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 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 PRINCETON. N. J. 
 
 
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COMMENTARY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 HOLY SCRIPTURES: 
 
 CRITICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND HOMILETICAL, 
 
 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MINISTERS AND STUDENTS. 
 
 JOHN PETER LAjSTGE, D. D 
 
 IN CONNECTION WITH A NUMBER OF EMINENT EUEOPEAN DIVINES. 
 
 TRANSLATED, ENLARGED, AND EDITED 
 
 PHILIP SCHAFF, D. D. 
 
 IH CONNECTION WITH AMERICAN SCHOLARS OF VARIOUS EVANGELICAL DENOMINATIONS 
 
 VOLUME IV. OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: CONTAINING JOSHUA, JUDGES, 
 
 AND RUTH. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 
 1899 
 
THE 
 
 
 BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 F. R FAY, 
 
 P18TOR IN CREFEL'D, PRCS9IA. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS, 
 
 GEORGE R BLISS, D. D., 
 
 PBOFEB80R IN THE UNIVEBSITT OF I.EWI9BUEG, LEWIBBUBO, FEND. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 
 
Eatered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 
 
 Chakles Scribner asd Company, 
 
 * the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Wa&hmgtth 
 
PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. 
 
 The Book of Joshua relates the history of the conquest of Canaan under the lead o( 
 Joshua, the successor of Moses, the division of the conquered land among the tribes of Israel, 
 and the provision for the settlement of the theocracy in that country. The Book of 
 Judges continues the history of the theocracy from the death of Joshua to the time of Eli, 
 under the administration of thirteen Judges, whom God raised up in special emergencies for 
 the restoration of social order and deliverance from foreign oppression. It covers the trans- 
 ition period of about three hundred years from the theocratic republic to the theocratic 
 monarchy. The Book of Ruth is a charming episode of domestic virtue and happiness, 
 in striking contrast with the prevailing character of this period, when might was right, and 
 " every one did that which was right in his own eyes." It teaches the sure reward of filial 
 devotion and trust in God, the proper use of the calamities of life, the overruling providence 
 of God in the private affairs of an humble family as well as in the palaces of princes and 
 the public events of nations. It also shows how God had children outside of Canaan and 
 the Jewish theocracy. The incorporation of Ruth, the Moabitess, into the Church of the 
 Old Testament, may be regarded as an intimation of the future call of the Gentiles to the 
 gospel salvation. The story of Ruth is told with touching simplicity. Gothe ( Westbsllicher 
 Divan, p. 8) says : 4 ' It is the loveliest thing, in the shape of an epic or idyl, which has come 
 to us." Humboldt (Koxmns, ii. 46, Germ, ed.) calls it "a most artless and inexpressibly 
 charming picture of nature." 
 
 These three books are here brought together in one volume. 
 
 The Commentary on Joshua was prepared in German, 1870, by the Rev. F. R. Fat 
 (Dr. Lange's son-in-law), Pastor in Crefeld, Prussia, and in English by the Rev. George R. 
 Bliss, D. D., Professor in Lewisburg University, Pennsylvania. Dr. BUss writes : " My 
 own impression concerning the author (Mr. Fay), derived from a close and protracted famil- 
 iarity with his book, is highly favorable to his learning, his piety, his Christian catholicity 
 and ainiableness of spirit." He has made a careful use of the most recent helps even in the 
 English language touching the questions of geography and topography of the holy land, 
 which occupy a very prominent position in a Commentary on Joshua. The Textual and 
 Grammatical Notes are added by the American translator, who has also materially en- 
 riched the other departments, in accordance with the general plan of the American edition. 
 
 The Commentary on Judges and Ruth is by Professor Paulus Cassel, of Berlin, and 
 appeared several years earlier (1865). The English edition was prepared by the Rev. P. 
 H. Steexstra, Professor in the Protestant Episcopal Divinity School at Cambridge, Mass. 
 
 Professor Cassel is a converted Rabbi, one of the best Talmudic scholars of Germany, a 
 man of genius and ardent Christian spirit. His commentary is very original, fresh, sugges- 
 tive, abounding in historical examples and parallels, but sometimes very fanciful, especially 
 in bis philological efforts. Here the translator has very properly expressed his dissent from 
 many of his views. Professor Steenstra has paid special attention to the textual department, 
 and supplemented his author where he takes too much for granted. The grammatical notes 
 on the Book of Ruth are quite full, because it is often read by students of Hebrew in Sem- 
 inaries, owing to its simplicity and literary merit. 
 
 conclude these introductory remarks with the closing sentences of Professor Cassel'i 
 face : — 
 It will not be considered my greatest fault that, as far as possible, I have avoided polem- 
 
 , and have contented myself with positive exposition of the meaning as I understood it. 
 [ cannot help feeling that in many expositions there is less eagerness to explain the sacred 
 
IV PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. 
 
 text than to give battle to the views of other writers. The same principle haj guided me in 
 the Introduction, which on that account I could confine to brief outlines. A departure from 
 this principle was deemed necessary in only a few passages. 
 
 " What shall I say more 1 Scripture says everywhere Tolle, lege ! and such especially ia 
 the language of the Book of Judges and of Judgment now before us. 
 
 " Verily, the sacred canon here presents us with a book of history and historical art, such 
 as our generation, prolific in writings on history, but nevertheless poor in historical feeling 
 and perception, stands in pressing need of. Sic invenietur, sic aperietur . " 
 
 PHILIP 8CHAFF. 
 
 Bible House, New York, October, 1871. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 § 1. Name of the Book. Place in the Canon. Contents and Character in gerund. 
 
 Named not from its author but from the distinguished hero whose history it relates, the 
 Book of Joshua stands first in the canonical list of D^itTN"! D , 'S , 23, the prophetce priores 
 of the Old Testament. To these belong also the Book of Judges (QVD'itT), the two Books 
 of Samuel (bSTOtP), and the two Books of Kings (D' ?bp). These writings are collectively 
 so designated, primarily because, according to old Jewish tradition, they were composed by 
 prophets, and in the second place, also, doubtless because they dwell largely, the Books of 
 Samuel and of the Kings in particular, on the deeds of certain prophets. Still, both these 
 reasons together do not of themselves explain the name. The Masoretes, rather, from whom 
 all these designations and titles are derived, certainly had a feeling that the same spirit which 
 swppt through the prophets, strictly such, the Q , 3i")nSI Z'S'O?, and their writings, was trace- 
 able in these historical books also ; that, accordingly, the history of the people of God had 
 been written in this spirit, not as a profane but a sacred history. The guidance of that people 
 by Jehovah, the God of Israel, as he is called in this book (xxiv. 2, 23), their relation and 
 that of their leaders to their God, their fidelity or unfaithfulness, their conformity to his com- 
 mandments or transgression of them, their worship of Jehovah or apostasy to idol-worship, 
 are the proper themes of this holy historiography. These books of the first or prior prophets 
 are not merely historical books, but, as De Wette in his Introduction to the O. T. has aptly 
 styled them, theocratico-histori cal books, pervaded and filled with the same spirit of pro- 
 found piety, noble moral courage, and holy reverence for the commands of Jehovah, which 
 breathes through the " theocratically-inspired books " of the prophets properly so-called. 1 
 
