before fug= gefted; and indeed Burchard * fays it was five or fix miles from it, and another writer! fays ten miles:- and they Jmote them with the edge ‘of the fword; the inhabitants of Dedir, and the other cities adjacent to it: and utterly deftroyed all the fouls that were therein, he left none remaining; and yet itfeems this city recovered again, and was reinhabited, and after the death of Fo/hua was taken by Othniel, Fob. i. 11, 12, 13. unlets as before obferved with reipect to Hebron, there is there a more particular account of the taking of it at this time: as he had done to Hebron, fo did be to Debir, and to the king thereof, as he had done alfo to Libnab and her king; that is, flew them.
y. 40. So Fofoua fmote all the country of the bills, and of the fouth, and of the vale, and of the Jprings and all their kings, 8c |] That part of the land of Canaan which lay fouthward, and confifted of hills and vales; which abounded with fprings, and was a well watered country, and agrees with the defcrip- prey: as the Lord God of I/rael commanded; this tures s for as for the cattle, they were fpared as a when thofe fhepherds were driven out, they cafi into this part of the land of Canaan, and called it — law is extant, Deut. xx. 16. and which is here ob ferved to clear the J/raelites from the charge of cruelty and inhumanity 3 fince what they did was not of themfelves, nor from a private fpirit of venge, nora greedy defire after the fubftanee of the after the name of the country they left in Egypt and might perhaps the rather chufe to give it this” name, becaufe of the goodnels and fruitfulnefs re- jit, in which it refembled the country they had formerly dwelt inhabitants; but in obedience to the command of
¥. 42. Andall thefe kings, and their land, did Jo-
God, and who ordered this as a righteous punifhhua take at one time, &c.| Not in one day, but in ment of thofe people for their grofs abomination of idolatry, ineeft, &c. fee Lev. xviii. ¥. 41. And Fofoua {mote them from Kadefh-barnea, &c.] Which lay to the fouth of the land of Canaan, Numb. xiii. 17, 26. and xxxii. 8. and xxxiv. 4. even unto Gaza, which lay to the fouth-weft, and was one of the five principalities of the Pézliftines,; of which city fee the notes on 4mos1. 7. and Aéfs viii. 26. and all the country of Gofben, even unto Gibeon; to which he returned back in his way to his camp at Gilgal, having conquered all the fouthern part of the country. This country of Gofben is not that inthe land of Egypt, as Kimchi rightly remarks. Bifhop Camberland™ is of opinion, that the Phanictan or Canaanitifb paftors, who were driven out of Egypt before their expulfion, inhabired that part of Egypt called Gofben, which the J/raelites fome years after dwelt in; and
CHA eee chapter relates how that the kings of the northern parts of Canzan combine together againtt Fofaua, ¥. 1—5. and that the Lord encouraged him to fight with them, and did deliver them into his hands, who with all their people were {mitten by him, ¥. 6—11. and how that he took their cities, and deftroyed the inhabitants of them, and took the fpoil of them fora prey, ¥. 12—15. and fo became mafter of the whole country, both fouthern and northern, which is defcribed ¥. 16—20. and the chapter is concluded with an account of his cutting off the Azakim from divers parts, which finifhed the conqueft of the whole land, y. 21, 22523.
y. 1. And it came to pafs, when Fabin king of Hazor had beard thefe things, &c.] The taking of Fericho and i, the defeat of the five kings, and the conqueft of the fouthern part of the land of Canaan; he was alarmed by them, and ferit to all the northern kings to join with him againft J/rae;
and he the rather took this upon him, becaufe as Adonizedek king of Ferufalem was the principal king in the fouthern part of the land, fo was he in the northern part; fee ¥. 10. Hazor fell to the tribe of Napthali, ch. xix. 36. It was fituated, as Fofephus fays”, on the lake Samachonitis, the fame with the waters of Merom, y¥. 5. According to Adrichomius°, it was four miles from the cattle Theron to the north, fix miles from Cefarea Philippi a very fhort time, in a few days, as the hiftory clearly fhews: dbecaufe the Lord God of Ijrael fought for. Ifrael, which is the true reafon of fuch quick dif patch being made, otherwife in all probability much longer time muft have been confumed in fubduin them. The Targum is, ‘* becaufe the Lord God.. of Jrael fought by his Word for [jrael.® 9 ¥. 43. And Fofoua returned, &c.| After all thefe kings and their cities had been taken by him, and not before; though the fame is faid. yw. 45. before the hiftory of thofe facts; fee the note there: and all Ifrael with him to the camp in Gilgal; where the body of the people were left, and where was the tabernacle of the Lord; and no doubt he and I/rael with him gave publick praife and thank{giving there for the fignal victories they had obtained over the Canaanites., y } to Fobab king of Madon; of which place we no, where elfe read but in ch. xii. 19. though Brocard finds a place near Dan, called Madan by the Turks at this day: and to the king of Shimren, not. Samaria, as many think, for that was built by Om-. ri, king of I/rael, andhad its name from Shemer, the owner of the hill on which it was built fome hundreds of years after this; befides Samaria was in the tribe of Ephraim, this in the tribe of Zedbulua, ch. xix. 15. and is called Shimron Meron, ch. xii. 20. and in the Yerufalem Talmud‘ Simoniah, and’ here in the Septuagint verfion Symefon: and to the king of Achfbapb, a city which fell to the lot of the tribe of Aer, ch. xix. 25. The Septuagint calls it Aziph, as if it was the fame with Achzid, or Ecdippa, now called Zib; but Achfhaph and Achzib are manifettly diftinguithed, ch. xix. 25, 29. Jerom fays *, in his time it was a little village, and went by the name of Cha/alus, 8 miles from Diocefar@a, atthe foot of mount Yabor. The Arabic verfion adds a fourth king that Fadin fent to, called the king of Maujel; but we read not of any fuch place in the land of Canaan. 2 ie ¥.2. And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, &c.| Of Libanus and Antilibanus, with others near them; fo Yo/ephus * fays, the kings about Lebanon being Canaanites, fought saint them, 7. e. the I/raeltes; for Lebanon Jay to the. north of the land: aad of the plains fouth of Cin-. neroth,; or Genefareth, of the land and lake of.
to the fouth-weft, and nine miles from the great fea to theeaft,; and was in the times of Chrif one of the ten principal cities of the region of in which he preached, Matt. iv. 25. and is now which we read in the new teftament, Matt. x. 34. Mar. vi. 53. Luk. v. 1. and feems to have reff Decapolis, chiefly to the famous plain of Fezreel, or Efdraelon of which fee the note on Hof i. 5. and in the val= ley; which may more efpecially defign the vall ‘of Fezreel, as it is called in the above place, called Antiopia; and in the Arabic verfion here it is called Cefarea, and according to Bunting ° it lay
80 miles from Ferufalem to the north: that he fent diftinguifh ic from other plains; it was two | niles
Chaiggaas- ~ Rowse 207 broad; and ten long: anid in the borders of Dar, on the weft 5 which fell to the lot of the tribe of Adanafjeb, ch. xvii 11, which Pliny " calls Dorum, and mentions it along with the promontory of Carme/; fo Fofephus {ays “ in Phenicia, near mount Carmel, js acity called Dora, four days journey diftant from Judea, that is, that part of the land of Jrae/ patticularly fo called; fome copies read Jdwmea. According to Jerom*, it was 9g miles from Ce/area of Paleftine, as you goto Tyre; and in his time a defart, It was a haven in the Mediterranean fea, and lies three leagues from the caftle of the pilgrims, near mount Carmel; and, as a traveller fays, is now fo decayed, that there is nothing more extant than a large and high tower, which the in-Jof Ye habitants ftill call Dortezte’.
