Exposition of the Whole Bible

thefe he fays gathered their meat under my table; Were glad to eat of the crumbs and fcraps which fell from thence, and might in their turns be there at times for his fport and pleafure, and there be fed with the offal of his meat, as Bajazet the Turk was ferved by Tamerlane, who put him into an iron cage, and carried him about in it, and ufed him as his footftool to mount his horfe, and at times fed him like a dog with crumbs from his table ®: as I have done, fo God hath requited me; whether he had any knowledge of the true God,} and of his juftice in dealing with him according to his deferts, and had a real fenfe of his fin, and true repentance for it, is not certain; fince the word for God is in the plural number, and fometimes ufed of heathen deities, as it may be here by him; however the righteous judgment of God clearly appears in this inftance: and they brought him to Ferufalem, to that part of Ferufalem which belonged to the tribe of Fudab; fee Fob. xv. 8, 63. here they brought him alive, and dying, buried him, as Yo/epbus ifays;

view in cazrying him thither, perceiving he was a dying man; or they had him thither to expofe him as a trophy of victory, and as an example of divine juftice: and there be died; whether thro’ grief and vexation, or of the wounds he had received, or by the immediate hand of God, or by the hands of the J/raelites, is not faid; neither are ties, and fome, as it feems, yet unfubdued, and in the hands of the Canaanites, of thefe feveral parts, putjand the cities in them, fee Fob. xv. 21, 33, 48.

¥. 10. And Fudah went againft the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron, &c.| Hebron was firft taken by Fehua, and the inhabitants of it put to the {word, Job. x. 36, 37. but whilft fo/bua was employed in making other conquefts, the Canaanites found ways and means of getting into the poffeifion of it again; wherefore when a grant of it was made to Caleb, he with the affiftance of the tribe of Yudab, of which he was prince, regained it, 7a. xv. 13, 14. wherefore what is recorded here, is only a repetition of what.was then done; unlefs it can be thought that this faét was there in- {erted by anticipation, or that there were two ex- - peditions of. the children of Fudeh again{t this place, Hebron which before was Kirjath-arba; tee fod. xiv. 15. in the firft of which Caled, with the affiftance of this tribe, drove out the three giants only, who afterwards got pofieflion again, which might be theirJand in this put them to death, as follows, and they flew Shefbai, and Abiman, and Talmai; tee Numd. xiii. 22. Fob. xv. 14. but what follows concerning their going from hence to Dedir, and the offer of Caleb to give his daughter in marriage to whomfoever fhould take. it, does not feem io well to agree with times after the death of Jo/oua 5 fince it is highly probable that Caleb, who was improbable. "}cotemporary with him and El/eazar, was now dead,

¥. 8.’ Now the children of Fudab had fought againft Ferufalem, and had taken it, &c.| Which accounted for their carrying doni-bezek thither. This they had done in the times of Yofoua; for when the king of that place was taken and flain by Fofbua, it feems that he and J/rze/ went and fought againft the city, and took that in which the tribe of ‘Ffudab had a principal concern; fo Kimcbi and Ben Gerfom interpret it; but Farchi and Abarbinel are of opinion, that now from Bezek they went up to Jerufalem, and fought againft it, and took it; and fo others think, becaufe only the children of Fudab are mentioned, and not all J/- rael, who fought together in Fo/bua’s time; nor is there any mention made of its being taken in his time, and yet it feems plain that it was inhabited in part by the children of Judah, Foo. xv. 63. fome therefore have thought that it was twice taken, that after Fo/bua had taken it, he and the children of J/rael being employed in making conquefts in other parts of the land, the Febufites repofiefied it, from whence they were now again in part.driven, | not wholly; and Fofepbus fays *, the lower partj was taken, and all the inhabitants killed, but the upper part was hard to be taken, becaufe of the ftrength of the walls, and the nature of the place: and {mitten it with the edge of the fword; the inhabitants of it, fo far as they got poffeffion of it: and fet the city on fire;