 This character shows also in the Book of Joshua, which, as on the one hand it introduces 
 
 the C^iti"") 2^23, follows on the other the mVl, the Pentateuch. While in former 
 » :* t ' 
 
 times, under the supposition that " the law " constituted an absolute literary whole, scarcely 
 any attention was given to the all-pervading relationship between the Book of Joshua and 
 
 1 [We append to this the following interesting remarks of Keil, on the prophetical character of the historical books 
 ■ r These books thus present no general history of the nation of Israel in its merely political and civil development, but the 
 history of the people of God, that is of Israel, in its theocratic development as the covenant people and bearer of the sal- 
 vation which from the seed of Abraham was to be revealed, in the fullness of time, to all peoples. Their authors have 
 accordingly selected and delivered through prophetic illuminatioo, out of the rich and various multiplicity of family, 
 tribe and national history furnished by written and oral tradition, only those facts and occurrences, which were of mo- 
 ment toward the history of the kingdom of God. These were, besides the revelations of God in word and deed, and be- 
 sides his wonderful works and the prophetic attestations of the divine counsel and will, above all, the moments in the life, 
 the action or inaction of the people which had operated to further or obstruct the progress of the divine common- 
 wealth. Whatever did not stand in intimate connection with this higher aim and peculiar calling of Israel is, generally 
 speaking, entirely omitted, or at most only so far touched upou as it served to make clear the position of the entire people 
 or of its leaders and governors toward the Lord and his kingdom. Hence we readily understand the apparent in- 
 equality in the treatment of the history, that here and there long periods are characterized only by some general remmk^, 
 while the fortunes and acts of certain persons are portrayel with almost biographical completeness; that the natural 
 r-auses of the events and the subjective motives which determined the conduct of the historical personages, remain for the 
 most part unnamed, or are ouly incidentally and briefly intimated. The divine agency and influence therein are mean- 
 while constantly made prominent and. so far as they were manifested in extraordinary ways, carefully and circumstan- . 
 
 tially related The prophetical character, however, by which these historical works are distinguished from 
 
 ,ne other sacred historical writings of the Israelites, consists in this: that they describe the theocratic history not from 
 ne point of view of the individual author, but in its actual course answering to the progressive unfolding of the divim 
 plan, as could be done only by prophets to whom the spirit of the Lord had disclosed ae visicn of God's economy of ami 
 ntion." — Bib. Comment %t uber d. A. T. ii. Theil, 1 Bd. p. x. J". - Te.] 
 
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 the Pentateuch, modern criticism has the unquestionable merit, both of recognizing this po- 
 sition of our book in the O. T. Canon, and of instituting profound and highly instructive in- 
 vestigations concerning it. These Knobel, in particular, has in part thoroughly explained, 
 and in part independently carried still further, in his Criticism of the Pentateuch and Joshua 
 (Kurzgefasstes exeget. Handbuch zum Alien Testament, xiii. pp. 489-606). The results of the 
 investigations concerning the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua ma)- be found in shorter 
 compass in Bleek's Introduction to the 0. T. [translated into English by Venables, Lond. 1869], 
 §§ 137, 138, where they are summed up as the issue of minute and conscientious researches in 
 tj§ 59-136. Indeed, so many and so various are the points of mutual approach between Joshua 
 and the Pentateuch, in respect both to language and to facts, as obviously to raise the sus- 
 picion that the two together originally formed one great work, from which our book was, only 
 at a later period, perhaps in the time of Ezra (Bleek, § 140), separated. To set one's self 
 against this discovery because the " neological " or " modern " criticism has first brought it to 
 light, is unworthy of believing Scriptural research. 
 
 In the closest connection with the last verse of Deuteronomy (xxxiv. 5-12), our book re- 
 lates first, how Jehovah commanded Joshua to arise and cross over the Jordan to take 
 possession of the land which He had given to the children of Israel ; and then declares 
 further how Joshua communicated this order to the leaders of the people, and at the same 
 time required of the two and a half tribes of the Keubenites, Gadites, and half of Manasseh, 
 who had already received of Moses (Deut, xxxii. ; Josh, xiii.) their possession on the east 
 side of the Jordan, that they should, according to the conditions fixed by Moses (Deut. 
 xxxii. 20), take part in the coming conquest of the land (ch. i.). Next follows the account 
 of the mission of the spies to Jericho, their reception by Rahab, their danger, deliverance, 
 and flight (ch. ii). After the return of the messengers the people pass over the Jordan, 
 not without experiencing a proof of the divine assistance in that the passage of the river was 
 accomplished dryshod, although the stream at that season, in the days of harvest, was un- 
 usually swollen with the water (chaps, iii., iv.). In the fifth chapter we are informed of the 
 circumcision at Gilgal and of the first passover-festival on the soil of Canaan, with which 
 closes the First Section of the First Part of the book. The preparation for the holy war, of 
 which the author furnishes us a report in that Part, is now finished. And Joshua himself, 
 the leader of the people, has been strengthened and encouraged by a special manifestation 
 from above (ch. v.). 
 
 Now begins the narrative of the struggles between Israel and the Canaanites (vi. 1-xi. 
 23). In a flowing and vivid relation the author depicts, successively, the capture of Jericho, 
 whose walls fall at the sound of the trumpets, the destruction of the city, the rescue oi 
 Rahab, the imprecation on the foundation and site (ch. vi.) ; then Achau's crime, the unfor- 
 tunate expedition to Ai, Joshua's humble supplication before Jehovah, the discovery and 
 punishment of the criminal (ch. vii.). Upon this follows the truly brilliant description, 
 characterized by the greatest vividness of representation, of the conquest and destruction of 
 Ai (ch. viii. 1-29). After this, however, the course of the hitherto well-ordered narrative of 
 martial exploits, is interrupted by an account (ch. viii. 30-35) of the altar of blessing and 
 curse on Mount Ebal, which appears, as we will show hereafter, to belong properly not to 
 this place but rather after ch. xi. 23. For the conquest of the land is not yet finished ; we 
 hear, on the contrary (ch. ix. 1, 2), that five Canaanitish lings unite themselves in a formal 
 league against the triumphantly invading Israelites. The burghers of Gibeon, having heard 
 what Joshua has done to Jericho and Ai, take another course, that of cunning and stratagem, 
 and completely attain their end. Supposing from their old garments, their ruptured wine- 
 skins, their tattered shoes, and their musty bread, that they had come from a distant land, 
 Joshua, without inquiring of Jehovah (ch. ix. 14), concludes a .treaty with them by which 
 their preservation is assured. The deception is afterwards discovered, but the promise nev- 
 ertheless maintained, because it had been confirmed (ch. ix. 15) by a solemn oath which the 
 princes of Israel felt themselves bound in conscience to keep. The Gibeonites are not de- 
 stroyed, but as a punishment for their falsehood they are made wood-choppers and drawers 
 of water for the congregation, and for the altar of Jehovah (ch. ix. 3-27). 
 
 But now the wrath of Adoni-zedek and his allies turns against the inhabitants of Gibeon, 
 AS apostates from the common cause who must be punished for their treachery (ch. x. 1-5). 
 In this strait the latter appeal to Joshua for help, which is promptly and heartily afforded. 
 Specially cheered by Jehovah he advances, smites the five kings in the great battle of Gibeon. 
 
