istics petinite set o8 i oy iees! s is wiakete :3 bites arses 53 as + Ke 3 a3 + = Bata S223! wet gute tai pret etterses Biss 531 iz rie re Steatsts — stats t= seen ers << Steet Meth tt st ese Sere * ity sseried See titres ts Stata eeeaty it ate . ess Tye sigtiete ae Bett << OS wae ses att = 2 Me Sees a peat Ae 2 beytthathy (E,. Sab = Am it ae agsiaytes ees aise bstitssitstsrits <5 i? $3 i 3 TSO 2 sguquine iy eesessngnaearetstehe nt staeeenEr a ayyfeesese tg) aie ia setts estes is Sietieets Coens tpetertes na Stott) if ot + + 129g Tete shee sheet Map, hassles es > eit Ht 3 i Haut es * +e + + enpstey Tisefsieites : i : i Haat fi Ne * it ; oy obs ‘ rie fi ii sa ihe ; it; # ny ; . i414 segs. i eisiesty University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign Oak Street The Smaller Cambridge Bible for Schools GENERAL Epiror: A. W. Srreang, D.D. THE BOOK OF JOSHUA CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Pondon: FETTER LANE, E.C. C. F. CLAY, Manacer €vinburgh: 100, PRINCES STREET Berlin; A. ASHER AND CO. DLeipsig: F. A. BROCKHAUS few Work; G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS Bombay and Calcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Lrp. All rights reserved fe) THE BOOK Bev. ed. OF JOSHUA EDITED BY JOHN SUTHERLAND BLACK LL.D. ye Cambridge at the University Press I91O WHEATON COLLEGE LIBRAR 3 ' WHEATON, ILLINOIS First Edition 1891. New Edition, revised and enlarged, 1910. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION : I The Book of Joshua. : : : 4 . 1 @©>. Life of Joshua . : , : ; : - mz Israel and the conquest of Canaan . : : Iv Purpose and religious import v__ Analysis of the Book BIoGRAPHICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL NoTES , . = Notes on IDENTIFICATION oF PuAcES mentioned in Joshua Futter ANALYSIS . é zi : ss : 6 : Nove oN THE CHRONOLOGY i 2 & : P ‘ Text AND Notes . : : “ : InpDEX . ‘ é ; i 3 Z Map 197912 MY 7°75 PAGE at end ** The Text adopted in this edition is that of Dr Scrivener’s Cambridge Paragraph Bible. A few variations from the ordinary Text, chiefly in the spelling of certain words, and in the use of italics, will be noticed. In the notes, the renderings of the Revised Version of 1885 are printed in Clarendon type. ABBREVIATIONS. A.V. Authorised Version of 1611. R.V. Revised Version of 1885. Heb. The original Hebrew. Ar. Arabic. Sept. or LXX. The Septuagint. Vulg. The Vulgate. Lit. Literally. Arabic Geographical Terms: W. or Wady, watercourse, especially of a non-perennial stream. N. or Nahr, perennial. stream. J. or Jebel, mountain. * * * To my late friend Professor W. Robertson Smith I was in- debted for much advice and assistance generously given at every stage in the preparation of the first edition of this little work, and for many valuable contributions to both introduction and notes, including what I believe to be a new explanation of Josh, x. 12, 13. J.8. B. INTRODUCTION. 1. The Book of Joshua. The Pentateuch is followed in the Jewish canon by a series of historical books, comprising Joshua, Judges, the two books of Samuel and the two books of Kings, and recounting the history of Israel from the death of Moses till the Babylonian Captivity. These books are called by the Jews the ‘Former Prophets’—‘ Prophets,’ because the Jewish belief was that they were written by prophets, and ‘former’ because in the order of the canon they came before the ‘Latter Prophets,’ i.e. the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve Minor Prophets. The Book of Joshua, so named because it deals with the history of Israel under Joshua’s leadership, opens the series of ‘Former Prophets.’ But originally the Pentateuch and Joshua formed a single book (the Hexateuch as it is often called by recent scholars) which carried the history of the chosen people down to their settlement in Canaan. Like the other historical books of the Old Testament, the Book of Joshua is anonymous. And when it is closely ex- amined, it becomes clear that, like the Pentateuch, with which it was originally united, it is made up of extracts from various narratives, pieced together by a later hand. This is the usual method of Eastern historians, which is seen, for example, in the great Arabian Chronicles. In the judgment of most modern critics the book was not put together in its present shape till after the Captivity, but large parts of the narrative are taken word for word from documents of much greater age, which can often be distinguished in the original Hebrew by their language and style and by other marks that cannot be explained here. But the greater part of the geographical chapters, the description of the possessions of the various tribes, appears to have been written after the Captivity, when it had become important to preserve a full written record of the ancient state of the nation. The evidence for these critical conclusions cannot be given in brief space, or without reference in detail to what has been ascertained by critics as 8 INTRODUCTION to the other books of the Hexateuch. Some illustrations of the critical treatment of parts of our book will be found in the notes. The Jewish Rabbins and older Christian writers supposed that Joshua was himself the author. But this is impossible ; for we find in the book references to things that happened long after his death. Thus, it was only after the time of David that the children of Judah and the Jebusites lived together in Jerusalem (Josh. xv. 65, compared with Judg. xix. 10—12; 2 Sam. v. 6 sq.; Zech. ix. 7); the taking of Laish by the Danites and its change of name (Josh. xix. 47) took place in the time of the Judges (Judg. xviii. 7, 27 sqq.) ; while an Aramaic name like Hazor-hadattah (for New Hazor, xv. 25) cannot have been borne by a Judaean village before the return from the Captivity. 2. Life of Joshua. Joshua, the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, whose career as the leader of Israel in the con- quest of Canaan is the main subject of the Book, is first mentioned in Exod, xvii. 9 as commanding the warriors of Israel in the battle against the Amalekites at Rephidim. He was also one of twelve spies sent out from Kadesh to collect information about the strength of the Canaanites and the prospects of invasion (Numb, xili.); and, when the other spies returned disheartened, he and Caleb retained their courage and reported in favour of an armed advance. These two therefore, alone out of all the grown men of Israel, were 1 We learn from Numb. xiii. 8, 16 that Joshua was originally named Oshea or rather Hoshea (R.V., and A.V. in Deut. xxxii. 44), the same name which was borne by the last king of Samaria (2 K. xvii. 1) and by the prophet whom we, following the Greek and Latin form of the name, call Hosea. Moses changed the name to Jehoshua: ‘Jehovah [is] salvation’ (deliverance, victory), which we, again under the influence of the Greek and Latin, shorten to Joshua, just as we write Judah for Jehudah. In later Hebrew the name was contracted to Jeshua (Neh. viii. 17), in Greek "Inoovs, Jesus (Heb. iv. 8). In this form the name was borne by our Lord (Matt. i. 21) and significantly pointed to His work of salvation. Other persons of the same name are Joshua of Beth- shemesh (1 Sam. vi. 14), Joshua the governor of Jerusalem (2 K. xxiii. 8), Joshua or Jeshua the high-priest in the time of Zerubbabel (Ezr. ii. 2, Zech. iii. 1 sqq.), and several Levites mentioned in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. INTRODUCTION 9 exempted from the Divine sentence that because of their want of faith they should fall in ,the wilderness and not set foot in the land of promise (Numb. xiv. 30). During the wilderness journey Joshua acted as the minister or personal attendant of Moses (Exod, xxiv. 13, xxxii. 17, xxxiii. 11; Numb. xi. 28; Deut. i. 38), a relation which, like that of Elisha to Elijah, seems to have marked him out as the favourite disciple and probable successor of the Great Lawgiver. He was expressly designated to lead the people into Canaan at the time when ‘the Lord was angry with Moses for their sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither’ (Deut. i. 87, 38; comp. Numb. xx. 12), and this designation was solemnly confirmed at the tabernacle before Moses’ death (Deut. xxxi. 14 sq.). We are told in Deut. xxxiv. 9 that ‘Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses,’ Thus, at the begin- ning of the Book of Joshua, we find him accepted without question as the divinely appointed leader of Israel. Of the life of Joshua after he became leader of the Hebrews we know nothing beyond the facts that will come before us in the course of the book that bears his name. 3. Israel and the Conquest of Canaan. Long before the He- brew invasion, the land of Canaan and even the northern parts of Syria had been included in the Asiatic dominions of the great conquering Pharaohs of the xviith and xvii1th dynasties. The chronology of the Egyptian suzerainty in Canaan is obscure, but it is clear from the Bible that it had come to an end before the Hebrews entered the land, and it also seems to be clear that it cannot have ended long before the Exodus. The withdrawal of the Egyptians was connected with invasions of Canaan from Northern Syria and Asia Minor which must have left the country in a greatly shaken condition. In one part of the land it is probable that these invaders effected a permanent settlement; for the Philistines who held the coast and fertile lowlands from the Phoenician border to the con- fines of the Egyptian desert are probably identical with the Purosata or Pulosata of the Egyptian monuments, who are numbered among the enemies of the Pharaohs in their last struggles to maintain an Asiatic empire. In the rest of the country the old Canaanite race maintained its position after 10 INTRODUCTION the tide of invasion rolled by, and at the time of the Exodus Canaanites were settled on both sides of the Jordan valley from the Mediterranean to the Syrian desert, and also extended northward, far beyond the limits afterwards occupied by Israel, both along the Phoenician coast on the western slopes of Mount Lebanon, and in the great valley of Coele-Syria, between Lebanon and Antilibanus. Though the Canaanites spoke a language very little different from that of the Hebrews, and are reckoned by modern science ‘to the same great stock to which the Arabs, Aramaeans and Hebrews belong, the Israelites acknowledged no kinship with them, and classed them, with the Egyptians and other African races, among the descendants of Ham. We are hardly entitled to put a strict ethnological interpretation on Gen. x., where this classification is set forth!; but whatever else may be 1 Of the eleven ‘sons’ (i.e. branches) of Canaan enumerated in Gen. x., five are Phoenician trading communities (Zidon, Arca, Sin, Aradus, Simyra) which never became subject to Israel. So too the Hittites (Heth) and Hamathites lay beyond the sphere of Joshua's conquests, and, except in the time of David, retained their inde- pendence till they fell before the Assyrians. Of the widespread Hittites we know from other sources than the Bible that they touched the Euphrates at Carchemish. The four other names represent groups or nationalities of Canaan overthrown by Israel; viz. (1) the Jebusites of Jerusalem, who were incorporated with Israel in the time of David, but not destroyed (Zech. ix. 7); (2) the Amorites, a very general name, commonly applied by Hebrew writers to the branches of the Canaanite stock on both sides of the Jordan that were completely conquered and had wholly disappeared ; (3) the Girgashites, of whom nothing definite is known, except that they must have been completely obliterated at an early date, as we find no trace of them after the conquest; (4) the Hivites, whose name perhaps means simply ‘villagers’ (cp. note on Havvoth-jair, xiii. 29), and who appear at Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 2), in the region of Gibeon (Josh. ix. 7) and also on the slopes of Hermon (Josh. xi. 3, Judg. iii. 3,in which passages some would read Hittrtes). The Hivites were conquered but not extirpated (see Josh. as above and cp. 1 K.ix. 20). Besides these names we find mention in the Penta- . teuch and Joshua of the Perizzites (pagani, rustics), apparently a general name for the Canaanite groups that had no fortified towns. Of the Rephaim in Bashan (xii. 4), Mount Ephraim (xvii. 15) and near Jerusalem (xv. 8), as well as of the children of Anak at Hebron and in Philistia (xi. 21, 22, xiv. 12, xv. 13, xxi. 11) and the Avvim INTRODUCTION 11 involved in it, the grouping of the Canaanites with the Egyp- tians may fairly be taken to imply that long contact with Egyptian civilization, and submission to Egyptian domination, had stamped the habits of the race with characters very foreign to the Semitic type of the Israelites, and their cousins of Moab, Ammon and Edom. We know indeed that all Phoenician civilization m was profoundly influenced_b As) well as by~ itself in a a less degree upon the agricultural and pastoral com- munities of the inland districts. It was in the great trading cities of Phoenicia that Canaanite civilization reached its height; but all the Canaanites at the time of the Hebrew invasion were much in advance of the Israelites in the arts of life. They were tillers of the soil, while the invaders were but herdsmen; they were formed into settled communities, mostly organized as petty independent kingdoms; they had walled and fortified towns, the very sight of which filled the first Hebrew spies with despair (Numb. xiii. 28); and, while the Hebrews fought on foot, the Canaanites of the more level regions had war-horses and chariots of iron,—engines which played in ancient warfare the same important part as modern artillery. On the other hand the multitude of petty states were united by no feeling of national unity, nor had they any such basis for united national action as Israel, in spite of its ivision into tribes, enjoyed in the common faith of Jehovah. ach little state had its own local Baal, with perhaps a goddess as his partner; and the worship of these deities, who were reverenced as givers of fruitful seasons and fertility, was cele- brated with corrupt and sensuous rites little fitted to maintain a hardy spirit of manhood) Even to a merely political obser- vation the truth must commend itself that it was through Jehovah that the Hebrews were victorious over the Canaanites and their gods. The first victories of the Israelites, while Moses still lived, were over the eastern kingdoms of Bashan and Gilead, which lay between Jordan and the desert, bounded on the south in the South (xiii. 3) nothing is known except that they were not held to be Canaanite; they appear to have belonged to an earlier stock which by the time of the Israelite invasion had already been almost entirely absorbed or expelled by the more recent Canaanites and Philistines. 12 INTRODUCTION by the children of Lot, the kingdoms of Ammon and Moab, and on the north by the settlements of the Aramaeans (Maacah and Geshur) who had already pushed southwards from Meso- potamia and planted their outposts on the skirts of Mount Hermon, in the region afterwards occupied by the great Aramaean kingdom of Damascus. Separated from Western Palestine by the great sunken trench of the Arabah, where the Jordan flows for 100 miles from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, far beneath the level of the Mediterranean, in a hot plain bounded by rugged mountains, the Eastern Canaanites or Amorites appear to have had little to do with their western brethren, and received no help from them in their need. When the Book of Joshua opens, Gilead and Bashan were already subdued, and the hosts of Israel were gathered in the southern parts of the Arabah opposite Jericho, ready to pass the Jordan and push their way up the steep passes that led to the fertile plateaus and valleys of Western Canaan. An easier road into the heart of the country might have been found fifty miles up the Jordan valley where a gentle slope leads over the shoulder of Mount Gilboa to the great plain of Esdraelon ; but it was in level country that the Canaanite chariots were most formidable, and indeed generations passed before the Israelites had firm hold of the valleys between Bethshean and the Bay of Acre. The account of the conquest in the Book of Joshua, though full of detail as to a few striking incidents, is as a whole very fragmentary. After crossing the Jordan, setting up his head- quarters at Gilgal, and destroying Jericho, Joshua established a footing on the central plateau of Mount Ephraim by taking Ai. Of the further steps in the reduction of Central Palestine no consecutive account is given; many things must have happened between the burning of Ai (Josh. viii. 28, 29) and the ceremony on Mount Ebal in the very heart of Mount Ephraim (viii. 30 sqq.). Thus we learn from Judg. i. 22 that the capture of Bethel was effected by a separate expedition undertaken by the house of Joseph (cp. Josh. xii. 16); and from a fragmentary and very ancient notice in Josh. xvii. 14 sqq. we see how slowly the children of Joseph became masters of Central Palestine, clearing settlements in the upland forests and gradually pushing their way down into the lower and populous valleys. INTRODUCTION 13 Of the conquest of Southern Canaan, in like manner, only the first step is recorded in Josh. ix., x. While the Israelite head-quarters were still at Gilgal, the Hivites of Gibeon made voluntary submission and were thereupon attacked by a con- federation of kings of Southern Canaan. Joshua marched to the relief of his allies, and defeated the confederates in a great battle. It is added, in x. 28 sqq., that he then reduced the royal fortresses and smote the whole country of Judaea; but it is evident, by comparison of the more detailed accounts of the operations in this region given in Josh. xv. 13 sqq., and especially in Judg. i., that it is only by a kind of dramatic generalization that the subjugation of Southern Canaan is depicted as the fruit of a single campaign conducted by the leader of all Israel; the work was really done by Judah and Simeon, with their Kenizzite allies, fighting for their own hand, and slowly pushing their way from place to place, exactly as the house of Joseph fought in Central Canaan. Once more, the conquest of Northern Canaan is summed up in the story of one campaign with a great battle by the waters of Merom against king Jabin of Hazor and his allies, followed by the destruction of Hazor itself. But this campaign was so far from decisive that, long after, in the time of Deborah, Hazor was still the centre of a strong Canaanite kingdom with a king of the same name, and presumably of the same dynasty, as Joshua’s opponent, and in the region of Zebulun, Asher and Naphtali not less than in the Central and Southern regions, Judg. i. tells us of wars conducted by each tribe for its own hand with very slow and imperfect success. As regards the limits of the conquest, apart from the fact that isolated groups of Canaanites long held their ground in strong fortresses or populous valleys in several parts of the land (as will appear in detail in the notes), it may be observed generally that the Hebrews never obtained full possession of any part of the Mediterranean coast. The southern part of the coast, with a considerable tract of the adjacent lowland, was held by the Philistines; while, from Dor northwards, the Phoenicians retained possession of the seaports. Theoretically indeed the Phoenician coast as far as Zidon lay within the lot of Asher; and, as the merchant princes of Phoenicia naturally found it advantageous to be on friendly terms with the inland agricultural populations, a certain access to the coast seems to 14 INTRODUCTION have been granted to their Israelite neighbours (cp. note on xix. 24). But there was no conquest even of southern Phoenicia, and to the coast north of Zidon not even a theo- retical claim was advanced. In like manner the Hebrews made no attempt to subdue the Canaanites of Coele-Syria. In the time of David the Canaanite king of Hamath (Epiphaneia on the Orontes), being hard-pressed by the Aramaeans, became a willing vassal of the Judaean conqueror, but no Hebrew colony was planted further north than the roots of Mount Hermon, and the ‘frontier’ (A.V. ‘entering in’) of Hamath ommonly appears as the northern limit of the land of Israel. { 4. Purpose and religious import. The aim of the Book clearly was to record in detail the fulfilment of the Divine promise which appears in the preceding books (Gen. xii. 7, and else- where) that Abraham’s descendants should possess Palestine) To this end parts of the story of the conquest are set forth at _ considerable length. Many of the particulars in the Book may seem to us at first sight to be unimportant and dry. But underlying them is the lesson that a nation which had obtained a comparatively firm hold on morality and purity of faith was gradually established in a position ensuring the permanent maintenance of its religion ‘as a light shining in a dark place’ (2 Pet. i. 19) until the Day-star (of whom Joshua has often been pointed out as a type) arose and became to Christians, as ‘Captain of their salvation,’ one who leads to wider and spiritual victories. . 5. Analysis of the Book. The Book of Joshua is made up of three parts, relating respectively to the conquest of Western Canaan (chs. i.—xii.), to the division both of Hastern and Western Canaan among the twelve tribes (xiii.—xxi.) and to the last days of Joshua, after his life work had been accom- plished (xxii.—xxiv.). The story of the conquest falls into two sections, of nearly equal length, but very dissimilar in the fulness and minuteness of the particulars they give. The first (i.—vi.) is of a preliminary character, describing the manner in which the Jordan was crossed, the head-quarters of Israel fixed at Gilgal, Jericho taken, and command of the passes to the higher plateau of Western Canaan secured, The second (vii.— xii.) is a relatively very condensed account of the victories of Israel over the inhabitants of this higher plateau, and consists of three parts, relating to the Central, Southern and Northern INTRODUCTION 15 portions respectively (see the preceding section). This narra- tive concludes with a very general and sweeping statement of the results of the conquest, and a list, which can hardly be called complete, of the conquered cities. The portion of the Book which tells of the division of both Eastern and Western Canaan among the twelve tribes logically of course falls into twelve sections. But the literary form of the narrative, and other considerations, suggest rather a three- fold division. There is, first, the assignment of the Eastern territory to Reuben, Gad and half Manasseh as made by Moses (ch. xiii.) ; then we have the allocation of the Western territory (a) to Judah (xiv., xv.), (b) to the children of Joseph (xvi., xvii.), and (c) to the seven remaining tribes (xviii., xix.) ; finally, the arrangements about the cities of refuge, and the provision for the Levites are detailed (xx., xxi.). In the concluding section the incidents that bulk most largely are those connected with the setting-up of the altar Kd by the trans-Jordanic tribes, and with Joshua’s farewell ad- dresses (Xxil.—xxiv.). BIOGRAPHICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. Acuan, the Israelite who, with his family and other be- longings, was stoned to death in order to expiate his theft of spoil from Ai. Ai (heap). See note on vii. 2. We shouldadd, however, that it may possibly be the modern Haiyan, a little over two miles 8.E. of Bethel. BETHEL (house of God), now Beitin, a small village on a bare ridge of rock, 93 miles north of Jerusalem, and considered a sacred spot from very early times. It was within the northern boundary of Benjamin, and was conquered (Judg. i. 22) ny the house of Joseph.’ Cars, one of the twelve spies, and also one of those whom Moses appointed (Numb, xxxiv. 19) to divide Palestine among the tribes. Eeazar, the third son of Aaron, and his father’s successor as high priest. He is spoken of as associated with Joshua in apportioning the land of Canaan among the tribes. Most of the high priests down to Maccabean times claimed descent from him, 16 BIOGRAPHICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES Eupurates, the largest and most important river of Western Asia, discharging itself into the Persian Gulf after a course of 1780 miles, of which 1200 are navigable by boats. Hamatu, on the banks of the river Orontes, and near the northern point of the Lebanon range. Its frontier was the ideal boundary of Israelite dominion (xiii. 6), but it was only under Solomon that this was in accordance with fact. Hirtires, a people traditionally descended from Heth, a son of Canaan (Gen. x. 15). See further in Introd. p. 10. Hivires. See Introd. p. 10. JORDAN, usually explained as meaning, that which descends, divides Kastern from Western Palestine, and flows in a winding course from north to south, from the waters of Merom through the lake of Cinnereth (Galilee, Tiberias) to the Dead Sea, a distance in a direct line of about 69 miles. JosHua, earlier life of. See Introd. p. 8. LEBANON, a mountain range running parallel to the Mediter- ranean coast, and separating Phoenicia from Coele-Syria. The name, meaning white, is derived either from the mountain snows, or from the colour of the limestone in the higher parts. Merom, waters of, generally identified with the Hileh lake, north of the lake of Galilee. PuHINEHAS, son and successor of Eleazar as high priest, and leader of the deputation from the Eastern to the Western tribes on the subject of the altar Ed. Rauwas, the woman ef Jericho who received the two Israelitish spies and procured their escape. Apparently, from the mention of the flax (ii. 6) and scarlet thread (ii. 18) she practised weaving and dyeing. Rep Sea. The name was probably confined at first to the freshwater lake lying immediately north of the sea, and was afterwards extended to its present sense. The reason for the title is unknown. The Hebrew name means Sea of reeds. SurLoH (Seiliéin), approximately half-way between Bethel and Shechem, the principal Israelite sanctuary till the age of Samuel, when it was probably laid waste by the Philistines. The setting up of the tabernacle, and the assignment of territory to seven of the tribes is recorded to have taken place there. INTRODUCTION iy NOTE ON THE IDENTIFICATION OF PLACES MEN- TIONED IN THK BOOK OF JOSHUA. Many of the places mentioned in the Old Testament can no longer be identified. In the course of ages Palestine has been again and again wasted by war and by bad government ; villages, towns, and even whole districts, have been destroyed or forsaken. The country is full of ruin heaps (Ar. tell) which in some cases have retained their ancient names almost un- changed (e.g. Tell el-Jezer, ‘the ruin heap of Gezer’), but in other cases are known to the peasants by some new Arabic name that gives no help to the Biblical geographer, or even may serve to mislead him by a mere fancied. resemblance of sound to some Biblical word. So, too, valleys, mountains, rivers, and the like, have in a large proportion of cases re- ceived new names from the Arabs. On the other hand many places can still be identified by various means. (a) By continuous tradition. This applies especially to im- portant towns like Jerusalem, Tyre, Gaza, and to great natural features like Mount Hermon and the Jordan. In some cases the continuity of tradition is helped by the persistence of the old name (e.g. Gaza, now Ghazzah, exactly as in the Hebrew Bible); in others the name has changed (e.g. Jerusalem, now el-Kuds, ‘the sanctuary’; Mount Hermon, now Jebel esh- Sheikh). (b) By the observation that a Biblical name is still preserved (often in a form more or less corrupt) at a site agreeing with the topographical indications given by the Bible. Thus, the village of Seiltin has a name closely resembling Shiloh (origin- ally Shilon, as appears from the adjective Shilonite), and the site agrees with what we read in Judg. xxi. 19. This method has rendered valuable service in the hands of Robinson and other travellers, especially where the name can be traced back through the Middle Ages, or where we are helped by a topo- graphical note in the Onomastica or other ancient authorities ; but it must be used with caution. Many identifications lately put forth rest on « mere fancied resemblance of names which to the Eastern ear have little or nothing in common. The JOSHUA 2 18 INTRODUCTION just use of the method requires knowledge of the Semitic languages, and careful attention to the distinction between various Hebrew and Arabic sounds that are easily confounded by an English ear. Thus Hebrew and Arabic have two forms of h,t,k, and s (h, h; t,t; k, k; s,s). Attention to this is essential, and therefore in the notes the two forms have gene- rally been distinguished in Arabic place-names, a dot under a letter marking the palatal or deeper guttural sound, which the English reader need not attempt to imitate. In the A.V. the palatal ¢ is commonly given as z (which also represents the true Hebrew z), and (less uniformly) & stands for the deep k as against ¢ or ch for the lighter k; but h and h, ¢ and ¢ are not generally distinguished. It should also be noted that in the A.V. 7 (adopted from the Latin) represents Hebrew and Arabic y or 7; thus, Jutta (with palatal ¢), now Yutta; Jabneh or Jabneel, now Yebna. On the other hand g, which in Hebrew names is always hard, has in Arabic the power of English j; thus, Gezer, now Jezer. In the A.V. g occasion- ally represents the Arabic deep guttural gh, which was one of the powers of the Hebrew ayin. More generally the Hebrew ayin was pronounced as a very deep guttural breathing, which in the transcription of Arabic words is commonly represented by an inverted comma (‘ayin). In the A.V. it is generally omitted, but sometimes appears as h; thus, in Gen. xii. 8 we have Hai for the more usual Ai (‘Ai). In the middle of a word an attempt is sometimes made to express the ayin by a vowel; thus, Zorah (Josh. xix. 41) and Zoreah (xv. 33) alike represent Heb. Sor‘ah. In Hebrew, p and ph (f) are one letter, answering to Arabic f; thus, Parah (Josh. xviii, 23) is the modern Farah. (c) Even where tradition fails and the old name is forgotten, a site may sometimes be identified by archaeological evidence. Thus out of several ruin-heaps in the Philistine country which might conceivably represent the forgotten city of Gath Mr Petrie confidently selects Tell es-Safi, because the masonry and the fragments of pottery found there mark it as a very ancient site. The identification of Lachish with Tell el-Hesy rests on similar grounds; and it is probable that this method, which is still in its infancy, will yet lead to many important results. INTRODUCTION 19 FULLER ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK. PART I. Tae Conqurest or Canaan, Cuars. I—XII. Section 1, The preparation. (a) Joshua, at God’s command, exhorts the people, i. 1-18. (b) The story of the spies, ii. 1-24. Section 2. The passage of the Jordan. (a) The preparation for the passage, iii. 1-13. (b) The passage itself, iii. 14-iv, 18, (c) The memorial set up at Gilgal, iv. 19-24. Section 3, Religious rites and Divine sanction. (a) Renewal of the rite of circumcision, v. 1-9. (b) Celebration of the Passover, v. 10-12, (c) The ‘prince’ of the Lord’s host appears, v. 13-vi. 5. Section 4. Conquest of Southern and Central Canaan. (a) Jericho invested, captured, and destroyed, vi. 6-27. (b) First attack on Ai defeated. Joshua’s prayer, vii. 1-15, _ (c) .Achan discovered and punished, vii. 16-26. (d) Second attack. Ai captured and destroyed, viii. 1-29. (e) Covenant renewed at Mount Ebal, viii. 30-35. (f) Story of the Gibeonites, ix. 1-27. Destruction of the five kings at Beth-horon, x. 1-43. Section 5. Conquest of Northern Canaan. Battle of Merom and overthrow of the northern kings, xi. 1-23. Section 6, List of the conquered kings of Eastern and Western Palestine, xii, 1-24, PART II. Division or HAsTERN AND WESTERN CANAAN AMONG THE Tribes, Cuaps. XIJI—XXI. Section 1. Division of the Eastern territory. (a) The Divine command, xiii. 1-14. 