¥. 4. And they went out, &c.| The feveral kings| and people fent to; thefe went out from the places they inhabited: they and all their hofts with them; the kings of thofe feveral places, with their armies: much people, even as the fand that is upon the. fea- Jrore in multitude; a proverbial expreffion, to denote an exceeding great number: with horfes and chariots very many, being fupplied with horfes from Egypt, and their chariots were chariots of iron; fee Fudg. iv. 3. Fofepbus* gives us the number of this greatarmy, and faysit confilted of foot, 10,000 horfe, and 30,000 chariots; fome copies read only 20,000; and thefe chariots were! armed with iron hooks or fcythes, to cut down men as they drave along, and fo were very ter- guard, fo bafte by Dotbaim: hete the kings and their armies met to fight againft Ifrael; fo that they were thé aggrefiors; which made the war ftill more lawful.
y¥. 6. And the Lord faid unto Fofbua, be not afraid decaufe of them, &c.| Of their number, of their horfemen, and of their {cythed chariots; which might at firit hearing occafion fome fear and dread. And according to Fo/ephus ‘, the multitude of them terrified both Fo/ua and the J/raelites; and therefore the Lord appeated and {poke to him for his encouragement: though what was. faid was for the fake of the J/raelites, and to animaté them who might be difheartened, rather than for the fake hua, who was of a bold and courageous fpirit. Whether this was faid to him at Gileal, and out of the tabernacle there, quickly after the tidings of the combination of the kings were brought to him, or whether when upon his march rowards them, is uncertain: for to-morrow about this time will I de- /ver them up flain before Ifrael; as many were, and others wounded and put to flight, as the-word fignifies, fo as to be as goodas dead. If Gilgal as 22 miles ftom the waters of Merom, as Bunting lays*, and fuppofing this to be faid to him before he fet out; he muft travel all night to reach thithe next day; and if it was 60 miles, as fome fay, this muft be faid to him when on his march, and within aday’s march of the enemy; for Fo- /ephus fays "it was on the fifth day that he came up with them, and fell upon them: thou /halt hough their borfes; cut their nerves under their hams, or hamftring them, fo that they might be ufelefs falva-jhereafter, for the kings of J/rael were not to multiply horfes; and Fo/hua, as their chief ruler, was to have no advantage of them by their falling into his hands: and burn their chariots with fire; that o they might not be ufed by the J/raelites afterwards, who might be ‘tempted to put their truft and confidence in them, as many did.
¥. 3. And to the Canaanite on the Eaft and on the Weft, &c.| That is, that particular nation of the feven fo called, part of which dwelt in the eaftern part of the land, by the dead fea, and by the coaft of Fordan, Numb. xiii. 29. and others dwelt on the coalt of the Mediterranean fea, which was. to the weft of the land: and to the Amorite, and to the Hittite, and to thé Perizzite; which were fcattered about in feveral parts of the country: and the Feufite in the mountains,; in the mountainous part of Fudea, in the mountains about Feru/alem, andjther which they ‘ftill inhabited, and did to the times of David: and to the Hivite under Hermon, in the land of Mizpek, fo defcribed to diftinguifh them from the Gibeonites, who were allo Hivites. Mizpeh is| the place, as Kimchi thinks, where the people of J/rael are often faid to meet together; which he fuppofes they did, on account of the great tion wrought here in Jo/bua’s time. Hermon was a mountain that adjoined to Lebanon, where it is certain fome of the Hivites dwelt, Fudg. ii. 3.
y. 7. So Fofoua came, and all the people of war with him againft them, &c.] Being encouraged by the Lord they fet out with Zofbua at the head of them, to fight the kings and their forces. It is highly probable, that thefe were not the whole body of armed men in the camp of J/rael, but a felect company Fofoua took of them, and who would be 300,000jable to make quicker marches on this expedition: dy the waters of Merom fuddenly; the Targum is, ‘* they lay by the waters of Merom;” and as they were thoughtlefs and carelefs, and not on their sua and his forces came to them fuddenly, rible. ‘unawares, and they not provided for them: and y¥.5. And when all thofe kings were met together, &c.] At fome certain place, which Yadin had appointed: they came and. pitched together at the waters of Merom; Fofepbus *fays it- was at Berotha; perhaps it fhould be Merotha, a-city of upper Galilee, not far from Cedefa, the fame he elfewhere calls * Meroth, Thefe waters are the fame with the lake Samachonitis, on which Hazor was fituated; fo that it was near fadin where the rendezvous was. This lake is thought ¢ to have its name from the Arabic word Samacha, which fignifies high, as Merom does in Hebrew. twas, as Fofephus {ays *, 30 furlongs broad, and’ 60 long, and its waters clayey. ‘Yerom fays °, in his time there was here a village called Merrus, 12 miles from the city Sethey fell upon them; at once, which threw them into diforder and confufion.
y.8. And the Lord delivered them into the band of Ijrael, &c.] The whole hoft, who either were killed or wounded, or put to flight:' it was of the Lord that J/rael was directed to make fo quick a march, and come upon them fo fuddenly, and that they were off their guard, and unprovided for them, and fo fell into their hands: who fmote them, with the edge of the fword killed and wounded great numbers; and the reft fleeing, they chafed them unto great Zidon, not that there was another Zidon called the lefs, as Kimchi and Ben Melech thought there feemed to be, and which alfo Ferom' fug- ~ gelts; butthis was fo called becaufe of its greatnefs, the large extent of it, and the abundance of wealth and riches in it: Curtius fays *, it was renowned for its antiquity and the fame of its buildings; and Mela fays', that before it was conquered by the Perfians, it was the greateft of the maritime cities, though now greatly reduced: Mr. Maundrel™ fays of it, ‘* Sidon is ftocked well enough with inhabitants, but is very much fhrunk from its antient extent, and more from its {plendor, as appears from a great many beautiful pillars that lie fcattered up and down the gardens without the prefent walls:” it lay, according to Strabo, not more than 200 furlongs from Zyre", or 25 miles: it was more antient thanthat, which is called the daughter of it: Homer fpeaks much of Sidon, as the fame writer obferves, but not a word of Tyre: Fofepbus ° thinks, it had ics name from Sidon, the firft-born of Canaan, and that he built it, Gen. x.15. but Ju/tin fays’, it had its name from the plenty of fifhes there: and Tzaid in the Chaldee and Sy- ®iac languages fignifies fifhing and a fifher-man: hence Beth/aida, a city mentioned in the New Teftament had its name; and Sidon is at this day called Said, and is now in the hands of the Turks: and though it was a part of the land of Canaan, and belonged to the tribe of Aer, never was conquered and poffefled by them, but remained an heathen city to the time of Chrift: amd unto Mifrephoth Maim, or boilings of water; it feems as if it was a place of hot baths, but the Targum renders it pits of water, which Farchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech fay, were pits into which the falt waters of the fea were drawn, and where they were heated by the fun and made falt of; and fo it is thought this was a place of falt pits, where falt was boiled, either by the heat of the fun or by fire?: Funius and Tremellius render the word by gla/s furnaces, furnaces in which glafs was made; and it is certain, that at Sidon, and near it, within the borders of which this place was, ch. xiii. 6. glafs was made: Pliny' calls Sidon the artificer of glafs, or a city where glafs was made: and Strabo fays*, that between Ace and Tyre is a fhore which bears glaffy fand, but they fay it is not melted there, but carried to Sidon to be melted; and fome fay the Sidonians have a glafly fand fit for melting: Ca/met' thinks this place is the fame with Sarepta, Luke iv. 26.
which had its name from melting: of what con-|’
ftruction the furnaces were in this place, cannot be faid, no doubt great improvement has been fince made’: and unto the valley of Mizpeh eafiward; the fame with the valley of Lebanon; now as Sidon lay north-weft and this was eaftward, it feems that the armies of the Canaanites in their confternation and confufion, fled fome tothe weft and fome to the eaft, who were purfued by different bodies of the army of. J/rae/ {eparated for that purpofe.