§ 1. CONTENTS. " 
 
 poetically celebrated (ch. x. 12, 13) by an after-age, pursues them with their hosts over the 
 pass of Beth-horon, down to Azekah and Makkedah, hangs them, when the pursuit is over 
 on five trees, but at sundown /auses their corpses to be taken down and cast into the cave at 
 Makkedah, where they had leen found concealed. This victory over the five kings was fol- 
 lowed by the conquest of the whole southern portion of the. land, west of the Jordan, and 
 Joshua now returns to the camp at Gilgal on the Jordan. This seems to have remained the 
 head-quarters of all these operations (ch. x.). Thus the south of the country west of the 
 Jordan — of Canaan proper (see on this designation § 6) — was subjugated. To the same 
 fate must the north also submit. In vain, as before Adoni-zedek gathered the kings of the 
 south, does Jabin king of Hazor now collect about him those of the north in a second com- 
 pact against Joshua, for continuing the war of defense. Like sand by the sea for multitude, 
 is the host which they bring into the field (ch. xi. 4) ; but with surprising rapidity they are 
 reached by the able leader of Israel, at the water of Merom, where they are encamped, — 
 reached, surprised, smitten, annihilated. For after this defeat also, Joshua fails not to pur- 
 sue and to so strike the enemy, that be "left them not one remaining" (ch. xi. 8). Their 
 horses were hamstrung, their chariots burnt with tire. The history of these events is more 
 meagrely given than that of the capture of Jericho and Ai, and of the slaughter at Gibeon, 
 but not less plainly and vividly (ch. xi. 1-9). After now reporting further (ch. xi. 10-15) 
 how Joshua took the cities of the north, except ilm^e which stood upon hills, and slew their 
 kin<rs and people, while he gave their spoil as booty to his army, which had not been allowed 
 at the taking of Jericho (ch. vi. 17 ; vii. 1 ff), the author closes the chapter with a genera] 
 review of the conquest of the whole land west of the Jordan. Here he recalls particularly 
 the destruction of the Anakim in the mountain of Judah, as accomplished by Joshua (ch. xi. 
 16-23). With this closes the Second Section of the First Part, since ch. xii. is to be regarded 
 as a special section. It contains a complete lisl of the kings subdued under the leadership 
 of Moses and Joshua, on both sides r>{' tin' Jordan, thirty-one in number. Here the First Part 
 of the book (chaps, i.— xii.) is brought to a conclusion. 
 
 The Second Part (chaps, xiii.-xxiv.) describes the division of the conquered territory 
 among the Israelites. 
 
 A considerable time, as would appear, has passed since the conquest of the land (xiii. 
 1). Joshua has become old ; there remains also, very much to be occupied, partly in the 
 southwest " where the territory of the Philistine kingdoms was," and partly in the north, 
 "the country on Lebanon ; " yet must Joshua now undertake the distribution of the land (ch. 
 xiii. 1-7) among the nine and a half tribes. The mention made of the one half of the tribe 
 ofManasseh leads the author to look back over the district already allotted to the two and 
 a half tribes east of the Jordan (eh. xiii. 8-33), where the remark is repeatedly brought in 
 that Joshua gave no possession to the tribe of Levi, because the sacrifices of Jehovah, nay, 
 Jehovah himself was their possession (ch. xiii. 14, 33). In the following chapter (ch. xiv.) the 
 writer begins his account of the division of the land (ch. xiv. 1-5). This is not resumed 
 until ch. xv. 1 ff., so that the narrative concerning Caleb's demand for a possession, which is 
 repeated in another form ch. xv. 13-19 (comp. Judg. i. 12-15), shows itself plainly an intru- 
 sive fragment. For clearness of arrangement, we may, with Bunsen, conveniently make 
 these two chapters the First Section of the Second Part, and then group ch. xv.-xxi. as the 
 second. 
 
 These seven chapters contain — with the exception of ch. xv. 13-19, xvii. 13-18, xviii. 1-20, 
 xx. 1-6 — very dry, but, for the knowledge of the holy land, extremely valuable, notices, which 
 are often surprisingly accurate. In a few places only, particularly xvi. 5 ff. and xix. 34, is 
 the sense obscure and hard to determine, as will appear in the discussion of those passages. 
 A degree of difficulty characterizes ch. xvi. 1, also, as has been noticed particularly by Hauff 
 (Offenbarungsglaube und Krilik, p. 139 ff.), and especially ch. xvii. 1, where "a mass of ex- 
 planatory phrases " is found, while the intervening narratives (ch. xv. 13-19, xvii. 14-18) are 
 distinguished by the same beauty of delineation which we have already often met in the first 
 part of the book. How vividly is the transaction between Caleb and his daughter given, 
 how freshly and succinctly that between Joshua and the exacting sons of Joseph, his fellow 
 "ribesmen ! 
 
 The third and last section comprises chaps, xxii.-xxiv. Here the release of the two and a 
 half tribes from beyond the Jordan, who could now be sent home, after the conquest and 
 illotment of the country, is announced, and then reported in detail ; and how they raised ai 
 
8 THE BOOK Oh JOSHUA. 
 
 altar on the west bank of the Jordan, the building of which excited the ill-humor of the 
 other Israelites. This was allayed, however, when the commission sent out under Phinehas 
 brought back a satisfactory explanation (ch. xxii.). Next follow the farewell discourses of 
 Joshua, the first delivered probably at Shiloh, the second at Shechem (ch. xxiv. 1). Old 
 and full of days (ch. xxiii. 1), feeling that he too must go the way of all the earth, the brave, 
 disinterested, pious follower of Moses, takes leave of his people, admonishes them to fidelity 
 towards Jehovah, warns them against apostasy and idolatry, and finally lays them under the 
 obligation of a solemn renewal of the covenant (ch. xxiv. 25). To commemorate this a 
 monument of stones is erected (ch. xxiv. 26, 27). One hundred and ten years old, the pre- 
 cise age of his ancestor Joseph (Gen. 1. 22), Joshua dies and is buried at Timnath-serah, in 
 his own city (ch. xxiv. 29, 30). While he and the elders live, Israel serves Jehovah (ch. 
 xxiv. 31). But Eleazar, also the faithful helper of Joshua, the son of Aaron, the high-priest 
 of Israel, dies and is buried at Gibeah-phinehas, in the city of his son, who as being distin- 
 guished by a holy zeal for the true worship of God, was exceptionally provided with a pos- 
 session of his own (ch. xxiv. 33). A notice concerning the bones of Joseph is inserted 
 between these reports of the decease of Joshua and Eleazar. 
 
 If now we look back and bring up to ourselves once more the total impression which the 
 Book of Joshua makes, it may be said with reason that the account of the historical events 
 is given on the whole, in a well-ordered succession, and the connection but seldom broken ; 
 and further, that the notices concerning the division of the land are characterized in general 
 by remarkable clearness and accuracy. This is especially evident when one compares the 
 corresponding section of Josephus {Ant. v. 1, 22). At the same time it need not be over- 
 looked that, as manifest interpolations attest (ch. viii. 30-35, x. 12-15, xiv. 6-15, xv. 13- 
 19, xvii. 13-18), we have before us here, as little as in the Pentateuch, an original work em- 
 anating from one author ; but rather a literary product, which, although finally revised with 
 a view to unity of representation, bears plainly on its face the marks of its origin. The 
 book itself cites (ch. x. 13) one of its documentary sources ; and if one why may not a num- 
 ber of them have existed, although they are not directly quoted ? 
 