¥..9. And afterwards the children of Fudah, &c.] After the taking of Bezek, and the king of it, and having him to Ferufalem, where he died: went down from Ferufalem; which was on high ground: to fight againft the Canaanites that dwelt in the mountain, and in the fouth, and in the valley; into which feveral parts the lot of the tribe of Judab was divided; in each of which they had ciwg: Such dogs are called rpametnes uuvec, in kale is 1 Eft, mihi fitque precor, &c. 1. g. graph, » 16. pe525. ° Preferat Herodis Palmetis and at leaft can’t well be thought to have a young daughter at this time undifpofed of in marriage; wherefore thefe facts are only repeated upon obferving Fudch’s having taking Yerufalem, to thew.what exploits were performed by men of that tribe; wheretore for what is after faid, to the end of the 15th verfe, fee the notes'on Fo/h. xv. 15—19. ° where the fame things are related in exprefs words as here, containing the requeft of Caleb’s daughter: fuch an one as.made to Domitian is related by Marval.

y. 16. dud the children of the Kenite,' Mofes father-in-law, &c.] The pofterity of Jethro, the father-in-law of Adofes,; for though Yerbro returned to his own country, after he had paid a vifit to /o/és in the wildernefs, yet Hobad his fon, at the perfuafion of Mo/es, travelled with him and J/rae/ through the wildernefs, and went with them into Cauaan, at leaft fome of his defcendants, and fertled there, fome in one part of the land, and fome in another, of whom we read in feveral places of cripture; they continued to the days of Fereniab, and then went by the name of Rechabites, fo called from Rechad, a deicendant.of Fethro: thefe weut up out of the city of palm-trees; from the city of Jericho, as the Targum, fo called from the great number of palm-trees which grew near it, fee Deut. xxxiv. 3. This is to be underfteod not fome part of it only, forjof the city itfelf, that was utterly deftroyed by. Yo/oua, and the rebuilding of it was forbidden under a curfe, but the country adjacent, the>valley in which it ftood, which was fet with palm-trees; here was a grove of palm-trees ®, and the garden: theyjof balfam, which grew no where elfe, as Sirabon. sa fays; and who alfo obferves, that here was a-royal - palace in his time; this. belonged to Hered king Fudea in the times of Auguftus Czfor, to whe palm-tree groves there Horace ® refers. Here Kenites firft fettled when they came firft over Fors —— Homer. Thiad, 23. Pr 173. & Ody 17. ¥ she 1 Antiq. ¥ see Paes. ep 10. m Juitin, ¢ Trogo, k.g6. ey 3 es hull Seats” 34; pinguihus—~ De Arte Poet, #. 124. a ee Ve ee in fome part of it dwelt the children of Judah, and in another part the Febufites.

dan with Yofbua, being a moft pleafant and delightful place, and fuirable to fuch perfons who dwelt in tents, as they did, and anfwered to the promife of Mojfes to Hobab, Numb. x. 29. and here it feemss they had remained to this time: and now they left it, and came with the children of Fudab into the wildernefs; which was alfo a convenient place for the habitation of fuch perfons, who loved a folitary life. Perhaps the Canaanites about Fericho might be troublefome to them, and therefore chofe to ftay no longer there, or having a peculiar affection for the tribe of ‘udab, they chofe to be within their lot; and the rather, as they were a warlike and valiant tribe, they might expect the greater fafety and protection among them: which lieth in the fouth of Arad; that is, which wildernels of Fudab lay there, of which name there was a country or city, fee Numb. xxi. 1. and ¥o/b. xii. 14. and here fome of them dwelt to the times of Sau/, the Amalekites then having got poffe fion of the fouthern parts; which they infefted and were troublefome to, fee 1 Sam. xv..6. and xxx. 1, and they went and dwelt among the people, of the tribe of Fudab, near fome of the cities which were in the wildernels; of which fee Folo. XV. 63.:

y¥. 17. And Fudah went with Simeon his brother, &c.] Having fubdued his Canaanites which were in his own lot, according tohis promife, he went afraid of them, for a reafon after mentioned, or through flothtulnefs, and being weary of fighting, or becaufe they fell into fome fins, which occafioned the divine difpleafure; fo the Targum, * after they had finned, they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley.:” Jecaufe they bad chariots of iron; but. this was no reafon why they could not drive them out, if God was with them, who could as eafily have delivered thefe into their hands, as the inhabitants of the mountains; but is the reafon why they were afraid to fight with them, and toattempt to drive them out, and which they themfelves gave why they did not.

¥..20. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Mojfes faid, &c.] Which was done in the times of Fofeua, both by him and all the people, according to the order of Mofes. This is to be uaderftood not of the city which was given to the Leviles, but of the fields and. parts adjacent, Jo h.