¥. 9. dnd Fofbua did unto them as the Lord bade him, &c] Namely, in the following inftances: he houghed their horfes, and burnt their chariots; not confulting his own worldly intereft or that of the people of J/rael, but the command of God which he carefully obeyed, and referved none for himfelf or them, as David in another cafe afterwards did; fec 2 Sam. viii. 4.
¥. 10. And Fofbua at that time turned back and took Hazor, &c.] After he had chafed the a naanités to the places mentioned, he returned te Hazor, near to which Fo/oua firtt fell upon them, but threugh the purfuit he was led on many miles - beyond it: Bunting fays”, it was 32 miles from Sidon: and [mote the king thereof with the fword; who, very probably upon the furprize-at the waters of Merom, fled to his capital for fafety; but that being taken by Yo/bua, he was flain by him with the {word: for Hazor before-time was the head of all thofe kingdoms, before mentioned y¥. 1, but not of all the land of Canaan: ‘ferom™ fays, it was the metropolis of all the kingdoms of the Philiftiness and though they were not now fubjeét to it, and had kings of their own, yet it appears that the king of this place was in great authority, and regard was paid unto him; and this feems to be the reafon why Fo/bua hafted to take this city, flay the king of it, and burn it with fire, becaufé it had been the principal in this war, and might, if noe prevented, raife new troubles; wherefore as a precaution to that, and to deter the reft, he haftene the conqueft and deitruction of it. y. 11. And they finote all the fouls that were therein with the edge of the fword, utterly deftroying them, &c.] Men, women, and children: there was not any left to breathe; any human creature; for as for the cattle they were taken for a prey: and he burnt Hazor with fire; ashe did Fericho and Ai, though no other cities he had taken; but it feems that this city, though burnt, was built again and inhabited by Canaanites, who had a king over them of the fame name with this in the times of Deborah, Fudg. iv. 2. ¥. 12. And all the cities of thofe kings, and all the kings of them did fofoua take, &c.| As particularly Madon, Shimron, and Ach/foaph, with others which he marched unto, after he had burnt Hazor; in which he took their kings, whither they had fled, or elfe he had taken them before in the purfuit: and fmote them with the edge of the fword; both the kings and the inhabitants of thofe cities: and he utterly defiroyed them, as Mofes the fervant of the Lord commanded; {0 that in doing ‘what he - did, he did not indulge a fpirit of revenge, cruelty, and avarice, but had regard purely to the command of Mo/es, which was of God, Deut. vii.
xy. 13. But as for the cities that ftood fill in their firength, &c.] Whote walls were not demolifhed when taken, as Kimchi and archi interpret it, or that flood upon their beapsy; upon an eminence, being built on hills and mountains: Lfrael burned none of them; but referved them for their own habitations, being well fortified, and having no need of new walls being built to them, - or being in a very agreeable fituation: fave Hazor only, that did ‘fofhua burn, becaufe it was the chief city where the icheme was, formed, and the eombination again{t J/rael was made, and was the rene dezvous of the confederate’ forces againft them: ° the ews have a tradition *, that God faid to Mofes and Mojfes faid to Fofhua, that h and that only.. y¥. 14. And all the fpoil of thefe cities, and the cattle, the children of Ifrael took for a prey unto themfelves, &c.] The gold, filver, houthold-goods, corn, wine, oil, or any mercantile goods, together with — que crant in collibus & in tumulis
Ch. xi. ¥.15—21. FOLSOM 209 with cattle of every fort, all were taken by them for a prey, for their own ufe and benefit, which was allowed them.: du¢ every man they /mote with the edge of the word, until they had deftroyed them, neither left they any to breathe 5 for which they had warrant. fo to do from the Lord, as follows.
¥.15. As the Lord commanded Mojes bis fervant, fo did Mofes command Fofoua, &c.| Which was to ‘deftroy the people of the land, Deut. vii. 1, 2. fo did Fofhua, he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Mojes; both with refpect to the deftruction of the people, and of all their images, pictures, altars, groves, and high places;. fee Exod XxXxiv. 11, 12, 13. Numb. xxvii. 19. and xxxiii. 52. Deut. vii. 1—5. and xxxi. 7.
¥. 16. So Fofbua took all that land, &c.]. The whole land of Canaan, deicribed as follows, both as to the fouthern and northern parts of it: the hill; the hill-country of Fudea, ot which fee Luke i. 39, 65. and all the fouth country, where lived the five_kings; and thofe of other places, the account of the taking of which we have in the preceding chapter, ¥. 40. and all the land of Gofben,; fee ch. x. 41. and the valley, and the plain, the low places and champaign fields which lay between the hills and mountains; particularly all the plain and champaign country near Eleutheropolis, towatds the north and weft, Zerom fays, in his day was called Sepvela or the vale*: and. the mountain of Ifrael, and the valley of the'fame; by which may be meant Ferufclem, fituated on a mountain and is {fo called, zek, Xvil. 23. and.xx. 40. and its valley may be the valley:of Hinnom or of Febofbapbat, as they were after called, which were near it: fome think the hill of Semaria or the mountains about that are meant.
y. 17. Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up unto Ser, &c.] » Or the /mooth and bald mountain, which had no-trees on it, as fome interpret it, obferved by Kimchi, it was a mount on the borders of Edom, to which the land of Canaan reached on that fide: unto Baal-gad, in the valley of Lebanon, under mount Hermon; and fo defcribes the northern part of the land conquered by Fofbua: and all their kings he took, and fmote them, and flew them; both in the fouthern and northern parts of the land..
¥. 18. Fofbua made war a long time with all thofe kings.) For, though the account of the conqueft of them is put together, and lies in a fmall compafs, yet thofe victories were not obtained at once, or in a few days, as were thofe of the five kings, and others, related in the preceding chapter, but were the work of fome years; Fofephus * lays, five years, but the common notion of the ews is, that Fofoua was feven years in fubduing the land of Canaan*, our bifhop Ufher* thinks, it was done in fix years; and it may be concluded that it was about fix or feven years ere this work was compleatly finifhed.
¥..19. There was not a city that made peace with
firous of making peace might make it; and they that were for war, let them fight; all were for the laft and fo perifhed*: fave the Hivites and the inhabitants of Gibeon; thefe, fome have thought, did not hear of;the offers of peace, but others think they did, abd at firft rejected them, but repenting were obliged to take the crafty methods they did to obtain it, of which fee ch. ix. a/ other they took in battle; refufing to fubmit to them and make peace with them.