 Observation. The Samaritan Book of Joshua, called also, Chronicon Samaritanum, of 
 which an Arabic translation in Samaritan characters exists in the Leyden Library (printed 
 under the title : Chronicon Samaritanum, Ed. Joh. Juynboll, Lugd. Bat. 1848), is pronounced 
 by De Wette, Hengstenberg, and Ewald, all agreeing on this point, a revision of our Book of 
 Joshua, with an addition of Samaritan fables, and dating from late in the Middle Ages. See 
 De Wette, Intrnd. to the 0. T. § 171. Hengstenberg, Authenticity of the Pentateuch, i. 5. 
 Ewald, Geschichte d. Volks Israel, ii. p. 349, 350 ; iv. p. 247, 249. [" A splendid legend " from 
 this work is communicated by Stanley, Hist, of Jew. Ch. i. p. 245. f. — Tk.]. 
 
 § 2. Origin. 
 
 L Memorandum of Views held by leading Authorities. 
 
 According to the Talmud (Tr. Baba bathra, fol. 14, 2, "Joshua scripsit librum suum et octo 
 versus in lege "), Joshua was the author of the book which bears his name, Eleazar, the son of 
 Aaron, the high-priest, then added the conclusion (ch. xxiv. 29-32), but the last verse of all 
 (ch. xxiv. 33) was appended by Phinehas (Baba bathra, 15 a, 15 b ; in Fiirst, Kanon des Allen 
 Testaments nach den Ueberlieferungen in Talmud und Midrasch, Leipzig, 1868, p. 10). Various 
 older theologians, among them Starke, appealing to ch. xxiv. 26, shared this view. " If," says 
 Starke, " he himself wrote the covenant made with the people, why not also the preliminary, 
 and in part very important and necessary, records ? " The same argument is employed also 
 by L. Konig (Altlest. Studien, i. Heft: Authentie des Buches Josua, 1836, p. 127), as well as 
 Baumgarten (Herzog's Real-Encyclop. vii. 40, 42), to sustain Joshua's authorship ; against 
 which Keil (Commentary on the Book of Joshua, p. xl. [Martin's Transl. p. 39]), remarks how 
 precisely the fact that the writing in the law-book is limited to the renewal of the covenant 
 at Shechem proves that the remaining contents of the Book of Joshua were not recorded 
 therein. Havernick (Einleitung in d.A.T. ii. 1, pp. 26, 62), resting on the Kethib in ch. v. 1, 6 
 p3n?2), combined with the notice in ch. xxiv. 26, ascribes the entire first part and the two 
 •ast chapters to Joshua, while he refers chs. xiii.-xxii., after the example of Bertholdt (p. 857), 
 to the chorographical descriptions spoken of in ch. xviii. 1-10. Gerlach (Bibelwerk, ii. p 
 ri.) supposes it probable that, after the example of Moses, Joshua himself or one of his im 
 
§ 2. ORIGIN. 
 
 aiediate attendants, under his direction, wrote down the history of the conquest, and there- 
 upon of the division of the land, so important in its future bearings, and exhibiting traces of 
 very high antiquity. These he thinks were composed in separate sections which then some edi- 
 tor finished out with the account of the renewed covenant. Keil (ut sup. p. xlvi. [Eng. Transl. 
 p. 46] ; Biblisch. Com. iiber d. A. T., ii. 1, pp. 5, 6) denies the authorship of Joshua altogether, 
 not so much on account of the oft-recurring phrase (previously urged by Spinoza and others), 
 n-rn Ci>n T2 (chaps, iv. 9 ; v. 9 ; vi. 25 ; vii. 26 (bis) ; viii. 28, 29 ; ix. 27 : xiii. 13 ; xiv. 14 ; xv 
 63 ; xvi. 10), as because the book gives account of occurrences belonging to the period aftei 
 Joshua's death. That phrase he thinks by no means supposes the lapse of centuries, but is em- 
 ployed rather, according to its quite relative signification, of things only a few years past, 
 although he fails to furnish any proof of this. 1 Of the class of later occurrences he reckons, 
 above all, the narrative of the capture of Hebron by Caleb, of Debir by Othniel (ch. xv. 13-19), 
 and of Leshem by the Danites (ch. xix. 47), as well as the statement in ch. xv. 63 resting on 
 Judges i. 8. But since these wars and conquests might have occurred not long after Joshua's 
 death ; since moreover the book contains definite proofs that it was composed not after but prob- 
 ably before the establishment of monarchy in Israel (ch. xvi. 10 : the Canaanites in Gezer, comp. 
 1 K. ix. 16 ; the Jebusites yet in Jerusalem, ch. xv. 63, comp. 2 Sam. v. 3, 6-9 ; a place for the 
 temple not yet determined, ix. 27, comp. 2 Sam. xxiv. 18 ff. ; 1 Chron. xxi. 26 if. ; the Gibeon- 
 ites still wood-choppers and water-carriers, ix. 27, comp. 2 Sam. xxi. 1 if.) ; since, finally, 
 the book nowhere shows traces either in its style or contents, of later times and relations, 
 but in language as well as in views of things connects itself closely with the Pentateuch (of 
 which ch. xiii. 4-6 ; xi. 8 ; xix. 28, are cited as examples 2 ), it becomes highly probable that 
 it was composed not more than twenty-five or thirty years after the death of Joshua, perhaps 
 by one of the elders who had crossed the Jordan with Joshua, taken part in the conquest of 
 Canaan (ch. v. 1,6), and lived some time after Joshua (ch. xxiv. 31 ; Judg. ii. 7). Com. on 
 Joshua, p. xlvii., [47]; Bib. Com. ii. 1, p. 7. 
 
 So Keil, who, as is obvious, has given up the old, traditional view of the authorship of 
 Joshua, while yet he maintains the unity of the book and its high antiquity. This latter point 
 was disputed already by Andreas Masius, by Spinoza and Clericus, who placed the compo- 
 sition of the book in the time after the exile, in which they have, been followed by Hasse, 
 Maurer, and De Wette. And in proportion as the Pentateuch, since the middle of the pre- 
 ceding century, has been subjected to sharper scrutiny touching its unity, our book has 
 shared the same treatment. The different hypotheses of modern criticism enumerated by 
 Lange (Com. on Holy Script. Introd. to Genesis, §§ 3, 7), the Documentary as well as the 
 Fragmentary, the Supplementary, as well as the peculiar theory of Ewald, called by Delitzsch 
 the Crystallization hypothesis, to which quite recently Fiirst inclines (Gesch. d. Bib. Lit., u. 
 des Judisch-hellenist. Schriftthum, i. pp. 362, 404 If., 442 if. ; to be compared with Diestel'a 
 Review, in the Jahrbiichern fur Deutschen Theologie, xiv. 2, pp. 338-342), have all been at- 
 tempted with reference to the book of Joshua as well as to the Pentateuch. Not unsuccess- 
 fully the Supplementary hypothesis, in reference to Joshua in particular, has found defenders 
 in Bleek, Knobel, and very recently in Noldeke. 
 