Xiv. 13. and xxi. 11, 12. and he expelled thence the three fons of Anak; whofe names are given. ¥..10. this fhews.that this refers to the fame expedition as in Fo/>. xy. 14. and is exprefféd in the fame manner.

¥.21. And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Febufites that inhabited Ferufalem, &c. ] That is, that part of it which belonged to them, for it lay between Fudah and Benjamin; and neither of them feparately, nor both conjunétly, could with his brother Simeon, or the tribe of Simeon, into their lot to reduce thofe that were in that: avd| they flew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly deftroyed it; where and what this city was, is not certain; there was a place of this name in upper Galilee, mentioned in Fewifh writings », which can’t be meant here;

drive out the Febufites from it, particularly the trong hold on the top of mount Sion, which they held to the times of David. Abarbinel is of opinion, that Ferufalem in thofe times was not a city {inclofed about, but was a large province, part of which belonged to the tribe of udab, and anand we read of thejother to the tribe of Benjamin, and another was poffefled by the Febufites; and fo Farchi fays it was a province, the name of which was febu/: but the Febufites dwelt with the children of Benjamin unto this day; when this book was written, which was done by Samuel, as Kimchi and Bex Gerfom, and it is certain from hence it muit have been written before the reign of David, who dif- valley of Zepbhathab, 2 Chron. xiv. 10. which might have its name from hence, and if fo it was near Marefhab: and the name of the city was called Hormab; from the deftruétion made of it, and of the country about it; for now what had been vowed by J/rae/ in the wildernefs, when near drad, was fulfilled, Numd. xxi. 1, 2, 3.

¥. 18. Alfo Fudab took Gaza, with the coaft thereof, &c.| Which by lot fell to that tribe, Fofo. xv. 47. but was not till now fubdued: and Afkelen, with the coaft thereof, which, according to our countryman Sandys %, was ten miles trom Gaza: and Ekron, with the coaft thereof; this alfo is the lot that fell to Fudah, but was afterwards given to the tribe of Dan, Fo/b. xv. 45. and xix. 43. for whom Fudah now fought and took it; but in a fhort time all thefe places were retaken,

¥. 22. And the houfe of Fofepb, they alfo went up againft Bethel, &c.\ Which lay upon the borders of the fons of Fojeph, Epbraim and Manaffeb, Foo. xvi. 1,2. and though it feems to have been taken when & was, o/b. vill. 17. yet it appears that it was now in the pofleffion of the Canaanites; wherefore the tribes of Ephraim and Manaffeh being defirous of enlarging their borders after the example of f/udab, went again{t this place in order to take it: and the Lord was with them; the Word of the Lord, as the Targum, directing, affifting and fucceeding them in their attempt. y. 23. And the houfe of Fofeph fent to defiry ging, Bethel, &c.| ‘To reconnoitre the place, to obferve the tribe victory over the Canaanites; the Zargum is, ** the Word of the Lord was for the help of the houfe of Judah:” and be drove out the inhabitants of the mountains, the mountainous part of Fudea, fach 2s was about Feru/alem, and where Hebron ftood, and other cities, fee Fo/b, xv. 48, &c. which though fortified both by nature and art, yet God being with them, they were eafily| fubdued: but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley; God forfaking them, becaufe they were its pafles and avenues, which were moft acceffible, and to examine the walls of it, where they were weakeft and leaft defended: now the name of the city before was Luz; which fignifies a nut; perhaps it was fo called from large numbers of nut-trees which grew near it; the Fews fuggeft.as if it was like a nut, no entrance into it but thro’ a cave or ome fubterraneous paffage, fee Gen, xxviii. rg.

y.24. And the {pies faw a man come forth out of the city, &c.]. Or the keepers*, thofe that Sih and poffefled by the Philiffines, and were three of their five principalities which they ever after retained, fee Fudg. iil. 3. 1 Sam. vi. 16.