¥. 20. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, &c.} As he hardened the hearts of ‘Pharaob and the Egyptians, that his power might be difplayed in their deftruion: that they /hould come againjt Ifrael in battle; and fo fall in it: that be might deftroy them utterly; for their abominable wickednefs, idolatry, inceft, &c. they had been guilty of: and that they might have no favour; which they would have had, had they made peace as the Gibeonites did; or that they might not pray and make {upplication, the Lord not giving them a fpirit of fupplication but an hard heart, as Gu - fetius' obferves, the words may be interpreted, tho’ he feems to prefer the former fenfe: but that be might deftroy them,as the Lord commanded Mojfes; Deut. Wil. Tee's
¥. 21. And at that time came Fofoua, &c.] After he had made a conqueft of the land, or at the time he made it, as before related: and cut off the Anakim from the mountains, whither upon the the conqueit of the land, they had betaken themfelves, and lived im dens ‘and caves: thefe were giants, fo called from Anak the father of them; though thefe are not to be reftrained to his pofterity, but include al] other giants in the land; and the Targum renders the word. by mighty men; and as fome of them dwelt in mountains, others in cities, as follows: from Hebron; where the children of Anak dwelt when the fpies were fent into the land between 40 and 40 years before this; and though the inhabitants of Hebron had been before deftroyed by Fo/bua, thefe Anakim, who very likely then made their efcape, returned and took poffeffion of it after Fofoua’s departure, and whilft he was engaged in making other conquefts; as we find that after this others of the fame race again poffefled it, and were in the poffeffion of it after the death of o/bua, when they were flain by the tribe of Fudab, Fudg. i. 10. from Debir; where others of them alfo had got after the conqueft of it; unlefs we fuppofe, as I fee no great reafon to object to it, that thefe were cut off both at Hebron and Dedir, at the time of the taking of them, of which fee ch. x. 36—39. from Anab; a city which fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah, ch. xv. 50. Ferom *fays, in his time it was a village, near Diofpolis or Lydda, about four miles from it to the eaft, and called Bethoannaba; but he fays,.that moft affirm it to be eight miles from it, and called Bethannaba: Ma/ius conjectures, that it is the fame with the city of Nod; for, he fays, that travellers the children of Ifracl, &c.| Though, according to the Fews, Fofoua, upon his firft landing in Canaan, fent letters and mefiages to all the inhabitants the land, offering them peace on certain terms; particularly that he fent three meffages, or propoied three things to them;
in thofe parts affirm, that the city Nod is called Bethanoba and Betbanopolis: and from all the mounof! sains of Fudab, the hill-country of Fudea, and the mountains round about Zerufalem; and from all the mountains of Ifrael; as thofe about Samaria, and that thofe who had alelfewhere: Fo/bua defrroyed them utterly with their ities 5 whi ormerly inhabited, or hadjCamaan; pig Hick See ps JZ j; lob fake. deferibed;
y. 23. So Fofoua took the whole land, &c.] Of the far greater and better part of it, all all that he went again fl:
y. 22. There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Ifrael, 8cc.] For thote efcaped the fword fled elfewhere, particularly to the following places: ony in Gaza, in Gath, and Afodod there remained; that is, fome of the nakim or giants; thefe were three of the five principalities of the Philiftines, and were never quered and poffefled by I/rael, fee ch. xiii. 3. of the cities of Gaza, fee the notes on Amos i. 7, 8. and on Zep. ii. 4. and of Gath on Amos vi. 2. ded is the fame with Azotus, Aés viii. 40. fee the note there: Mela fays®, the port of Azotus was mart for the merchandizes of Arabia, and was built on fuch an eminence, that from the top of it at the fourth watch, might be feen the rifing of the fun at the mountain Azotus; fee 1 Maccad. ix. 15. this city held out a fiege of 2g years againft P mitticus, king of Egypt, fee the note on J. xx. 1.
ed not in any of his attempts; no place’ ood. 2 that) againft him that he befieged or yet all yielded to him: aecording to all that the Lor, Sai injunto Mofess in Deut. xi. 23, 24, 25. and 7 ved gave it for an inheritance unto Ifrael, accordin tice their divifions by their tribes; as is after rel d i con- this book: and the land refted from war, there were no combinations of any of the difperfed Ca~ naanites, or infurrections made by them, nor: ar Afp- annoyance given to Ifrael by the Philiftines, wh inhabited five principal cities, with what belon i alto them 5 nor did Yofoua attempt any thing more in a warlike manner: and fo it becamie a land of reft, as the heavenly Canaan will ‘be to the fpiritual Tjrael and church of God, after their thilitant {tate is ended, in which they now are 5 being enam- gaged with many {piritual enemies, the Canaaiites that are in the land, but then their warfare will be ended.:
HIS chapter gives a fhort account of they y. 3. T conquefts made by the J/raelites, both in the times of Mofes and of Fahua, and firft of the kingdom of Sibon and Og on the other fide Yor-jof dan, in the times of Mofes, and which he gave to the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manaffeb, and which are particularly defcribed, y. 1—6. and then of the kings and the| countries on this fide Jordan whom Fo/bua conquered, ¥..7, 8. and the names of the 31 kingdoms are recited, that fo it might be exactly known and obferved, what were afterwards divided among thej tribes and poffeffed by them, ¥. g—24. And from the plain, &e.) Or rather, and the plain, the plains of Moab, which, before poffeffed by the J/raelites, belonged to the kingdom” Sibon; and the plains of Yordan, hich reached’ to the fea of Cinneroth on the eaf?; the fatne with the lake of Genefaret, and fea of Tiberias, men-— tioned in the New Teftament: and unto the fea of: de plain, where ftood the cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, 8cc. even the falt fea on the eaft, the fame with the dead fea, into which the plain the above cities ftood on was converted: the way /o Beth-je/bimoth; which was a place in the plains of Moab, Numb. xxxiii. 49. and from the fouth under Afhdoth-pifeah, or the {prings of Pifgah, which
¥. 1. Now thefe are the kings of the land which the children of Ifrael fmote, &c.| In the days of Mojes, as Farchi remarks, and as it clearly appears from what follows: and poffeffed tbeir land on the other fide Fordan toward. the tifing of the fun; on the eaft of the land of Canaan:. from the river Arnon, unto the mount Hermon, and all the plain on the eaft, Arnon was. the border of Moab between them and the Amorites, Numb. xxi. 13, and from hence to Hermon, a mountain adjoining to Lebanon, lay the country of the two kings of the, rites after mentioned, Deut. iii, 8, 9. and the plain on the eaft were the plains of Moab which lay to the eaft of Fordan. is, over all the people, that
¥. 2. Sibon king of the Ainorites who dwelt in Hefabon, &c.] Which he took from the Moabites, and made his capital city, Numb. xxi. 26. and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river of Arnon; a city of Moab, which never fell| into the hands of Sibon, and therefore he is faid to rule from it but not over it: and from the middle of the river; that is, the river Arnon, which being the boundary of the Meabites and Amorites, the|J king of the Amorites might be faid to rule from the middle of it: and from half Gilead even unto the river Fabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; {o it is faid to be, Deut. iii. 16. it fhould be rendered, not from half Gilead, but and half Gilead, as it is in the Hebrew text, and fo in the Targum; for half Gilead belonged to the kingdom of Sihon, as the other half did to the kingdom of Og, as in ¥. 5. and fo Farcbi remarks. flowed from the mount of that name, Dewé. iii. 17. and 49..
y. 4. dad the coaft of Og king of Bafoan, 8c. The country that he reigned over, who was another king of the 4morites, fmitten by I/rael in the times of Mofes: which was of the remnant of the giants;, fee Deut. iii. 11. and the note there: that dwelt at Afbtaroth and at Edrei; of which two. places fee Deut. i. 4. it feems as if Og had a pa=” lace in each of thofe cities, and fometimes was at’ Amo-jone and fometimes at another, as is ufual with kings. be y. 5. And reigned in mount Hermon, &e.] That inhabited that mount or dwelt under it, and adjacent to it, ch. xi. 17. — of which mountain, fee the notes on Deut. iii. 8, - 9. and in Salcab, which was a city belonging to the kingdom of Og, Deut. iii. 10. and in all Ba~~ hen; or Batanea, a country famous for pafturage, and for fat cattle, and for oaks, frequently mentioned in {cripture: unto the border of the Gefburites, — and the Maachathites, which were two nations the raelites never expelled, ch. xiii. 13: of which fee Deut. iii. 14. and balf Gilead, which belonged to Og, as the other half did to Sihom, before ob= ferved, which was as follows: the border of Sibom king of Hefobon, here the two kingdoms joi even in the midft of Gilead, which was divided ie tween them, but now wholly fell into the handsof = J/rael. y M 4 ‘ y. 6. Them did Mofes the fervant of thé Lord, A and the children of Irael fmite, &c.| Thatis, the
Ghxtl¥. 746i. PHOS RU. © att - inhabitants of thofe’ kingdoms, they fmote with the edge of the fword, and ie pofleffion of them, the hiftory of which fee ity Numb. xxi. and Mojes the fervant of the Lord gave it; the whole dominion of the two kings before mentioned i for a poffeffion unto the Reubenites, ad the Gadites, and the balf-tribe~ of Manafth;- of which grant and ‘the conditions of it, fee Numb. xxxii. 3
¥. 7. ‘dnd thefe are the kings of the country, &c.) After particularly named: which Fofoaa aud the children of Ifrael finote on this fide fordan on the weft; that is, on the weft of Fordan: from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon, even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; of which fee ch, xi. 17. whith Jofoua gave unto the tribes of Irael for a poffefiion, according to thei divifions, as after related in this book.