 According to Bleek (Introd. to the O. T. § 137) there were for a considerable time writings 
 extant concerning the events of the period between the death of Moses and that of Joshua, 
 as in particular concerning the division of the land among the several tribes ; precisely as in 
 the time of Moses himself, and in part from his own hand, there were written laws, songs, 
 census-rolls, and the catalogue of the nations. But a connected history of the fortunes of the 
 people, either in the Mosaic period or in that of Joshua, had not then been composed. Both 
 were produced simultaneously at a later time, and in all probability, in the age of Saul, at 
 which time the work of the so-called Elohist arose. This work treated only of the main epochs 
 in the history, those of special importance to a knowledge of the relation between God and 
 man, and of God's providences. Such were the creation, the deluge, the choice of Abraham and 
 God's convenant with him, the history of Jacob and Joseph, then that of Moses and Joshua, 
 while the intervening periods were only summarily touched upon, in short genealogical lists 
 which served to join together two Epochs and the representative personages belonging to them. 
 
 1 [Kelt does adduce (Bib. Com. p. 5), as an instance of this, the statement (ch. vi. 25) that Rahab is living in Israe 
 ' unto this day." — Te.] 
 
 2 [In these passages respectively, " the Sidonians alone are called Phoenicians, and these are reckoned among the Canaan 
 itee to be extirpated by Israel (ch. xiii. 4-6), altogether differently from the view of David's time (2 Sam. v. 11 ; IK 
 ib v. ; 1 Clir. xiv. 1) ; moreover, Sidon by the epithet ,f the great " is designated as the capital of Phoenicia (xi 8, xix 
 X) while as early as David's day Tyre had taken the lead of Sidon. " — Keil, Bib. Com., p. 7. — Ta.l 
 
10 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 The greater part of our Book of Joshua was contained in tbis oldest history. Probably in th« 
 age of David, and not in the very last part of his reign, this work was enlarged and rewroughl 
 by a later hand. The older writing remains the foundation ; but it was in part increased bj 
 many new additions, which the writer either found already extant like the former, or himself 
 lir<t wrote down from previous oral traditions ; and in part the earlier written relations were 
 modified by additions and changes, by abbreviations also and omissions where this Jehovisl 
 availed himself of a different source of information concerning the same circumstances anil 
 events. It differed from the previous work conspicuously in this, that the author names God 
 Jehovah, from the very beginning, whereas the Elohist had refrained from that designation 
 before the time of Moses. By this revision the earlier work gained some not unessential 
 additions, but lost not a little in literary unity. It embraced («) the first four books of the 
 Pentateuch, essentially of the entire compass in which we have them, but with trifling ex- 
 ceptions, particularly Lev. xxvi. 3-45 ; (i) the report of the death of Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 1- 
 8), taken from the Elohistic writing ; (c) our Book of Joshua in the form in which the author of 
 Deuteronomy found it. For the last revision of the work was effected by the author of Deuteron- 
 omy, at whose hand the whole received the form and compass in which it lies before us in our 
 Pentateuch and Booh of Joshua. The author of this revision probably took the above work 
 (that of the Jehovist) entire, as he found it, allowing himself only here and there particular 
 changes and additions, especially in the history of the time of Joshua. The principal alteration 
 however, consisted in the expansion of the writing by the reception of Deuteronomy itself (chaps, 
 i.-xxxiii. It is possible that he had other written authorities besides the Book of the Jehovist, 
 but nothing definite can be made out on this point. As the date of the composition of 
 Deuteronomy and the last revision of the whole work, the reign of Manasseh, King of Judah, 
 in the first half of the seventh century before Christ, may most probably be assumed, and at 
 all events a time not later than the eighteenth year of Josiah (624 B. c). Comp. 2 K. xxiii. 
 21, w. Deut. xvi. 
 
 According to Knobel (Kritik des Pentateuch und Josua, p. 496 ff.), there lies at the bottom 
 of the Pentateuch and Joshua, an old work (Elohim document, Elohist, Ground-text), which 
 relates the history from the creation to the division of the land of Canaan, which is distin- 
 guish^ 1 by definiteness of plan and by consecutiveness, and may be easily followed from 
 Gen. i. to Joshua xxii. The composition of this work falls in the time of Saul (p. 523;. 
 The author was beyond question an Aaronide or priest. This we learn from the deep inter- 
 est which he takes in sacred persons and usages, and his accurate acquaintance with those 
 matters, the tabernacle, for instance, and its furniture, which a layman would not have known 
 so well about. He lived therefore in the southern part of the country, where the Aaronides 
 had their residence (p. 523). From this ground-text (as Knobel almost everywhere calls it) 
 the other parts of the Pentateuch deviate widely in matter and style, the proof of which i> 
 given with great care and to the minutest detail (pp. 524—532), but they altogether lack unity. 
 There are indeed non-Elohistic sections, as in our book chaps, ii.-iv. which, overlooking minor 
 points, have been plainly made up of two different elements. The same two elements may 
 then each for itself be further clearly recognized in particular sections, the one e. g. in Josh. ch. 
 xxiv., the other in chaps, vi.-xii. They appear again blended with Elohistic sections, either 
 one or the other or both together, as in Josh, xv., xvii., xviii. The old ground-text has there- 
 fore received additions from two other documents. These two documents are mentioned by 
 name Num. xxi. 14 ; Josh x. 13. The one is the Law-book, the other the War-book. Ac- 
 cording to its name ("iJT'n ~I2D, book of the right, i. e. right-book, law-book, to be inter- 
 preted after nirP ,| 3' , 53 ~'tt ;> n nt£?y, " to do what is right in Jehovah's eyes," i. e. to fol- 
 low the divine law, — a phrase common in the historical books to designate conformity with 
 the law, 1 K. xi. 33, 38 ; xiv. 8 ; xv. 5, 11, etc. (?)), the former contained laws, according to 
 Josh. x. historical reports also, and according to 2 Sam. i. 18, poems, which all suits with the 
 first document of the Jehovist. 
 
 In this book, however, which originated in the Northern kingdom (p. 544), in the Assyrian 
 period (p. 546), there was an older ~)E7 s n "1SD inwrought which is designated, Joshua xxiv. 
 26, D^ribs rni.n "12D. This older Sepher Jaschar contained already most of the laws of 
 the law-book employed by the Jehovist, especially the Mosaic Decalogue (Ex. xx.), probably 
 also the blessing of Moses (Deut. xxxiii.), of the time of Saul, David's lament over Saul (2 
 Sam. i.) and the hymn of triumph (Ex. xv.), which dates only from the time of Solomon 
 Lower than Solomon we need not bring it. In Jeroboam's time it seems to have beer 
 
§ 2. ORIGIN. 11 
 
 already known (p. 547). Where this older law-book was composed Knobel does not say: 
 probably also in the northern kingdom. 
 
 The second document of the Jehovist, the War-book (^ rvifinb^ 'd, Num. xxi. 14, 
 "book of the wars of Jehovah," i. e. the wars of Israel with the heathen, p. 559), contained 
 a great number of warlike narratives, more in fact than all the others together (p. 559), and 
 appears to have originated in the southern country (p. 560), as it agrees very nearly in mat- 
 ter and style with the ground-text, and in the time of Jehoshaphat (t 889). The author, 
 from his interest in religious legislation, was probably a Levite (p. 5G0). 
 