1(b) Assignment to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, xiii, 15-32. 1 Levi not to receive an inheritance xiii. 14, 33. 2—2 20 INTRODUCTION Section 2. Division of the Western territory. (a) Introductory statement, xiv. 1-5. (6) Assignment to Caleb, xiv. 6-15. (c) Assignment to the tribe of Judah, xv, 1-12. (d) Further details as to Caleb’s portion, xv. 13-20. (e) Detailed account of the assignment of cities to Judah, xv. 21-63. (f) Assignments to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, xvi. 1-xvii. 18. (g) ‘Tabernacle erected at Shiloh, xviii. 1-10. (h) Assignments to the seven remaining tribes, xviii. 11- xix, 48. (t) Joshua’s inheritance, xix. 49-51. Section 3. The Cities of Refuge appointed, xx. 1-9. Section 4, The provision for the priests and Levites, xxi. 1-45. PART III. THE LAST DAYS oF JosHUA, CHaps. XXII—XXIV. (a) Joshua dismisses the two and a half tribes with a farewell address, xxii. 1-9. (6) The altar Ed, xxii. 10-34. (c) Joshua’s:parting addresses and covenant with the people, xxili. 1-xxiv, 28. (d) Joshua’s death and burial. Burial of Joseph’s bones. Death of Hleazar, xxiv. 29-33. NOTE ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BOOK. It is impossible to fix with any certainty the dates of events recorded in this Book. The gsubjoined figures are therefore largely conjectural. B.0. The Exodus from Egypt . ; : : . 1213 Entrance into Palestine . : : 7 i 1173 Seven years of wars , ; : 1173-1166 Limit of the rule of Joshua ot £6 the elders”? . 1143 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 1-18. Joshua at God’s bidding exhorts the people. Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lorp it came to pass, that the Lorp spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 93 Hvery place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4From Part I. Cuaps. I.—XII. Tur Conquest or Canaan. Ch. i. 1-18. Joshua at God’s bidding exhorts the people. J. 1-9. The Divine commission to Joshua as successor of Moses. 1. Now...it came to pass] rather, ‘and it came to pass’; the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua in old times formed one con- secutive narrative (the so-called Hexateuch). See Introd. p. 7. spake] How, is not stated ;—perhaps through the priest by means of the Urim (see Numb. xxvii. 21). Sometimes God spoke in a vision or dream (Numb. xii. 6), sometimes in a trance (Numb. xxiv. 3,4; Acts x. 10), sometimes by making His will clear to the prayer- ful soul (see Jer. xxxii. 16, xxxiii. 3; Hab. ii. 1 sqq.); but even when He is said to have spoken ‘mouth to mouth’ (Numb. xii. 8) we are not to understand that it was in such a manner as to be audible to the outward ear. minister |] or personal attendant : see Introd. p. 9. 2. servant] Joshua also is called the servant of the Lord in Josh. xxiv. 29; the title is given in Scripture to any worshipper of Jehovah, but chiefly to prophets and other special instruments in God’s hand. this Jordan| So also in ver. 11; cp. Gen. xxxii. 10. I.e. the river which lay before his eyes, for the Israelites were now encamped in the plains of Moab (‘Arboth Moab)—the low grounds between the Jordanand the eastern mountains—at Shittim. See ii. 1. 3. as I said unto Moses] See Deut. xi. 24, 25; cp. Gen. xv. 18-21; Ex. xxiii. 31; Numb. xxxiv. 1-12. 22 JOSHUA, I. 5-9 the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. 7Only be thou strong and very courage- ous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 9Have not I commanded 4. From the wilderness &c.| Canaan proper lies between the wilderness (et-77h) on the south, Lebanon and the land of the Hittites on the north, the Mediterranean on the west, and the Syrian desert with the kingdoms of Moab and Ammon on the east. But this verse contemplates the furthest extension of the Hebrew kingdom to the north and east under David through the land of the Hittites in Coele-Syria as far as the upper Euphrates. Cp. Introd. pp. 13, 14. 5-7. The exhortations here given by the Lord to Joshua repeat those already given to him through the mouth of Moses. Deut. Xxxi. 6-8. I will not fail thee &c.] See 1 Chr. xxviii. 20; the phrase is also used in Hebr. xiii. 5 with application to all believers. 7. Cp. Deut. xxviii. 14. 8. This book of the law] Cp. Deut. xvii. 11; the book of divine instruction which Moses wrote before his death and delivered to the custody of the Levites (Deut. xxxi. 9). shall not depart &e.] Cp. Deut. vi. 7, xi. 19. meditate} lit. ‘whisper’ ; reading and meditation among Eastern peoples being accompanied by whis- pered recitation (Ps. i. 2). JOSHUA, I. 10-17 23 thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lorp thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, '! Pass through the host,and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lorp your God giveth you to possess it. 12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, 138 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lorp commanded you, saying, The Lorp your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. 1Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them; 15 until the Lorp have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lorp your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the Lorp’s servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sun- rising. 16And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. 17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: 10-18, Joshua issues his first commands to the people, who willingly promise obedience. 10. the officers (Heb. Shéterim, from a root meaning to arrange, put in order) ; more exactly, the officers who marshalled the people. 11. within three days| See note on iii. 2. 12 sqq. Cp. Deut. iii. 12-20. 14. on this side Jordan] R.V. beyond Jordan. Cp. ver. 15: on this side (beyond) Jordan toward the sunrising, and see also Deut. iv. 41. The expression should rather be translated ‘on the east side of Jordan’; it presupposes the reader to be an in- habitant of western Canaan, 24 JOSHUA, I. 18-I]. 1 only the Lorp thy God be with thee, as he was with — Moses. 18Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage. 1-24. The story of the spies. 9, And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into a harlot’s house, Ch. ii. 1-24. The story of the spies. II. Spies sent across Jordan and their fortunes in Jericho; Rahab’s covenant with them; their escape and safe return. The events of this chapter, which occupied at least four days (see ver. 22) cannot have taken place between those of Ch. i. and Ch. iii. and. grammar does not allow us to escape this difficulty by rendering (with A.V. marg.) ‘had sent’ instead of ‘sent’ in ver. 1. But the difficulty is solved by the critics, who have ancient narrative with Deut. xxxiv. and were originally continuous with that chapter, Josh. i. having been introduced by a later author. 1. Shitivm] i.e. ‘Acacias,’ is the name of a district, rather than of a definite site, and here denotes the portion of the Arabah or Jordan basin opposite Jericho—the ‘ Arboth Moab’ of Numb. xxii. 1, xxxiii. 49, and Deut. xxxiv. 1, 8—the part of the Arabah which had been Moabite before the conquest of Sihon (see Numb. xxi. 26). The fuller name of the district is ‘ Abel Shittim’ (Numb. xxxiii. 49), i.e. ‘the meadow, or oasis, of the acacias,’ the acacia being a characteristic growth here. secretly] i.e. with- out telling the people. the land, even Jericho| R.V. the land, and Jericho, i.e. the land, and, in particular, Jericho. Jericho | The first inhabited place (of any importance at least) to the west of the fords of Jordan lay ina fertile oasis, watered by copious springs, on the Jordan valley-fioor, 700 feet below sea level, about 54 miles from the river, and # m. from the base of the mountains of Judah. It was strategically and commercially important, as lying on the road to all the practicable passes into the mountainous interior. It must have been at all times a fertile spot; the very name ‘Jericho’ means ‘fragrant’ and probably contains a reference to its baisam groves. These were long afterwards famous, and are JOSHUA, II. 2-6 25 named Rahab, and lodged there. 2? And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. %And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: Sand it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. mentioned by Josephus (a.p. 70). The Arabian geographer Yacut tells us that in his time there were important sugar plantations here. The name survives in the modern Rihé or Erihd, but the true site is at Tell es-Sultan, fully 14 miles from Eriha. Rahab] There were no inns in those days, and the spies could not venture to seek hospitality in a respectable private house. 2. the king} In Amorite Canaan, as in ancient Greece, almost every city was an independent state with its own king. 3. Bring forth the men] To enter the house by night would have been against custom. Cp. 1 Sam. xix. 11. 4. said thus, There came men &c.| Better, asin R.V. she said, Yea, the men came unto me. wist...wot] The verbis to wt (Ang.-Sax. witan); Ex. ii. 4; 2 Cor. viii. 1. Pres. J wot: Ex. XXxli. 23: Past, J wist: Ex. xvi. 15; Mark ix. 6; Acts xxiii. 5. 5. shutting of the gate, when tt was dark] The gates of the city, and often also those of separate streets or quarters, are still shut at night in Eastern towns against marauding bands. 6. to the roof] The roofs of Eastern houses are usually flat terraces, surrounded by a low wall or battlement (Deut. xxii. 8), on which the inmates may take the air, and the women of the house do much of their domestic work. stalks of flax) Flax was a characteristic product of the Jericho oasis. Working in flax was less a separate industry in Palestine, than an ordinary domestic avocation. See Prov, xxxi, 13. 26 JOSHUA, II. 7-18 7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. 8And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 9and she said unto the men, I know that the Lorp hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 1For we have heard how the Lorp dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when you came out of Kgypt; and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 1 Andas soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lorp your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. 12Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lorp, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: '1%and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from 7% the fords} The Jordan is usually fordable in at least two. places near Jericho. 9. the LoRD| Heb. Jenovan (YAuvs), the proper name of the God of Israel, and so always in the English Bible when Lorp is printed in capitals. terror...faint| Almost the same words are found in Ex. xv. 15, 16. 10,11. For the events here referred to, see Ex. xiv. 21 sqq.; Numb. xxi. 21-31. on the other side Jordan] i.e. on the east side of Jordan; see note on i.14. utterly destroyed] lit. ‘madea herem’: see note on vi. 17. hearts did melt] Cp. the fuller phrase ‘melted and became as water ’—which has no resistance; conversely to ‘harden the heart’ (xi. 20) is to steel the courage. 12. my father’s house] i.e. her clan, or near kindred, not merely the inmates of her father’s dwelling; cp. vi. 23. Hence pro- bably ‘brethren and sisters’ (ver. 13) are to be taken in the wider sense not uncommon in Hebrew; e.g. in Gen. xiv. 16, where the nephew is called a brother. true token] lit. ‘ token of truth,’ i.e. a pledge of good faith. JOSHUA, II. 14-20 27 death. 14And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lorp hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 1 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 17And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 2?°And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to 14. The spies give the required oath, their words meaning: ‘may Jehovah hold us answerable with our lives for yours.’ 15. Her house was upon the town wall, i.e. built against it, with no window outwards except in the upper story. The outer walls of Eastern houses seldom have windows except high up (cp. 2 Cor. i, O35). 16. the mountain] The wild and trackless mountains that rise to the north-west of the town, traditionally identified with the scene of our Lord’s temptation. The limestone rocks here are full of caverns in which the spies could easily conceal themselves. 17. blameless] The same Hebrew word is translated ‘guiltless’ in ver. 19 and ‘quit’ in ver. 20; the R.V. uniformly renders it guiltless. 18. this line] We may suppose the spies to point to a hank of scarlet yarn, the work of her distaff. The scarlet dye, derived from the kermes or coccus insect, was costly, and highly esteemed. household] See note on ver. 12. 28 JOSHUA, II. 21-III. 3 swear. 2!And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed : and she bound the scarlet line in the window. 22And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. 2%So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them: 24and they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lorp hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us. 1-18. The preparation for the passage of the Jordan. And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. *And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3and they 22. three days] often in Hebrew used indefinitely where we should say ‘some days.’ Ch, iii. 1-13. The preparation for the passage of the Jordan. . 1. And Joshua rose] i.e. on the morning after the return of the spies. 2. after three days] Thisin Hebrew idiom is not different from ‘on the third day.’ See i. 11. A similar variation of phrase occurs in our Lord’s prediction of His resurrection. Cp. Matth. xvi. 21 with Mk viii. 31. officers| See i. 8. 8. The ark (or chest) of the covenant is described in Ex. xxv. 10-16, xxxvii. 1-5 (where read ‘ acacia’ for ‘shittim,’ and ‘feet’? for ‘corners’). Cp. also Exod. xl. 20, where we read that Moses placed within the sacred chest ‘ the testimony,’ i.e. the two tables of stone containing the words of the covenant; see 1 K. viii. 9. Hence it is indifferently called ‘the ark of the testimony ’ and ‘ the ark of the covenant.’ Its oldest name, as we gather from the books of Samuel and the more ancient parts of the Hexateuch, seems to have been ‘the ark of Jehovah.’ The ark preceded the host in the wilderness journey (Numb. x. 33-36) as a token that God’s presence or angel went before them (Ex. xxiii. 20 sq., xxxiii. 14). JOSHUA, III, 4-8 29 commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lorp your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. 5And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lorp will do wonders among you. §6And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7And the Lorp said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. ®And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in the priests the Levites] The priestly tribe of Levi whose business it was to carry the ark (Deut. x. 8). The ark was still sometimes carried out to battle with the host of Israel up to the time of David (1 Sam. iv. 3 sqq.) and in the earlier years of that reign (2 Sam. xi. 11); but the practice was discontinued at the time of the great rebellion (2 Sam. xv. 24), and, so far as we know, never afterwards revived. 4. Yet there shall be] The first partof ver. 4, down to ‘ unto it,’ should be pointed as a parenthesis. two thousand cubits] 2000 old Hebrew cubits are 3000 English feet. That the old Hebrew cubit was almost exactly 18 inches is now known with certainty from the ancient inscription (about 700 B.c.) discovered in 1880 in the conduit supplying the pool of Siloam. 5. Sanctify yourselves] a new exhortation as the important day approaches, It is a ceremonial purification that is meant. War amongst most primitive peoples is a sacred function, for which the warriors have to make special religious preparation and during the course of which they lie under various religious restrictions. Most fitly was this so in Israel, where Jehovah was believed to be specially present in the camp in time of war (Deut. xxiii. 14). 6. Final command on the morning of the day itself. 30 JOSHUA, III. 9-15 Jordan. 9And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lorp your God. 10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 1™ Behold, the ark of the covenant, even the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. 12Now therefore take ye twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. 13And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lorp, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap. 14-iv. 18. The passage itself. 14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; 15and as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time 10. Hereby ye shall know &c.] viz. by the sign given in ver. 13. the Canaanites &c.] see Introd. pp. 10,11. The Hittites of Coele- Syria were not conquered by Joshua, but were probably embraced in the empire of David; see note oni. 4. 11. ark of the covenant, even the Lord &.| R.V. ark of the covenant of the Lord. 12. These words, which are repeated in iv. 2, seem out of place here. At this stage they are put into the mouth of Joshua, but in the following chapter at a later stage they are spoken by Jehovah to Joshua. 14-iv. 18. The.passage ttself. 15. Jordan overfloweth &c.] Cp. 1 Chr. xii. 15: ‘in the first month, when it had overflown all its banks.’ The phrase does not necessarily mean more than that the river ran with full banks, or, in other words, was brimful. ‘Then [April—May], as now, there JOSHUA, III. 16 d1 of harvest,) 1Sthat the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far, from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, was a slight annual rise of the river, which caused it to flow at this season with full banks, and sometimes to spread its waters even over the immediate banks of its channel, where they are lowest, so as in some places to fill the low tract covered with trees and vegetation along its sides. Further than this there is no evidence that its inundations have ever extended.’ Robinson (Avbl. Res., 1. 263) is here referring to a common belief that the Jordan of old, somewhat like the Nile, regularly overflowed its ordinary channel (about 100—140 feet in breadth) covering with its water a wider channel about a mile broad and confined within banks of 40—50 feet in height. That this wider channel is occasionally, at certain places and for at least short periods, covered, is proved by later travellers (Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 223). Robinson points out that the expression ‘swelling of Jordan’ used more than once by Jeremiah (xii. 5, xlix. 19, 1. 44) contains no allusion to a rise of the waters. In R.V. the phrase is always rendered ‘ pride of Jordan’ as in Zech. xi. 3, and refers to the verdure and jungle along the river’s banks. all the time of harvest] i.e. the seven weeks from Passover (when the sheaf of firstfruits was offered: Lev. xxiii. 10) to Pentecost or the Feast of Harvest (Deut. xvi. 9,10). These are ‘the appointed weeks of harvest’ of Jer. v. 24, which in Palestine fall in spring, when the Jordan is swollen by the melting of the snows of Hermon. 16. in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan R.V. The city Adam is nowhere else men- tioned in Scripture; it has been conjecturally identified with Tell Damieh at the confluence of the Jabbok with the Jordan, rather more than 16 miles in a direct line above the ford opposite Jericho. This precarious identification fits well with another identification, unfortunately still more doubtful, which recognises the Zarethan of our text in the modern Karn Sartabeh, a conspicuous bluff on the west side of the Jordan valley, almost exactly opposite the Jabbok. The Zarethan of 1 Kings iv. 12 was beside Bethshean, which is fully 43 miles in a direct line above Jericho. It is also called Zeredah (1 Kings xi. 26, vii. 46; 2 Chr. iv. 17); but no trace of this Zarethan, or of a city Adam beside it, has hitherto been discovered. Wherever Adam or Zarethan may have been, the ex- pression ‘a great way off’ seems to denote that the phenomenon here indicated was not visible to the Israelites themselves. All 32 JOSHUA, III. 17-IV. 7 failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. 1 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lorp stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lorp spake unto Joshua, saying, *'Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, $and command you them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where you shall lodge this night. *Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: Sand Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lorp your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: Sthat this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean you by these stones ? 7then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the that they saw was a dry river bed. the sea of the Arabah R.Y.] i.e. the Dead Sea. failed, and were cut off] R.V. were wholly cut off. The north end of the Dead Sea is nearly 7 miles in a direct line from the ford opposite Jericho. IV. The Passage of Jordan (continued); erection of memorial at Gilgal. 1, 2. The people are now at the west side of Jordan. Twelve men are sent back from the main body, on the errand here de- scribed, to the place in the channel where the priests bearing the ark stood and are still standing. Joshua also set up twelve other stones in the midst of Jordan, which presumably were visible in certain states of the river. 3. lodging place] or bivouac, viz. Gilgal: see vv. 19, 20. JOSHUA, IV. 8-18 33 covenant of the Lorp; when it passed over Jordan, the - waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. 8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lorp spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day. 1For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lorp commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over. ‘And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lorp passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. 12 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: about forty thousand prepared for war 7 for a memorial] Since patriarchal times signal revelations of Himself granted by God to His people by word or deed were commonly marked by the erection of memorial stones (Gen. xxviii. 18, xxxi. 13, xxxv. 14). The principle came to be recognised that where Jehovah had once been found He might fittingly be sought again in acts of worship, and so most of the places where the patriarchs are recorded to have erected a pillar or altar appear later as sanctuaries, as in the instance of Beth-el, just cited. 12-24. The passage of the Jordan is related in more than one form: (1) iii. 14-17; (2) iv. 1-11; (3) supplementary notices, iv. 12-24, involving repetitions most easily explained by supposing with modern critics that our chapter contains extracts from several more ancient sources. 12. Cp. i. 12 sqq. 13. about forty thousand] ep. Numb. xxvi. 7, 18, 34. JOSHUA 3 34 JOSHUA, IV. 14-23 passed over before the Lorp unto battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14On that day the Lorp magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. 15 And the Lorp spake unto Joshua, saying, 1®Com- mand the priests that bear the ark of the Testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. 1Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. 18And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lorp were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lift up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before. 19-24. The Memorial set up at Gilgal. 19 And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. 292 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. 21And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones ? 22then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. 23For the Lorp your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lorp your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we 13. before the LORD] i.e. before the ark, the symbol of Jehovah’s presence. On the precedence cp. vi. 7. 14. Cp. i. 16-18. 19-24. The Memorial set up at Gilgal. 19. first month] originally called ‘Abib’ (month of green ears) and afterwards first month or Nisan. On the same evening the paschal lamb would be selected (Ex. xii. 3). Gilgal] the modern Jiljfil or Jiljiliech, 3 miles S.E. from Tell es-Sultan (ancient Jericho): see v. 9. Another Gilgal is mentioned in xii. 23, and apparently a third in xv. 7. JOSHUA, IV. 24-V. 4 35 were gone over: ?4that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lorp, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lorp your God for ever. 1-9. Renewal of the Rite of Circumcision. And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan west- ward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lorp had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. 2At that time the Lorp said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. %And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. *4And this is the cause why Joshua did cir- cumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilder- 24. R.V. that they may fear the Lord your God for ever. (‘So with a change of vowel points. The pointing of the text is irregular.’ Marg.) VY. Effect on the people of Palestine; renewal of rite of cir- cumcision ; celebration of passover; corn takes the place of manna; appearance of the chief of the angels to Joshua. Ch. v. 1-9. Renewal of the Rite of Circumcision. 1. on the side of Jordan westward] i.e. on the west side of Jordan. the sea] the Great Sea or Mediterranean: ix. 1. 2. knives of flint (R.V.): cp. Ex. iv. 25. There are many instances in antiquity of the retention of very primitive instru- ments for sacred uses, but indeed flint was probably in any case superior to bronze for the purpose here indicated. 3. hill of the foreskins| Heb. Gibeath ha-‘araloth, so named, we learn, from this occurrence. It is not mentioned elsewhere, but must have been one of the small dunes in the flat neighbourhood of Gilgal, 3—2 36 JOSHUA, V. 5-9 ness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. 5Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people {hat were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. 6For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lorp: unto whom the Lorp sware that he would not shew them the land, which the Lorp sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 7And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 9And the Lorp said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of 6. Cp. Numb. xiv. 32 sqq.; Deut. i. 34, ii. 14 sq. that floweth with milk and honey] i.e. a pastoral and agricultural land, the honey here intended being ‘dibs’ or boiled grape juice. In Isa. vii. 22 wild honey is probably meant. With the Syrian peasantry flesh is never a common article of food, the ordinary diet consisting of bread or other preparations from corn, eaten with milk (usually sour), or grape honey. 9. have I rolled] Heb. gallothi, with a play on the name Gilgal. We are not to suppose that ‘rolling’ is the original meaning of the name Gilgal, which rather means ‘a circle of stones’ such as was used by the heathen Semites to mark off holy ground. Gilgal appears as a place of sacrifice or ‘high place’ in the later history (1 Sam. xi. 14, 15, xiii. 7 sqq., xv. 21). To the Israelites it was consecrated by the events of this and the previous chapter, but probably, like most of the high places whose worship is condemned by the prophets as corrupted by idolatrous practices borrowed from the Canaanite worship of the Baalim, it was a Canaanite sanctuary before it became a Hebrew holy place. Cp. Hos. iv. 15; Amos iv. 4,5, where the worship of Gilgal is condemned, and Judg. iii. 19, where mention is made of the stone idols (A.V. quarries) at Gilgal. Our passage seeks to give a non-idolatrous association to the name, JOSHUA, V. 10-13 37 Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. 10-12. Celebration of the Passover. 10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 12And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. 18-vi. 5. The ‘Prince’ of the Lord’s Host appears. 13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lift up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto and so, presumably, must have been written before Amos and Hosea condemned the local high places. the reproach of Eqypt| The passover could be celebrated only by the circumcised (Ex. xii. 44, 48). 10-12. Celebration of the Passover. 10. kept the passover...at even] According to the Law, the paschal lamb was slain on the evening of the 14th Nisan at twilight, eaten in the course of that night, and on the following days unleavened cakes were eaten. 11. old corn] corn or produce, R.V. marg. The word simply means that which comes from the soil. It was the new corn which was eaten on the 15th and following days, either roasted (‘ parched ’) in the ear, or baked into cakes of unleavened bread: cp. Lev. ii. 14 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 28. on the morrow after] See Lev. xxiii. 9-14. 12. the manna ceased] See Exod. xvi. 14-35. on the morrow] i.e. on 15th Nisan, same day as in ver. 11. 13-Ch. vi. 5. The ‘Prince’ of the Lord’s Host appears. 13. a man] the angel whose guidance had been promised to Moses (Ex. xxiii. 20-23), the angel of God’s presence (Isa. xiii. 9). 38 JOSHUA, V. 14-VI. 4 him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lorp am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15And the captain of the Lorp’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did. so. Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out,and none came in. 2And the Lorp said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the 14. Nay| Two interpretations of this answer are given: (1) ‘neither the one nor the other but as captain of the angelic host’ (see 1 Kings xxii. 19; Gen. xxxii. 