¥. 8. Inthe mountains, and in the valleys, and in ibe plains, and in the [prings, and in the wilderne s, and in the fouth country, &c.] Which is a defeription of the whole land of Canaan, fome parts of which were hills and mountains, others vales and champaign fields; others were dry and barren, and others’ well watered; fome part of it lay to the north, as towards Lebanon, and others to the fouth towards Seir: the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perrizzites the Hivites, and the Febufites, which were the nations that inhabited the land of Canaan before it was taken and pof- and of other places were, ch. x. 29, 30.. the king of Adullam, one; a city. in the tribe of Fudab, che XV. 35. Jerom fays*, there was a village in his time, not, a fmall one, called by this name, ten miles to the eaft of Hleutheropolis: near to this place was a cave where David hid himfelf when he fled from Saul, 1 Sam. xxii: 1. fee the note on Mic. i cr.; ¥. 10. The king of Makkedab, one, &c.] In a cave near to which ‘five kings hid themfelves, and were taken out and hanged, and the city afterwards was taken by Fo/bua, ch. x. 16. which fell. to the lot of the tribe of Fudab, ch. xv. 41, the king of Bethel, one, a city near to 4, about a mile from it, and yet had a king over it: it was taken at the fame time that 4 was, ch. vii. 2. and viii. 17. and fell to the lot of Bexjamin, ch. xviii, 22.
‘¥.17. The king of Tappuah one, &c.} Which Ferom calls ' Thaffu; it fignifies an apple,, and perhaps had its name from plenty of that fruit that grew there: a city of this name fell to the tribe of Fudab, ch. xv. 34. where alfo was another place called Beth-tappuah, ¥. 53. and both different from another Zappuab on the border of Manafféh, which belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, ch, xvii. 8. by fome thought to be meant here: the king of Hepher, one; mention is made of Gittab-Hepher as on the border of Zedulum, ch. xix. 13. the fame with Gath. Hepher, of which place was the prophet Fole dirachiey. nab, 2 Kings xiv. 25. and of the land of Hepher Waa id gs of Fericho one, &c.] Who was{in 1 Kings iv. 10, which is faid by Jerom, to be firft taken, and fo named firft, ch. vi. the king of in the fame tribe, and not far from Diocefarea or Ai, which is befide Bethel, one; who was next ta-| Zippore 5 and we read of a Chepher or Hepher in en's and though Bethel was fo near 4i, it had ajthe Sewifo writings ™, which, according to the acking of its own, after mentioned, fee ch. vii. and count of it there given, could not be far from the Vili. fd ae place, at leait it muft be lefs than 12 miles
. 10. The king of Ferufalem, one, &c.| Whofe ue ate ee a ‘et one of the five kings| y. 18. taken and hanged, ch. x. 1, 26. the king of Hebron, one another of the five kings, whofe name was Hobam, ch. x. 3. of the Amorites, ch, Xill. 4. yi tf The king of Farmuth, one, &c.| Whofe name was Pifam, a third of the five kings before obferved: the king of Lachifb, one; another of} fo them, whofe name was Faphia, ch. x. 3.. ne 12, The king of Eglon, one, 8cc.} The laft) of the five kings, and his name was Dedir, ch. x. 3. the king of Gezer, one, who came up to help Lachifh, and his name was Horam, ch. x. 33.
the land of Fudab, and is vo miles ye ae fee =f from it.
The king of Aphek, one, &c.]_ There was a place called Apbekab in the tribe of Fudah, ch. xv. 53. and an Apbek that was on the border and another -in the tribe of Aber, ch. xix. 30. but Adrichomins» places this <phek in the tribe of Iachar, whole king bua {mote, and takes it to. be the fame place where the Philiftines in the times of Samuel and David brought their armies againft Ifracl, I Sam. /iv. 1. and XXIX. 1. and where the king of Syria fought againft Tfrael, x Kings xx. 26. and fays, that its ruins were now fhewn in the great plain not far from Gilboa to the eaft of mount Carmel, and five miles from Tabor: the king of Lafoaron, one; which, according to the Vulgate Latin verfion, is the fame with Saron, which in Aas ix. 36. in fome copies is called Affaron; fo Adrichomius ¢, who places it in the tribe of Ephraim, and takes it to be the fame Sharon, Tfaiab {peaks of, ch. xxxiii. Qe and XXXV. 2. and of which Yerom fays”, to this day there is a country between Tador and the lake it feems to be the fame of Tiderias called Saronas, and alfo that from Czarea of Palefline to the town of Foppa, all the that is feen bears that name.,
¥. 13. The king of Debir, one, &c.} ‘The fame with Kirjath Sepber, of which place fee ch. x. 38. the king of Geder, one, Ferom® feems to confound this with the tower of Eder, beyond which Yacob pitched his tent, Ges. xxxv. 21. and he fpeaks of a Gaddera in the tribe of ‘Fudab, in his time a village belonging to the country about ia or Ferufalem, and of Gabedur in the tribe of Fudah, al large village, 10 miles from Dio/polis or Lydda, as you go to Eleutheropolis:
y. 19. The king of Madon, one, 8&cc.] Whole name was Yobab, ch. xi. 1. the king of Haxor, one s fays, is the border of whofe name was Sabin, and of him and his city Res ch. rage Se eT Sec t; umd, Xxi. 1. and Fudge.. 20. The king of Shimron-meron one, &c, Me A ees ae Ue ch. #iepy. this tide fell to the tribe of Zebulun, y. - # The king of Libnah, one, &c.] Taken ch. XiX. 15. the king of Achfbaph, one, fee ch, Xi. 1. at the fame time as the kings of Mekkedab, Debir, ithis city fell to the lot of er, ch. xix, 25.
y. 21. The king of Taanach, one, 8c.) It was in the tribe of Manajfeh, ch. xvii. 11. Ferom fays', in his time it was a large village, diftant from Legion on the plain of Efdraelon three miles: the king of Megiddo, one; which belonged to the fame tribe, ch. ‘xvii. 11. near this place were fome waters where the Canaanites fought with the Jraelites, Fude.v. 19. and a valley where Fofab was flain, 2 Chron. Xxxv. 22.:
¥. 22. The king of Kedefh, one, &c.) Which afterwards fell to the tribe of Naphtati, and was one of the cities of refuge, ch. xix. 37. and xx. 7. it was fituated in upper Galilee on mount Napbtali, four miles from the city of Sepbef, and as many from Capernaum, and 20 miles from Tyrer: the king of fokneam of Carmel, one; a city that that came to the lot of the tribe of Zebulun, ch. xix. 11. and was given to the Levites, ch. xxi. 34. it was not far from mount Carmel, from whence it is defcribed.
yr. 23. The king of Dor, in the coaft of Dor, one, &c.]. Of which fee ch. xi. 2. it fell to the lot of Manaffeb, but never was pofiefied by them, as were not Taanach and Megiddo, before mentioned, ch. xvii. 11. Fudg. i. 27. the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; not the place where YFo/oua encamped after he had pafled Yordan, for that was then no city: the Sep/wagint verfion renders it the land of Galilee; and doctor Lightfoot* is of opinion, that, Galilee is meant, and in 1 Maccad. ix. 2. Galgala is fpoken of as near to Arbel a city in Galilee: ‘Ferom‘ takes this to be the fame with Galgulis, which in his time was a village fix miles from Axtipatris to the north.