¥.19. And the Lord was with Fudab, &c.| En-+ couraging, ftrengthening, fucceeding and giving feht to watch, and obferve, and get what intelligence they could of the city, and the way into it: and they faid unto him, fhew us; we pray thee, the entrance into the city; not the gate or gates of it, which no doubt were vifible enough, but fome private way into it; the ews, as before obferved, think the entrance was by the way of a cave, or fome hidden paflage, of which Farchi and Kimchi make mention: and we will fhew thee mercy, give him a reward for it, or fpare him and his family when the city came into their hands.

y¥. 25. And when he foewed them the entrance into the city, &c.] Pointing to it with his fingers, as the fame writers obferve: they fimote the city with the edge of the word; they gave notice of what intelligence they had got to the body of the army, who came up, entered the city, took it, and put the inhabitants of it to the fword, as they were ordered to do with all the Canaanites: but they let go the man and all his family; who had returned to it, encouraged by the promife made him, and for the fake of faving of his family; which though not expreffed, he might have afked the favour of {paring them, which might be promifed, as was in the cafe of Rabab; provided he would either renounce heathenifm, and embrace the true religion, or depart to another country, the latter of which

y¥.26. And the man went into the land of the

Hittites, 8c.] With his family; Kimchi fays, this was not one of the feven nations of Canaan, and it is very clear from this narrative, that the land this man went to was not in the land of

Canaan; though it is certain a people of this name formerly dwelt there, Gen. xiv. 10. and xxiii. 3. and xxvi. 34. and the land of Canaan is called the land of the Hittites, Fofh. i. 4. thefe either might flee to another country upon fo/bua’s entry into the land of Canaan, or a colony of them from thence might fettle elfewhere, to which this man chofe to go, who might be originally of them: and built a city; his family was numerous, and he a man of wealth, and was allowed to carry all his fubftance with him: and called the name of it Luz; in memory of the place he left, and had long lived in. There is a city called Louff2, among the cities which Fo/ephus fays * were taken by the Fews from the Arabians; and which is very probably the Lyfa of Ptolemy‘, which he places in Arabia Petrea, and might be the fame with this Zaz; and if fo, this fhews the land this man went into, was in Edom, which is not unlikely; there is another Luza, which Ferom» fays fell to the lot of the fons of Fofeph, near Sichem, three miles from Neapolis: which is the name thereof unto this day; the time of the writing of this book; fee the note on ¥. 21.

¥.27. Neither did Manaffeh, &c.] One of the fons of Fofeph before mentioned; and it refpects that half tribe of Manaffeh, which had its portion on this fide Yordan in the land of Canaan: thefe did not drive out the inhabitants of

Beth-foean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and ber towns; all which were places the half tribe had affigned them in {fachar and Afher, of which fee the note on Fo/d. xvii. 11. This tribe feems to have been fluggifh, and not to have exerted itfelf at all, or made any attempts to drive out thefe people: dut the Ca-

naanites would dwell in that laid; not only defired it, but were determined on it, and rather chofe to fubmit to a tribute than be expelled, at leait would not depart unlefs they were forced. *.

¥. 28. And it came to pafs when Irael was firongs &c.} All the tribes of J/rael were become nume- ~ rous, and able to drive the Canaanites out of the land every where, and particularly were able to affift Manaffeb in expelling the Canaanites out of the above places, yet they did not; but all they did. was, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out; which flowed from covetoufnefs, and a love of eafe; they did not care to be at the trouble of expelling them, as they found it turned more to their account and prefent advantage, to make them tributaries; and this was true of the J/raelites in general, andof the half tribe of Manaffeh in particular; which, as Adar-~ binel thinks, is here refpected.

¥. 29. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer, &c.] Nor fo much as made them tributaries, but made a covenant with them, it is probable, contrary to the exprefs will of God: but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them; the Ephraimites agreeing to it, and here they dwelt to the times of Solomon; fee the note on Yoo. xvi. 10. where indeed they are faid to be under tribute; but that feems to refpect fome after-time, and not when they were firft admitted to dwell among them, fince no mention is made of it here.