2); (2) ‘not for your adversaries, but as captain of the host of Israel,’ whose wars are the wars of Jehovah (Numb. xxi. 14). In 1 Sam. xxx. 26; Judg. v. 31, the enemies of Israel are spoken of as the enemies of Jehovah. did worship] or made obeisance. . 15. Loose| R.V. put off. See Exod. iii. 5. Inthe Hast one is still required to take off one’s shoes on entering a mosque or other holy place. VI. The capture of Jericho. 1. straitly] in modern English, strictly or closely. See Gen. xliii. 7. In the directions for the taking of the city it is to be observed that in wv. 4, 8, 9,13 the priests blow their trumpets continuously during each procession round the town, but in vv. 5, 10, 16, 20 the city is circled in deep silence till at last the signal is given by a trumpet blast, the people shout, and the walls fall down. This discrepancy supplies one of the arguments from which critics conclude that the narrative combines extracts from two older and not quite parallel narratives. 4, trumpets of rams’ horns] or, simply, rams’ horns (ver. 5), rather ‘loud sounding horns’ (Heb. ‘horns of loud sound,’ yobel, the word from which we have the English jubilee). See Lev. xxv. 9, where A.V. has ‘trumpet of the jubile,’ but R.Y., rightly, the JOSHUA, VI. 5-8 39 seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. 6-27. Jericho invested, captured, and destroyed. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lorp. 7And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lorp. And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, loud trumpet. ‘The jubilee year had its name from the trumpet blast that introduced it. The interpretation ‘rams’ horns’ is an invention of the rabbins. The curved instrument which in this narrative is called indifferently ‘trumpet’ (shophar) or ‘horn’ (keren), is to be distinguished from the straight trumpet (hasdsera) of Numb. x. 2 sqq. seven| Observe the seven priests, trumpets, days, times. With the Hebrews and kindred nations seven is a sacred number, which figures largely in all sacred functions and symbolism. See Lev. iv. 6, viii. 11; Numb. xxiii. 1; 2 Kings v. 10; Ex. xxv. 37; Zech. iii. 9,and the Apocalypse, passim. The Hebrew word for ‘to swear’ means literally to ‘beseven oneself’ or ‘come under the influence of seven’: cp. Gen. xxi. 28 sqq. 5. straight before him| The same phrase occurs in Am. iv. 3 and means ‘without meeting any obstacle anywhere.’ 6-27. Jericho invested, captured, and destroyed. 6. In Numb. iv. 5, 15, 20 the duty of bearing the ark is assigned to the Kohathite Levites, but throughout the older historical books the bearers are called priests. Cp. iii. 3. 7. armed] The Hebrew word is the same as in iv. 13 (‘ pre- pared’), and is regularly applied to the contingent of the Eastern tribes (Numb. xxxii. 21; Deut. iii. 18) who according to i, 14 were to march in front of the other tribes and no doubt are here desig- nated as forming the vanguard. 40 JOSHUA, VI. 9-17 that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the Lorp, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Lorp followed them. 9And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. 1°And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout. So the ark of the Lorp compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. 12And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lorp. 13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lorp went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the Lorn, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. 14And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. 1 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. 16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lorp hath given you the city. 17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that 9. the rereward] older form of the word ‘ rearguard.’ going on, and blowing] Hebrew idiom for ‘continually blowing.’ 10. had commanded] R.V. commanded. 11. lodged) See note on iv. 3. 13. the seven priests R.V. 16. Cp. note on ver. 4. 17. accursed] i.e. devoted, R.V., or put to the ban (Heb. herem). Devotion is a form of consecration, as appears from the phrase JOSHUA, VI. 18-21 41 are therein, to the Lorp: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, be- cause she hid the messengers that we sent. 18And you, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 Butall the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lorp: they shall come into the treasury of the Lorp. 2°9So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, ‘devoted to the Lord’ (cp. Mic. iv. 13 ‘ consecrate,’ Lev. xxvii. 28). In Arabic the same root is used of consecrated things and persons generally—of sanctuaries like the Haram at Jerusalem, or of pil- grims under a vow which temporarily withdraws themfrom common life. Butin Hebrew the term herem is hardly applied to consecrated things in general, but rather to persons and things devoted to de- struction in honour of Jehovah, as impious and hateful in His sight,—e.g. enemies of Jehovah (1 Sam. xv. 2, 3) or apostate Israelites (Exod. xxii. 20; Deut. xiii. 12-17). In such cases the whole property of the guilty was also destroyed, as if stained with the crime of its owners. Similarly idols are a herem (Deut. vii. 25, 26), and the gold and silver on them are not lawful booty. All the Canaanites were to be put to the ban and utterly destroyed (Deut. vii. 2, xx. 17 sqq.) lest Israel should learn to follow their abomi- nations (cp. Josh. viii. 26, x. 28 sqq., xi. 10 sqq.), but except in the case of Jericho the spoil was taken by the conquerors (Josh. viii. 2, 27, xi. 14). The spoil of Jericho may therefore be regarded, from one point of view, as a sort of first-fruits of victory offered to Jehovah, which makes the use of the subsequent fruits of victory lawful (cp. Mic. iv. 13). A modified form of devotion by private persons is recognised in Lev. xxvii. 21, 28 sqq., Numb. xviii. 14— the devoted thing falling to the priests. The herem as applied to persons became in later times mere excommunication. 21. ox, and sheep, and ass| Some of the Canaanite cities had war-horses, but the ass was the usual beast of burden (ix. 4). 42 JOSHUA, VI. 22-26 and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. 22Bui Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. 23And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. 24And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lorp. 25And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. 26And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lorp, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in 22. had said] R.V. said. 23. without the camp| The camp was holy (Deut. xxiii. 14), so that the prisoners could not be introduced to it without purification (Numb. xxxi. 19). 25. father’s household] or house, i.e. clan or kindred. See ii. 11, 12. she dwelleth} i.e. her clan, which henceforth bore her name. That she married Salmon of Judah and so was an ancestress of David, as we read in Matt. i. 5, is not stated in the Old Testament. Rahab is cited as an example of faith in Heb. xi. 31. 26. The ban on Jericho was of the strictest sort; the city was never to be rebuilt. Similarly in Deut. xiii. 16 it is forbidden to rebuild any city of Israel that may have been put to the ban for idolatry. adjured| R.V. charged them with an oath, i.e. took them bound as assenting to the curse: cp. 1 Sam. xiv. 24 sqq., from which passage we see that such an adjuration, spoken by the head of the nation, was held to bind even those who had not heard or assented to it. in his firstborn] i.e. at the cost of his first- born, ‘in’ being in Hebrew the preposition of price. The curse was fulfilled in the days of Ahab, when Hiel of Beth-el rebuilt Jericho. At the founding of the walls he lost his eldest son, and on setting up the gates he lost his youngest son (1 Kings xvi. 34). To JOSHUA, VI. 27-VII. 2 43 his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. 27So the Lorp was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country. 1-15. First Attack on Ai defeated. Joshua’s Prayer. But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lorp was kindled against the children of Israel. 2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto ‘build’ here means to ‘fortify’ with walls and gates; for some sort of settlement at or near the ruins of Canaanite Jericho existed in the times of the Judges (Judg. iii. 13), under the name of the City of Palm Trees (cp. Deut. xxxiv. 3; Judg. i. 16), and Jericho is mentioned by name in David’s time (2 Sam. x. 5). It belonged to the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. xviii. 21). Some have supposed that Hiel sacrificed his own sons to avoid the curse—following the super- stition of which there are traces among the heathen Syrians and other ancient nations. Vil. The trespass of Achan; the repulse from Ai; Joshua’s prayer ; detection and punishment of Achan. Ch. vii. 1-15. First Attack on At defeated. Joshua’s Prayer. 1. Achan| In 1 Chr. ii. 7 the form of the name is Achar, from the root achar to trouble; see ver. 25. 2. Az] or ‘stoneheap,’ written Hai by the translators of A.V. in Gen. xii. 8, the Aija of Neh. xi. 31 and the Aiath of Isa, x. 28, probably also the Gaza or Azzah of 1 Chr. vii. 28, lay as here stated to the E. of Beth-el (cp. viii. 9) and (as we infer from Isa. x. 28) to the N. of Michmash, having a steep valley on the north (viii. 11). Since Robinson’s time it has usually been identified with Deir Diw4n, ‘an hour distant from Beth-el, having near by, on the north, the deep wady el-Mutyah, and towards the S.W. other smaller wadys, in which the ambuscade of the Israelites might easily have been concealed’ (Bibl. Res. 1. 313). Beth-aven| an unidentified site. We are here told that it was near Ai, and further indications of its position, not easily reconcilable, are given in xviii. 12; 1 Sam. xiii. 5, xiv. 23. The place seems to have dis- appeared at an early date. In Hosea and Amos the name (as 44 JOSHUA, VII. 3-6 them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. %And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few. 4So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. G6And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lorp until the even- tide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their meaning ‘house of vanity’) is transferred to Beth-el. See Hos. iv. 15, v. 8, x. 5, 15. We see the transference going on in Am. yv. 5: ‘ Beth-el shall become Aven.’ Go up] Deir Diwan is rather more than 10 miles in a direct line westward from Jericho, and lies more than 3000 feet (3070) above it. Its position, like that of Michmash, was in those days strategically important as commanding one of the main routes from Jericho to the interior of Palestine. view the country] R.V. spy out the land: cp. ii. 1. 3. to labour thither] the road from Jericho is steep and la- borious. 5. Shebarim] an unknown point on the road from Ai to Jericho, whether in the W. Asis or in the W. es-Suweinit. The name (lit. ‘ breaches’) may mean ‘broken rocks,’ or, as R.V. margin has it, quarries. hearts...melted| see note on ii. 11. 6. rent his clothes| a token of grief, primarily used in mourning for the dead: see Gen. xxxvii. 29, 34, xliv. 18; Numb. xiv. 6; Judg. xi. 35. Job rent his mantle (i. 20), as also did his friends (ii. 12). Ezra (ix. 3) rent his garment and his mantle. The high priest was forbidden to make any such manifestation (Lev. x. 6, xx1./10). fell to the earth] in humiliation and supplication: cp. 2 Sam. xii. 16; Lam. iii. 29. elders] the chiefs or leading men of tribes and clans who had authority both in civil matters (Deut. xix. 12, xxi. 3) and in war (see viii. 10). Like the Arabic Sheikh, which also means primarily an old man, the title of elder does not necessarily imply advanced years. put dust upon their heads| also a sign of grief: see 1 Sam. iv. 12; Job ii. 12. JOSHUA, VII. 7-18 45 heads. 7And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord Gop, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! 8O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! 9%For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? 10And the Lorp said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? NTsrael hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have ‘put it even amongst their own stuff. 12Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from amongst you. 1%Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow : Sometimes ashes are mentioned: 2 Sam. xiii. 19; and mourners also sat among ashes (Job ii.8; Jon. iii. 6). The ancient cere- monial from which Ash-Wednesday takes its name consists in marking the forehead of priest and worshippers with ashes. 7. the Amorites| See p. 6, note. would to God] Heb. ‘would that.’ 9. the Canaanites| See pp. 5, 6. cut off our name] so that the very name of Israel shall perish; and who then will remain to worship and glorify the great name of Jehovah? Cp. Numb. xiv. 13 sqq.; 1 Sam. xii. 22. ‘ Unto’ has the sense of ‘for’ (see R.V.). 11. Aclimax. They have sinned; breach of the covenant is no ordinary sin; and violation of the herem a very grave breach of covenant. stuff | i.e. baggage: cp. Gen. xxxi. 37; 1 Sam. x. 22, xxx. 24. 12. because they are become accursed R.V. The quality of the herem is as it were contagious: cp. Deut. vii. 26. 13, Sanctify yourselves] i.e. prepare by ablution and abstinence 46 JOSHUA, VII. 14-18 for thus saith the Lorp God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. 14In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lorp taketh shall come according to the families thereof ; and the family which the Lorp shall take shall come by house- holds; and the household which the Lorp shall take shall come man by man. 1 And it shall be, that-he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lorp, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. 16-26. Achan discovered and punished. 16 So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: and he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: 18and he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the (cp. Ex. xix. 14, 15; Josh. iii. 5) for the solemn appeal, at the sanctuary, to the lot—in which it was held that Jehovah specially manifested Himself (Prov. xvi. 34). 14, brought near by your tribes] R.V. First the heads of the tribes. were brought before the ark and lots cast for them; then the heads of the families or clans; then the heads of houses or sub-clans (not ‘households’ in the modern sense ; see ii. 12, 18). taketh] the technical expression for selection by sacred lot; cp. 1 Sam. x. 20, 21, xiv. 41,42. The lot used was that of Urim and Thummim ; see Deut. xxxiii. 8; Ex. xxviii. 30. 16-26. Achan discovered and punished. 17. family of Judah] i.e. families (R.V. margin); the correc- tion involves no change in the original text. man by man] i.e. each chief of a household or sub-clan. JOSHUA, VII. 19-24 AT tribe of Judah, was taken. 19And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lorp God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide 7é not from me. 29And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lorp God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21 when I saw among the spoils a goodly Baby- lonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. 22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. 23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lorp. 24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all 19. give..glory to the LORD] make confession; acknowledge the majesty of Jehovah as the infallible Judge. 21. a goodly Babylonish garment] R.V. marg. a goodly mantle of Shinar (or Babylonia: see Gen. xi. 2, 9; cp. Gen. x. 10). shekels| At this period, and indeed down to the Exile, the shekel was a weight, not a coin (cp. Gen. xxiii. 16). Recent discoveries in Egypt and Assyria go to prove that down to the third century B.c. the Hebrew shekel was nearly equivalent to 258 grains, 100 shekels made a maneh (25800 grains) and 30 manehs (or minas) a talent (774000 grains). The English silver half-crown piece weighs 218 grains and the gold two-pound piece weighs 246°5 grains. wedge] lit. ‘tongue,’ the Lat. lingula, whence Eng. lingot or ingot. 23. laid them down before the Lord, R.V.] i.e. before the sanctuary of the ark (cp. vi. 8). 24. took Achan &c.| From the use of the singular pronoun in vv. 25, 26 critics have inferred that two narratives have been combined, according to one of which it was Achan alone who was thus punished. son of Zerah] i.e. lineal descendant; he was 48 JOSHUA, VII. 25-VIII, 2 that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lorp shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. 26And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lorp turned from the fierceness of his anger. Where- fore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day. 1-29. Second Attack. At captured and destroyed. And the Lorp said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land: 2and thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, Zerah’s great-grandson (ver. 18). Achor| i.e. ‘troubling.’ This valley, which must have lain near Jericho, has not been identified. It is referred to in Hos. ii. 15. 25. troubled] The verb is achar; see ver. 1. stoned him with stones] the ordinary mode of execution, the punishment of crime being regarded as the business of the people as a whole. It is specially enjoined in cases of Moloch worship (Lev. xx. 2), and idolatry generally (Deut. xiii. 10, xvii. 5), of necromancy and witch- craft (Lev. xx. 27), of blasphemy (Lev. xxiv. 14sqq.; 1 Kings xxi. 10 sqq.) and of certain other offences. It took place without the camp (see Lev. xxiv. 14 &c.). burned...with fire| The punish- ment of burning is enjoined for certain monstrous crimes (Lev. xx. 14, xxi. 9). Here the dead bodies are burned because they are ‘accursed’ (vi. 24). In ordinary circumstances among the Hebrews the body was buried. 26. agreat heap of stones] Cp. viii. 29; 2 Sam. xviii. 17. The custom of raising cairns over graves is very ancient and widespread. It may be done either in reverence or in execration. Ch. viii. 1-29. Second Attack. Ati captured and destroyed. 2. behind] Behind, in Hebrew idiom, means ‘to the west’; ep. ver. 9. Similarly, ‘the front’ is the east, the left hand the north (Gen, xiv. 15), and the right hand the south, JOSHUA, VIII. 3-10 49 and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it. 3So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night. 4And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready: 5and I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them, § (for they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them. 7Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the Lorp your God will deliver it into your hand. ®And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to the com- mandment of the Lorp shall ye do. See, I have com- manded you. 9Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people. 1°And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he 3. goup] See vii. 2. sent them away by night] presumably after arriving with all the people of war, in the afternoon, in the valley (W. Asis ?) to the north of the city ; cp. ver. 9. 5. as at the first] i.e. as on the former occasion. 9. sent them forth] i.e. by night (see ver. 3), after giving them the instructions contained in wy. 4-8, 10-12. These verses contain another, shorter account of the events recorded in vv. 3-9, with the variation that the ambush consists of only 5000 men. Such variations in number are not uncommon. The smaller number gives an amply sufficient ambush, for the whole population of Ai was but 12,000 (ver. 25). The whole armed force of Israel in the time of David was 30,000 men (2 Sam. vi. 1). 10. early in the morning] after the despatch of the ambush. numbered] or, rather, ‘mustered.’ JOSHUA 4 50 JOSHUA, VIII. 11-16 and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. “And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between themand Ai. 12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city. 18 And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. 14 And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw 7, that they hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city. 1And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16 And all the people that were in Ai 12. And he took about five thousand men] Some commentators read (against grammar ; see ii. 1) ‘had taken,’ thus concealing the fact that we have two distinct narratives before us. 18. This verse is not in the LXX. and seems to be a later addition, designed to bind together the two preceding narratives. For went that night into some MSS. read lodged that night in (R.V. margin). Cp. ver. 9. 14. king of Ati] See note on ii. 2. at a time appointed, before the plain] This phrase is difficult, and is omitted by the LXX. ‘Time appointed’ seems sometimes to be used as a technical expression for evening, perhaps the time of the evening sacrifice (see 2 Sam. xxiv. 15). Perhaps in one account the sortie of the king of Ai may have been represented as having taken place at dusk ; in another, which, partially at least, is preserved here, it is said to have occurred early in the day. Others translate ‘to the place appointed’ (see R.V. margin), and think of some mustering ground, either the usual parade ground or a rendezvous specially indicated and here described as lying ‘ before the plain’ or Arabah, a geographical expression the meaning of which is not clear. wrist not} see note on ii. 5. behind the city] i.e. west of the city ; see above. 15. way of the wilderness} (midbar), the uncultivated mountain- ous tract stretching toward the Jordan valley. JOSHUA, VIII. 17-24 51 were called together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. 17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel. 18And the Lorp said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city. 19And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire. 2°And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city as- cended, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai. 22 And the other issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape. 23 And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. 24And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying 17. or Beth-el] These words are omitted by the LXX. They do not well fit in with the narrative as it at present stands, which represents the ambush as lying between Beth-el and Ai. 18. spear] R.V. javelin (Hebr. kidén), for throwing: see Job xli. 29 (‘he laugheth at the rushing of the javelin’); it was shorter and lighter than the spear or lance (hanith; Job xxxix. 23). When not in use it was carried by the warrior at his back, between his shoulders (1 Sam. xvii. 6; see also 1 Sam. xvii. 45, where R.V. reads ‘javelin’ instead of ‘target’ and ‘shield’). Both here and in ver. 26 the javelin corresponds to the rod of Moses in Ex. xiv. 16, 26, 27. 21. Compare tke last clause of ver. 20, and note the repetition, which again indicates a double source. 4—2 52 | JOSHUA, VIII. 25-81 all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. 25And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, evenallthe men of Ai. 26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the Lorp which he commanded Joshua. 28And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day. 29And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day. 30-35. The Covenant renewed at Mount Ebal. 30 Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lorp God of Israel in mount Ebal, 91as Moses the servant of the 26. utterly destroyed] See note on vi. 17. 28. heap] or tell, an artificial mound, especially that of a ruined city: cp. Deut. xiii. 16; Jer. xlix. 2, and contrast Jer. xxx. 18. The word still occurs in Palestine in this sense. 29. hanged on a tree] It is not certain whether hanging was practised by the Hebrews as a mode of execution.. Usually when hanging is spoken of in Scripture it is the hanging or impaling of the criminal’s dead body that is meant (see Josh. x. 26, and ep. 1 Sam. xxxi. 10). The removal of the body ‘ at the going down of the sun’ (as here) is enjoined in Deut. xxi. 22, 23. heap of stones] Cp. vii. 26. 30-35. The Covenant renewed at Mount Hbal. The abruptness with which the scene is changed to Mount Ebal, the barren rocky hill which bounds the valley of Shechem on the JOSHUA, VIII. 32, 33 53 Lorp commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the Lorn, and sacrificed peace offerings. %2And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. $3 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lorp, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them ; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lorp had commanded before, that they should bless north, has often been remarked. Some commentators regard the section as here out of place and propose to transfer it (as in LXX.) to after ix. 2. But as the editor certainly had before him more material relating to the conquest of southern Palestine than he saw fit to make use of, the present apparent suddenness of the transition is more likely due to excision than to interpolation. The section ought to be read in connection with Deut. xi. 29 and care- fully compared with Deut. xxvii. 1-13. 31. an altar of unhewn stones, R.V.] with express reference to the commandment of Moses; see Deut. xxvii. 5-7 and the general precept Ex. xx. 25; compare also 1 Kings vi. 7. burnt offerings...peace oferings| offerings of the former class were wholly consumed upon the altar, those of the latter description provided for the most part a social meal for the worshippers. 32. the stones] the erection of which is enjoined in Deut. xxvii. 2-4, 8. The Syriac translation here understands the stones of the altar. a copy of thelaw] See Deut. xxvii. 3, 8, xxxi. 9, where ‘this law’ means the law of Deuteronomy, not the Pen- tateuch as a whole. But perhaps we may conclude from ver. 34 that only the blessings and the cursings of that book are here intended. 33. stranger] Heb. ger,a foreigner living as a client under the protection of a Hebrew clan or chief. In later times ger means ‘proselyte.’ over against} R.V. in front of: cp. Deut. xxvii. 12, 13. that they should bless} According to the more detailed directions in Deut. xxvii. 12 the blessings were to be 54 JOSHUA, VIII. 34-IX. 3 the people of Israel. 84 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. %5There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. 1-27. The Story of the Gibeonites. And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof ; 2that they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord. 3And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what pronounced by the six tribes that stood on Mount Gerizim to the south of the narrow valley of Shechem; the cursings were to be spoken by the Levites, the six tribes that stood on Mount Ebal saying Amen. 34. cursings| See Deut. xxvii. 14-26, where they are given in full. ; 35. not a word...which Joshua read not] See note on ver. 33. Words spoken in an elevated tone on the one mountain are easily heard on the other. See Tristram, Land of Israel, pp. 149, 150. Ch. ix. 1-27. The Story of the Gibeonites. i, 2. General introduction to chapters ix.-xi. by an editorial hand. Cp. xi. 16-20. 1. on this side Jordan] see note oni. 14. in the hills &c.] R.V. in the hill country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon. the Hittite &c.] see p. 10, note. 2. with one accord] The only common action we read of, however, was that of two leagues, formed by a limited number of kings, in the south (ch. x.) and in the north (xi.) respectively. 3-27. The Israelite league with the Gibeonites. 3. Gibeon] ‘Hill town,’ now el-Jib, stands on a limestone ridge (2535 feet) in the midst of an open tract or basin, 53 miles N.N.W. from Jerusalem and 64 miles 8.W. from Deir Diwan. It is here JOSHUA, IX. 4-10 55 Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, 4they did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; Sand old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them ; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. §And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us. 7And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? 8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? andfrom whence come ye? 9% And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the Lorp thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and described as one of the towns of the Hivites (ver. 17) which were united, apparently, in some sort of confederation. No king of Gibeon is mentioned; in ver. 11 the government is in the hands of the elders and inhabitants. It was a great city, ‘as one of the royal cities,’ and greater than Ai (x. 2). 4. made as if they had been ambassadors] Another reading, fol- lowed by most ancient versions, is ‘took their provisions.’ See ver. 12, R.V. marg. wine bottles] i.e. wine-skins. Inthe East wine, water, oil, &c. are carried in skins that have been tanned whole. The legs are sewn up, and the neck tightly closed with a cord. In Ps. cxix. 83, Matth. ix. 17, &c. the reference is to a vessel of this description and not to ‘the bottle of potters’ (Isa. xxx. 14 marg.). 5. clouted| patched. mouldy] or, perhaps, crumbled (panes ...in frusta comminuti: Vulg.). 6. Gilgal] that is, the Gilgal already familiar to the reader: see v.10. Some commentators have (very unnecessarily) thought this Gilgal (18 miles from Gibeon) too far off and have supposed another Gilgal near Beth-el to be meant. 7. Hivites| see p. 6, note. 10. Sihon...0g| See Numb. xxi. 21-35. Of more recent events the Gibeonites affect to be ignorant. 56 JOSHUA, IX. 11-17 to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. ™Where- fore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. 12 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: 18and these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. 14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of theLorp. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. 16 And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had madea league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them. 17 And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim. 10. Ashtaroth] see xiii. 31. 14. the men took of their victuals] The men, i.e. the men of Israel (ver. 6). By ancient Kastern custom those who have eaten together are by this very act brought into relations of more or less enduring friendship. Thus by taking the victuals of the Gibeonites the Israelites entered into preliminary engagements for a league. In modern Arabian usage the obligation thus constituted would last only for some days. asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lorp| through the priestly oracle, as they ought to have done (Numb. xxvii. 21), especially before entering into any league, in view of the prohibition contained in Ex. xxiii. 32, xxxiv. 12; Numb. xxxiii. 