y. 24. The king of Tirzah, one, &c.] To what tribe this place fell is no where faid: dricho-
N this chapter Yo/bua is informed by the Lord, or put in mind, that part of the land of Canaan remained unconquered, and which it was; and is directed to divide the whole land among the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manaffeb, y. 1—g. and fince the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the other half tribe of Manaffeh had received their inheritance on the other fide Fordan, y. 8. that is defcribed in general, ¥. g—14. and then the particular portion of Reuven, vy. 15—23. and of Gad, ¥. 24—28. and of the half tribe of Ma- y¥. 1. Now Fofbua was old and ftricken in years, &c.] How old he was cannot be faid precifely, but it is very probable, he was now about 100 years of age, for he lived to be 110; and the land of Canaan was feven years in dividing, as the Fews generally fay, and it feems as if he did not live long after that: and the Lord [aid unto bim, either fpoke to him out of the tabernacle, or appeared mius » places it in the tribe of Manafeh; and fo ing“, who fays of it, that’ it was does wast it a fa and beautiful city, fituated on a a and ples a fant mountain, in the tribe of Manajeb, 2 from Ferufalem to the north: here Feroboan
Otoam had removed his court when his fon died, from where it was when he firft ereéted his idols; compare 1 Kings xii. 25. with ch. xiv. 17. and fo it may argue that there was fome fpace between: it was, no doubt, a very pleafant and Beate ul city, as not only appears from its name, but from the allufion to it in Cant. vi. 4. all the kings thirty and one; it may feem ftrange that in fo fimall a not one and the fame town, it appears that country as Canaan was, there fhould be fo many kings in it, fince the length of it from Dana to Beerfoeba was icarce 160 miles, as Ferom ” fays 3 who further obferves, that he was afhamed to give the breadth of it, left it fhould give occafion to heathens to blafpheme; for, adds he, from Foppa to our little village Betblebem (where they then, were) were 46 miles, to which fucceeded only a vaft defert: but it may be obferved, that in antient times, in other countries there were a orea many kings, as here in Britain, and in hoe Spain, and Germany,.as bifhop Patrick has obferved from feveral writers; and Strabo z teftifies the fame of the cities of Phenicia or Canaan, that they had each of them feparate kings, as Fo/bua here defcribes them. +i eth through it and the infirmities of ir, he was unable to go out to war, and to finifh this work, which mutft be left to be done by others hereafter; and. that he fhould with all expedition, fer about ano-. ther work he was capable of doing, before te died, which was the divifion’of the land among the tribes of J/rael. wet ~¥. 2. This is the land that yet remaineth, eo é Unconquered and unenjoyed, namely, what is after defcribed; and this account is given for Fofoua’s information, that he might know what to divide, and for the people of J/rae/’s fake, that they might know what they had a right to a claim upon; what they fhould endeavour to poffefs themfelves of,” and what the Lord would deliver into their hands, provided they were obedient to his will, for becaufe they were not, hence many of thefe places - never came into their poffeffion, though divided to them by lot: all the borders of the Philiftines; whofe country bordered and tay upon the fhores of the Mediterranean fea, in the fouth-weft of the to him in a dream or vifion: thou art old and\ land of Canaan: and all Gefouri, the principal city
Stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be poffeffed; that is, very much of the land of Canaan, which God had promifed to Abraham, yet remained unconquered by Yofhua, and unpoffeffed by the children of J/rae/,; and the old age of Fofbua is obferved, to intimate to him eal fie Farchi and Kimchi interpret of the belonging to it is faid to be in Syria, 2 Sam. xv. 8. and had a king over it in the times of David, 2 Sam. iii. 3. and feems never to have come into the hands of the J/raelites.,
¥. 3. From Sibor, which is before Egypt,
Nile, and fo that river is called, Fer. ii. 18. it fpeaks of a place called Gabale, and is now called feems to have this name from the waters of it being black and turbid; and hence it was called by the Greeks, Melas; and by the Latins, Melo; tho’ it is thought, that not properly the river itfelf is here meant, which did not reach to the borders of Paleftine, but a branch of it, a rivulet from it, for fo a traveller * writes, ‘* in a journey of about five “© days from Gaza towards Egypt, the hithermoft ** arm of the Nile, is received by the fea and is “ commonly called Carabus:” even unto the borders of Ekron northward; that is, from the fouthweit of Paleftine, near to which was the river Nile, to the northern part of it, where ftood the principality of Ekron, one of the five which belonged to the Philiftines: which is counted to the Canaanite; which was reckoned as’ belonging to the pofterity of Canaan, though the Pbiliftines got pofieffion of it, who defcended from Mizraim; and indeed it was only accounted as belonging to Canaan and his fons; of right and according to the grant of God, it belonged to the feed of Abrabam: five lords of the Philiftines; who had not kings as other countries and cities in the land of Canaan had, and their cities were called lordfhips, principalities, and not kingdoms, and are as follow: the Gazathites, and the Afbdothites, the Efbkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; fo called from Gaza, Afpdod, Afcalon, Gath, and Ekron, the cities they were in poffeffion of: alfo the Avites; it is not certain whether thefe were a diftinét principality from the other five, or a people difperfed amongft them; which feems moft likely, fince thofe were the original inhabitants, but were driven out or deftroyed by the Pdiliftines, though it feems fome remained and dwelt among them; fee Deut. ii. 23. » y¥. 4. From the fouth, all the land of the Canaanites, &c.] That is, of thofe Canaanites who were particularly fo called, in diftinction from thofe of the other nations or tribes, and who dwelt in feveral parts of the land, fome in the eaft and others in the weft, fee ch. xi. 3. and as it feems here, fome in the fouth: now onthe fide of the fouth, as Kimchi interprets it, all the land of the Canaanites was left, that is, remained unconquered and not poffeffed: and Mearab that is befide the Sidonians; the inhabitants of Sidon, and parts adjacent: what this place was which belonged to the Sidonians, for fo it may better be rendered, is not certain; fome take it to bea cave belonging to them: Sandys * {peaks of anumber of caves cut out of the rock in thofe parts, called the caves of the Sidonians, and afterwards the caves of Tyre; fo it is interpreted by the Zargum, and in the Syriac and Arabic verfions; others take it to be the river Magoras, Pliny‘ makes mention of as on the borders of Lebanon near Zidon and Berytus: mention is made of the waters of Mearab along with the waters of Tiberias in Fewifh writings*; but rather fomething of more importance than a cave or a river is meant; moft likely a tract of land near ‘Sidon, and which belonged to it, and reached, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites; of this place fee the note on ch. xii. 18.
¥. 5. And the land of the Giblites, &c.| This was another country that remained unconquered; the Greeks call it Byd/us, and near to which Phiny*
Gibyles it is‘ faid to be ‘* pleafantly fituated by the ** fea-fide, and at prefent it contains, but a little ‘* extent of ground, but yet more than enough “* for the {mall number of its inhabitants:” it was in greater {plendor, and its inhabitants of more fame in the times of Ezekiel, Ezek. xxvii. 9. and all Lebanon toward the fun-rifing; or eaft of the land; all that inhabited that mountain remained unconquered, though the conquett was carried as far as the borders thereof: from Baal-gad under mount Hermon; of which fee ch. xi. 17. unto the entering into Hamath; which was the north border of the land; fee Numb. xxxiv. 8.
¥. 6. All the inhabitants of the bill-country, 8c.