¥. 30. Neither did Zebulun drive out the inbabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, 8c.) The firft of thefe feems to be the fame with Kattab or Kartab, and the latter with Naha/al, both cities given to the Levites, Top. xix. 15. and xxi. 34, 35. which perhaps was the reafon of their floth in driving them out; though it aggravated their fin not to take care to rid thofe cities of the Cznaanites, which were given to religious perfons: but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries; which is obferved fo far in their favour, that they exerted themfelves to make them tributaries, which was more than was done by fome others. =

¥. 38. Neither did Afher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, &c.] The fame with Prolemais, Alis xxi. 7. fee the note there; fo called from the firft Prolemy king of Egypt, who enlarged it; but it has fince recovered its ancient name pretty nearly, and is now called Acca or Acra. “On its north and eaft fides, Mr. Maundrel fays *, it is encompafied with a fpacious and fertile plain; on the weit ir is wafhed by the Mediterranean fea; and on the fouth by a large bay, extending from the city as far as mount Carmel:” nor the inbabitants of Zidon; a well-known city in Phenicia, belonging to this tribe, fee Fofh. xix. 21. nor of Ablab, nor of Achzib, nor Helbab, nor Apbik, nor of Rehob; two of thee places, Ab/ab and Helbah, are not mentioned among the cities of the tribe of Afher, Fo/b. xviii. unlefs Helbab is the fame with -Helkath, ¥. 25. of the. reft, Achzib, Aphik and Rebod, fee the notes on Fo. XiX. 29, 30. ae.

¥. 32. But the Afberites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, &c.] They were in a worfe condition than thofe before mentioned; for the Canaanites were poflefled of their country, efpeially of the above cities, and were matters of _ them; and the 4ferites only dwelt among them upon fufferance: for they did not drive them outs

Ch.i.¥. 34—36. 7 {7 dD either they did not attempt it, or they could not do it, and contented themfelves with having leave to dwell among them.

y¥. 33. Neither did Napbtali drive out the inhatants of Betb-foemefh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath, &c.] Of which places fee the note on Fof. xix. 38. but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; in the fame difgraceful man ner as Aber did, owing to cowardice or floth:

dwell with them, particujarly in three places mentioned: where mount Heres was, is not certain; it fignifies the /uw; very probably it had its name from the worfhip of the fun on it, or from the fun ftanding ftill near it; for 4ijalon, where that miracle was wrought, is next mentioned. Perhaps it might be near to Timnath-beres; which was in mount Ephraim, ch. ii. 3. fince Ephraim affifted in making thefe places tributaries; of the two ci- neverthelefs, the inbabitants of Beth-foemefo and of ties, Aijalon and Shaalbim, fee Fofh. xix. 42. yet

Beth-anath became tributaries unto them; thefe two cities did at length exert themfelves, and got the maltery over the Canaanites, as to make them pay tribute to them; though they ought to have expelled them, and even deftroyed them, according to the command of God, but avarice prevailed over

¥. 34. And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain, &c.] Into the mountainous part of the tribe of Dan; the moft noted mountains in it were Seir and Baalab, which lay oh the border of Fudah, Foo. xv. 10, 11. Foppa in this tribe was built on an high rock, and fo Gibbethon, as its name feems to import, perhaps was built on a hill or mountain, as were the cities after mentioned: for they would not fuffer them to come down to the valley; which lay between Foppa and Czfarea, the plain of Sharon, in which were Lydda, Famnia, &c. which belonged to their tribe, and they afterwards enjoyed; fee the note on Fob. xix. 48.

yw. 35. But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, &c.] And they would not fuffer the Danites to dwell in the valley, a fruitful and delightful part of their country, terrifying them with their iron-chariots, which in the vale they could make ufe of to great advantage; fo neither would they let them dwell alone in the mountainous part of their tribe, but would the hand of the houfe of Fofeph prevailed, fo that they became tributaries; or the hand of it became heavy*; by which it does not clearly appear whether the hand of Fo/eph was made heavy, and to hang down, by the Amorites; or whether it was heavy upon them, and fo prevailed over them; as our verfion; but the Septuagint puts it out of doubt, reading the words, ‘* and the hand of the houfe of Fofeph was heavy upon the Amorites;” the Epbraimites being near to the tribe of Dan, and obferving how they were preffed by the Amorites, took up arms in their favour, and obliged the Canaanites of the above places to become tributaries to the Danites:

¥. 36. And the coaft of the Amorites was from the going-up to Akrabbim, &c.] Of which mention is made in Numd. xxxiv. 4. Fo/b. xv. 3. fee the notes there: from the rock, and upwards; even from the city Petra in Idumea, and beyond that; and there was a country near Jdumea, called Acrabatane, from this mountain Akrabbim, 1 Maccab. v. 3. fuch was the extent of thefe people, that their coaft reached from the places mentioned, to the mountains, where the above cities of Daz were; they were the moft powerful people among, the Cauaanites, and lay on both fides of Jordan, and were very troublefome to J/rael, yet were at length deftroyed, Amos ii. 9.