55; Deut. vii. 2. Ver. 16 is immediately continued in wv. 22, 23. ~ Verses 17—21 are a parallel narrative in which the journey of the host to Gibeon anticipates ch. x. 16,17. at the end of three days...on the third day| Cp. note on ili.2. Chephirah &c.| Chephirah, mentioned also in xviii. 26, Ezr. ii. 25, Neh. vii. 29, has been identified with the modern Kefira, JOSHUA, IX. 18-24 57 18 And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lorp God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. 19But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lorp God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. 2°This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. 2!And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the con- gregation; as the princes had promised them. 22 And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? 23 Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. 24And they answered about 5 miles W.S.W. from Gibeon; Beeroth (xviii. 25; Ezr. ii. 25; Neh. vii. 29) is probably the modern Bireh, less than 43 miles N.N.E. from Gibeon; Kirjath-jearim (Neh. vii. 29; Kirjath-arim in Ezy. ii. 25; formerly Baalah or Kirjath-baal, Josh. xv. 9, 60; 1 Chr. xiii. 6) is the modern el-‘Enab, 14 miles 8. from Chephirah and 73 miles W. by N. from Jerusalem. 20. wrath] a divine judgment (Numb. xvi. 46) such as followed later on the violation of the oath by Saul (2 Sam. xxi. 1 sqq.). 21. hewers of wood and drawers of water] discharging menial functions generally performed by ‘strangers’ or protected aliens; see Deut. xxix. 11. The other account (ver. 23) says, more pre- cisely, that they were to be servants of the temple, or, according to the later term, Nethinim (1 Chr. ix.2; Ezr. ii. 43,70; Neh. vii. 46, 60). In ver. 27 the editor has combined both statements, and adds that in his day they still did service at the sanctuary of Jerusalem. Probably their service did not actually begin till the ark was fixed at Jerusalem (see Ezr. viii. 20). 23. cursed| Heb. dririm, not the same word as that translated ‘accursed’ in vi. 17, but that used in Gen. ix. 25 (‘cursed be Canaan...a servant of servants’). there shall none of you &c.] there shall never fail to be of you bondmen, B.YV., i.e. the duty of supplying servants for the temple shall always lie on you. 58 JOSHUA, IX. 25-X. 2 Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lorp thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. 26And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. 27And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lorp, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose. 1-48. The Destruction of the Five Kings at Beth-horon. 10 Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them ; 2that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the 27. wnto this day| See note on ver. 21. Ch. x. 1-43. The Destruction of the Five Kings at Beth-horon. 1. Adoni-zedek (‘ Lord of righteousness ') is named only here and in ver. 3. In both places the LXX. reads Adoni-bezek (perhaps ‘Lord of Bezek’), the name which occurs in Judg. i. 5-7. The Bezek from which he Gerived this title can hardly be that mentioned in 1 Sam. xi. 8 (now Ibzik, between Shechem and Bethshean). Jerusalem was at this time the chief city of the Jebusites. Its importance for the history of Israel begins from the time of David. 2. royal cities} Most of the greater cities were seats of petty kings. See ii. 2. JOSHUA, X. 3-6 59 men thereof were mighty. %Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4+Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel. 5 Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Kglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it. SAnd the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not 3. Hebron, formerly Kirjath Arba (‘city of Arba,’ or, perhaps, ‘Fourfold town’; cp. Tripolis), now Karyat el-Khalil, i.e. city of [Abraham] the friend [of God], one of the most famous towns of the Bible, lies in the hill country of Judah, 3000 feet above sea- level, about 18 miles S. by W. from Jerusalem. According to Numbers xiii. 22 it was founded 7 years before Zoan in Egypt. It is frequently mentioned in the patriarchal history, and was one of the places visited by Caleb and Joshua in their survey of Canaan as spies (Numb. xiii. 22). It is enumerated among the cities of refuge in Josh. xx. 7 and among the priestly cities in xxi. 11, 13. As the burial-place of Abraham it is still sacred both with Jews and Mohammedans. Jarmuth, in the Shephelah of Judah (xv. 35), is not mentioned except in the Book of Joshua. It is represented by the modern Khirbet el-Yarmuk, 16 miles W. by S. from Jerusalem and 103 miles 8. W. from Kirjath-jearim. Lachish, inthe Shephelah of Judah (xy. 32); its site at the modern Tell el-Hesy (340 feet above sea-level, about 34 miles S.W. from Jerusalem and 22 miles W. from Hebron) was finally identified by Mr Flinders Petrie in 1890. It was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. xi. 9), and it was here that king Amaziah was overtaken and slain by the conspirators against him (2 K. xiv. 19; 2 Chr. xxv. 27). Its siege by Senna- cherib (2 K. xviii. 14, 17, xix. 8; Isa. xxxvi. 2, xxxvii. 8) is figured on an obelisk now in the British Museum. Eglon, the modern ‘Ajlan, 2 miles to the north of Lachish, is mentioned only here and in xii. 12, xv. 39. 5. jive kings}, To these, it seems, we ought to add those of Libnah and Debir (see vv. 28-40). 60 JOSHUA, X. 7-10 thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. 7So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour. 8And the Lorp said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee. 9Joshua therefore came unto them sud- denly, and went up from Gilgal all night. 10And the Lorp discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote 6. all the kings...that dwell in the mountains] i.e. roughly speaking, in the hilly country to the south and south-west of Gibeon. 7-15. Battle of Beth-horon. 9. and went up] better, R.V. for he went up. His attack may have been delivered shortly after sunrise. 10. the way that goeth up to Beth-horon] R.V. the way of the ascent to Beth-horon called in ver. 11 the going down of Beth-horon (R.V.). From Gibeon (2535 feet above sea-level) as from Jerusalem (2593 feet) ‘in ancient times as at the present day the great road of communication and heavy transport between Jerusalem and the sea-coast was by the pass of Beth-horon’ (Robinson). To Beth-horon the Upper (modern Beit ‘Ur el Foka) the distance from Gibeon is 5 miles and the descent 500 feet ; from the Upper to the Lower Beth-horon the descent of 700 feet in 12 miles is ‘ very rocky and rough; but the rock has been cut away in many places and the path formed into steps’ (Robinson). Beyond Lower Beth-horon the ravine generally widens into the valley of Aijalon and thence by easy gradients the road passes on to the Philistian plain (Lydda and Ramleh). As here indicated the route taken by the Amorite kings in their flight seems to have followed this road as far as to Aijalon (5 miles from Lower Beth-horon) ; at this point, so far as we can follow the indication given, they must have turned to the left, and made across country towards Jarmuth and Hebron. Azekah has not been identified, but it lay in the Shephelah of Judah (xv. 35) and not far from the scene of David’s combat with Goliath (1 Sam. xvii. 1). This was in the vale of Elah (W. es-Sunt, on the upper course of the Sukreir) near Socoh JOSHUA, X. 11, 12 61 them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lorp cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were moe which died with hail- stones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. 12Then spake Joshua to the Lorp in the day when the Lorp delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; And thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. (Shuweikeh), which is about 12 miles §. from Aijalon and 2 miles south from Jarmuth. Azekah is mentioned in 2 Chr. xi. 9; Jer. xxxiv.7; Neh. xi. 30. | Makkedah here has not been identified. A place of this name is mentioned among the 115 ‘cities’ of Judah (xv. 41); but if the order of enumeration goes for anything it must have been one of the most northerly towns of the Shephelah of Judah. 11. the going down to Beth-horon] see preceding note. great stones] i.e. hailstones, as appears in next clause. Snow and hail are described as God’s artillery in Job xxxviii. 22, 23. 12. Then spake Joshua] These words introduce a poetical quotation, relating to the battle, from the book of Jasher, in which Joshua is described as apostrophizing the sun and the moon: Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. The book of Jasher (‘Book of the Upright’ ?) is cited more than once in the Old Testament (see 2 Sam. i. 18) in such a way as shews that it must have contained a collection of national songs of Israel. Aijalon (xix. 42, xxi. 24; Judg.i.35) which is mentioned in the Philistine wars of David, and also in connection with oc- currences in later reigns (2 Chr. xi. 10, xxviii. 18), is the modern Yalo; situated on a ridge on the south side of the broad level valley now known as the meadow (Merj) Ibn ‘Omer. To under- stand the quotation we must figure to ourselves the speaker at two successive periods of the summer day, first on the plateau. to the north of the hill of Gibeon, with Gibeon lying under the sun to the south-east or south, at the moment when the resistance of the 62 JOSHUA, X. 18-18 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, Until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, And hasted not to go down about a whole day. 14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lorp hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lorp fought for Israel. 15 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal. 16 But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. 17 And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah, 18And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon enemy has at last broken down, and again, hours later, when the sun has set and the moon is sinking westward over the valley of Aijalon, threatening by its disappearance to put an end to the victorious pursuit. The appeal to the moon is, of course, for light, i.e. after sunset. The moon appears over Aijalon, that is, some- what south of west as seen by one approaching from Beth-horon. There was therefore evening moonlight. Joshua prayed first that the sunlight, and then that the moonlight following it might suffice for the complete defeat of the enemy. The prayer was granted,— not of course by stoppage of the earth’s diurnal rotation, but in the strength which the Israelites obtained to accomplish their task within the natural limits of the light. 13. So the sun stood still &c.] these words, to the end of ver. 14, are a prose comment on a poetical text. Perhaps by the prose narrator, as certainly by the son of Sirach (Ecclus. xlvi. 4) and by Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 17), the day is taken to have been preter- naturally prolonged. The idea of direct divine interposition in similar circumstances is found in other literatures as well. Not only does Agamemnon pray that the sun may not go down until he has accomplished the task he has set himself (ZZ. 11, 413 sq.), but we also read of Athene helping Odysseus by retarding the sun’s rising (Od. xx111. 241 sqq.), and of Here delivering the Greeks by hasten- ing his setting (Z/. xvur1. 239 sq.). 15. And Joshua returned &c.| This verse seems to be antici- patory. 16-19. Continuation from ver. 11. JOSHUA, X. 19-26 63 the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them: 19and stay you not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the Lorp your God hath delivered them into your hand. 2° And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities. 2!And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. 22Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave. 23 And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these ’ kings, And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. 2?5And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lorp do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. ?6And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and 18. From ver. 21 it appears that Joshua also fixed his head- quarters at Makkedah. 20. into fenced cities} into the fenced cities, R.V., i.e. into their fenced cities, as enumerated in ver. 3. 21. moved] lit. ‘ whetted’: cp. Ps.lxiv. 3. The expression here used is a proverbial one: see Ex. xi. 7. 22-27. Hxecution of the five kings. 24, put your feet upon the necks &c.] Cp. Isa. li. 23; Ps. ex. 1; 1 Cor. xv. 25. A sign of subjugation frequently depicted on the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. 26, 27. See note on viii. 29. 64 JOSHUA, X. 27-82 they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. 27 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day. 28 And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho. 29 Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah: 30and the Lorp delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho. 31And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it: 82and the Lorp de- livered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the 28-48. Formal summary of the southern conquests, by a later hand—not continuous with what precedes, and to some extent repeating it, but in part based on other sources. Note that all the conquests in the south are ascribed to ‘Joshua and all Israel,’ though we know that some of them were made by separate ex- peditions. Thus, Hebron was taken by Caleb and the men of Judah (xv. 13 sq.3 Judg. i. 10 sqq.), and Kirjath Sepher by Othniel (xv. 16 sq. ; Judg. i. 12 sqq.). 29. Libnah (ep. xii. 15, xv. 42) has not been identified; it must have lain on the §.W. border of Judah not far from the edge of the Philistian plain. Under king Joram its population revolted along with the Edomites (2 Kings viii. 22; 2 Chron. xxi. 10; cp. 2 Chron. xxi. 16), which tends to shew that at that time it was largely non- Israelitic. In the Assyrian wars it was besieged by Sennacherib (2 Kings xix. 8; Isa. xxxvii. 8). 31; Lachish] See ver. 3. 32. on the second day] Of Eglon on the other hand it is said JOSHUA, X. 33-39 65 sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah. %3'Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining. 34 And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it: $5 and they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day, accord- ing to all that he had done to Lachish. ?6And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it: $7and they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king - thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein. 98And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it: 3$9and he took it, and the king thereof, and that they took it ‘on that day’ (ver. 35), implying apparently that it was an easier capture. In later days Lachish was an excep- tionally strong city (see 2 Kings xix. 8; 2 Chron. xxxii. 9; Jer. eaKIY.-(), 33. Gezer| See note on xvi. 3. Inspiteof this crushing defeat, Gezer continued to be Canaanite. 34. Eglon| See ver. 3. 35. on that day] See note on ver. 31. Atthis point the reader might expect to read of the capture of Jarmuth as the conquerors passed from Eglon to Hebron. 36. wentup] Hebron lay in the hill country, 3000 feet above sea-level. A different account of the capture of Hebron and Debir is given in Josh. xv. 13 sqq.; Judg. i. 10 sqq. 38. Debir] formerly Kirjath-sepher (Judg. i. 11) and Kirjath- sannah (Josh. xv. 49), must be carefully distinguished from two other places, also named Debir, which are mentioned in xiii. 26 and xy. 7. Itlay in the hill country of Judah (xv. 49) or in the Negeb (xv. 19), but its site has not been identified. According to xxi. 15 (cp. 1 Chron. vi. 58) it afterwards became a priestly town. JOSHUA D 66 JOSHUA, X. 40, 41 all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king. 40So0 Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lorp God of Israel commanded. 41And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country 39. all the crttes thereof | Debir is not one of the five cities mentioned in ver. 3 as belonging to the anti-Gibeonite league. Jarmuth and Jerusalem, on the other hand, though mentioned in ver. 3, do not occur here. In point of fact we know that the latter city did not fall into Israelite hands till David’s time. 40. Read: ‘So Joshua smote all the land—the mountain land and the Negeb and the Shephelah, and the declivities.’ Cp. R.V. and note on xv. 20-63. the springs] Heb. dshédéth, rather the ‘declivities’ or ‘shoulders’ of the mountain plateau, where it sinks sharply into the plain. The word recurs in xii. 8, but is not used in the description of the various districts of Judah in ch. xv., where the cities on the shoulders of the Judean mountains are reckoned mainly to the Shephelah. The slopes of Pisgah descending to the Dead Sea are called Ashdoth-pisgah (Deut. iii. 17, iv. 49; Josh. xii. 3, xiii. 20). The word is perhaps derived from a root meaning ‘to flow’; the explanation usually given is that the Ashedoth are the line on the mountain side where springs break forth. all that breathed| See Deut. xx. 16, 17. 41. Kadesh-barnea|] or Kadesh (Numb. xx. 1), also called En- mishpat (‘Well of Judgment’: Gen. xiv. 7) and ‘the water of Meribah’ (Numb. xx. 13), lay in the wilderness of Zin and on the south border of Judah (Josh. xv. 3; Numb. xxxiv. 4). From Kadesh the spies were sent out by Moses (Deut. i. 19 sq.), and here the people remained ‘many days’ (Deut. i. 46). Here also was the grave of Miriam (Numb. xx. 1). As regards its site, various identifications have been suggested; it must have been one or other of the powerful wells round the base of the Azazimeh plateau; most recent scholars are inclined to place it at ‘Ain Kudais in lat. 30°31’ N. and long. 34°31’E. Gaza] mod. Ghazzah, 21 miles from the sea-coast, ‘the last inhabited place on the way from Phoenicia to Egypt, at the beginning of the desert’ (Arrian) ; JOSHUA, X. 42-XI, 2 67 of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. 4?And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lorp God of Israel fought for Israel. 43And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal. 1-23. Battle of Merom. Overthrow of the Northern kings. ii ] And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2and to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Cinneroth, see Acts viii. 26. Avvim and Anakim represented a primitive (or relatively primitive) element in its population. It was not taken by Joshua, but passed into the hands of the Philistines. Goshen (xv. 51), perhaps capital of the group of towns in the Judean hill country enumerated in xv. 48-51. Of its site nothing is known beyond what is implied in this grouping. 42. atone time] In one campaign, or, at least, during one war: see vv. 15, 43. 43. to Gilgal|] where the ark and head-quarters still remained. Ch. xi. 1-23. Battle of Merom. Overthrow of the Northern kings. 1. Jlazor, according to xix. 36, afterwards became a ‘fenced city’ of the tribe of Naphtali, but in the days of Deborah and Barak it appears as the seat of a powerful Canaanite State under a king who is again called Jabin (Judg. iv.). It is mentioned as having been fortified by Solomon, and its inhabitants were carried into captivity by Tiglath-Pileser (2 Kings xv. 29). It lay near the waters of Merom, and there is some probability in its identification with Tell Khureibeh (1680 feet) 24 miles to the 8. of Kedesh (see note on xii. 22). On the meaning of the word Hazor see note on xv. 32. The other cities, which acknowledged Hazor as their suzerain (ver. 10), cannot be identified with any approach to proba- bility. Shimron (xix. 15) is called Shimron-meron in xii. 20. 2,3. Read with R.V. ‘to the kings that were on the north, in the hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, to the Canaanite on the east and on the west...and the Jebusite in the hill country.’ Cinneroth or Chinnéreth 5—2 68 JOSHUA, XI. 3-6 and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, 3 and to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh. 4And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that 7s upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. 5And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. 6 And the Lorp said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver (Deut. iii.17; Josh. xix. 35), the chief town of the small and fertile plain also called Chinneroth (1 Kings xv. 20), on the western side of the Sea of Galilee or Chinneroth (xii. 3, xiii. 27). R.V. heights (Heb. Naphoth) of Dor] cp. xii. 23. Dor, represented by the mod. Tenturah, was one of the maritime cities of the undulating plain of © Sharon, and this plain (or some part of it not now distinguished) seems to be intended by the expression ‘heights of Dor.’ It lay within the limits of the tribe of Asher (xix. 26), but was assigned to Manasseh. In Josh. xvii. 11, 12; Judg. i.27, we read that it continued to be inhabited by Canaanites, and in 1 Kingsiv.11 the Naphoth Dor are mentioned as tributary to Solomon. the Canaanite &c.] the same list as in iii. 10, ix. 1, &c. The Jebusites of Jerusalem are out of place here, but we have no knowledge of northern Jebusites. Mizpeh| R.V. Mizpah. The Mizpeh of this verse and ver. 8 is unknown ; the name, which means ‘ watch-tower,’ was borne by several cities (Gad, xiii. 26; Judah, xv. 38; Benjamin, xviii. 26). 4. the sand &c.| i.e. innumerable: see Gen. xxii. 17; Judg. vii. 12; 1 Sam. xiii. 5. charvots] a formidable and costly engine of ancient warfare, analogous to the artillery of modern times, which the Canaanites may have derived from the Egyptians (cp. 1 Kings x. 28, 29). The Israelites first used chariots in the time of Solomon. With the prophets, to trust in chariots is to trust in man’s resources rather than in God’s help (Isa. xxxi. 1, &e.). 5. the waters of Merom] (i.e. ‘the upper waters’; the Lacus Samachonitis or Semechonitis of the old geographers, mod. Lake Hiileh), a shallow expansion of the Jordan, above the Lake of Galilee. Its level shores allowed the chariots of the Canaanites to come into action. Joshua may be supposed to watch the enemy from one or other of the neighbouring heights, JOSHUA, XI. 7-13 69 them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. 7So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them. 8And the Lorp delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. 9And Joshua did unto them as the Lorp bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire. 10And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king | thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms. And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire. 12And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lorp commanded. 13 Butas for the cities that stood 6. hough] cp. 2 Sam. viii. 4; to hamstring or cut the knee sinews. The word is the same as hock. The horses and chariots were not to be preserved, as fitter for a despotism than for the free people of Jehovah (cp. Deut. xvii. 16; Ps. xx. 7, exlvii. 10), but the houghing is mentioned primarily, it may be presumed, as the best tactics for footmen meeting cavalry. It is still thus practised in Eastern warfare. 8. Zidon] here and in xix. 28 called ‘ great,’ in ancient times the most important city of Phoenicia (hence ‘ Sidonian’ equivalent to ‘Phoenician’: Deut. iii. 9; 1 Kings xvi. 31; cp. Iliad vi. 289 seq., &e.). It lay on a low promontory of the Phoenician coast, half way between Tyre and Berytus (Beyrout), and thus far to the north-west of the scene of the present battle. Misrephoth-maim (cp. xiii. 6), probably ‘Ain Mesherfeh, near Ras-en-Nakfira (Scala Tyriorum), midway between Tyre and Acco. It has nothing to do with the Zarephath or Sarepta of 1 Kings xvii. 9; Luke iv. 26. 11. not any left to breathe} R.V. none left that breathed. 70 JOSHUA, XI. 14-17 still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only ; that did Joshua burn. 14 And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe. 1 As the Lorp commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lorp commanded Moses. 16So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same; 17 even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, 13. still in their strength] R.V. on their mounds. See note on villi. 28. All old Eastern cities stand on soil artificially raised by the constant decay of the perishable buildings of brick or mud of which they mainly consist. 14. all the spoil] ep. viii. 2, 27. 16-20. General retrospect of the conquest of Palestine (cp. ix. 1, 2), including the hill country, and all the Negeb, and all the land: of Goshen, and the Shephelah, and the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel and the Shephelah [of Israel]. To the author the hill country and the Shephelah, without qualification, mean the Judean hill country and lowland. The verse therefore must have been written by a Judean. 16. Goshen] see x. 41. 17. mount Halak] ‘ the bare mountain’; R.V. marg. Cp. xii. 7, where Mount Halak is again named as marking the southern limit of Joshua’s conquest. Perhaps the range of white cliffs which crosses the Arabah in a semicircular sweep at about eight miles’ distance from the south side of the Dead Seaismeant. Seir is Edom. JBaal-gad (xii. 7, xiii. 5) is the Baal-hermon of 1 Chron. v. 23; Judg. iii. 3, afterwards Panium or Paneas, the Caesarea Philippi of the New Testament, the modern Banias, at the foot of Mount Hermon. Baal Gad means Lord of Good Fortune. The name Paneas (from Pan) arises from associations with an analogous deity. JOSHUA, XI. 18-22 71 and slew them. 18Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19There was nota city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabit- ants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. 29For it was of the Lorp to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the Lorp commanded Moses. 21 And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities. 2?There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained. 18. along time] atleast five years, or rather seven years (allowing 38 years for the wandering): see xiv. 7, 10. 21-23. Extermination of the Anakim. This achievement is in xiv. 12, xv. 13-19 as well as in Judg. i. 10-15 attributed to Caleb and the men of Judah. 21. at that time] i.e. in the course of the long time spoken of in ver.18. Anakims] a people of the hill country of Judah and Israel (see Deut. i. 28 sqq.; Numb. xiii. 22,28 sqq.). The Anakim, like the Rephaim of Bashan (xii. 4, xiii. 12) and unlike the Canaanites, had wholly disappeared at an early period, and were remembered in Israel only by tradition. They were taller than the (nomad) Israel- ites, and their buildings made a powerful impression on a people familiar only with tents. Debir] Seex. 38. Anab (xv. 50). A place of this name still exists on the west side of the Wady el-Khalil, about 14 miles to the S.W. of Hebron. 22. only in Gaza &c.] i.e.in Philistine territory. Gaza] see x. 41. Gath] perhaps the very ancient ruin-heap Tell es-Safi, 10 miles south from Ekron. For its gigantic inhabitants see 2 Sam. xxi. 19-21. Goliath was a native of Gath (1 Sam. xvii. 4). David had a body-guard of Gittites or men of Gath. The town was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 8), taken by Hazael (2 Kings xii. 17), and afterwards taken and destroyed by Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 6; Am. vi. 2). It never recovered its importance and tradition forgot even its site. Ashdod or Azotus, the modern Esdiid, seat of the worship of Dagon (1 Sam. vy. 1 sqq.), though allotted to Judah (xv. 72 JOSHUA, XI. 23-XTI, 1 23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lorp said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war. 1-24. Summary of the Conquests. Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the 46, 47) and occasionally held by kings of Judah (see for example 2 Chron. xxvi.6), never permanently became a city of that kingdom (Am. i. 8; Neh. iv. 7). It lay on the route between Egypt and Phoenicia, midway between Gaza and Joppa. The present site is three miles from the sea. Ch. xii. 1-24. Summary of the Conquests. General survey of the territory conquered by Moses and by Joshua: 1-6, that of the two kings on the east side of Jordan; 7-24, that of the 31 kings in Palestine proper. 1-6. The territory here indicated as extending from the Arnon valley to the base of Mount Hermon, a distance of about 128 miles, and as bounded by the Jordan on the west, is the whole Israelitic domain eastward of Jordan, sometimes called, in a wide sense of the expression, Gilead (ch. xxii. 9, &c.; Numb. xxxii. 29; Deut. - xxxiv. 1; Judg. xx. 1; 1 Kings iv. 19), as distinguished from Canaan. More specifically it consisted of the districts of Gilead (in the narrower sense of that word) and Bashan, which are separated by the Yarmuk, or the former kingdoms of Sihon and Og, which were separated by the Jabbok. The topography of the whole region is given with greater detail in ch. xiii. 1. river Arnon] R.V. valley of Arnon. The Arnon flows through a rocky ravine some 2000 feet in depth and about three miles wide from crest to crest (Tristram) and thus forms a well- marked frontier. On the northern ‘ edge of the valley’ (so R.V.; A.V. has ‘bank of the river’) stood Aroer (ver. 2), the modern ‘Ar‘air; by the ‘ city that is in the middle of the valley’ (R.V.; A.V. has ‘the middle of the river’), mentioned in the same verse (cp. xiii. 6,19; Deut. ii. 26), we are probably to understand some strong- hold on the river itself by which the passage was guarded. The identification with Ar of Moab (Rabbah) isimprobable. Hermon (ep. xiii. 11), the Sirion of Deut. iii. 9, and Shenir of Deut. iii. 9, LS ——— JOSHUA, XII. 2-4 73 plain on the east: 2Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river of Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; 3and from the plain to the sea of Cinneroth on the east, and unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way to Beth-jeshimoth ; and from the south, under Ashdoth-pisgah: 4and the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Cant. iv. 8, and Sion of Deut. iv. 48, is the conspicuous mountain, generally capped with snow, at the south end of the Antilibanus range, from which it is separated by a deep valley. Of its three peaks two rise to a height of 9050 feet. all the plain on the east} R.V. all the Arabah eastward, i.e. the eastward portion of the Jordan valley. 2. Sithon king of the Amorites] See Numb. xxi. 21-31. He is called Sihon king of Heshbon in ver. 5 below, also in Deut. ii. 33, iii. 6. Perhaps the larger designation denotes some sort of hegemony over the other Amorite kinglets eastward of Jordan. Heshbon (2954 feet), about 23 miles north of the Arnon and 16 miles east of the Jordan, the modern Hesban, was still an important fortress in the Middle Ages. bank] R.Y. edge: see note on ver. 1. Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon] viz. in the upper part of its course, which is from south to north. On the lower part of its course, from east to west, it separated the domain of Sihon from that of Og. 3. Read with R.V. the Arabah unto the sea of Chinneroth, eastward, and unto the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, eastward, or as we should say, the entire eastward section of the Jordan valley from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. Bethjeshimoth (ch. xiii. 20; Ezek. xxv. 9), 10 miles S.E. from Jericho, corresponding to the modern Khirbet Suweimeh. from the south, under Ashdoth-pisgah] R.V. on the south, under the slopes of Pisgah; cp. note on x. 40. 4. giants] R.V. Rephaim: see Gen. xiv. 5; Deut. iii. 11, and cp. note on xi. 21. that dwelt at Ashtaroth] R.V. who dwelt; the antecedent is Og, not Rephaim. Ashtaroth, the same as Ashteroth-Karnaim (Gen. xiv. 5) and Beeshterah (‘The house of Astarte’: Josh. xxi. 27), is the modern Tell-‘Ashtereh (1900 feet), about 21 miles EH. from the lake of Galilee, in long. 36° E., lat. 32950’ N. There was still a famous heathen sanctuary and asylum 74, JOSHUA, XII. 5-8 Ashtaroth and at Edrei, 5and reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon. 6T'hem did Moses the servant of the Lorp and the children of Israel smite: and Moses the servant of the Lorp gave it for a posses- sion unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. 7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; 8in the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country ; the Hittites, here in Maccabee times (Carnaim: 1 Macc. v. 43); its sanctity passed in Christian times to the adjacent so-called tomb of Job, the discovery of which is related by the Aquitanian lady S. Silvia (4th century). Edrei| now Der‘at or Der‘a, 12 miles south-east from Ashtaroth. 5. reigned in] R.V. ruled in. His realm was Bashan from Hermon in the north-west to Saleah at the south-east extremity of the Jebel Hauran, about 35 miles to the east of Edrei. Salcah, the modern Salkhad, was an important place in Roman and mediaeval times. Geshur (2 Sam. xv. 8) and Maacah (2 Sam. x. 8) were Aramaean or Syrian principalities, not Canaanite, presumed to be near the western base of Mount Hermon. half Gilead, the border &c.] i.e. as far as the Jabbok, the border of Sihon, who occupied the other half (see ver. 2). 7-24. Catalogue of the kings vanquished in Western Palestine or Canaan proper. 7. from Baal-gad...unto the mount Halak] cp. xi. 17. The dis- tance is from lat. 33° 15’ N. to about 319 N., say 155 miles. The more usual expression is ‘from Dan to Beersheba.’ Dan is in the same latitude as Baal-gad, and Beersheba at least 10’ further north than Mount Halak. 8. mountains &c.| For these technical terms, compare x. 40, xi. 2,16. A new term is here introduced—the wilderness (midbar). That of Judah is here intended (cp. viii. 15). The expression is explained below, on xv. 61. Hittites, &c.| R.V. Hittite, &. JOSHUA, XII. 9-17 75 the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: 9the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one; 1the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; "the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12the king of Kglon, one ; the king of Gezer, one; 13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Beth-el, one; the king of Tappuah, one; The list is the same as in ix. 1; in iii. 10 the name of the Girgashite is added. 9sqq. This list is only partially coincident with the preceding narrative, but, no doubt, also rests on ancient sources. The order of enumeration seems to follow, approximately at least, that of conquest. Most of the cities are noted in other parts of the Book of Joshua. One or two call for remark here. 13. Geder| This word, meaning ‘wall’ or ‘fortified place,’ appears in Gadeira, the ancient name of Cadiz. The Geder here mentioned has not been identified. If it be the same as the Beth-gader of 1 Chron. ii. 51 it was probably not very far from Beth-lehem and Kirjath-jearim. 14. Hormah] cp. xv. 30, xix. 4; also called Zephath (Judg. i. 17). Many modern scholars seek its site in the modern Esbata, or Sebaita (lat. 30° 52’ N., long. 349 41’ E.), 24 miles N.N.E. from Ain Kudais (Kadesh). Arad] the modern Tell Arad, 18 miles south from Hebron. 15. Adullam] one of the Shephelah towns (xv. 35), mentioned also in Gen. xxxviii. 1; 2 Chron. xi. 7; Neh. xi. 30, is perhaps the modern Deir edh-Dhibban, 5 miles N. from Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin); others have sought it in Khurbet ’Aid el Ma, 64 miles N.E. from Eleutheropolis!. There is reason to think that for ‘cave’ of Adullam in 1 Sam. xxii. 1 we ought to read ‘ hold’; see 1 Sam. xxii. 4,5; also 2 Sam. xxiii. 13 compared with xxiii. 14. In 2 Chron. xi. 7 Adullam is mentioned with Socoh (Shuweikeh; see note on ne LO): 16. Beth-el] See Introd. p. 15. 1 Eleutheropolis, mod. Beit Jibrin, though nowhere mentioned in the Bible, is one of the most important points in the geography of Palestine. It lies about 20 miles to the W. of Hebron, and is a centre from which many distances are measured in the Onomastica or name-lists of Eusebius and Jerome. 76 JOSHUA, XII. 18-24 the king of Hepher, one; 18the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; 1%the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 29the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; 2'the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one; 2%the king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; 24the king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one. 17. Hepher| cp. ‘land of Hepher’ in 1 Kings iv. 10, which seems to include Socoh (see also ch. xv. 35). 18. of Lasharon] rather ‘in Sharon’ (cp. ‘in [of] Carmel,’ ». 22, and ‘in Naphoth Dor,’ v. 23), viz. the Sharon which, according to the Onomastica, stretched between Tabor and the Sea of Galilee. For the Aphek of this Sharon see 1 Sam. xxix. 1; 1 Kings xx. 26, 30. 19. Madon] ep. xi. 1. 21. Taanach, Megiddo| According to ch. xvii. 11, 12; Judg. i. 27, Taanach and Megiddo long remained independent. 22. Kedesh| or Kedesh Naphtali, in the hill country of Naphtali, also known as Kedesh in Galilee, now Kedes. The name implies that it was a sanctuary from very early times. It was the birth- place of Barak (Judg. iv. 6). It lay at a height of 1587 feet, 13 miles 8.W. from Baal-gad (the furthest northern limit of the Israelite territory), and about three miles to the west of the marshy tract at the north end of the waters of Merom. It wasa place of some strategic importance (1 Macc. xi. 63, 73). 28. the nations of Gilgal] R.V. Goiim in Gilgal. The Gilgal here meant is probably neither the well-known Gilgalin the Jordan valley (iv. 19) nor that mentioned in Deut. xi. 30, 2 Kings ii. 2, iv. 38, but a form of the word Galilee. Both words come from the same root; and, for an illustration of their interchangeability, see xv. 7 compared with xviii. 17. The LXX. has ‘king of Gei in Galilee,’ With ‘the nations of Galilee’ may be compared the expression ‘ Galilee of the nations’ in Isa. ix. 1. 24. Trrzah] i.e. ‘ Beauty,’ cp. Cant. vi. 4, conjecturally identi- fied with the modern Taliisa, which lies ‘in a sightly and commanding position,’ 4 miles N.N.E. of Shechem and 6 miles east of Samaria. From the time of Jeroboam I. it was the residence of the kings of Israel (1 Kings xiv. 17, xv. 21, 33) until Omri removed the capital to the still more beautiful Samaria (1 Kings xvi. 23, 24). In the present name-list Tirzah is (with the JOSHUA, XII. 77 possible exception of Tappuah) the only town belonging to the central district of Palestine which afterwards came to be known as the province of Samaria. thirty and one] The LXX. has ‘twenty-nine’—omitting Makkedah (ver. 16) and reckoning ‘the king of Aphek and the king of Lasharon’ as one (‘the king of Aphek of Arok’ [Sharon?]). The discontinuous character of the list fairly represents the imperfect nature of the conquest. A map of Palestine in which the 31 ‘royal cities’ with a circle of surrounding territory should be marked in some distinctive colour would show large gaps and present a singularly mottled appear- ance; this effect would be heightened if the other cities such as Jerusalem, Gezer, Bethshean and the rest, which are known to have continued Canaanite, were indicated in some strongly con- trasted way. Part IJ. Cuaps. XIII.—XXI. Tuer Division or CANAAN. In this ‘Domesday Book of the Conquest of Canaan’ the ex- istence of two distinct narratives, which have been editorially united, can be very clearly traced (compare Introduction). Accord- ing to the first of these the conquest of Western Palestine was brought about (so far as it actually was accomplished) mainly by the independent action of separate clans and tribes. Thus, while Joshua and the main body of the people had their head-quarters on the western border (say in Gilgal, xiv. 6), we read that the tribe of Judah went up under the leadership of Caleb and took possession of the territory around Hebron, while the tribe of Joseph similarly went up and seized the central districts about Beth-el. The other seven tribes still delaying, Joshua told off three men from each of them to go and view the land still remaining, divided the territory reported on by the surveyors into seven portions, and allocated these by lot at Shiloh. Each tribe then went and took possession, more or less complete, of the district thus assigned to it, Joshua himself receiving a special inheritance in Mount Ephraim. With this account may be compared what wereadin Judg.i. According to the second narrative the entire land was completely subjugated by the undivided forces of the nation under the personal leadership of Joshua, whereupon the tabernacle was removed to Shiloh, and here Joshua along with Eleazar and twelve princes of the tribes divided the whole by lot among the nine tribes, setting apart six cities as cities of refuge and forty-eight cities with adjacent pasture lands for the priests and Levites. In the first of these documents the territories of the respective tribes or clans were doubtless described with some detail, and the most important towns named. Of such descriptions and name-lists only some fragments have survived. The corresponding descriptions of the second document 78 JOSHUA, XIII. 1-3 1-32. Division of the Eastern Territory. 13 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the Lorp said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. % This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, 3from Sihor, are partially preserved in chaps. xv.—xxi. They are fullest in what relates to Judah and Benjamin, most defective as concerns Ephraim and Manasseh. This last circumstance may be due to the fact that the writer of the document belonged to the southern kingdom; or the explanation may be that the editor, working long after the fall of the northern kingdom, was chiefly concerned to preserve what seemed to be of present interest in his own day. Ch. xiii. 1-32. Division of the Eastern Territory. Joshua is commanded to divide the land among the nine tribes and a half. Description of the territories which though still unpossessed are to be taken into account in the allocation. Re- capitulation of the conquests and division of territory in Eastern Palestine under Moses. 1. stricken] Heb. ‘ advanced.’ 2. borders| i.e. ‘regions.’ Philistines] an alien people who migrated from Caphtor (Amos ix. 7, perhaps Cyprus or Caria), seem to have arrived in Canaan not long before the Israelite invasion from the east. They are perhaps the same as the Pulosata who appear as enemies of the Egyptians in Canaan in the time of Rameses IIT. (cp. Introd. p. 9). Geshuri] R.V. the Geshurites. These, according to 1 Sam. xxvii. 8, lived in the desert between Palestine and Egypt. Here we learn that their country extended from ‘the Nile-arm which is before Egypt,’ i.e. from the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile (not the Rhinocolura or ‘ brook of Egypt,’ ch. xv. 47). Hast of this lies a region of salt marshes—the Serbonitis of the ancients—through which the highway from Egypt to Palestine was carried at one point on a dam (Strabo xvi. 32). The name Geshurites seems to be derived from a word meaning ‘a dam,’ ‘a bridge,’ which favours the view that their seats were among the salt marshes. These Geshurites are to be distinguished from those mentioned in xii. 5, xiii. 13, who are to be sought in the north, perhaps about the marshes of the waters of Merom. 3. Sihor] R.V. The Shihor, literally the black or muddy water, the name of the Nile in Isa. xxiii. 3; Jer. ii. 18. See pre- JOSHUA, XIII. 4-7 79 which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of EKkron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites: 4from the south, all the land of the Canaan- ites,and Mearah that 7s beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites: Sand the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal-gad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath. All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee. 7Now therefore ceding note. The R.V. margin identifies the Shihor of Egypt here (cp. 1 Chr. xiii. 5) with ‘ the brook (nahal) of Egypt’ in Numb. xxxiv. 53 Josh. xv. 47. Canaanite| Canaan is here reckoned to include Philistia and the desert as far as Pelusium. Similarly Strabo (xvi. 33) makes Phoenicia extend as far as Pelusium. five lords} Gaza (x. 41); Ashdod (xi. 22); Gath (xi. 22); Ashkelon, mod. Askalan, on the sea-coast, 12 miles north from Gaza; and Ekron (xv. 11, 47) modern ‘Akir, the most northerly of the Philis- tine towns, in 319 515 N. lat., 5 miles east from Jabneh and 9 miles east from the sea-coast. Avites: from the south, all &c.] RB.V. Avvim, on the south: all. The Avites, as we learn from Deut. ii. 23, lived (like the Hezronites) in palisaded villages as far as Gaza, and were destroyed by the Caphtorites (i.e. Philistines, Am. ix. 7). 4. Mearah that is beside &c.| R.V. Mearah that belongeth to. Mearah, i.e. ‘the cave,’ probably denotes the district of Lebanon to the east of Sidon, now called Mughar Jezzin, which is full of caves. Aphek| Aphaca, the modern Afka, at the source of the Adonis (Nahr Ibrahim). 5. Giblites}| R.V. Gebalites. Gebal or Byblos is the modern Jebeil on the coast to the north of Beyrout. Lebanon, toward the sunrising] i.e. the eastern slope of Lebanon, to the foot of Hermon, including the basin of the Litany, and the upper part of that of the Orontes as far as the frontier of Hamath (Epiphaneia). 6. all the Sidonians] i.e., as we have seen, all the Phoenicians, —Gebal and Aphek being included. The possessions of the children of Israel do not appear ever to have actually reached the ideal limits here indicated. 80 JOSHUA, XIII. 8-13 divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh, 2 with whom the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their in- heritance, which Moses gave them, beyond Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of the Lorp gave them; 9from Aroer, that is upon the bank of the - river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon; and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, unto the border of the children of Ammon; "and Gilead, and the border of the Ge- shurites and Maachathites, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan unto Salcah; 12all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite, and cast them out. 13(Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachath- ites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell 8-14. The Boundaries of the territory of the Two and a Half Tribes east of Jordan: cp. xii. 1-5; Deut. iii. 8-13. 8. with whom] R.V. with him. Before these words must originally have stood some such expression as: ‘For the half-tribe of Manasseh and.’ 9. bank...midst of the river] see note on xii. 1. The expression is fuller here than in xii. 2 or in Deut. ii. 36. plain] R.Y. margin ‘table land,’ Hebr. Mishor (cp. vv. 16, 21). The high level plateau to the north of the Arnon, part of what is now known as the Belka, is intended. It originally belonged to the Moabites, from whom it was taken by Sihon (Numb. xxi. 26). Out of his hands in turn it passed to the Israelites, between whom and the Moabites and Ammonites it was long an object of struggle (see note on ver. 15 sqq.). Medeba (modern Mddaba) (2560 feet), lay about 6 miles to the south of Heshbon, Sihon’s capital. Dibon (Dhibin) about 3 miles to the north of Aroer, though assigned to Reuben, was ‘ built’ or rather fortified by Gad (Numb. xxxii. 34), and is hence called Dibon-gad (Numb. xxxiii. 45, 46). It was at Dhiban that the famous Moabite Stone or Stone of King Mesha was discovered in 1868; from this monument it appears that Dibon was again Moabite in the 9th century B.c, 10-13. Cp. xii. 4, 5. JOSHUA, XIII. 14-17 8i among the Israelites until this day.) 14Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lorp God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them. 15 And Moses gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according to their families. 16And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba; 17 Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain ; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, 14. Cp. ver. 33, xiv. 3, xviii. 7; Numb. xviii. 20. For the dues paid by sacrificers to the Levitical priests see Deut. xviii. 1 sqq. 15-23. Delimitation of the Reubenite Territory: ep. Numb. xxxii. 37, 38. It consisted of the whole plain from the northern edge of the valley of the Arnon, as far as to Heshbon (about 24 miles); on the west its boundary was the Dead Sea and the Jordan for the last two or three miles of its course. On the east there is no suggestion of a frontier; of the cities that have been identified none lies more than 18 miles to the east of the Jordan. The district thus indicated was for the most part well adapted for sheep-farming (2 Kings iii. 4), and some parts of it were celebrated for their vines (Isa. xvi. 8). To the list of Reubenite places here given might be added Nebo, Elealeh, and others (Numb. xxxii. 37, 38; Jer. xlviii.), unless perhaps they are already enumerated under other obscurer names (cp. Numb. xxxii. 38). Some of the places, such as Dibon, are elsewhere (Numb. xxxii. 34) assigned to Gad. Heshbon itself is Gadite in Josh. xxi. 39. None of them figure in Israelitish history. Many of them (Dibon, Medeba, Baal-meon, Kirjathaim, Jahaz, Aroer, Bamoth-baal [Beth Bamoth]) were Moabite before the time of Omri, and became so again in the time of Mesha (about 850 B.c.: see his inscription); Medeba, Heshbon, Jahaz, Sibmah were Moabite in Isaiah’s time also (about 730 B.c. Isa. xv., xvi.), in Jeremiah’s (Jer. xlviii.), and in Ezekiel’s (Beth- jeshimoth, Baal-meon, Kirjathaim: Ezek. xxv. 9). Within the district lay the fortress of Machaerus, mentioned frequently in later Jewish history and especially as the place of the imprisonment of John the Baptist. 16. Aroer] see xii. 2. plain] i.e. ‘table-land’ as above. 17. Bamoth-baal] i.e. ‘the high places of Baal’ (Numb. xxi. 19, 20, xxi. 41), supposed to have been somewhere on or near the Jebel ‘Attarfis, about half-way between Dibon and Medeba. JOSHUA 6 82 JOSHUA, XIII. 18-23 and Beth-baal-meon, 18and Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, 19and Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zareth- shahar in the mount of the valley, 270and Beth-peor, and Ashdoth-pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, ?!and all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country. 2%Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them. 23 And the Beth-baal-meon| Baal-meon (Numb. xxxii. 38), the modern Ma‘in (2861 feet), 5 miles S.W. from Medeba. 18. Jahazah (R.V. Jahaz), Kedemoth, Mephaath, remain un- identified. They are mentioned also in xxi, 36,37. According to Numb. xxi. 23 Jahaz was the scene of the decisive battle between Sihon and the hosts of Israel. The name Kedemoth is suggestive — perhaps of an easterly site. 19. Kirjathaim, the modern Kereyat, 7 miles N.N.W. from Dibon. See Jer. xlviii. 1, 23; Ezek. xxv. 9. Sibmah (Numb. xxxii. 838: Sebam in Numb. xxxii. 3), half a mile from Heshbon, was famous for its vineyards (Isa. xvi. 8, 9; Jer. xlviii. 32). Zareth-shahar (R.V. Zereth-shahar), possibly Zara, near the shore of the Dead Sea, 8 miles west from Kereyat. the mount of the valley| The precise meaning of the expression is unknown. The Jordan valley is intended; see ver. 27. 20. Beth-peor| i.e. ‘ house (or temple) of (Baal) Peor’ (Deut. iii. 29, iv. 46, xxxiv. 6), according to the Onomastica 6 Roman miles above Livias or Beth-haram. Ashdoth-pisgah| See xii. 3 and cp. note on x. 40; of course not a town, but only a strongly marked natural feature serving purposes of delimitation. | Beth-jeshimoth] See note on xii. 3. 21. plain] see above. Midian] One of the nomad people of North Arabia, children of Keturah (‘ Incense’), Abraham’s wife, related to yet distinct from the Ishmaelite Arabs. The names of the chiefs are given also in Numb. xxxi. 8. dukes| R.V. ‘the princes [or vassals] of Sihon, that dwelt in the land.’ 22. Balaam| This reference is from Numb. xxxi. 8. He is here called ‘soothsayer’ or diviner (Heb. Késém: cp. 1 Sam. vi. 2), the usual name applied to the prophets of the heathen (Gr. mantis). JOSHUA, XIII. 24-26 83 border of the children of Reuben was Jordan, and the border thereof. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities and villages thereof. 24 And Moses gave inheritance unto the tribe of Gad, even unto the children of Gad according to their families. 25 And their coast was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah; 26and from Heshbon unto Ra- 24-28. The Territory of Gad. It is impossible to trace any definite boundaries from the data here given, but we may take Beth-haram (nearly opposite Jericho) and Heshbon as representing the southern limit. If by ‘ Aroer that is before Rabbah’ we are to understand some place to the eastward of Rabbath-Ammon, the capital of the Ammonite kingdom, it is certain that this ideal limit was seldom if ever actually reached; no other town, at least, within Gadite territory, of which the site is known, lay nearly so far to the east. Northward the border is said to have extended as far as to the Sea of Galilee, but this if ever realised can only have held good with reference to the Jordan valley; on the Gileadite plateau the most northerly point of the Gadites seems to have been Mahanaim, or, approximately, the northern bank of the Jabbok. In Numb. xxxii. 34 Dibon, Ataroth and Aroer are all assigned to Gad. Dibon, as we have seen, is in ver. 17 assigned to Reuben, and Ataroth, the modern Attarfis, though also assigned to Gad in the inscription of Mesha, is surrounded by Reubenite towns. 25. Jazer|] Cp. xxi. 39, and ‘the land of Jazer’ Numb. xxxii. 1. Probably Khirbet es-Sireh, 8 miles west from Rabbath-Ammon, and 11 miles north from Heshbon. all the cities of Gilead] i.e. of Gilead south of the Jabbok: cp. Deut. iii. 12. The northern half (ver. 31) is mentioned in Deut. iii. 13, 15. half...Ammon] i.e. so far as it had been in the hands of Sihon. Aroer that is before (i.e. to the east of) Rabbah] so described to distinguish it from the Aroer of ver. 16. It is mentioned in Judg. xi. 33 (‘from Aroer to Minnith’) and in LXX. of Numb. xxi. 26 (‘from Aroer even unto Arnon’). Rabbah| Rabbath-Ammon or Rabbah of the children of Ammon (Deut. iii. 11; 2 Sam. xii. 26) lay in the deep fertile valley of the upper Jabbok in 35° 46’ E. long. It was besieged and taken by the Israelites in David’s time. Under the Ptolemies it was known as Philadelphia. There are still extensive ruins (at the modern Amman). 6—2 84. JOSHUA, XIII. 27-29 math-mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir; ?7and in the valley, Beth-aram, and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, Jordan and his border, even unto the edge of the sea of Cinnereth on the other side Jordan eastward. 28This is the inheritance of the children of Gad after their families, the cities, and their villages. 29 And Moses gave inheritance unto the half tribe of 26. Ramath-mizpeh (Ramoth-Gilead, Deut. iv. 43; Josh. xx. 8, xxi. 88 &c.; Ramah, 2 Kings viii. 29; Mizpah, Judg. x. 17, xi. 11, 34; Hos. v.13; Mizpeh of Gilead, Judg. xi. 29) is mentioned in ch. xx. 8 as a Levitical city and in xxi. 36 as a city of refuge. It figures largely in the history of the wars of the kings of Israel with the Syrians of Damascus. According to Eusebius it lay 15 Roman miles to the west of Rabbath-Ammon. The site has mot been quite satisfactorily identified, but may be taken as repre- sented more or less exactly by the modern Es-Salt (2900 feet), 10 miles S. from the Jabbok and 11 E. from the Jordan, the capital of the Belka and a seat of some commerce. Betanah, 3 miles W., may be Betonim. Mahanaim]| xxi. 38, men- tioned in the history of Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 2), was for a short period the capital of Saul’s dynasty; it was also David's place of refuge during the revolt of Absalom. It lay north of the Jabbok, and not very far from the Jordan; the site has not been identified satis- factorily ; Mahneh, suggested by Robinson, appears to be too far north. Debdir| Hebr. LDBR, perhaps the Lodebar of 2 Sam. ix. 4, 5, xvii. 27, but the site is unknown. 27. the valley| i.e. of the Jordan. Beth-aram| more correctly Beth-haram (R.Y.) or Beth-haran (Numb. xxxii. 36), in later times Bet Ramta or Bethramphtha, the Livias of the Onomastica, the modern Tell er-Rameh, 6 miles east from the Jordan, nearly opposite Jericho. Beth-nimrah or Nimrah (Numb. xxxii: 3, 36), the modern Nimrin, on the brink of the Jordan valley, 5 miles north from Beth-haram. Succoth| Unidentified. From Gen. xxxiii.17 we infer that it lay somewhere on the line between the south side of the Jabbok and Shechem ; cp. Judg. viii. 5-17 and 1 Kings vii. 46. Zaphon| Unknown; see Judg. xii. 1 ‘ passed to Zaphon’ R.V. marg. 29-32. Territory of the Half Tribe of Manasseh eastward. This is much more extensive than those of Reuben and Gad combined, including, as it does, half Gilead (from Mahanaim north- JOSHUA, XIII. 380-83 85 Manasseh: and this was the possession of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families. 9° And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, threescore cities: 31and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were pertaining unto the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even to the one half of the children of Machir by their families. 32These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward. %3 But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the Lorp God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them. ward) and all Bashan (the kingdom of Og),—in other words, extending from near the Jabbok (329 15’ N. lat.) to the base of Hermon (33° 15’ N.) and from the Jordan to Salcah (82 miles). 30. from Mahanaim| Here the whole country north of the Jabbok (Mahanaim) as far as the roots of Hermon, in other words the ancient kingdom of Og, is included under the name of Bashan. Ver. 31, like xii. 5, on the other hand distinguishes the region of Ashtaroth and Edrei (Bashan proper) from the southern part of Og’s kingdom, which is properly part of Gilead. (We must trans- late ‘even half Gilead’ in ver. 31). Perhaps the two verses, thus differing in their use of geographical terms, are not by the same hand. towns of Jair] Literally ‘hamlets’ or ‘ open settle- ments’ (Heb. Havvoth), of Jair,—consisting probably to a large extent of groups of tents scattered over the pastoral country. Their number fluctuates; in Judg. x. 4 it is given as thirty. 31. and half Gilead] ‘even half Gilead’: see preceding note. to the one half of the children of Machir| Unless for Machir we here read (without any authority) Manassch, this clause ought most probably to be regarded as an editorial gloss, having reference to Numb. xxvi. 29 sqq. (cp. Josh. xvii. 2), where some of the children of Machir have their settlements in Canaan. 33. See ver. 14. 86 JOSHUA, XIV. 1-5 xiy. 1-xvii. 18. Division of the Western Territory. 14 And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them. ?By lot was their inheritance, as the Lorp commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe. 3 For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and a half tribe on the other side Jordan: but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them. *For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance. 5 As the Lorp commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land. Chs. xiv. 1-xvii. 18. Division of the Western Territory. XIV., XV. Division of Canaan Proper among the Nine and a Half Tribes. The lot of Judah. xiv. 1-5, Principle of the division; 6-15, Caleb and Othniel receive Hebron and Debir. xy. 1-12, Delimitation of Judah; 13-19, Caleb and Othniel; 21-63, List of cities of Judah according to districts. The following passages belong to the younger or priestly narrator: xiv. 1-5, xv. 1-12, 20-25, 29-44, 48-62. On the other hand xiv. 6-15, xv. 13-19, 63 are derived from older sources. Ch. xv. 26-28 and xv. 45-47 have been added by the editor. Between xv. 59 and xv. 60 something has fallen out. XIV. 1. countries] R.V. inheritances. Eleazar the priest] ch. xxiv. 33; cp. Numb. xxxiv. 17. fathers| R.V. fathers’ houses or clans. See Ex. vi. 25. distributed...inherttance] R.V. distributed unto them, by the lot of their inheritance. 2. By lot} see vii. 18. the nine tribes, and for the half tribe] Reckoning Ephraim and Manasseh as two, and excluding Levi. 4, therefore] R.V. and. suburbs] R.V. marg. ‘ pasture- lands.’ cattle and...substance]| a pleonastic expression; cp. Gen. xxxiv. 23. In Hebrew property often means cattle—the chief element of wealth (e.g. 1 Sam. xxv. 2; Jobi. 3). JOSHUA, XIV. 6-11 87 6Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lorp said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea. 7Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lorp sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. 8Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lorp my God. 9% And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed ‘the Lorp my God. 1°And now behold, the Lorp hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lorp spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet 6-15. The possession of Caleb. This narrative (cp. Judg. i.) is from the older source. Hebron is given by Joshua to Caleb (see ver. 13 compared with the expression in xiii. 15 &c.), not assigned by lot. 6. in Gilgal]| The casting of lots referred to in ver. 2 was at Shiloh (see xxi. 2). Caleb| son of Jephunneh, a ‘ prince’ of the tribe of Judah, but of Kenizzite extraction, had been one of the twelve spies (xiv.7; Numb. xiii. 6), and according to Numb. xxxiv. 19 was one of the twelve men designated by Moses to ‘ divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.’ Kenezite| R.V. Kenizzite (ver. 14; Numb. xxxii. 12) or son of Kenaz (cp. xv. 17). The Kenizzites are mentioned in Gen. xv. 19, 20 among the ten nationalities whose territory was given to the children of Abraham. Kenaz is himself mentioned in Gen. xxxvi. 