Not in Judea, but in and about Lebanon, as follows: from Lebanon unto Mifrephoth-maim;, of which, fee ch. xi. 8. and all the Sidonians; the inhabitants of the ancient city of Sidon, and the villages and lands belonging to it: thefe remained unconquered, and never were poffefied by the J/- raclites: them will I drive out from before the cbildren of Ifrael; which, though it may have a fpecial refpeét unto the Sidonians, with whom the claufe is clofely connected, yet may include all the above Jands.unconquered, out of which, as well as Sidon, the Lord promifes to drive the inhabitants, to make way for the children of. J/rael; that is, on condition of their obedience, for it appears that not only the Sidomians but many others, even the chief, and moft of thofe mentioned were never pofiefied by them: only divide thou it by lot unto the Tfraelites for an inheritance; that is, the whole land, as Abarbdinel rightly remarks, both what was fubdued and what was not; that was the bufineis” and all the bufinefs ¥o/bua had now to do; he was not to be employed in making any further conquefts, but leave them to others, and apply himfelf to the divifion of the land by lot, to the tribes that as yet had no portion affigned them: as I have commanded thee; now, at this time, y. 7. Now therefore divide this land for an inhe-+ ritance, &c.] Having the command and authority of God for it, he was to fet about it at once, with all diligence and application: unto the nine tribes; of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Zebulun, Iffachar, Afber, and Napbtali, in which order they are placed, when the Lord gave to Moj/es the names of the men that fhould divide the: land under Eleazar and Fofhua, Numb, xxxiv. 16—28. and the balf-tribe of Manaffeh, that half which had no inheritance on the other fide Jordan, and for which a prince of the children of Fo/eph was appointed to divide, Numb. xxxiv. 23.
y¥. 8. With whom the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their inheritance, &c.| That is, along with the half tribe of Manaffeb, but not with that half of it before. mentioned, who was to have a divifion of a part with the nine tribes, but with the other half of the tribe fettled beyond Fordan; with them the tribes of Reuben and Gad had received their portion at their own requeft, and fo were to have no fhare in the prefent diftribution: which Mofes gave them beyond ‘fordan eaftward; at their defire, and upon certain conditions, to be performed by them, fee’ Numb, xxxii. even as Mofes the fervant of the Lord gave them; this charatter of Mofes as the fervant of the Lord, feems to be obferved to fhew that he gave the faid tribes their inheritance, according to the will of God and in obedience to it: here end the words of the Lord to Fofhua, and next follows an account of the land given to the two tribes and a half de- {cribed by the writer of this book.
Xy. 9. From Arcer that is on the bank of the whence the defcription begins, the river Arnon, on which it was fituated, being the border between Moab and the Amorites, Numb. xxi. 13: and the city that is in the midft of the river; or even the city; meaning the fame city of Aroer, it lying both on the bank, of it, and in the middle of it, or it was a double city, as may feem from Jf xvii. 2.
and fo differently fituated at that river: and all the plains of Medeba unto Dibon; of thefe two places, fee Numb. xxi. 30. between them lay a plain, which fome take to be the plain of Moab; but it rather feems to be a plain that was between thefe two places, and according to ¥. 17. Dibon itfelf was in a plain.
¥. 10. And all the cities of Sibon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Hefhbon, &c.) A city he took from the Moadites, and made it his royal feat, Numb. xxi. 26: unto the border of the children of Ammon, which was the river Fabbok, Deut. 1ijgi 6, which was part of the kingdom of Og, half of which was given to Reuben, and the other half to Gad: and the border of the Gefburites and Maachathites; of which fee Deut. iii. 14: mount Hermon; called alfo Sirion, Shenir and Sion, y¥. 12. All the kingdom of Og in Bafhan, who reigned in Afbtaroth and in Edrei, &c.| See the note on ch, xii. 4.: who remained of the remnant of the giants;. was defcended from thofe that remained in Astaroth, atter the reft were cut off by Ce- here: for thefe did Mofes /mite, and caft them out, that is, not only the giants, but the inhabitants of the above kingdom, the greateft part of them; for the Ge/burites and the Maachathites are excepted in the following vere.
y. 13. Neverthele/s the children of Irael expelled not the Gefourites, nor the Maachathites, &c. Neither in the times-of Mo/fes, nor in the times of
Fofoua: but the Gefburites and the Maachathites dwell among the Ifraelites until this day; in full poffeffion of their cities unmolefted; yea, in aftertimes they became feparate and diftiné& kingdoms; for we read both of the king of Gefbur, and of the king of Maachah, 2 Sam. iii. 3, and x. 6.
¥.14. Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inberitance, 8c.) Neither the Lord, nor Mo/es by his order, nor did he appoint any inheritance for them, either beyond Yordan, or on this fide it, for the Lord was to be their inheritance, Numb. xviii. 20: the facrifices of the Lord God of Ifrael made by fire are their inheritance, as he faid unto them,
Deut, xvii. 1. and which are put for the whole of
¥.15. And Mofes gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according to their families. | According to the number of them, and fuficient for them.
y. 16. And their coaft was from Aroer that is on the bank of the river Arnon, &c.| As the country
of Sibon is defcribed, ¥. 9. from whence it appears » that it was his country which was given to Keuben, though not ‘all of it: and the city that is in the midft of the river; fee the note on ¥. 9: and all the plain by Medeba, which reached unto Dibon,
“4 17. Hefbbon, and all her cities that are in the
plain, &c.] Which was by Medeba, and reached to Dibon: Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baalmeon; Dibon was rebuilt by Gad, though it be-. longed to Reuben, and perhaps was inhabited by both, being on the borders of each; and Bamothbaal fignifies the high places of Baal; fee Numb. xxii. 41. perhaps this is the fame with Bamoth in the valley, Numb. xxi. 20. and Beth-baal-meon is the"fame with Baal-meon in Numb. xxxii. 38. where it is highly probable was a temple of Baal, fince both Beth fignifies an houfe, and meg an habitation.
yy. 18. And Fabaza, &c.] Called Fahazx, Numb. xxii. 23. where the battle was fought between Sihon and Ifrael: and Kedemeth; near to which was a wildernefs, which took its name from it, from whence Mo/es fent mefiengers with words of peace to Sihon, Deut. ii. 26: and Mephaath; thought to be the Maipha of Ptolemy‘, here Ferom fays *, in his time was a garrifon of Roman foldiers, be- ‘caufe of the defart that was near. It was a city, with its fuburbs, given to the Levifes, as were the two preceding, ch. xxi. 36,37. Adrichomius* takes it to be the fame with Malle, which fo/ephus fays ' was called the city of the ftrangers.
¥. 19. And Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, &c.) Of which fee the note on Numb. xxxii. 3, 37, 38: and Zareth-Jboabar, in the mount of the valley, which was built on one of the mountains that looked over the valley of Moad, as did Nebo, Pifgah, Abarim; perhaps it is the fame place Fo/ephus * calls Zara, to which he joins the valley of the Cilicians, and mentions it along with He/bbon, ‘Medeba, and other cities of Moab; according to Adrichomius', it was’ in the mount of the valley of Beth-peor, which next follows.