 The Jehovist' s course of procedure now was the following. He laid his foundation in the 
 Elohim-text, which is, accordingly, preserved tolerably complete ; then took his supplemen- 
 tary matter chiefly from his two documents, more out of the law-book, less out of the war- 
 book, since the former offered more that was peculiar, the latter only that, in many places, 
 which lay already in the ground text. To all the three documents he adheres, as far as pos- 
 sible, word for word, whether he extracts from them great or small. The texts have for him 
 a certain inviolability, and he is guided in this by the consciousness that he has before him 
 and is editing venerable works of Mosaic authority. He is concerned to harmonize the vari 
 ous reports, and effects this often in a truly ingenious manner ; witness Gen. xxi. 25 ff., xxvi. 
 19 ff. comp. w. xxvi. 15, 18 ; Gen. xxxv. 3, 7, xxxv. 4 ff., 14 ff. ; xxxiii. 1-8 comp. w. xxxii. 21 ; 
 xxxiii. 13, etc. In many cases, however, he saw the irreconcilableness of his authorities and 
 proceeded mechanically to combine the different and contradictory materials, leaving it for 
 the reader himself to bring them into connection and harmony. His primary endeavor was 
 to preserve the contents of the older ivriter, when they appeared to him important, and, as far 
 as possible, Just as he found them. Hence even what was divergent also might, as being 
 something independent, seem to him worthy of preservation ; in proof of which Knobel ad- 
 duces Josh. viii. 12, 13. The mechanical nature of his process appears from the retention of 
 remarks which in the originals stood quite correctly, but in the combination of sources should 
 have been omitted, as in Josh. x. 15. Frequently, however,'in his supplementary additions, 
 he allowed himself considerable freedom, transposing particulars, retrenching incompatible 
 designations of time, but especially interweaving little additions into the reports of his pre- 
 decessors, where they appeared to him appropriate, and especially where necessary to har- 
 monize differences. The introduction of a historical sentence into the discourse of God, 
 Josh. xiii. 1, likewise exhibits this freedom. On the whole, the author shows great tact, since 
 he often applies with real aptness his additions to the statements of his predecessors (e. g. 
 Gen. xii., xiii., xvi., xxxii., xxxix.). On the other hand, the signs of the compilatory process are 
 indeed plain and numerous enough (pp. 573-578). He cannot have lived before the Assyrian 
 period, because he has the law-book and war-book before him (p. 570). Since, moreover, 
 the law-book, especially, comes down (p. 546) to Hezekiah, the last years of this king are 
 about the earliest date to which the Jehovist can be assigned. He probably sprang from the 
 kingdom of Israel. For he has a fondness for the law-book, and cleaves very closely to that 
 in the contents and mode of expression ; is not offended by the plurality of sacred places ; 
 gives the account (Gen. xxxii. 24 ff.) of God's wrestling with Jacob, which no one else but 
 Hosea (xii. 4 f.) mentions ; and finally he uses many expressions which occur elsewhere only 
 in writings of the northern kingdom, and separately in those of later date, e. g. the XO prsef. 
 Gen. vi. 3 1 ; rPttf, "to wrestle," Gen. xxxii. 29 [Eng. 28] as also in Hosea xii. 4 ; 1T"ffl, 
 "thistle," Gen. iii. 18, as also in Hos. x. 8; 7'iin "pregnancy," as also Hos. ix. 11, etc. (p. 
 579). As modified now by this Jehovist the Elohistic-Jehovistic Work is preserved from Gen. 
 i. to Num. xxxvi. (p. 497). 
 
 Into that work still another writer (pp. 589, 590), the Deuteronomist, has at a later period 
 inserted his discourses, repetitions, and laws, and among them wrought in a number of explana- 
 tions, also several accounts of events which the Jehovist had taken from the law-book and ap- 
 pended to Num. xxxvi. He did not meddle with the first four books, but rewrought that 
 merely which followed Num. xxxvi. by giving to it its present great expansion, and furnishing 
 it besides with special additions. He is the last elaborator of the law. His statement Deut. 
 xxxi. 9, belongs to the imprudent expressions which we often meet with in him [1] 
 
 His hand, however, is to be traced after Deut. xxxiv. also, in places, as far as to Josh, xxiv, 
 Dut not at all, on the contrary, in the later books of Judges, Ruth, and Samuel (pp. 487, 579). 
 His language affords the chief proof of the age to which he belonged (p. 591). It is closelj 
 
 1 [But comp. Lange, Gen. in loc. (cont Tayler Lewis) ; Conant, Heb. Chrest. p. 43. — Tb.] 
 
12 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 related to that of Jeremiah, and other late writers ; for which evidence is adduced (p. 591). 
 But we have no sufficient reasons for bringing the author down into the age following the exile. 
 At that time certainly they no longer allowed themselves to deal so freely with the law-book, 
 and increase it with new laws, as this author does. He must have lived in the last days of the 
 kingdom of Judah, perhaps under Josiah, and appears to have been a man of importance, or he 
 would not have made so bold as to take considerable liberties with the book of the law (p. 591). 
 
 At the close of Knobel's critique upon the Pentateuch and Joshua he has given in tabular 
 form a synopsis, in accordance with the foregoing view, of the several ingredients of the 
 Pentateuch and Joshua (pp. 600-606), which we here append, for the better comprehension 
 of his theory : — 
 
 Ground-text. 
 
 Law-book. War-book. 
 
 Jehovist. 
 
 Deuteronomist. 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 i. 1, 2, 10-16. 
 
 
 1. 8-9, 17, 18. 
 
 
 iii. 1, T-17. 
 
 iii. 2-6. 
 
 
 
 w. 15-17, 19. 
 
 iv. la, 4-7,14,18, 20- 
 
 24. 
 t. 1-9, 13-15. 
 
 iv. 1 b-3, 8-13. 
 
 
 
 ». 10-12. 
 
 vi. 1-17 a, 18-21,24,26, 
 
 27 
 
 Ti. 17 b, 22, 28, 25. 
 
 
 
 
 vii. except ver. 25 in pt. 
 
 
 Til. 25 In part. 
 
 
 Tili. 12, 13, 30, 31 in pt. 
 
 viii. 1-11, 14-29. 
 
 
 viii. 31 in pt., 82, 81 
 
 
 33inpt.,34inpt.,35. 
 
 ix. exc. ver. 27 in pt. x. 
 
 
 84 in part. 
 ix. 27 in part. 
 
 
 x. 12-15, exc. ver. 13 in 
 
 1-11, 16-43. 
 
 x. 13 in part. 
 
 
 
 part. 
 
 xi.,xii. 
 
 
 
 xiii. 16-33. 
 
 
 xiii. 2-5, 6 in pt. 9-14. 
 
 xiii. 1,7,8. 
 
 xiii. 6 In part. 
 
 xiv. 1-6. 
 
 xiy. 6-15. 
 
 
 
 
 xv. 1-13, 20-44, 48-62. 
 
 xt. 14-19. 
 
 xv. 45-17, 63. 
 
 
 
 xvi. 1-9. 
 
 
 xvi. 10. 
 
 
 
 xrii. 1-10. 
 
 xvii. 14-18. 
 
 xrii. 11-13. 
 