11 and elsewhere as a descendant of Abraham (son of Eliphaz, the Edomite). The Kenizzites like the Kenites seem to have had their seat somewhere in the south of Palestine, and though of Edomite descent to have become incorporated with the tribe of Judah. the thing that the LORD said] Cp. Deut. i. 23-39. Kadesh- barnea] See x. 41. 7. as it was in mine heart] i.e. I spoke as I thought. 10. fourscore and jive] The only expression that gives us any clue (cp. note on xi. 18) to the duration of the wars of conquest. 88 JOSHUA, XIV. 12-XYV. 1 Iam as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: asmy strength was then, even soismy strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. 12Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lorp spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lorp will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lorp said. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. 1 Hebron there- fore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephun- neh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lorp God of Israel. 15 And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba; which Arba was a’ great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war. l 5, This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; even to the border of - Edom, the wilderness of Zin southward was the utter- 12. thow heardest in that day| This expression addressed to Joshua, and implying that he had not seen, is one of several phrases which suggest that in the source from which this narrative is taken Joshua was not mentioned as one of the spies: cp. Numb. xiii. 30, xiv. 24 where Caleb only is named. uf so be &c.] R.V. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out. Compare and contrast x. 36, 37. 15. agreat man] R.V. the greatest man: cp. xv. 13, xxi. 11. In all three passages the LXX. has: ‘it was the metropolis of the Anakim.’ the land had rest from war] an editorial remark to prepare for xv. 1 sqq. XV. 1-12. The boundaries of Judah, although more clearly described than those of any other tribe save Benjamin, are yet for considerably more than half of their extent impossible to lay down in a map with any continuity or precision. That on the east—‘ the salt sea, even unto the end of Jordan’ (ver. 5)—is of course perfectly definite; and that on the north, passing often through populous territory, and corresponding no doubt in part to what afterwards became the frontier between two vigorous rival kingdoms, can in many places be pretty clearly made out. ‘To thesouth, on the other JOSHUA, XV. 2-4 89 most part of the south coast. 2And their south border was from the shore of the salt sea, from the bay that looketh southward: 3and it went out to the south side to Maaleh-acrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadesh-barnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa: 4from thence it passed toward Azmon, and went out unto the river of Egypt; and the goings out of that coast were at the sea: this hand, we have almost no means of identifying any of the inter- mediate points that lie between ‘the shore of the salt sea from the bay that looketh southward’ and ‘ the brook of Egypt.’ Maaleh- Akrabbim, Zin, and Kadesh-barnea are all of them uncertain, and _ Hezron, Adar, Karkaa, and Azmon are quite unknown. Although we have reason to believe that the dry ‘Negeb’ was hardly so arid in those days as at present, it is probable that even then the popu- lation south of the parallel of Beersheba was but sparse and almost wholly nomadic, so that the frontier may be said to have advanced or retreated from year to year and from century to century, ac- cording to the rainfall. The surface of the country presents no very prominent natural features such as are fitted to mark a frontier; the transition between the Negeb of Judah and the non- Israelitish portion of the southern desert is gradual and imper- ceptible. Finally, on the west, although the border of Judah, ideally considered, was unto ‘the brook of Egypt’ and ‘ the great sea,’ there lay between it and the Mediterranean the land of the Philis- tines, not to speak of the territory of Simeon, neither of which have we any means of accurately determining. 2. their south border] cp. Numb. xxxiv. 3-5, and Ezek. xlvii. 19, xlviii. 28. bay] Heb. ‘ tongue’; so also ver. 5. 3. to the south side to Maaleh-acrabbim] R.V. southward of the ascent of Akrabbim. Of this ‘ascent of Akrabbim,’ i.e. ‘ of scorpions,’ nothing is known except that it must have been one of the passes out of the southern Arabah (i.e. the continuation of the trough of the Dead Sea southwards towards the Gulf of Akaba) into the waste mountain country to the west. Zin} unde- termined. on the south side unto] R.V. by the south of Kadesh-barnea. See x. 41. fetched a compass] RKR.V. turned about. 4. river of Egypt] R.V. brook of Egypt, i.e. the Rhino- colura or Wady el-‘Arish; cp. xv. 47. A different ‘outgoing’ is given in xiii. 3, 90 JOSHUA, XV. 5, 6 shall be your south coast. 5 And the east border was the salt sea, even unto the end of Jordan. And their border in the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the uttermost part of Jordan: Sand the border went up to Beth-hogla, and passed along by the north of Beth- arabah ; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan 5-12. With the account of the north border of Judah should be compared that of the south border of Benjamin, which is given in xviii. 15-20. Starting from the Dead Sea, at the end where it receives the waters of the Jordan, the boundary went up by the valley of Achor (near Jericho), thus including in Judean territory a small corner of the Ghor (Arabah) with the town of Beth-arabah (perhaps on the shore of the Dead Sea, at the copious fountain of Ain Feshkha), but leaving Beth- hoglah (with its fine fountain still known as ‘Ain Hajlah, i.e. ‘Partridge Spring’) to the Benjamites. From xviii. 18 (where ‘side,’ twice, should be ‘ridge’), it would seem that the course of the boundary in this part was determined by the line of dunes or low hills that intersect this part of the Ghor. The stone of Bohan isnot known. From the valley of Achor the boundary strikes up the steep mountain, trending northwards to the Gilgal (stone circle or menhir) which stands opposite the ascent of Adummim—the sharp rise near the middle of the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, in wild country, where the parable of the Good Samaritan is localised —on the south side of the Wady. Thus the border, roughly speaking, runs parallel with the Jerusalem-Jericho road, following the line of hills south of the road. As all this land is waste, the course of the boundary is marked by no town. It reaches cultiva- tion again only at ‘ Kn-shemesh’ (‘ Fountain of the Sun’), afountain which must be identified with the well Hod near Bethany, the last on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho before entering the dry desert. En-rogel (2 Sam. xvii. 17 ; 1 Kings i. 9) is the modern Bir Ayytib, below the junction of the valleys of Kidron and Hinnom. From En-rogel the border went up either the Tyropoeon valley (afterwards included within Jerusalem) or the valley that lies to the west of the modern town, here called ‘the uttermost part of the valley of Rephaim,’ and over the high ground to the north-west, which rises nearly 300 feet above Jerusalem. By the ‘ fountain of the water of Nephtoah’ the modern Bir Lifta, two miles to the north-west of Jerusalem, is indicated. Mount Ephron is unknown, but the line must have run along the hills to the north of the present Jaffa road, past Lifta, as far as to Baalah or Kirjath- jearim. Here it ‘compassed,’ i.e. made a bend, westward towards JOSHUA, XY. 7-11 91 the son of Reuben: 7and the border went up toward Debir from the valley of Achor, and so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is before the going up to Adummim, which is on the south side of the river: and the border passed towards the waters of En-shemesh, and the goings out thereof were at En-rogel: 8and the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward: 9and the border was drawn from the top of the hill unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount Ephron; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjath-jearim: 10and the border compassed from Baalah westward unto mount Seir, and passed along unto the side of mount Jearim, which is Chesalon, on the north side, and went down to Beth-shemesh, and passed on to Timnah: "and the border went out unto the side of Ekron northward: and the border was drawn to Shicron, and passed along to mount Baalah, and went out unto Jabneel; and the goings out of the border were Mount Seir, perhaps the rocky point at Saris two miles west by south from Kirjath-jearim, and passed along the ridge known as Mount Jearim or Chesalon (Kesla) keeping always to the north side of it and following its gradual descent to Beth-shemesh (1450 feet in nine miles) or ‘Ain Shems and Timnah or Tibneh, two miles further to the west. From this point the border took a wide bend north-westward, past Shicron (unknown) and Baalah (unknown) to Ekron (‘Akir) and Jabneel (or Jabneh, now Yebna), and thence to the sea. This wide bend, as a theoretical boundary, brings in the whole of the Philistine territory, which, however, practically re- mained Philistine down to the time of the Maccabees at least. 7 toDebir| It is doubtful whether a definite locality is intended here. Perhaps we ought to read ‘went up to the wilderness (mid- bar) from the valley of Achor.’ 8. stde| Heb. ‘shoulder,’ a technical expression, perhaps best rendered ‘ridge,’ used also in ver. 10 and in xviii. 12. 92 JOSHUA, XY. 12-19 at the sea. 12And the west border was to the great sea, and the coast thereof. This is the coast of the children of Judah round about according to their families. 13 And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lorp to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city 7s Hebron. 14And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. 15 And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher. 16 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. 17And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to | wife. 18And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? 19Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs 13-19. The portion of Caleb and the Calebites (see note on xiv. 6). These verses, which occur almost verbatim in Judg. i. 10-20, belong to one of the older sources: they record one instance, known to the narrator, in which the assignment of territory had not been made by lot. 14. These names occur in Numb. xiii. 22. 15. Debir] See xi. 21, and note on ver. 19 below. 16. Cp. 1 Sam. xvii. 25. 17. son of Kenaz] i.e. Kenizzite. brother] See note on ii. 12. Othniel reappears in Judg. iii. 9. 18. came unto him] viz. to her husband. moved] i.e. instigated. a field] i.e. a tract of land (as a dowry). lighted &c.| and assumed the attitude of a suppliant. 19. Who] R.Y. And she. blessing] i.e. a present: ep. Gen. xxxiii. 11; 2 Kings v. 15. for thow &c.| ‘thou hast set me in the [waterless] land of the Negeb; give me therefore,’ &c. Debir is here reckoned to the Negeb, while in ver. 49 it belongs to the Hill-country ; probably it may be taken as approximately mark- ing the border. springs] or ‘reservoirs ’—of course along with adjacent land which they rendered tillable. JOSHUA, XV. 20, 21 93 of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs. 20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. 21 And the utter- 20-63. The cities of Judah. The Judah thus defined as ex- tending from the Jordan valley to the Mediterranean and from some point south of Kadesh-barnea (30° 31’ N.) to the sand dunes north of Jabneh (31° 56’ N.), thus having a maximum length and breadth of at least 94 miles, is in the latter part of this chapter and in other places in the Bible regarded as divided into four distinct regions: the Negeb or South, the Lowland or Shephelah, the Hill-country (Har), and the Wilderness (Midbar). Of these the most extensive and at thesame time the least valuable is the Negeb (lit. ‘ Dryness’), consisting of all the Judean territory tothe south of (say) 31986’N., or ‘the mountain ridge which commences not far from [the Judean] Carmel and runs W.S.W. to the latitude of Beersheba’ (Robinson). As the name implies it is comparatively waterless, and such vege- tation as it has is chiefly seen during the short spring season; on the south it imperceptibly merges into the stony desert. In ancient times it seems to have been more fertile than at present, and at several places there are traces of sedentary populations; but these can never have been large and most of the inhabitants were, as all now are, essentially nomadic. The Shephelah or Lowland, the most valuable part of the Judean territory, remained almost con- tinuously for the greater part of its extent in the hands of the Philistines. The word is sometimes translated Plain, but not quite correctly; in point of fact the region is for the most part of a gently undulating character (cp. ‘ the shoulder of the Philistines’ : Isa. xi. 14). It is very rich in pasture meadows, cornfields, olive- yards, vineyards and gardens, and has a large number of towns and villages, almost invariably perched on comparatively elevated sites. About 16 or 20 miles from the sea-coast begin the ‘ slopes’ (x. 40) which mark the transition from the Shephelah to the Hill- country of Judah. The backbone of the Hill-country consists of a limestone ridge, separating the waters flowing to the Mediterranean from those which drain eastwards to the Dead Sea; it attains a maximum elevation of over 3000 feet about Hebron. The hills are sometimes bare but more often covered with herbage and shrubbery ; the lower slopes are admirably adapted for the culture of the vine, and the valleys are often very fertile. The Wilderness of Judah consists of the eastern slope of the central ridge. The descent is very steep, and, except along the crest of the ridge and at a few oases where there are springs near the edge of the Dead Sea, almost 94 JOSHUA, XY. 22-82 most cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, 22and Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, 23and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan, 24Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, 25and Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is Hazor, 26 Amam, and Shema, and. Moladah, ?7and Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth- palet, 28and Hazar-shual, and Beersheba, and Bizjoth- jah, 29 Baalah, and Iim, and Azem, 2%and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, 31and Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah, 32and Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages. * absolutely bare and barren. To this region belong the wildernesses of Tekoa (2 Chron. xx. 20), Ziph (1 Sam. xxiii. 14 sq., xxvi. 2), Maon (1 Sam. xxiii. 24 sq.) and Engedi(1 Sam. xxiv.1). Thecities of Judah are here enumerated in successive groups under these four main subdivisions. The word ‘city’ (‘Ir) is used as opposed to ‘open village.’ Originally it means a watchtower, but is com- prehensively applied to any protected place, from a camp to a fortress. Cain built a ‘city’ for himself (Gen. iv. 17), and the meaning of the word is further illustrated by Numb. xiii. 19 and 2 Kings xvii. 9. 20-32. Cities of Judah in the Negeb. Their number is given as 29 in ver. 32, but in the present text 36 can be counted. The discrepancy is due to (1) the introduction into the original text of five additional names from Neh. xi. 26, 27 [Shema (=Jeshua), Moladah, Bethpalet, Hazar-shual, Beersheba], and of the name Bizjothjah (ver. 28) which is a false reading for the word meaning ‘and her villages’; (2) the separation of Ain-Rimmon into two names. The cities are arranged in four groups, those belonging to each group being joined together by the conjunction ‘and.’ The order of enumeration is apparently from east to west. Of the whole number only three can be held to have been satis- factorily identified. These are: Moladah, the modern Tell Milh, lat. 319 13’ N., long. 35° 1’ E., about 16 miles S.S.W. from Hebron; Beersheba, modern Bir es-Seba, on the Wady es-Seba, 28 miles S.W. from Hebron; and Ain-Rimmon, modern Umm er-Ramamin, 18 miles S.W. from Hebron. For Hormah,see xii.14. Most of the others are beyond the reach even of conjecture; they were probably little more than watchtowers, or fortified camps. To the list JOSHUA, XY. 33-38 95 33 And in the valley, Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah, 384and Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam, 35 Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah, °6and Sharaim, and Adithaim,and Gederah, and Gederothaim ; fourteen cities with their villages. 87 Zenan, and Hada- shah, and Migdal-gad, $8 and Dilean, and Mizpeh, and ought probably to be added the name of Arad. Observe the pre- valence of the word Hazor (Hazor-hadattah, i.e. [in Aramaic] New Hazor, Hazar-gaddah, Hazar-shual), or Hezron (Kerioth-hezron, which is Hazor). It probably corresponds not to the Arabic hisar (‘fort’) but to Arab. hazira (‘ sheepfold’)—an enclosure of thorny branches or of stone. The pastoral Negeb was the region of the Hezronites or dwellers in such hazérim (Gen. xxv. 16, R.V. ‘ their villages, and. .their encampments’). 33-47. Cities of Judah in the Shephelah. These are arranged in four groups (144164943). For the most part they remain un- identified. Some of them (Ekron, Ashdod, Gaza) we know to have been continuously held by the Philistines, none of the others which have been with certainty identified lay less than 12 miles from the sea (Eglon), and some of them (Eshtaol, Zorah), it would seem, lay rather to the north of the frontier traced in ver. 5-12. 36. jfourteen| There are 15 names, but Gederothaim ought to be omitted (so in the LXX.), as merely a repetition or variant of Gederah. The cities of this group, so far as identified, lay in the extreme north-east of the Shephelah, immediately under, or on, the ‘slopes’ (see x. 40). Hshtaol is the modern Esht‘, where there are Roman remains, 878 feet above sea- level, and 24 miles N.K. from Zoreah. Zoreah or Zorah (xix. 41, cp. Judg. xiii. 2), the modern Sar‘a, has a commanding site, 1170 feet above sea-level, on the north side of the Wady Surar, 14 miles W. from Jerusalem. According to1 Chron. ii. 53 the Zorathites and Eshtaolites are sons of Kirjath-jearim. See also 2 Chron. xi. 10; Neh. xi. 29; 1 Chron. iv. 2. Zanoah, mod. Zani‘, four miles south by east from Zorah, and 1353 feet above sea-level. Hnam(the Enaim of Gen. xxxviii. 14, 21, R.V.) lay between Adullam and Timnah. Jarmuth (see x. 3), less than 5 miles south from Zorah and 1 mile 8.W. from Zanoah ; it is 1455 feet above sea-level. Socoh (2 Chron. xi. 7), mod. Esh-Shuweikeh (1145 feet), 2 miles S.W. from Jarmuth. Azekah. See x.10. To this group of towns would naturally belong Beth-shemesh (‘Ain Shems), though not here included in it (see xv. 10). It lies (917 feet) nearly two miles south from Zorah on the opposite side of the W. Surar; ‘a noble site for a city—a low plateau at the junction of two fine plains’ (Robinson). 96 JOSHUA, XV. 39-53 Joktheel, 39 Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon, 40 and Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish, 44and Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages. 42 Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan, 43 and Jiphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib, 44and Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their vil- lages. 45 Ekron, with her towns and her villages: 46 from Ekron even unto the sea, all that Jay near Ash- dod, with their villages: 47 Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof. 48 And in the mountains, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh, 49and Dannah, and Kirjath-sannah, which is Debir, 5°and Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim, 5land Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages. 52 Arab, and Dumah, and Eshean, 53and Janum, 41. sixteen cities} This group lay apparently more to the south and west than the first. The only certain identifications are Lachish (x. 32), Hglon (x. 3) and perhaps Lahmam or Lahmas (El-Lahm, 24 miles 8. from Eleutheropolis). 44. nine] Of these only one—Mareshah—has been quite cer- tainly determined; it is the modern Merdsh, about a mile to the south of Eleutheropolis. ther is perhaps the modern Khirbet el-’Atr, one mile to the north-west of Eleutheropolis. For Libnah, see x. 29. 45-47. Cp. ver.12. These verses are supposed by some critics to be a late addition to the preceding lists. 47. river] R.V. brook, the Wady el-‘Arish, or Rhinocolura, not the Shihor. See notes on xiii. 2, 3. 48-60. Cities of Judah in the Har or Hill-country. Five groups (11+9+10+46+2) are here given. To complete the enumera- tion a sixth group (of 11 cities) must be inserted, from the LXX., between ver. 59 and ver. 60. 51. eleven] Socoh (1 Chron. iv. 18) is the modern Shuweikeh, 11 miles S.W. from Hebron (2137 feet). Hshtemoh, modern Semtia, lies 34 miles further east. Anab (see xi. 21) is 45 miles west from Shuweikeh. Shamir is perhaps Sdmerah (2000 feet), 2 miles to the north of Anab. For Debir see on ver. 19; alsox. 38. The other places are unknown. JOSHUA, XV. 54-59 97 and Beth-tappuah, and Aphekah, 54and Humtah, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities with their villages. 55Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah, 56and Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah, 57 Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages. 58 Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor, 59and Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages. 54. nine} Of these we know Kirjath-arba or Hebron (see x. 3) and Beth-tappuah, the modern Tefftith (2635 feet), 35 miles W. by N. of Hebron. Dumah may be Domeh, 10 miles §8.W. from Hebron. 57. ten] Maon (mod. Tell Ma‘in, 2887 feet), Carmel (mod. Karmal, 2887 feet), Ziph (mod. Tell ez-Zif, 2882 feet), lie respectively 4,7, and 84 miles south from Hebron. Juttah (mod. Yutta, 3747 feet) is 54 miles south by west from Hebron. Cavin is possibly the mod. Yakin, 3 miles §.E. from Hebron. Carmel was a place of some little importance in the Roman period, and had a garrison. There are still remains of a castle and walls. See 1 Sam. xv. 12, xxv. 2,5, 7; 2 Chron. xxvi.10. Ziph (1 Sam. xxiii. 14; 2 Chron. xi. 8) is spoken of by travellers as commanding extensive views; there are oak-woods in the neighbourhood and traces of great former fertility. Juttah has sometimes been identified with the city referred to in Lukei. 39; it was a priestly city (Josh. xxi. 16). 59. six] Halhul (mod. Halhil, 3270 feet), Beth-zur (mod. Burj Sir) and Gedor (mod. J edtir, 2890 feet) are respectively 34, 44, and 64 miles to the north of Hebron. Halhfl is not mentioned else- where in Scripture; Robinson speaks of its ‘fine fields, fine vine- yards, and many cattle and goats. Especially is the eastern slope fertile and well tilled.’ Beth-zur (1 Chron. ii. 45; 2 Chron. xi. 7; Neh. iii. 16) is spoken of by Josephus as the strongest fortress in Judea; it was of strategic importance as commanding the great road from Jerusalem to Hebron and the south, and was frequently an object of struggle in the Maccabean wars (1 Mace. iv. 29, vi. 31, 50, ix. 52, x. 14, xi. 65, xiv. 7, 33). Between ver. 59 and ver. 60 the LXX. inserts a sixth important group of 11 cities ‘with their villages’; without this addition any account of the cities of the Hill-country would obviously be de- fective. The list includes Tekoa (mod. Tekti‘a, 2783 feet), 5 miles south from Bethlehem; Hphratah or Bethlehem itself (2550 feet), 5 miles south from Jerusalem; a place called Phagor, mod. Faghir, to the west of the road from Bethlehem to Hebron; Culon, perhaps Kuloniyeh, 4 miles west by north from Jerusalem; Sores, mod. JOSHUA 7 98 JOSHUA, XV. 60-XVI. 1 60 Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, and Rabbah ; two cities with their villages. 61In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, and Se- cacah, 62and Nibshan, and the city of salt, and En- gedi; six cities with their villages. 63As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day. 1 And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho Saris (cp. note on ver. 5-12), 9 miles west from Jerusalem; Karem, mod. ‘Ain Karim, 4 miles west from Jerusalem and 2 miles south from Kuldéniyeh; and Bavther or Bether, mod. Bittir, 44 miles N.W. from Bethlehem. It is worthy of remark that neither Tekoa nor Bethlehem, so frequently mentioned elsewhere in Scripture, any- where occurs in the present Hebrew text of the Book of Joshua. 60. two| For Kirjath-baal or Kirjath-jearim, see ix. 17. 61, 62. Cities of Judah in the Midbar or Wilderness. En-gedi, mod. ‘Ain Jidy (‘Fountain of the Kid’), overlooks the western shore of the Dead Sea, 680 feet below sea-level and 612 feet above that of the lake. ‘The beautiful fountain bursts forth at once a fine stream upon a narrow terrace or shelf of the mountain.’ See 1 Sam. xxiv. 1-10; Cant. i. 14; Ezek. xlvii. 10. It was also known as Hazazon-tamar (Gen. xiv. 7; 2 Chron. xx. 2), a name containing allusion to its palm-trees. Beth-arabah (see ver. 6) lay rather on the floor of the Jordan valley. Some ancient authorities read Betharabah in Joh. i. 28. The City of Salt (ep. ‘ Valley of Salt,’ 2 Sam. viii. 13; 2 Kings xiv. 7; 1 Chron. xviii. 12) lay probably near the southern end of the Dead Sea. 63. children of Judah} In ver. 8 as in xviii. 28 Jerusalem is reckoned as belonging to Benjamin; so also in Judg. i. 21, a verse strictly parallel to the present except in this one particular. Chs. xvi., xvii. The Lot of the Children of Joseph. In the oldest narrative the tribe of Joseph seems to have been treated as one (see xvii. 14); and in xvi. 1-3 the southern frontier of its undivided lot or portion is described, though not very fully; further details can be supplied from xv. 10, 11 and xviii. 12, 13, as Judah and Benjamin bordered it on the south. No northern JOSHUA, XVI. 2, 8 99 throughout mount Beth-el, 2and goeth out from Beth-el to Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth, 9and goeth down westward to the coast of frontier is given. In xvi. 5-8 and xvii. 7-9 we have some frag- mentary data for a boundary between Ephraim and Manasseh. But neither for Ephraim nor for Manasseh have we any lists of towns corresponding to those given for Judah in ch. xv., or for Benjamin and the northern tribes with somewhat less fulness in xviii. 21—-xix. 51. After the Captivity the land of Joseph was held by the Samaritans, whose hostile relations to the Jews may account for the meagreness of this part of the topography. The two chapters are characterised by a certain want of clearness and consistency, which is explained by critics as due to the fact that the editor had in the documents of different ages that lay before him a variety of data not easily reconcilable. The verses xvii. 14-18 are among the oldest in the whole Hexateuch. XVI. 1-9. With these verses should be compared xviii. 12, 13, the southern boundary of Joseph being, as far as Beth-horon, the northern boundary of Benjamin. The language of ver. 1 is a little confused, and the translation doubtful, probably from some disorder in the text (see LXX. and R.Y.). The general sense however is clear; the line leaves the Jordan at a point opposite Jericho, and passing along a rising ground to the north of that city (xviii. 12) goes up from Jericho through the mountain (probably up the Wady ‘Asis) to Beth-el (Luza), to the Archite border and that of the Japhletites, past Beth-horon to Gezer, and so.on to the Mediter- ranean. The frontier thus traced would still remain somewhat vague even though all the points mentioned were known. The country between Jericho and Beth-el was always very thinly in- habited, and no very exact demarcation of territory seems ever to have been thought necessary. 2. from Beth-el to Luz| This translation is impossible, for the two places are identical. The words ‘to Luz’ (Heb. Luzah) are drawn from xviii. 13 by a mistaken gloss. SBeth-el (mod. Beitin, 2890 feet), 10 miles north from Jerusalem, stood on the border between Benjamin and Ephraim, being reckoned to the former in Josh. xviii. 13, 22, but to the latter in Judg. i. 22 sqq. and perhaps alsohere. In the historical books it always belongs to the northern kingdom, except for a short time under Abijah (2 Chr. xiii. 19; 1K. xvi. 34). the borders of Archi] R.V. the border of the Archites. This is unknown. Hushai, David’s friend, was an Archite. 3. coast of Japhleti]|.R.V. border of the Japhletites, an unknown family. Gezer, mod, Tellel-Jezer, on a hill 750 feet above (2 100 JOSHUA, XVI. 4-7 Japhleti, unto the coast of Beth-horon the nether, and to Gezer: and the goings out thereof are at the sea. 4So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance. 5 And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon the upper; Sand the border went out toward the sea to Michmethah on the north side; and the border went about eastward unto Taanath-shiloh, and passed by it on the east to Janohah; 7 and it went down from Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and came sea-level, 6 miles east from Ekron, and 14 from the sea. The utter destruction of the king and people of Gezer is recorded in x. 333 in Judg. i. 29, however, we read that it still remained a Canaanite town. According to xxi. 21 it was assigned to the Levites, and in 1 Chr. vi. 67 it is enumerated along with other ‘cities of refuge.’ It is mentioned in the Philistine wars of David (2 Sam. v. 25; 1 Chr. xiv. 16), and after having been taken by the king of Egypt (1 K. ix. 15) it was given for a portion to his daughter, the wife of Solomon. Solomon fortified it (1 K. ix. 17), and, as Gazara, it is frequently mentioned in the Maccabean wars (1 Mace. iv. 15, &c.). 5-10. Inheritance of Ephraim as distinguished from that of Manasseh. 5. Ataroth-addar|] Cp. Ataroth, ver. 2. Beth-horon the upper] Cp. Beth-horon the nether, ver. 3. See x. 10. . 6,7. Some fragmentary indications of the northern and eastern borders of Ephraim. Michmethah lay ‘before,’ that is, eastward, of Shechem (xvii. 7). Naarath| R.V. Naarah, in 1 Chr. vii. 28, Naaran, is identified by Jerome with the Naorath of his day, within five miles from Jericho. It is clearly the Neara of Josephus (Ant. xvu1. 13, 1) from which Archelaus diverted half its water to irrigate his palm-tree plantations in the plain of Jericho. This points to the ‘Ain es-Samieh, in the W. el-Aujah, 10 miles east from the Jordan, where there are ancient remains and con- siderable traces of waterworks. It is, indeed, 7 miles north-west from Jericho; but another identification with Khirbet el-Aujah, 6 miles to the north of Jericho, in the plain, is open to the ob- jection that the place is 80 feet below the level of Jericho. The Ataroth here mentioned is unknown, as also is Z’aanath-shiloh, for it can hardly be the modern Ta‘na, 8 miles east by south from — Shechem. Janohah (R.V. Janoah) may be the modern Yaniin JOSHUA, XVI. 8-XVII. 1 101 to Jericho and went out at Jordan. ® The border went out from Tappuah westward unto the river Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families. 