y. 20. And Beth-peor, &c. |. So called from Peor the idol of the Moadites, and where very likely there had been a temple built to the honour of it; over-again{t this place was a valley, where Hrael abode fome time, Deut. iii: 29: and Afpdod-pifgah, of which fee Deut. iii. 17: and Beth— jefoimoth; of which fee Numb. xxxiii. 4gi
¥. 21. And all the cities of the plain, &e.) In the champain country, as well as thofe in the mountainous part: and all the kingdom of Sibon; or, as Mafius renders the words, which all had been the kingdom of Sibon, for the whole kingdom of Sihon was not given to Reuben, only a part of it, and the reft to Gad, as in ¥. 27: king of the Amorites, which reigned in Hefhbon, asin ¥.10: whom Mofes mote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba; not at the fame time that Sibon was {mitten by him, but afterwards in a war with Midian, Numb. xxxi. 8. where their names are given as here; and there they are called kings of Midian, petty kings, and, as it feems by what follows, were fubjeé to Sihon, and therefore are here mentioned: which were dukes of Sibon dwelling in the country; for Midian, as Kimchi {uppofes, and not without reafon, was under the government of Sion, and thefe were his nobles, though they dwelt in the land of the Septuagint verfion here, it is called Daidon, per-
Midian. - ™ haps the fame with Dibon, the tribe of Gad rebuilt,
¥. 22. Balaam alfo the fon of Beor the foothfayer did the children of Ijrael flay with the fword, 8c. At the fame time that the princes of Midian were and is called Dibon-gad, Numb. xxxii. 34. and \xxxiii. 45. unlefs Lidbar here fhould be the fame with Lodebar in Gilead, 2 Sam. xvii. 27.
flain, and which is alfo obferved in Numd, xxxi, 8. fee the note. Kimchi fuppofes, that he returned to Midian on hearing that the counfel he gave to them, to enfnare J/rae/ with their daughters, had taken effect, in order to receive his wages, and fo received his righteous doom and juft reward; it is commonly faid by the Zeiws™, that he was flain by Phinebas: among them that were flain by them; among the above princes, and the common foldiers, of which there was a great flaughter; even fame with Beth-hbaran, Numb. xxxii. 36. fee the note there: and Beth-nimrab, fometimes called Nimrab, Numb, xxxii. 3, 36. near to which were fome waters, called the waters of Nimrim, If. xv. 6. It was in Ferom’s ® time a large village; it feems to have its name from leopards, which perhaps had their haunts hereabout: avd Succoth; the place where 7acob pitched his tent after he had pafled over Fabbok: it is called in the Ferufalem all the males of Midian were flain, Numb. xxi. 7. ¥.23. And the border of the children of Reuben was Fordan, and the border thereof, &c.] As their
Talinud * Thaarabah: and Zepbon; which in the fame Talmud is Amatho or Amathus, which Ferom fays‘ is a village beyond Yordan, 21 miles from border eaftward was droer on the river Arnon, fo their border weftward was the river Jordan: this was the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities, and the villages which Mojes gave them on the other fide ‘Yordan; Pella to the fouth, though he places it in the tribe of Reuben: the reft of the kingdom of Sibon king of Hefhbon, which was not given to the tribe of thereof;;Reuben, y. 21. Jordan and bis border; that is, the cities which were near it, as Kimchi; or that and next follows an account. of the inheritance of the tribe of Gad in thofe parts. ¥. 24. And Mofes gave inheritance unto the tribe were upon the bank of it, as Farchi: even unto the edge of the fea of Cinneroth; the fame with the lake of Genefarethb, Luke v. 1. on the other fide of Gad, &c.] On the other fide Yordan, as he did! ¥ordan eaf-ward; the other from that in which the to Reuben: even unto the children of Gad, accora-| inheritance of Gad lay, which was beyond Jordan, ing to their families; according to the number and: from the land of Canaan.
largenefs of them, dividing to each their part and portion.
¥.28. This is the inheritance of the children of Gad after their families, 8cc.\ As defcribed in the
¥. 25. And their coaft was Fazer, &c.| Their fouthern coaft; of Fazer, fee Numb. xxi. 32. where it is called Faazer, and is mentioned in // xvi. 8. and in er. xlviii. 32..where it is preceding verfes: the cities and their villages; the cities given them, fome of which are mentioned by name, and the villages adjacent and belonging to poken of as a city of Moaé, as it was in the days of thofe prophets: and all the cities of Gilead, which lay in ‘thofe -parts, for the whole was not given to this tribe, half of Gzlead was given to the half tribe of Manafeh, ¥. 31: and half the land of the children of Ammon; not what then belonged to them, but what had been taken from them by the Amorites; and which J/rael taking from them; had a right to retain, though they were forbid meddling with any of their land in prefent poffeffion; fee Deut. li. 19. Judg. Xi. 13—24: unto Aroer that is before Rabbath, 2roer was a city of Moab, fituated on the river Arnon, ¥. 9. and ftood over-againtt Radbath, a city of the Amorites, fince called Pbiladelphia, the fame that Foad took, 2 Sam, xii. 26. though Reland thinks °, that according to the fituation of thefe cities another Aroer mutt be here meant, and, which belonged to the dmorites. ¥.26. and from Hefhbon unto Ramath-mizpeb, and Betontm, &c.|. This was their coaft from the fouth to the north, and,.fo defcribes their eaftern border, which reached from He/hbon, given to the tribe of Reuben, y¥.7., to thefe places mentioned; Ramath - mizpeh, the fame, with Ramoth -gilead, which Yerom ° {ays was a. village in his time, and lay 15 miles from Philadelphia or Rabbath before mentioned, to the eaft;.it fhould be to: the weft; of Betonim we no where elfe read, ic feems to have been ‘near to Ramath: and from Mabanaim unto the border. of Debir; the former of thefe was the them were included in them.
¥. 29. And Mojfes gave inheritance unto the half tribe of Manaffeh, 8ec.] Whether at their requeft or of himfelf, there being land enough for them, and the two tribes of Gad and Reuben, is not certain: and this zs the poffeffion of the half tribe of Manaffeh by their families; which is after related and defcribed.
¥. 30. And their coaft was from Mabanaim, &c.] A place in the tribe of Gad, ¥. 26. which was the boundary of the half tribe that way: al/ Bahan, fo famous for its oxen, and for pafturage for them, and. for. its oaks, called by ‘ofephus Batanea: all the kingdom of Og king of Bafhan; which befides Bafhan, took in the kingdom of Argod or Trachonitis, half the land of Gilead, all which was poffefled by the half tribe of Manaffeh, fee Deut. iii. 13: and all the towns of Fair, which are in Bafban, threefcore cities; of Fair, and his. relation to Manajjeb, and of his taking thefe cities, and the number of them, fee Numb, xxxiii. 41. Deut. iii.
¥. 31. And half Gilead, &c.] The other half not given to the Gadites, who had that half of it which Szbon pofflefled, and the tribe of Manaffeh that half of it which Og poffeffed, fee Deut. iii. 12, 13. and Afbtaroth, and Edret, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bafhan; which are particularly mentioned, becaufe royal cities, ¥. 12. fee Deut. i. 4. were pertaining unto the children of Machir the fon of Manaffeh; and who was his only fon; how- place where the angels met Yacob, and who it the name from thence; and in after-times a city of this name. was built there, and was near river.Jebbok, Gen. xxxii..2. Dedir is different from that in the tribe of Judeb, ch. xv. 15. in gavelever to. his pofterity only was this inheritance given, though not to them all: even to one half of thejthe children of Machir, by their families; which feems to, confirm it, that Manajeb had no other fon, fince his whole pofterity, both the half tribe on the other fide, as well as that in the land Canaan, were denominated from him; though he feems to have had another’ fon, who perhaps died without iffue, 1 Chron. vii. 14.
dan by ‘Fericho eaffward; of the land of Canaan; of Fordan by Fericho, fee the note on Numb. ofjany inheritance, &c.] Neither on the other fide Yordan, nor did he order them any in Canaan; but exprefsly declared they were to have no part in the divifion of it, though they were his own tribe; which fhows him to be a difinterefted man, that \he faithfully obferved the orders and inftruétions the Lord gave him: the Lord God of Ifrael was on che other fide For- their inheritance, as he aid unto them what was given to the Lord out of the facrifices, and the tithes, and firft-fruits, that were theirs; fee Numb.
¥. 32. Thefe are the countries which Mofes did diftribute for inberitance in the plains of Moab, &c. Which is particularly defcribed, that each might know their proper’ portion:
¥. 33. But unto the tribe of Levi Mofes gave not