HIS chapter gives an account of an angel] created of the Lord appearing and rebuking the] f{poken children of J/rael for their prefent mifconduét, ¥. t—5. of their good behaviour under Fo/bua, and the elders that out-lived him, ¥. 6—10. and of their idolatries they fell into afterwards, which greatly provoked the Lord to anger, ¥. 11—15.] and of the goodnefs of God to them neverthelefs, in raifing up judges to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, of which there are many inftances in the following chapters, ¥. 16—18. and yet that how, upon the demife of fuch perfons, they relapfed into idolatry, which caufed the anger of God to be hot againft them, and to determine not to drive out the Canaanites utterly from them, but to leave them among them to try them, angel is meant, or otherwife he would have in the name of the Lord, and have faid, thus /aith the Lord, and not in his own name; afcribing to himfelf the bringing of the children of J/rael out of Egypt, and {wearing to them, and making a covenant with them, and threatening what he would do to them becaufe of their fin; wherefore the uncreated angel,the angel of the covenant is meant, who brought J/rae out of Egypt, was with them in the wildernefs, and introduced them into the land of Canaan, and appeared to Fofhua as the captain of the Lord’s hoft at or near Gilgal, o/b.

v. 13, 14. and becaufe he had not appeared fince, therefore he is faid to come from thence to a place afterwards called Bochim, from what happened at this time: amd faid, I made you to go out of Egypt;

¥. 19—23. that is, obliged Pharaoh king of Egypt to let them go, by inflicting plagues upon him and his peo-

¥. 1. And an angel of the Lord came up from Gil- - gal to Bochim, &c.| The Targum calls him a prophet”; and the Yew commentators in general| J interpret it of Phinehas*; and thata man is meant is given into by others, becaufe he is faid to come from a certain place ‘in Canaan, and not from heaven, and fpoke in a public congregation, and is not faid to difappear; but neither a man, nor a ple, which made them urgent upon them to depart: and I have brought you unto the land which ware unto your fathers, into the land of Canaan, now for the moft part conquered, and divided among them, and in which they were fettled: and J faid, I will never break my covenant with you; if the covenant between them was broken, it fhould not begin with him, it would be their own fault;

r wy % FW DAG SBS. nacle beiip*now at Shileb, and alfo becaufe facri- i fices were Breed up, as follows’: aad they fact ficed there unto the Lord, to atone for the fins they” had committed; and if they did this in the faith — of the great facrifice of the Meiliah, they did well; however, fo far there was an acknowledg- ~ ment of their guilt, and a compliance with the ~ appointments of God directed to in fuch cafes. — all which is mentioned as fo many inftances of divine goodnefs to them, and as fo many aggravations of their fins againft God., y.2. And ye fhall make no league with the inbabitants of this land, &c.) This the Lord ‘charged them not to do, when he covenanted with them, and affured them of bringing them into the land, and yet they had done it, as fome inftances in the preceding chapter fhew, which were the occafion of the angel’s coming to them to rebuke them, fee Deut. vii. 2. you foall throw down their altars; this they ought to have done as foon.as they were ‘come into the land, and poffefied of the places where they were erected, to fhew their deteftation of idolatry, and to prevent the ufe of them to idolatrous purpofes, fee Dez. vii. 5. and xii, 3. dut ye have not obeyed my voice, the command of God, but on the contrary had made leagues and covenants with feveral inhabitants of the land, allowing them to dwell among them on paying a certain tax or tribute to them; and had fuffered their altars to’ continue, and them to facrifice upon them to their idols, according to their former cuftoms: why have ye done this? tranfgreffed the commandment of God in the inftances mentioned. It fhewed the wickednefs of their hearts, their ingratitude to God, who had done fuch great things for them, and their pronenefs to idolatry, and liking of it..