9%And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their vil- lages. 1°0And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Kphraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute. There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead (2218 feet), 7 miles to the south-east of Shechem, and 12 miles west from the Jordan. If so, we see clearly in how strict a sense the territory of Ephraim on its eastward side was limited to the mountain proper. 8. Cp. xvii. 7, 8. Yappuah is unknown. In xvii. 7 read ‘southwards,’ or, perhaps, ‘to Jamin’ (LXX.)—Jamin being also unknown. river Kanah| R.V. brook of Kanah (‘ The brook of reeds’). Unknown. There is a Wady Kana south-west of Shechem. 9. This verse must be read continuously with ver. 8 as in R.V. ...their families; (9) together with the cities which were separated for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, Ephraim had cities within Manassite territory. 10. See notes on x. 33 and xvi. 3. serve under tribute] R.V. servants to do task work: cp. 1K. ix. 21, and ver. 13 below. Ch. xvii. 1-6. The Inheritance of Western Manasseh. 1. There was also a lot] R.V. And this was the lot. Joseph; to wit, for] R.V. Joseph. As for. father of Gilead] i.e. of the Manassites of Gilead,—the Biblical, like the Arabian, historians often expressing geographical and_ political facts in genealogical form. In such cases the name of a district, city, or clan is personified as the eponym of the population named after it. 102 JOSHUA, XVII. 2-6 and Bashan. 2 There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families ; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families. %But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. +And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The Lorp commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the command- ment of the Lorp he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father. 5SAnd there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan; © because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among 2. There was also alot-for| Or, rather, ‘And the following lot was assigned.’ The end of this sentence is lost, being broken off for the sake of the genealogical and legal details of wv. 2-6. What the lot actually was appears from ver. 7 sqq. 2-8. Sub-tribes or districts of Manasseh, in genealogical form, five being named from a male and five from a female eponym. (Shechem and Tirzah are well-known cities.) They are here spoken of as the remaining clans of Manasseh after the exclusion of Gilead, while in Numb. xxvi. 30 sqq. (where Jeezer or Iezer = Abiezer) they are called sons of Gilead, and grandsons of Machir. In either case, being in point of fact reckoned as separate clans, they have an equal right, according to Hebrew genealogical system, to be called sons (i.e. distinct communities) of Manasseh. 3. Zelophehad| See Numb. xxxvi. 7-13. Boundaries of Western Manasseh. These cannot be drawn on a map with any distinctness from the data here given. All we learn is that Asher, Issachar and Ephraim lay on the north, east, and south respectively. The western border was, apparently, the sea (cp. xvi. 8). JOSHUA, XVII. 7-11 108 his sons: and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead. 7And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah. ® Now Manasseh had the land of Tap- puah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim; 9 and the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea: 10 southward if was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east. “And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her 11,12. That thetext of ver.11is in some disorder is apparent from the Hebrew, and is confirmed by the variation of the versions. Nor does it seem that cities never occupied by Israel could fitly be spoken of as enclaves (shut in portions) of Manasseh in the territory of Asher and Issachar. Dillmann plausibly suggests that the words ‘ Beth-shean...Megiddo and her towns’ are out of place, and properly belong to ver. 12. Ver. 11 will then run, ‘ And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher the three heights ’—what- ever these may be. Ver. 12 must then be emended by substituting the names of Beth-shean &c. for the phrase ‘those cities,’ and so will agree with Judg. i. 27 except in mentioning En-dor as well as Dor, which is probably due to a further error of the text. Ibleam, Taanach and Megiddo with their territories formed a line of Canaanite country extending along the whole southern verge of the Kishon valley from En-gannim and the spurs of Mt Gilboa to Carmel. Similarly the territory of Beth-shean lay between the back of Mt Gilboa and the Jordan, and this line of unsubdued country formed an almost continuous division between Manasseh and the northern tribes. Dor again was one of the maritime cities of the Sharon plain which never became Hebrew. Beth-shean, mod. Beisan, 320 feet below sea-level, lay in a well- watered and fertile part of the Jordan valley at the foot of the mountains of Gilboa and at the mouth of the Wady Jaliid, which 104 ‘- JOSHUA, XVIL 12, 18 towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabit- ants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries. 12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the in- habitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 1% Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out. leads gently up to Zerin and the plain of Esdraelon. It is about 3 miles from the Jordan, and was an important stage on the road from Damascus to Egypt, and also from Damascus by Shechem to Jerusalem and Hebron. It is mentioned under the reigns of Saul (1 Sam. xxxi. 10 sqq.), David (2 Sam. xxi. 12), and Solomon (1 K. iv. 12). At a later date it was known as Scythopolis. Jbleam (in 1 Chr. vi. 70, Bileam; in Josh. xxi. 25 Gath-rimmon has been substituted for Ibleam by a clerical error) is the mod. Bir Bel‘ameh, about a mile to the south of Jenin. It was here that Ahaziah was wounded in his flight from Jezreel (2 K. ix. 27). Dor. See xi. 2. Endor, mod, ‘Endir, lay in the valley between Mt Tabor and Little Hermon (Jebel ed-Dahy). It is omitted from the parallel passage in Judg. i. 27, and here by the LXX. It seems to have been Israelite in Saul’s time (1 Sam. xxviii. 7). Its introduction is perhaps due to the similarity of the name with that of Dor. Taanach (xii. 21, xxi. 25; Judg. i. 27) mod. Ta‘anuk, 607 feet, 44 miles south-east from Lejjfin (Megiddo). Megiddo, the Roman Legio and the modern Lejjiin, 11 miles N.W. from Jenin and 44 miles N.W. from Ta‘anuk, on two little hills (552 feet) on the edge of the plain of Esdraelon, commanding one of the most im- portant passes southward, was an important station on the route from Damascus to Egypt, and is mentioned on the Egyptian monuments (as Maketha) in a way that shews it must have been fortified from very early times. It is named with Taanach in the Song of Deborah and Barak (Judg. v.19). Solomon made it one of his strongholds (1 K. ix. 15). Here king Ahaziah died (2 K. ix. 27) after his flight from Jezreel; and it was in the neighbourhood of Megiddo that Josiah was defeated and slain by Pharaoh-Necho (2 K. xxiii. 29, 30). even three countries| See above. R.V. has even the three heights (cp. xi. 2, xii. 23). The suggestion that the three were En-dor, Taanach and Megiddo has no proba- bility. 13. tribute] R.V. task-work, i.e. forced labour, or tribute of JOSHUA, XVII. 14-18 105 14 And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the Lorp hath blessed me hitherto? 1 And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee. 16 And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Beth-shean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel. 17 And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only : 18 but the mountain shall be thine; for it 7s a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the personal service; cp. Matth. v. 41. Gen. xlix. 15 shews that as regards Issachar the relation was at one period reversed. 14-18. A fragment of a very early account, or perhaps, rather, of two very early accounts (for vv. 14, 15 only say in brief what vv. 16-18 give more fully), shewing how much of the settlement of the land was left to tribal effort. The house of Joseph already occupy the mountain of Ephraim, which is insufficient for their numbers, but cannot extend into the upper Jordan valley and the valley of Jezreel, because they are unable to cope with the war- chariots of the Canaanites. Joshua encourages them to hope for ultimate victory, and meantime to make clearings in the unoccupied forest land. The position of these forests is not defined; they are called ‘the land of the Perizzites’ (or ‘rustics’: probably only some small clearings existed in mount Ephraim at the period referred to) ‘and of the Rephaim,’ that is, districts once in- habited by the pre-Canaanite population which at the time of the Israelite conquest was extinct except in certain localities. Cp. note on xi. 21. 15. giants] R.V. Rephaim. See Jntrod. p. 10. 16. of iron| Not necessarily wholly of iron, but as contrasted with the rude agricultural waggon, such as may still be seen in some parts of modern Europe, of which even the wheels and axles were entirely of wood. valley of Jezreel] See note on xix. 18. 106 JOSHUA, XVINAe outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong. 1-10. The Tabernacle erected at Shiloh. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them. 2And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance. 3And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are you slack to go to possess the land, which the Lorp God of your fathers hath given you? “4Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and 18. the outgoings| The regions on the skirt of the forest, reach- ing down into the Canaanite plain. XVIII. Erection of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Boundaries of the Tribe of Benjamin. The Cities of Benjamin. In this chapter, according to the critics, vv. 2-10 and 116 belong to the older account (see above); vv. 1, 11 a, 12-28 are by the late (priestly) narrator; vv. 7 and 100 are by the editor. In the older account we again see that the actual occupancy of Western Canaan took place only slowly and by degrees. The people were slack to _ take possession of the land which Gop had given them; the tribes of Judah and Joseph were already settled in their territories before the remainder of the country was even surveyed for occupation. The remaining tribes must meanwhile be supposed to have been kept back by mutual jealousies, by unwillingness (or inability) to fight, or by preference for an unsettled predatory life. Ch. xviii. 1-10. The Tabernacle erected at Shiloh. 1. congregation] Hebr. ‘édah; cp. Ex. xvi.1. Variations of the same expression are found in Ex. xii. 3, Lev. iv. 15, and elsewhere. tabernacle of the congregation] R.V. tent of meeting (or tryst) ; cp. Ex, xxv. 22, xxix. 42, 43, xxx. 6. Shiloh] The situation of this ancient holy place is laid down with precision in Judg. xxi. 19. It is the modern Seiliin (2230 feet), 94 miles north from Beth-el, and 114 miles south from Shechem. During the period of the Judges it was the seat of the Tabernacle. 2. recetved| R.V. divided, as in xiv. 5. JOSHUA, XVIII. 5-10 107 they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again tome. 5And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north. §& Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lorp our God. 7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lorp ¢s their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lorp gave them. 8And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the Lorp in Shiloh. 9And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh. 10And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lorp: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions. 4. describe| Heb. ‘write.’ Exact measurement is not implied, still less the drawing of a map. A list of the cities is intended (ver. 9), with, no doubt, some account of their situations and of the agricultural or pastoral capabilities of the districts surrounding them. according to the inheritance] i.e. with reference to the fact that seven portions had to be provided; see wv. 5, 6, and 9. 5. Joseph...on the north] Ephraim and Manasseh, we have seen, occupied the central part of Canaan, to the north of Judah. The unoccupied portion of Canaan was chiefly in what afterwards came to be known as Galilee; but the small territory of the tribe of Benjamin lay between Judah and Ephraim. Judah shall abide] In the other account, however, the portion of Judah was found “too much,’ and the lot of Simeon was carved out from it; see : th esp 7%. Levites] Cp. xiii. 14, 33. 108 | JOSHUA, XVIII. 11-14 1i-xix. 48, Assignments to the seven remaining Tribes. 11 And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 12 And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the border descended. to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon. 1 And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, Chs. xviii. 11-xix. 48. Assignments to the seven remaining Tribes. 11-20. Boundaries of the Tribe of Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin occupied the rugged and broken mountain- land which forms the southern outpost of Mount Ephraim—a veritable younger brother’s portion in the territory of the sons of Rachel. From N. to S., from Beth-el to Jerusalem, is about 10 miles, and its extreme westerly point is about 27 miles from the Jordan. The western boundary from Beth-horon to Kirjath-jearim approximately coincides with the limit of the rough uplands and the commencement of a more fertile region where the mountain glens running down from the Benjamite heights (‘the Slopes’) meet to form the green valley of Aijalon, a broad tract of corn land stretch- ing westward to join the Philistine plain. 12,13. The northern line. Cp. xvi. 1, 2. thence toward (to) ...Beth-el, southward] i.e. keeping south of the ridge of Beth-el; not however so as to exclude Beth-el itself. the nether Beth- horon] Cp. xvi. 3 and xvi. 5. 14. The western line. This is quite unintelligible in A.V., which has failed to notice that ‘the sea’ is here used in its technical meaning of ‘west.’ Translate with R.V. And the border was drawn and turned about on the west quarter (forming a west frontier) southward, from the hill that lies east and south of nether Beth-horon, and went out to Kirjath-jearim, a city of Judah. JOSHUA, XVIII. 15-22 109 from the hill that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter. And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah: 16and the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to En-rogel, 17and was drawn from the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended ¢o the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, 18and passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah: 19and the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: this was the south coast. 29And Jordan was the border of it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the coasts thereof round about, according to their families. 21Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz, 22and Beth- 15-19. The southern line is the same as the northern frontier of Judah in xy. 5-9, but given in reverse order. It began at the western end (R.V. uttermost part) of the ridge of Jearim, on its north side, and passing through Bir Lifta (xv. 9) came to the ‘uttermost part’ of the mountain that lies in front of the valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the vale of Rephaim, thence down into the valley, south of the ridge of Jerusalem, to En-rogel, thence northward to En-shemesh, and eastward to Geliloth, &c. 21-28. The cities of Benjamin, in two groups, the eastern and the western, of 12 and 14 respectively. In the first group the only places of historical importance are Jericho (see ii. 1) and Beth-el (see xvi.1) Beth-arabah in xy, 6, 61 is reckoned to Judah. 110 JOSHUA, XVIII. 23-28 arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el, 23and Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, 24and Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages. 25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth, 26and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah, 27and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah, 28and Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families. ——— — —--—- ——-~-- — -——-- — +. — ~ Beth-hoglah (xv. 6) is most probably ‘Ain Hajlah, 5 miles S.E. from Jericho, 2 W. from Jordan. For the valley of Keziz, R.Y. has Emek-Keziz. Parah is Farah, in the Wady Farah, half-way between Jerusalem and Jericho. Zemaraim is perhaps es-Samra, in the Jordan valley, 3 miles north-east from Jericho, and the Mount Zemaraim of 2 Chron. xiii. 4 may be one of the hills over- looking it. Gaba or Geba, mod. Jeb‘a, 13 miles E. from Rama, and 400 feet below it, is mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii. 8; Zech. xiv. 10. To the list here given ought to be added (from xxi. 18) Anathoth and Almon. Anathoth (1 Chron. vii. 60) is the mod. ‘Anata, 2225 feet, 24 miles N.N.E. from Jerusalem, and Almon or Alemeth (1 Chron. vii. 60) is the mod. ‘Almit, 2080 feet, 1 mile N.E. from Anathoth. Note the absence of the names of Gilgal and of Nob from this list. The cities of the second group, so far as they have been identified, all lie along the crest of the ridge or on its western slope. Jebust (R.V. the Jebusite) is Jerusalem on the south border, 2593 feet above sea-level. See note on xy. 63. Guibeath, mod. Tell el-Fial, 2754 feet, 3 miles north from Jerusalem, known also as Gibeah of Saul, is frequently mentioned in the books of Samuel (‘ the hill of God,’ 1 Sam. x. 5). Mizpeh, or Mizpah, mod. Neby Samwil, 2935 feet, 44 miles N.W. from Jerusalem, was the meeting-place of the assembly called by Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 5); see also 1 Kings xv. 22; 2 Kings xxv. 23; Jer. xl. 6; Neh. iii. 7, 19. Gibeon, mod. el-Jib, 2535 feet, 53 miles north by west from Jeru- salem; see x. 2. Ramah, mod. er-Rim, 2600 feet, 5 miles north from Jerusalem, was the birthplace of Samuel (1 Sam. i. 1) and was also known as Ramathaim (1 Macc. xi. 34), in Greek Arimathea (Mk. xv. 43; Joh. xix. 38). Beeroth, mod. Bireh, 2820 feet, is 83 miles north from Jerusalem; see ix. 17; Ezr. ii. 25; Neh. vii. 29. Chephirah, mod. Kefira, 2510 feet, is 8 miles N.W. from Jerusalem ; see ix. 17. Kirjath or Kirjath-jearim (ix. 17), mod. Karyet el-‘Enab, 2385 feet, is 74 miles west by north from Jerusalem. JOSHUA, XIX. 1-7 111 And the second lot came forth to Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah. 2And they had in their inheritance Beer-sheba, or Sheba, and Moladah, 3and Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Azem, 4and Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah, Sand Ziklag, and Beth-marca- both, and Hazar-susah, Sand Beth-lebaoth, and Sharu- hen ; thirteen cities and their villages: 7 Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages: XIX. Territory of the remaining Six Tribes—Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan. The Inheritance of Joshua. 1-9. The Lot of Simeon. This lay in the midst of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, which had been found to be too much for them (ver. 9) ; no frontiers therefore are given. The cities are arranged in two groups; the first, of 13 (14), in the Negeb, the second, of 4, in the Negeb and Shephelah. The lists in the text ought to be compared with that in 1 Chron. iv. 24-43, from which several corrections require to be taken. Most of the cities also appear, with some variations in their names, in the list of Judean cities. 1 Chron. iv. 28-31 enumerates certain cities that were Simeonite ‘unto the reign of David,’ implying apparently that they afterwards became Judean. In Hezekiah’s time (1 Chron. iv. 41-43) there was a considerable migration from Simeonite into Edomite territory. 6. thirteen] 14 are enumerated, but Sheba (‘or Sheba’) in ver. 2 is perhaps due to the copyist’s error (see however xv. 26: Shema). The same 13 are enumerated (with textual variations) in the same order in 1 Chron. iv. 28-31, and the names also occur in nearly the same order in the list of the ‘uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward’ in Josh. xv. 26-32. Beth-marcaboth (‘house of chariots’), and Hazar-susah (‘station of horses’) seem to be comparatively late names, designating posts of war-horses and chariots, such as Solomon established (1 Kings ix. 19, x. 26); perhaps therefore they may be identical with the Madmannah and Sansannah of xv. 31. That the latter are the older names appears from the fact that Mad- mannah is mentioned in 1 Chron. ii. 49 (list of pre-exilic settlements of the Calebites) while Beth-marcaboth and Hazar-susim in 1 Chron. iv. 31 are merely repeated from our present list. 7. four] But Ain-Rimmon (xy. 32) ought really to be read as 112 JOSHUA, XIX. 8-10 8and all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramath of the south. This 7s the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. 9%Out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the chil- dren of Simeon: for the part of the children of Judah was too much for them: therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them. 10 And the third lot came up for the children of Zebu- one, asin LXX. IHther, see xv. 42, where with Ashan it is placed in the Shephelah of Judah. 10-16. The Lot of Zebulun. This was bounded on the south by that of Issachar (or rather by the Canaanites who held the plain of Esdraelon), on the west by that of Asher, and on the north and east by that of Naphtali. It is impossible to draw the boundaries from the data here given. The centre of the southern border is Sarid. This place has not been identified, but the versions suggest the reading Sadid, which may possibly be represented by the modern Tell Shaddiid, 523 feet, on the northern edge of the plain of Esdraelon, 43 miles south-west from Nazareth. From Sadid it extended westwards for about 8 miles as far as to the brook (Wady el-Milh) that is before Jokneam (Tell el-Kaimiin); eastwards by north it went from Sadid to the border of Chisloth-tabor (Iksal), and Daberath (Dabtriyeh) at the western base of Mount Tabor, a distance of about 8 miles. Taking next the eastern border, the only points we can identify seem to be Gath-hepher, mod. El-Meshhed, about 2 miles N.E. from Nazareth, and Lemmon, mod. Rommaneh, on the south-eastern edge of the plain of Battauf, 4 miles north from Gath-hepher and 74 miles north from Chisloth-tabor. Remmon is no doubt the Rimmono of 1 Chron. vi. 77 and apparently also the Dimnah of Josh. xxi. 35. The north- ern boundary of Zebulun is the valley of Jiphthah-el, the Greek Iotapata, modern Jefat, nine miles north from Nazareth and 12 north from Sadid. The territory of Zebulun thus had an extreme breadth of about 17 miles, and its length from north to south was 12 miles. It included the greater part of the fertile plane of Battauf. No western frontier is given. According to the delimitation here laid down Asher came between Zebulun and the Mediterranean (see ver. 27); but that at one period of its history Zebulun had, or was ex- pected to have, a large seaboard 1s shewn by Gen, xlix, 13; Deut, Xxxiil. 18, 19, JOSHUA, XIX. 11-17 113 lun according to their families: and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid: “and their border went up toward the sea, and Maralah, and reached to Dabbas- heth, and reached to the river that 7s before Jokneam; 12and turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrising unto the border of Chisloth-tabor, and then goeth out to Daberath, and goeth up to Japhia, 1%3and from thence passeth on along on the east to Gittah-hepher, to Ittah- kazin, and goeth out to Remmon-methoar to Neah; 4and the border compasseth it on the north side to Hannathon: and the outgoings thereof are in the valley of Jiphthah-el: and Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shim- ron, and Idalah, and Beth-lehem: twelve cities with their villages. 16This is the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages. 7 And the fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the 13. Gittah-hepher| R.V. Gath-hepher. Ittah-kazin] R.V. Eth-kazin. Remmon-methoar| R.V. Rimmon, which stretcheth. Methoar is not a proper name. 15. twelve] The text is imperfect here, only five cities being enumerated. The suggested explanation that seven of the frontier towns (we are left free to choose which) ought to be included in the reckoning, seems hardly probable. Of the five, Bethlehem has been identified with the modern Beét-Lahm 7 miles west by north from Nazareth. Shimron: see xi. 1, xii. 20. Judg. i. 30 men- tions Kitron and Nahalol (cp. Kattath and Nahallal) as places of which Zebulun never took possession. 17-23. The Lot of Issachar. To the north were Zebulun and Naphtali, and to the south and west Manasseh, and perhaps Asher. The Jordan, or at least the Jordan valley, is indicated as an eastern border, while according to Deut. xxxiii. 18, 19, Issachar must at one time have reached (or have been expected to reach) the sea. A formal delimitation seems to be begun in ver. 18, but it is not continued. The vagueness is no doubt partly due to imperfect preservation of the text; but partly also to the fact of the Canaanite occupation of the plain of Esdraélon and valley of Jezreel. Of the towns mentioned, En-gannim, Jezreel, Shunem and (probably) Chesulloth can be identified; they form a chain of posts extending from south to north, which mark the JOSHUA 8 114 JOSHUA, XIX. 18-24 children of Issachar according to their families. 18 And their border was toward Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem, 19and Hapharaim, and Shion, and Anaharath, 20and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, 21and Remeth, and En-gannim, and En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez; 22 and the coast reacheth to Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Beth- shemesh; and the outgoings of their border were at Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages. 23 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages. 24 And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. En-gannim, Ginaea, mod. Jenin, 517 feet, 27 miles N. from Shechem, stands on the northern edge of the mountain-land of Manasseh, where the great north route dips into the plain of Esdraelon. The name means ‘ spring of the gardens,’ and the most prominent features of the place still are its fine fountain and the gardens by which it is surrounded. Jezreel, mod. Zer‘in, 402 feet, 7 miles north by east from En-gannim, near the source of the Nahr Jalid, a tributary of the Jordan, at the head of the plain between Gilboa and Tabor, which widens and descends towards Jordan as the W. Jalid. Here Ahab had his chief residence ; see 1 Kings xviii. 45, 46, xxi. 1, and compare 2 Kings vili. 29, ix. 17, 30. Shunem, mod. Siilem, 445 feet, 34 miles north from Jezreel, was the camping-ground of the Philistines before the battle of Gilboa (1 Sam. xxviii. 4); see also 2 Kings iv. 8-37, viii. 1-6. Chesulloth is perhaps the Chisloth-tabor of xix. 12, the Xaloth of Josephus, Chesalus of the Onomastica, mod. Iksal, 460 feet, 54 miles north from Shunem. It was, as we have seen (xix. 12), on the borders of Zebulun. The Zabor here mentioned doubtless stood on the top of Mt. Tabor, 1843 feet, 4 miles east from Iksal. The hill is known to have been fortified in the time of Antiochus the Great, and also during the Jewish wars, and the Crusades. The territory of Issachar thus had an extreme length from north to south of about 16 miles; its breadth it is at present impossible to determine. The following words of Robinson (B20l. es. iv. 160) speaking of Lower Galilee, south of the great trade route between Acco and Damascus, may here be quoted : ‘ We were greatly struck with the richness and productiveness of the splendid plains, especially of Lower Galilee, including that of Esdraelon. In these respects that region surpasses all the rest of Palestine... Zebulun and Issachar had the cream of Palestine.’ JOSHUA, XIX. 25-28 115 children of Asher according to their families. 25 And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph, 26 and Alammelech, and Amad, and Misheal; and reacheth to Carmel westward, and to Shihor-libnath; 27 and turneth toward the sunrising to Beth-dagon, and reacheth to Zebulun, and to the valley of Jiphthah-el toward the north side of Beth-emek, and Neiel, and goeth out to Cabul on the left hand, 28and Hebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, even unto great Zidon; 24-31. The Lot of Asher. This lay along the north-western selvedge of Canaan, from the Shihor-libnath (ver. 26), probably the modern Nahr Zerké, to the south of Mount Carmel, in the south, to somewhere near Tyre, perhaps even near Sidon, in the north. It was bounded on the east by Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar and Manasseh; it is nowhere here said that it reached the Mediterranean on the west. The fragments of boundary here given are mixed up with lists of cities apparently derived from a variety of sources; comparatively few of the points named have as yet been identified, so that a precise map of the territory of Asher, even theoretically considered, is impossible. In trying to figure it to ourselves we must bear in mind (1) that all the seaports along this strip of territory—Dor, Acco, Achzib, Tyre, Sarepta, Sidon—remained in the hands of the Canaanites or Phoenicians without interruption: ‘the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land,’ Judg. i. 32; (2) that such access to the sea-coast as Asher enjoyed (Judg. v. 17) seems to have been shared by Issachar (Deut. xxxiii. 18, 19) and Zebulun (Gen. xlix. 13). 25, 26. Of the nine data here given, Carmel alone can be said to be perfectly certain. Shthor-libnath is with much probability identified with the Nahr Zerka, and Alammelech was perhaps on or near the modern Wady el-Melek, a right-hand tributary of the lower Kishon. Beten is mentioned by Eusebius as a place situated 8 Roman miles to the east of Acco. Helkath has been vaguely con- jectured to be Yerka, 84 miles east by north from Acco, Amad to be Haifa, and Misheal to be Methilia, south of Carmel. 27. Jiphthah-el] see ver. 14. toward the north side of | R.V. northward to. Cabul] mod. Kabiil, 236 feet, nine miles 8.E. from Acco. on the left hand i.e. to the north. 