AFTER THE DEATH OF JOSHUA - But from Judges 1:1 to Judges 2:9 is a consecutive narrative, ending with the death of Joshua. Hence, the events in this chapter and in Judges 2:1 are to be taken as belonging to the lifetime of Joshua. See Judges 2:11 note. ASKED THE LORD - The phrase is only found in Ju... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID - i. e. answered by Urim and Thummim. The land was the portion which fell to Judah by lot, not the whole land of Canaan (see Judges 3:11). The priority given to Judah is a plain indication of divine direction. It points to the birth of our Lord of the tribe of Judah. Judah associat... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CANAANITES AND THE PERIZZITES - See Genesis 12:6, note; Genesis 13:7, note. Bezek may be the name of a district. It has not yet been identified.... [ Continue Reading ]
THREESCORE AND TEN KINGS - We may infer from this number of conquered kings, that the intestine wars of the Canaanites were among the causes which, under God’s Providence, weakened their resistance to the Israelites. Adoni-Bezek’s cruelty to the subject kings was the cause of his receiving (compare... [ Continue Reading ]
Render “and the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it,” etc. With regard to the capture of Jerusalem there is some obscurity. It is here said to have been taken, smitten with the edge of the sword, and burned, by the children of Judah. In Joshua 12:8, Joshua 12:10 the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHILDREN OF THE KENITE - See Numbers 24:21 note. THE CITY OF PALM TREES - Jericho (see the marginal reference). The rabbinical story is that Jericho, with 500 cubits square of land, was given to Hobab. The use of the phrase “city of palm trees” for “Jericho,” is perhaps an indication of the inf... [ Continue Reading ]
HORMAH - See Numbers 21:1 note. The destruction then vowed was now accomplished. This is another decisive indication that the events here related belong to Joshua’s lifetime. This would be about six years after the vow.... [ Continue Reading ]
It is remarkable that Ashdod is not here mentioned, as it is in Joshua 15:46, in conjunction with Gaza and Ekron; but that Askelon, which is not in the list of the cities of Judah at all, is named in its stead. (See Joshua 13:3 note.) It is a curious fact that when Rameses III took Askelon it was oc... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is nearly identical with Joshua 15:63, except in the substitution of Benjamin for Judah. Probably the original reading Judah was altered in later times to Benjamin, because Jebus was within the border of Benjamin, and neither had the Benjamites expelled the Jebusites.... [ Continue Reading ]
Bethel was within the borders of Benjamin, but was captured, as we here learn, by the house of Joseph, who probably retained it.... [ Continue Reading ]
The site of this new Luz is not known, but “the land of the Hittites” was apparently in the north of Palestine, on the borders of Syria (Genesis 10:15 note).... [ Continue Reading ]
Compare the marginal reference. Accho, afterward called Ptolemais, now Akka or St. Jean d’Acre, is named here for the first time.... [ Continue Reading ]
It is an evidence of the power of the Canaanite in this portion of the land that it is not said (compare Judges 1:30) that the Canaanites dwelt among the Asherites, but that the Asherites (and Judges 1:33, Naphtali) “dwelt among the Canaanites;” nor are the Canaanites in Accho, Zidon, and the other... [ Continue Reading ]
The Amorites are usually found in the mountain Numbers 13:29; Joshua 10:6. Here they dwell in the valley, of which the monuments of Rameses III show them to have been in possession when that monarch invaded Syria. It was their great strength in this district, and their forcible detention of the terr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOING UP TO AKRABBIM - See the margin and references; properly “the ascent of scorpions,” with which the whole region abounds. THE ROCK - Petra, the capital of Idumea, so called from the mass of precipitous rock which encloses the town, and out of which many of its buildings are excavated. The... [ Continue Reading ]