 
 
 xviii. 1, 2, 11-28. 
 
 
 xviii. 3-10. 
 
 
 
 xix. exc. ver. 47. 
 
 
 xix. 47. 
 
 
 
 xx. 1, 2, 3 in part, 4, 6a. 
 
 
 
 
 xx. 3 in pt., 6 b, 6 In 
 
 6 in part 7-9. 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 part. 
 
 xxi. 1-10. 
 
 
 xri. 41-43. 
 
 
 xxii. 5 
 
 xxii. 9-11, 13-16, 21, 80- 
 
 xxii. 7, 8. 
 
 xxii. 1-4, 6, 12, 16-20, 
 
 
 [16. 
 
 33 a. 
 
 
 22-29, 33 b, 34. 
 
 xxiii. lb. 2 b. 
 
 xxiii. 2 In pt. 4-8 11, 
 
 
 xxiy. exc. ver. 1, In part. 
 
 xxiii. 1 a, 2 in pt. 3. 9, 
 10, 12-15. 
 
 
 xxir. 1 in part. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nbldeke (Alttest. Literatur, p. 25 ff.) pronounces the separation of two chief sources in 
 Genesis and the following books, among which he also includes the Book of Joshua, as the 
 first result of critical investigation. One of these sources is a single and homogeneous writ- 
 ing (p. 26), showing throughout the same systematic proportion, and regularity (I) as the 
 first chapter of Genesis. It gives for the most part only short, outline statements, with little 
 of pictorial filling up, but shows a certain heaviness and verbosity of style, and a special fond- 
 ness for reciting names and for numbers. Very recently, in his Researches toward the Criti- 
 cism of the O. T. ( Untersuchungen zur Kriiik d. A. T., Kiel, 1869), Nbldeke has still more closely 
 examined this ground-text and, like Knobel, traced it also in the Book of Joshua. The 
 other source is not so homogeneous. In it again two main writings are distinguishable (O. T. 
 Lit. p. 26), one of which is the work of the second Elohist, first clearly brought to view, 
 throughout Genesis at least, by Hupfeld, while the other has the Jehovist for its author (O. 
 T. Lit. p. 26, Researches, p. 3). This Jehovist, the most talented of all the writers of the 
 Pentateuch {Res. p. 3), has used the work of the second Elohist as a main authority, and 
 taken from it large portions in so independent a way that what is due to the Jehovist him- 
 self is not always clearly to be separated (as Hupfeld and also Knobel assume) from what 
 he has borrowed of the Elohist (Res. p. 3). A redactor, different in Nbldeke's view from the 
 Jehovist (Res. p. 3), combined now this work of the Jehovist with the ground-text. But the 
 Deuteronomist, who is to be distinguished again from the Jehovist, thrust into the work of the 
 redactor almost the whole of the present book of Deuteronomy, and completely rewrought the por- 
 tions relating to Joshua (Res. p. 5, O. T. Lit., 27, 30). The time of writing, Nbldeke defines in 
 the works quoted (O. T. Lit. p. 31 ff., Researches p. 138 ff.), so as to place Deuteronomy in the 
 reign of Josiah, the redactor about the year 800 or soon after, the ground-text, — whose author 
 was a priest at Jerusalem, — in the 10th or rather the 9th century before Christ. About 
 this last period also originated, he thinks, the older materials of the Pentateuch generally (O. 
 T. Lit. p. 82, Res. p. 140). Among these older materials Nbldeke counts the two ground- 
 texts which were combined in the work of the Jehovist. But there are besides in the Pen- 
 tateuch still older sources, which also must be borne in mind, because all these writings refer 
 to them and occasionally make use of their words (O. T. Lit. p. 32). Thus we have 'ome fi ag- 
 
§ 2. ORIGIN. ia 
 
 ments of ancient songs, for one of which "the book of the wars of Jehovah " is cited as a 
 source (Num. xxi. 14). In Josh. x. 13 likewise "the book nf the upright" is quoted, in which 
 according to 2 Sam. i. 18, stood a song of David, which 1 there/ore could not have been written, 
 at the earliest, be/ore the lime of this monarch. 
 
 The traces of the ground-text have been followed by Nbldeke, in his investigations, both 
 in the Pentateuch and in the Book of Joshua, with much acuteness. In our book their dis- 
 covery is, in his view, rendered specially difficult by the subsequent modifications effected by 
 the Deuteronomist [Researches, pp. 94. 95). He finds that text in the following passages: 
 ch. hi. 1, iv. 19, v. 10-12, vi. 20, 24 (?), ix. 15 b. 17-22. 27, x. 28-43 essentially ; ch. 11 (only 
 accordances with the ground-text) ; ch. xii. originally belonging to it but interpolated ; xiii. 
 15-xxi. 40, substantially throughout; ch. xxii. (has a report from the ground-text for its 
 basis); xxiv. 33. (Researches, pp. 94-106, where the details which we cannot here repeat 
 may be found.) 
 
 II. Estimate of these Views. 
 
 Our former assertion that the supplement-hypothesis had not unsuccessfully tested itself 
 on the Pentateuch and Book of Joshua, is sufficiently sustained by this representation of the 
 researches of the critics we have named. For they agree among themselves and with still 
 others, as e. g. Hupfeld, (1) in the assumption of a common ground writing (Elohim-text) 
 for the Pentateuch and Joshua, whose date is fixed in the earliest period of the Hebrew 
 monarchy, the author of which is designated as a priest, dwelling in the southern part of 
 Palestine ; (2) in the further assumption that the last redaction of the Pentateuch and Joshua 
 took place in the time of Josiah, or, at the earliest, under Manasseh (Bleek), by the hand 
 of the Deuteronomist, who at the same time incorporated into it his own work (Dent, i.- 
 xxxiii.), itself also resting in part on old reports, and that he worked over the Book of Joshua 
 more than either of the others, which he left comparatively untouched ; (3) in the assump- 
 tion in general of a great Jehovistic clement, on the composition of which, however, in par- 
 ticulars, their opinions differ. Bleek is the most cautious, avoiding definite discriminations 
 and rejections. Knobel and Nbldeke, after the example of Hupfeld, and in part that of 
 Ewald, are bolder, and suppose they recognize within this Jehovistic composition the two 
 main writings, which Knobel (very unfortunately imitating Ewald's passion for giving names 
 to the particular documents) designates as Law-book and War-book. We may freely allow 
 that, as the first part of Joshua at once shows, such different portions of the great Jehovis- 
 tic element may be pointed out; but that the ~!tt ,!, n HDD cited Josh. x. 13, 1 Sam. i. 18, was 
 one of the authorities of the Jehovist, and the W ;Ti;2rr7Z2 D, Num. xxi. 14, was the other, is 
 certainly a mistake. The two books are to be regarded rather, with De Wette, Bleek, Fiirst, 
 Nbldeke, Hitzig (Geschichte des Volkes Israel, p. 102), [Keil,] and many others, as lyrical 
 books, and "1U: , like the plural form D^TP.' 1 (Num. xxiii. 10, Ps. cxi. 1), as a poetical des- 
 ignation of Israel, properly " the pious congregation," and so precisely like the poetical "J^ntf^ 
 which comes from a ground-form "I t£" = ~1C^ : comp. ]hp and ]tp. (See Fiirst, Ge- 
 schichte der Bibi. Literal, p. 457, Anmerk. 3.) They were ancient sources to which Nbldeke, 
 among many others, quite distinctly points, poetical sources, and neither law nor war books. 
 Although Knobel, therefore, may be perhaps essentially right in distinguishing two chief 
 writings or documents of the Jehovist, the designation which he gives them, and the result- 
 ing identification of them with the poetical productions mentioned, we must oppose. And 
 so far as we know, he has in this found no followers hitherto. How these two chief writ- 
 ings were related to each other, whether each existed independently by the side of the 
 other (Hupfeld, Knobel), or whether the Jehovist, as Nbldeke supposes, directly compounded 
 his work and that of the second Elohist (the law-book of Knobel) ; whether this Jehovist 
 was the same as the redactor (Bleek, Knobel), or the redactor was different from the Jeho- 
 vist (Nbldeke), those are mere questions which yet await a conclusive answer, and will perhap 
 never find one completely satisfactory? 
 