28. Hebron] R.V. Ebron. Probably Abdon ought to be read as in xxi. 30; 1 Chron. vi. 74. Perhaps it is the mod. ‘Abdeh, 525 feet, 34 miles east from Achzib. Hammon| Traces of the 8—2 116 JOSHUA, XIX. 29-338 29and then the coast turneth to Ramah, and to the strong city Tyre; and the coast turneth to Hosah; and the outgoings thereof are at the sea from the coast to Achzib: 80 Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty and two cities with their villages. 81This 7s the inherit- ance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages. 82 The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families. %3And their coast was from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, and Adami, Nekeb, and Jabneel, unto Lakum; and the outgoings thereof were at Jordan: worship of Baal Hammon have been found at Umm el ’Amid, 4 miles to the N.E. of Rasen Naktfirah. Kanah is still known as Kana, 1050 feet, 74 miles S.E. from Tyre. unto great Zidon | The meaning seems to be that Asher had still other towns in this direction, not specified, which brought its territory even north of the Litanit (Litany) river to the vicinity of Sidon. 29. Ramah] Between Tyre and Scala Tyriorum there was a town called by the Phceenicians Ramantha or Rametha, i.e. Ramah, afterwards known as Laodicea. Achzb] mod. ez-Zib, on the sea-shore, nine miles north from Acco. 30. Ummah] The Syr. and LXX. versions give some ground for reading the name of Acco here. -Aphek here can hardly be the place of the same name mentioned in xiii. 4. Rehob has not been identified; the name is not uncommon. In Judg. i. 31 we read that Asher drave not out the inhabitants of Acco, nor of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob. 30. twenty and two| Here again, as in ver. 15, the summation does not correspond with the list. 32-39. The Lot of Naphtalt. “This had Zebulun (and Issachar) on the south, Asher (and Zebulun) on the west, and Jordan on the east. Two fragments of boundary are given, one extending from Kedesh-Naphtali to some undetermined point on the Jordan (ver. 33); another, apparently, from Jordan to somewhere near Mount Tabor. 33. from Allon to Zaanannim] R.V. from the oak (or terebinth) in Zaanannim. Cp. Judg. iv. 11, R.V. the oak in Zaanannim which is by Kedesh. Adami, Nekeb] R.Y. Adami-nekeb. JOSHUA, XIX. 34-38 117 34 and then the coast turneth westward to Aznoth-tabor, and goeth out from thence to Hukkok, and reacheth to Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to Asher on the west side, and to Judah upon Jordan toward the sun- rising. %5 And the fenced cities are Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath, and Chinnereth, 9©and Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor, 37 and Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor, 38 and Iron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth- anath, and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities with their 34. Aznoth-tabor] Some locality in the neighbourhood of Mount Tabor, where (as we have seen) the frontiers of Issachar and Zebulun met, must be intended. Hukkok is unknown; Robinson identifies with Yakiik, 4 miles from N.W. shore of Sea of Galilee. For Hukok in 1 Chr. vi. 75 read Helkath: cp. Josh. xxi. 31. Judah upon Jordan] R.V. Judah at Jordan. The expression is very obscure, and it is probable that the text is COrrBD SS The LXX. omits the words ‘to Judah.’ 38. nineteen] Of the ‘fenced cities’ of Naphtali sixteen are named, or rather fifteen, if Zzddim Zer be counted as one. These, so far as they have been identified, may be said to fall into two groups, a southern and a northern, lying to westward of the Lake of Galilee, and the Waters of Merom. To the first group belong Hammath (Hammam, the hot springs of Tiberias ?), Rakkath (Tiberias?), and Chinnereth, all probably on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (682 feet below sea-level), and also Ramah. This last is the modern Rameh (1295 feet) on the southern slope of the ridge (here rising to a height of 3480 feet), which forms the boundary between Upper and Lower Galilee. It has an important position near the route from Acco to Safed and also to Damascus, and lies about midway between Acco and the Upper Jordan valley. To the northern group belong Hazor (see xi. 1), Kedesh (see xii. 22) and Jron, mod. Yartin (2490 feet), 65 miles west from Hazor and about the same distance west by south from Kadesh. Beth-anath is thought to be ‘Ainitha, 4 miles north from Iron. We learn from Judg. i. 33 that Beth-anath and Beth-shemesh continued to be Canaanite. Between the southern and northern groups lies an important district, containing the town of Safed, at present the most important town in Upper Galilee. From the present list we miss the names of Baal-gad (see xi. 7) and Leshem, Laish or Dan (see below, ver. 47). Beth-anath (if it be ‘Ainitha), the most northerly site in the lot of Naphtali, is 12 miles to the south of the Litani (Litany river, 118 JOSHUA, XIX. 89-41 villages. 89This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages. 40 And the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. 4! And the 40-48. The Lot of Dan. From the Philistine plain between Ekron and Joppa a line of unsubdued Canaanite settlements ran eastwards, interposing itself between Mount Ephraim and the mountains of Judah. These settlements, among which were Gezer and Aijalon, seem to have included the whole of that fertile belt (familiar to the modern traveller from Jaffa to Jerusalem) which stretches from Ramleh and Ludd (Lydda) to the foot of the ascent of Beth- horon, and of which the upper part (Merj Ibn ‘Omer) bears in the Bible the name of the valley of Aijalon. Overhanging these rich lowlands, on the north-western spurs of the mountains of Judea, were the first settlements of the Danites at Zorah and Eshtaol (Judg. xviii. 2, 8), between which towns was ‘the camp of Dan’ (Judg. xiii. 25; cp. Judg. xviii. 12), apparently a standing centre for expeditions in quest of territory. The assigned lot of Dan, as is indicated in the verses now before us, and as may be inferred from the delimitations given in xv. 9 sqq., xvi. 3, 5 and xviii. 14, included the vale of Aijalon, the territory of Gezer and the whole northern stretch of the Philistine plain as far as to a point beyond Joppa; but, as we learn from ver. 47 and also from Judg. i. 34 sq., the attempts of the Danites to make a permanent settlement in the low country were constantly baffled, and the main seat of the tribe was ultimately transferred to Laish (Leshem) at the foot of Mount Hermon. In their old seats they made no way: Aijalon and Shaalbim ultimately became tributary to Joseph (Judg. i. 35; 1 Chron. vi. 69); Gezer came to Judah as the dowry of Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings ix. 15-17), and is spoken of as Ephraimite in 1 Chron. vi. 66, 67; and even Zorah, Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh (Beth-shemesh) are reckoned to Judah in Josh. xv. 10, 33; ep. 2 Chron. xxviii. 18. The coast land from Joppa southward seems never to have been settled by the Hebrews. Of the towns here enumerated several are mentioned by Sennacherib in his account of his third campaign in the ‘ Prism’ inscription—Bene-berak (Ba- na-ai-barka), Japho (Ia-ap-pu-u), Ekron (Am-kar-ru-na), Eltekeh (Al-ta-ku-u),and Timnah (‘Ta-am-na-a). Sennacherib also mentions a Beth-Dagon (Bit-da-gan-na), which is identified with Beit-Dejan, 6 miles S.E. from Joppa; and an A-zu-ru (Zorah ?), JOSHUA, XIX. 42-47 119 coast of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, 42 and Shaalabbin, and Aijalon, and Jethlah, 43 and Elon,and Thimnathah, and Ekron, 44 and Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath, 45and Jehud, and Bene- berak, and Gath-rimmon, 46 and Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before Japho. 47 And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, 41. Zorah| see xv. 33. Fishtaol| xv. 33. Ir-shemesh| i.e. Beth-shemesh, xv. 10. 42. Shaalabbin} or Shaalbim, Judg. i. 35. Ayalon] x. 12; Judg. i. 35. Jethlah] R.V. Ithlah. 43. Thimnathah| R.V. Timnah; xv. 10. According to Judg. xiv. 1 its population in Samson’s time was at least partly Philistine. Sennacherib took it after the battle of Eltekeh before laying siege to Ekron. 44, Lltekeh lay somewhere on the Philistine plain not far from Ekron. It was taken and destroyed by Sennacherib after his defeat of the Egyptian forces that had come to the help of the Ekronites. Gibbethon| The site has not been identified; according to 1 Kings xv. 27 in Baasha’s time it belonged to the Philistines and was apparently their frontier fortress toward Ephraim. Baalath, or Kirjath-jearim ; see xv. 11. According to Judg. xviii. 12 it lay ‘before’ i.e. eastward of the ‘camp of Dan.’ 45. Jehud, mod. Yehiidiyeh, 53 miles N. from Ludd (Lydda) and 84 miles east from Japho. Bene-berak, mod. Ibn-Ibrak, 44 miles east from Japho. Gath-rimmon (site unknown) is, like Aijalon, regarded as Ephraimite in 1 Chron. vi. 69. 46. Me-jarkon, i.e. ‘Yellow water,’ perhaps at Ras el-‘Ain, 11 miles east by north from Joppa, one of the sources of the Nahr el-Aujeh. J2akkon, perhaps Tell er-Rakkeit (126 feet), on the sea- coast, 6 miles north from Japho. with the border| or rather, ‘beside the border.’ before Japho| R.V. marg. over against Japho. Japho or Joppa, mod. Jaffa (Yafa), now, as in Bible times, the port of Jerusalem; see 2 Chron. ii. 16; Jon. i. 3; Ezra 7 ¢ Acts ix. 36: 47. went out too little for them] or rather, ‘ went out from them,’ i.e. was lost to them. See Judg. i. 34, 35, and the (probably genuine) addition of the LXX. here: ‘and the children of Dan did not force out the Amorite who oppressed them in the mountain; and the Amorites did not suffer them to come down into the valley, 120 JOSHUA, XIX. 48-51 and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father. 48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan accord- ing to their families, these cities with their villages. 49-51. Joshua’s Inheritance. 49 When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them: 5° according to the word of the Lorp they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath-serah in mount Ephraim: and he built the city, and dwelt therein. 51These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an in- heritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lorp, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing the country. and they forced away from them the border of their portion.’ Leshem or Laish, afterwards Dan, now Tell el-Kady (505 feet) 24 miles to the west of Banias (Baal-gad). See Judg. xviii. 7, 29; 1 Kings xv. 20; 2 Chron. xvi. 4; and cp. note on xii. 7 above. 48. ‘This verse should be read (as in LXX.) immediately after ver. 46, ver. 47 being an editorial interpolation. 49-51. Joshua’s Inheritance. 49-51. Joshua’s Inheritance. Joshua also, like Caleb (xv. 13), at his own request and in accordance with a Divine command, receives a special inheritance. 49. When they &c.| R.V. So they made an end of dis- tributing the land...and the children of Israel gave c. 50. Timnath-serah (cp. xxiv. 30), in the hill-country of Ephraim, is called Timnath-heres in Judg. ii. 9, where its situation is further defined as ‘ on the north side of the (as yet unknown) mountain of Gaash.’ It is the Timnath of 1 Mace. ix. 50, and is probably to be identified with the mod. Tibneh, 10 miles N.W. from Beth-el; but others think of the mod. Haris, 94 miles south-west from Shechem, JOSHUA, XX. 1-4 121 1-9. The Cities of Refuge appointed. yw) The Lorp also spake unto Joshua, saying, 2 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: $that the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. *And Ch. xx. 1-9. The Cities of Refuge appointed. In all early societies the right and duty of punishing man- slaughter rests not with any public authority but with the kin of the slain as avengers of his blood. The primitive law of blood- revenge makes no distinction between intentional and accidental homicide (Gen. ix. 5, 6); but from an early period the rigour of the law of blood for blood was modified among most nations, (1) by allowing a blood-wit to be paid instead of a life; (2) by the recognition of a right of asylum at the altar, or at least at certain holy places. In Israel the blood-wit was altogether forbidden (Numb. xxxv. 31, 32; an exception Ex. xxi. 30, 32), and the right of asylum was limited to accidental homicide (Ex. xxi. 13, 14). In the oldest law and history (Ex. l.c.; 1 Kings i. 50) the altar is still the refuge of the homicide, and doubtless all local altars continued to be so used. In fact Kedesh (as appears from its name), Shechem and Hebron (as we know from their history) were sanctuaries and places of sacrifice to the Israelites. But the laws of Deuteronomy xix. 2 sqq. and Numbers (xxxv. 9 sqq.), which recognise no legal place of sacrifice save that of Jerusalem, make the right of asylum to be independent of the altar. The latter law, which our passage closely follows, practically provides a fair trial for every man charged with homicide. The murderer is delivered to the avenger of blood; the accidental homicide does not go scot-free, for he dare not leave the asylum till the death of the high-priest. The law in this form was hardly observed till after the time of Ezra. 2. by the hand of] i.e. through the instrumentality of,—the usual Hebrew idiom; cp. Lev. x. 11; Numb. xv. 23, &c. 3. unawares} So ver.9; Numb. xxxv.11. ‘By misadventure.’ The same word is used of sins of ignorance (Lev. iv. 2). un- wittingly] So Deut. xix. 4. Heb. ‘without knowledge,’ i.e. without meaning it. your refuge| R.V. unto you for a refuge. 3-6, These verses do not occur in the LXX, 122 JOSHUA, XX. 5-7 when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. 5And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. 6And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled. 7And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount 4 R.V. And he [the innocent slayer] shall flee unto one of those cities, and shall stand. the entering of the gate| where there was wont to be an open space where the elders sat for judgment ; Ruth iv. 1 sqq.; Neh. viii. 1. Cp. the expression ‘the Sublime Porte.’ declare his cause| Heb. ‘speak his words.’ The actual trial, determining his right to protection, followed later (ver. 6; Numb. xxxv. 24). 5. And zf] better: ‘and when.’ 6. the congregation] i.e. the national assembly of all Israel; here necessarily some representative court acting in the name of the whole nation. In Deut. xix. 12 the case appears to be in the hands of the authorities of the manslayer’s own city. 7,8. Of the cities here mentioned three are known to have been ancient seats of altars and sanctuaries; the same thing is probable of the others also. 7. appotnted| R.V. set apart. Kedesh| See xii. 22. Shechem (1870 feet), mod. Nabulus, 49 miles north from Hebron, and 55 miles south from Kedesh. It lay in a central position (see Pss. Ix. 6, cviii. 7) in the hill-country of Ephraim, and was an important stage on the road from Hebron and Jerusalem to the north (Judg. xxi. 19) as well as on one of the trade routes from Gaza to Damascus. The valley of Shechem, between Ebal and Gerizim, has been spoken of by travellers as the paradise of the Holy Land. It is frequently mentioned in the patriarchal histories (Gen. xii. 6, xxxiii. 18 sqq., xxxiv. 2 &c.) and in the Book of Joshua it is spoken of as a city of refuge, a Levitical city and the resting- place of the bones of Joseph (xxi. 21, xxiv. 32). In the time of JOSHUA, XX. 8-XXI. 1 123 Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath- arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. ®And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congre- gation. 1-45. The Provision for Priests and Levites. Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the Judges (ch. ix.} it was the seat of the worship of Baal-berith (the ‘Lord of the Covenant’), a tutelary deity in whose title may ‘perhaps be discerned a reference to the commercial interests of the place. It was the scene of the meeting of the ten tribes at which Jeroboam was chosen king (1 Kings xii. 1 sqq.), and was for some time his capital. After the Exile it became the principal city of the Samaritan community and the seat of their schismatic worship on Mount Gerizim. Hebron] see x. 39. 8. These three cities are said in Deut. iv. 41 sqq. to have been already set apart by Moses. Bezer (Deut. iv. 43; 1 Chron. vi. 78; the Bozrah of Jer. xlviii. 24), here described as lying in the wilder- ness on the (Amorite) ‘Mishor’ or table-land, is usually identified with Kesir el-Besheir, about 2 miles 8.W. from Dibon and about the same distance N. from Aroer. It is nearly in the same latitude as Hebron, about 36 miles in a direct line to the eastward. King Mesha of Moab in his inscription (about 850 B.c.) says, ‘I built Bezer, for ruins had it become.’ Ramoth in Gilead, the Ramoth-Mizpeh of xiii. 26 (q.v.). Golan gave name to the province afterwards called Gaulanitis (mod. Jolan), which lay to the east of Galilee, between Lebanon and the Yarmik. Its site is unknown. 9. the stranger] See note on viii. 33. Ch. xxi. 1-45. The Provision for Priests and Levites. The Forty-eight Levitical Cities. The same list is given in 1 Chron. vi. 54-81, Juttah, Gibeon, 124 JOSHUA, XXI. 2-6 the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; 2and they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lorp commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle. And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lorp, these cities and their suburbs. 4And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities. 5 And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities. 6And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Jokneam and Nahalol being left out, and many of the names given in different forms. The variations are due to copyists for the most part. After ver. 35 there is a lacuna in the present Hebrew text, which can be filled up partly from the LXX. and partly from Chronicles. 1. Zhen] In connection with the division of the land (xiii. 7). heads of the fathers| Heads of the fathers’ houses or clans; see Mave unto Eleazar...and unto Joshua] The prominence and precedence here given to Eleazar mark the priestly narrator. 2. commanded] See Numb. xxxv. 2-5. suburbs] ‘ pasture- lands’: cp. xiv. 4. 4-8. General scheme of distribution among the families of the tribe of Levi. First, the priestly Kohathites, the ministers of the Judean temple, are placed in the Judean kingdom; other (non- priestly) Kohathites are settled in the district that afterwards became Samaria; the Gershonites and Merarites in Galilee and east of the Jordan. 4, the lot} The cities were set apart by the boundaries com- mission (ver. 3); the lot determined to which family of the Levites each group of cities should be given. JOSHUA, XXI. 7-15 125 tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities. 7The children of Merari by their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. %8And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the Lorp commanded by the hand of Moses. 9And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name, 19 which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Ko- hathites, who were of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot. ™And they gave them the city of Arbah the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it. 12But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. 13Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs, 14and Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs, 13and Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with 9-19. Cities of the Aaronites or priests. Cp. the corresponding list in 1 Chron. vi. 54-60. The cities are all in Judah (inclusive of Simeon) and Benjamin; viz. Hebron, Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa, Holon, Debir (read Ashan, 1 Chron. vi. 59), Juttah, Beth-shemesh, Gibeon, Geba, Anathoth and Almon (Alemeth, 1 Chron. vi. 60). That most of these were not the property of the priests before the Exile is clear. Jeremiah indeed was one of the priests of Anathoth. As regards the others, some were sanctuaries—Gibeon, Beth-shemesh, Hebron—but certainly not priests’ towns. Even after the Exile (Neh. xi. 25 sqq.) there were Judeans at Hebron, and Benjamites apparently at Geba (Neh. xi. 31),certainly at Anathoth. In David’s ~time (1 Sam. xxx. 27 sqq.) Jattir, Eshtemoa, Hebron, and Chor- ashan (Ashan) were ordinary Judean towns. 11, thecity of Arbah) Heb. Kirjath-Arba; see xv. 13. 12. The limitation of Caleb’s property in Hebron here implied does not seem to have taken effect. 126 JOSHUA, XXI. 16-26 her suburbs, and Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes. 17And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs, 18 Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities. 19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs. 20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites which remained of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. ?1For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs, ?42and Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Beth-horon with her suburbs; four cities. 23And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs, 24 Aijalon with her suburbs, Gath-rimmon with her suburbs; four cities. 25And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with her suburbs; two cities. 26 All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained. 16. Ain] 1 Chron. vi. 59 substitutes the name of Ashan (ep. xv. 42), but Ain and Ashan appear as distinct places in xix. 7. 18. Anathoth (see on xviii. 21-28), the birthplace of Jeremiah ; cp. Jer. i. 1; 1 Kings ii. 26; Isa. x. 30; Neh. xi. 32. Almon| See on xviii. 21-28. 20-26. The remaining Kohathite cities. Of these Shechem was Canaanite till destroyed by Abimelech, Gezer till Solomon’s time, Aijalon was a Canaanite city tributary to Joseph (Judg. i. 35), Taanach was tributary to Manasseh (Judg. i. 27), Gibbethon was Philistine till the time of Baasha (1 Kings xv. 27). 22. Kibzaim| 1 Chron. vi. 68 here reads Jokmeam. 25. Tanach| R.V. Taanach; cp. xvii. 11. Gath-rimmon] - In Western Manasseh. This is thought to be a clerical error for Bileam (1 Chron. vi. 70) or Ibleam (xvii. 11), which continued to be Canaanite (Judg. i. 27). 27-42. Cities of the Gershonites and Merarites. JOSHUA, XXII, 27-87 127 27 And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Be-eshterah with her suburbs; two cities. 28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, Dabareh with her suburbs, 29 Jarmuth with her suburbs, En-gannim with her sub- urbs; four cities. 39And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs, 31 Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her sub- urbs; four cities. 82And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammoth-dor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three cities. 33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs. 34 And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs, 35 Dim- nah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities. 36And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs, 37 Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs ; four 27. Be-eshterah| The Ashtaroth of xii. 4 (q.v.). 28. Kishon, Dabareh] R.V., more correctly, Kishion, Dabe- rath ; cp. xix. 12, 20. 29. Jarmuth| To be distinguished from the Jarmuth of x. 3, xii. 11, xv. 35. 1 Chron. vi. 73 has Ramoth; cp. Remeth in Josh. xix. 21. 30. Mishal] Misheal in xix. 26. Abdon]| Ebron in xix. 28 CPR 32. Kartan] Kirjathaim in 1 Chron. vi. 76, and apparently corresponding to the Rakkath of xix. 35. 35. Dimnah| Not in LXX. nor in xix. 10-16. Probably as in 1 Chron. vi. 77 we ought to read Rimmon, or Rimmonah: cp. xix. 13. Nahalal] xix. 35. It remained in the hands of the Canaanites; Judg. i. 30. 36,37. These verses are not found in all Hebrew copies, and Masoretic authority is claimed for their omission; but they stand 128 JOSHUA, XXI. 38-XXIT. 2 cities. 38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs, 39 Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her suburbs; four cities in all. 40So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities. 41! All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs. 42 These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus were all these cities. 43 And the Lorp gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. 44 And the Lorp gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lorp delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lorp had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. 1-9. Farewell Address to the Two Tribes and a Half. y) Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, 2and said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant in the old versions and in 1 Chron. vi. 63 sqq. They are required by ver. 7, and also to make up the number of the towns assigned to Merari in ver. 40. 43-46. Conclusion of Part II., in the highly generalized style of which we have already had examples in x. 40, xi. 15-17, 21-23, 2 ey Pg = 43. all the land] cp. x. 40, xi. 12. Part III. CuHaps. XXII.-XXIV. ReneAse AND RETURN OF THE Two TrIBES AND A Harr; JosHuA’s PARTING ADDRESSES; His Dratu. Ch. xxii. 1-9. Joshua’s Farewell Address to the Two Tribes and a Half. 2. all that Moses| cp. i. 12-17. JOSHUA, XXII. 3-9 129 of the Lorp commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: ?ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lorp your God. 4 And now the Lorp your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get ye unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lorp gave you on the other side Jordan. 5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lorp charged you, to love the Lorp your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. 6So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents. “Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them, 8and he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. 9And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of 3. many days] cp. xi. 18. 4, unto your tents| cp. vv. 6, 8. The usual expression for going home; 2 Sam. xx. 1; 1 Kings viii. 66; 2 Kings viii. 21, &c. 8. brass| ie. bronze, which was much more largely used for utensils, and even for weapons, than in our time. divide the spotl| cp. 1 Sam. xxx. 21 sqq.; Numb. xxxi. 27. Some had been left behind for defence, &c. 9-31. Return of the Two Tribes and a Half. They erect an altar on the Jordan. Dispute arising out of this; and its settlement. JOSHUA 9 130 JOSHUA, XXII. 10-14 Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the Lorp by the hand of Moses. 10-34. The Altar Kd. 10And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to. 11 And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel. 12And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them. 18 And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 4and with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was a head of the house of their fathers among the thousands 9. Shiloh] see xviii. 1. Gilead] see note on xii. 2, 5. Canaan and Gilead are here used to denote Western and Eastern Palestine respectively. 10-34. The Altar Hd. 10. R.V. the region about Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, i.e. the district of Jordan on the Canaanite or western side. The word is Geliloth. Cp. note on xii. 23. great altar to see to| i.e. great and conspicuous. 11. over against] R.V. in the forefront of. Cp. viii. 33. at the passage of | R.V. on the side that pertaineth to, i.e. the west side. 14. R.V. one prince of a fathers’ house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were every one of them head of their fathers’ houses, JOSHUA, XXII. 15-22 131 of Israel. 15 And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lorp, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lorp, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lorp? 17 Js the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lorp, but that ye must turn away this day from following the Lorp? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the Lorp, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be un- clean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lorp, wherein the Lorp’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lorp, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lorp our God. 2° Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity. 21Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel, 22 The Lorp God of gods, the Lorp God of gods, he knoweth, and 16. that ye might rebel] R.V. to rebel. 17. the iniquity of [Baal] Peor] See Numb. xxv. 1 sqq. 18. to morrow] i.e. presently. 19. unclean] To the early Hebrews an unclean land is a land in which Jehovah cannot be worshipped by sacrifice (Hos. ix. 3 sqq.; Am. vii. 17)—a land that is not the Lord’s. The conjecture that the Eastern tribes thought their land unclean seems to rest on the observation that the altar was built on the west side of Jordan. 20. It is not their affair only, but concerns all Israel. 22. The LORD God of gods] or, ‘El, Elohim, Jehovah ’—the 9—2 & 132 JOSHUA, XXII. 238-29 Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in trans- gression against the Lorp, (save us not this day,) 2$that we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lorp; or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the Lorp himself require it; 24and if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have you to do with the Lorp God of Israel? 25 For the Lorp hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the Lorp: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lorp: ?6there- fore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice: 27 but that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the Lorp before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the Lorp. 28Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lorp, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices ; but it 7s a witness between us and you. 29 God forbid that we should rebel against the Lorp, and turn this day from following the Lorp, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lorp our God that 7s before his tabernacle. three names of God, in juxtaposition. save us not &e.| R.V. save thou us not this day, i.e. if we speak not the truth. 23. require] i.e. punish; see 1 Sam. xx. 16; 2 Sam. iv. 11 and cp. Deut. xviii. 19. 24. done it for fear of this thing] R.V. out of carefulness done this, and of purpose; or rather ‘out of a certain apprehension,’ JOSHUA, XXII. 80-XXITTI. 1 133 80 And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them. %!1And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the Lorp is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the Lorp: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lorp. 32And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the chil- dren of Israel, and brought them word again. 33And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. 34And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the Lorp is God. xxiii, l-xxiv. 28. 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