¥. 3. Wherefore I alfo faid, &c.] Suppofing, or on condition of their being guilty of the above things, which was forefeen they would: J will not drive them out from before you; the feven nations of the Canaanites entirely, and which accounts -for the various inftances related in the preceding chapter; where it is obferved, that they could not, or did not, drive the old inhabitants out of fuch and fuch places, becaufe they finned againft the Lord, and he forfook them, and would not affift them.

in their enterprizes, or left them to their floth and indolence: but they fhall be as thorns in your fides; very troublefome and afflicting, fee Numb. xxxiii, 55. of for ftraits, as the Septuagint, or be fuch as would bring them into tribulation, and diftrefs them, as the Targum, fo they often did: and their gods foall be a fnare unto you; which they fuffered to continue, and did not deftroy them, as they ought to have done; they would be as they proved, enfnaring to them, and whereby they were drawn to forfake the worfhip of the true God, and bow down to them, as we read in fome following verfes.

¥. 4. And it came to pafs when the angel of the Lord fpake thefe words unto all the children of Irael, &c.] This being either one of the three folemn feafts, when all the males appeared at the tabernacle of the Lord; or elfe here was now a folemn convention of all the tribes to enquire of the Lord the reafon why they were-not able to drive out the Canaanites in fome places, and why they prevailed over them in many: ¢hat the people lift up their voice, and wept, being affected with what the angel faid, and convicted in their confciences of their fins, and fo fearing the bad confequences thereof, they wept becaufe of the fins they had been guilty of, and becaufe of the evils that were like to befal them on account of them.

N.5. And they called the name of that place Bochim, &c.] Which fignifies weepers, from the general Jamentation of the people, which before had another name; very probably it was Shilo itfelf, fince all J/rael was gathered together, the taber-

‘the land of Canaan; for according to y. 6. And when Fofiua bad let the people go, &c.] This is not to be connected with what goes before, as if that was done in Fo/ua’s lite-time 5 for during that, as is after teftified, the people of Tfrael ferved the Lord; whereas the angel, in the {peech to them before related, charges them with difobeying. the voice of the Lord, making leagues with the inhabitants of the land, and not demolifhing their altars, all which was after the death of ‘Fofhua, but this refers to a meeting of them with him before his death, and his difmiffion of them, which was either when he had divided the land by lot unto them, or when he had given. them his ‘laft. charge before his death, fee Fo. xxiv. 28. and this, and what follows, are repeated.and introduced here, to connect. the hiftery of J/rael, and to fhew them how ‘they. fell into idolatry, and fo under the divine difpleafure, which brought them into diftrefs, from which they were delivered at various times by judges of his own

{raifing up, which is ‘the fubject - matter of this book: the children of Ifrael went every man unto his inberitance to poffe/s the land, as it was divided to the feveral tribes and their families; which feems to confirm the firft fenfe given, that this refers to the difmiffion of the people upon the divifion of the land among them. “by ¥. 7. And the people ferved the Lord all ‘the days of Jofoua, and all the days of the elders that out-lived fofoua, who had feen all the great works of the Lord that be did for Irael.| In Egypt, at - the Red-/ea, in the wildernefs, at the river Yordan, and in the land of Canaan; fee the note on Fo. xxiv. 31. The Fews * fay, the elders died on the sth of Shebet, which anfwers*to part of Yanuary and part of February, on which account a faft was kept on that day. pt ¥. 8. And Fofhua the fon of Nun, the fervant of the Lord, died, &c.] See the note on Fos. XXiv, 29. y. 9. And they buried him in the border of bis inheritance in Timnath-beres, &c.|) In fof. xxiv. 30. it is- called Timnath-ferab, the letters of e- rab being here inverted, make eres, which fometimes is ufed for the fun, ¥od ix. 7. and therefore fome obferve, that the whole name ‘fignifies the figure of the fun, which the Jews fay was put on his monument, in commemoration of the mi-— racle of the fun ftanding, ftill at his requeft, and had this in{cription on it, “* this is he that caufed the fun to ftand itill;” but this is not very probable, fince it- might have had a tendency to idolatry, the fun being what was the firlt object of idolatrous worfhip among the heathens, and had the greateft fhew of reafon for it: ia the mount of Ephraim, on the north fide of the bill Gaafh; Re the note on Fo xxiv. 30. a ve ¥. 10. And alfo all that generation were ga unto their fathers, &c'] Were dead and that is, the greateft part of thofe that were c poraries with the elders that out-lived Fofbua 5 they might not be all dead, at leaft noe all that came out of Zgypt, and itil lefs all that came inte