 1 r I. e. the song could not ; of the book it would only be true that it could not have been finished earlier — Tr ] 
 
 2 [To most English-speaking Christians the freedom with which these critics, especially Knobel, discuss the sacred 
 eocks win give pain as being irreverent and apparently incompatible with sincere Christianity. Such Christians gener- 
 ally hold that the Church of Christ does rest ct on the authenticity of the New Testament Books," and they on th« 
 0. T. theocracy, and that on the Books of the Old Testament (see Lauge"s Commentary on Genesis in this Bible-work, 
 p. 99, Obs.). And there is evidently danger that the too extensive analysis, composition, and recomposition of these 
 books should impair confidence in their divine authority. Vet Knobel's labors on the Pentateuch and Joshua hav« 
 *een not only of prodigious toil, but in various respects of great value. The same is true in their several proportion/ 
 
14 THE BOOK UF JOSHUA. 
 
 As for our own view, we cannot, especially after the example of Bleek, avud giving in 
 our adherence to the supplement-hypothesis. Yet it seems to us too rash, to undertake as 
 Knobel does, to point out even to minutiae, now this and now that author's hand. Nuldeke's 
 procedure is already much more cautious, most moderate that of Bleek, who contents him- 
 self with intimations. Neither do we venture more, when we express the opinion that in 
 the first part of the Book of Joshua, as also again in the last three chapters, the Jehovistic 
 character prevails ; that within this Jehovistic portion different elements may be distinguished, 
 as was already indicated in § 1, and as the exegesis will show in the particular cases : that 
 in the second part, on the contrary, as specially in the description of the division of the land, 
 the ground-text prevails, itself resting again on other records, perhaps even of Joshua's time ; 
 that finally, and particularly in ch. i. and xxiii., perhaps also elsewhere (eh. vii. 25, viii. 31, 
 etc.), the hand of the Deuteronomist is plainly to be recognized. That this Deuteronomist 
 was author of Deut. i.-xxxiii., appears to us to be a fact which cannot longer be success- 
 fully denied. It may doubtless be questioned, however, whether admonitions, warnings, and 
 particularly also prophecies of Moses did not survive in oral traditions, or in separate records, 
 which in the time of Manasseh and Josiah, were revised and edited, as we might say, in a 
 free, very beautiful, and edifying manner, and that too without any, the slightest pious fraud, 
 but in good faith, and the fullest persuasion of the perfect justifiableness of such a literary 
 attempt. In reference to Moses himself, we hold firmly with Bleek against Knobel (Krilik, 
 p. 592), that written records from his hand are very probably to be recognized. We. main- 
 tain the same in regard to Joshua, and cannot therefore allow that ch. xxiv. 26 is a fic- 
 tion. 1 
 
 § 3. Credibility. 
 
 The history of the conquest of the land of Canaan, as related in our book, has given great 
 offense to the heathen opponents of Judaism and Christianity, at first, to the Manichseans, 
 afterwards, and, in more recent times, to the English deists, and the rationalists of Germany ; 
 see the proofs in Lilienthal : Die gute Sache der gottlichen Offenbarung, Th. iv. p. 891 IT. 
 Eichhorn, among many others, in his Introduction, p. 403 (in Keil's Commentary on Joshua, p. 
 liii. [Eng. Trans, p. 52]) speaks very strongly, exclaiming with high moral indignation : 
 " How impious is the narrative of the Book of Joshua 1 It makes God not only give away 
 to the Israelites, against all right, the land of Canaan, which the Canaanites as the first oc- 
 cupants most justly held, but also sketch out a horrid plan for its conquest, and directly order 
 the most dreadful bloodshed and the total extinction of the Canaanites. Who can reconcile 
 this with even a partially correct view of the Godhead ? " Eichhorn objected not only to 
 this procedure against the Canaanites, as recorded in our book, but particularly also to the 
 
 of the other men to whom we refer ; and in estimating their religious character we are doubtless bound to consider care- 
 fully what Lauge, in the passage just referred to, has intimated concerning the distinction between Revelation and the 
 written record of it as the ground of the Kingdom of God. Charity will often be constrained to hope that the distinc- 
 tion is soundly drawn. 
 
 But apart from this, and conceding that scientific research is equally allowable touching the Word and the works of God, 
 the faucifulness and " subjectivity " of such elaborate and minute specifications as some of those above summarized, and 
 the tenuity of many of the reasons assigned, provoke laughter rather than argumentative confutation. That one should 
 gravely split a verse in numerous passages so as to refer the various fragments to their respective authors, and should 
 be obliged to do it to save his theory, is, to most minds, slaughtering the theory at its birth. Our curiosity is nat- 
 urally raised by such attempts to imagine what the next speculator in Biblical criticism will propose for our wonderment ; 
 nay, we inquire what even the same mind, after having dropped for a time and forgotten the particulars of his previous 
 fabrication, would invent, if he were to take up the whole subject anew. We believe Knobel has never been outdone m 
 ingenuity of fictiou in this province of literature, except by Ewald, whose theory (briefly outlined in Smith's Dictionary 
 of the Bible, vol. iii. p. 2411. Am. ed.) must probably yet bear the palm. It would seem that the climax is admitted to 
 have been reiched, and subsequent writers, of whatever theological school, — even Noldeke, — while maintaining gener- 
 ally the composite character of these books, are much more modest in attempting to partition the authorship — Tr ] 
 
 1 [The reader interested in the question concerning the origin of our book (connecting itself so closely with that of 
 the Pentateuchl will do well to consult again the ' General Introduction to the O. T. " by Lange in vol. i. of his Commen- 
 tary on the O. T. and Prof. Lewis' r( Special Introduction to the Book of Genesis " there. Add Dr. Oonant's brief but com- 
 prehensive Introduction to the Book of Genesis in his revised version, the articles on Genesis. Pentateuch, Joshua, in 
 Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, with particular reference to the additions of the American edition The translator 
 would only Bay further that in his judgment there seems to be no good ground for the reluctance with which many ol 
 even the most reverent of recent German scholars admit the possibility that Moses and Joshua should have written 
 considerable pirts of the works that bear their names. In the darkness which covers the details of the subject it i.- 
 a priori probable that those leaders should have written, or caused to be written, very much of such histor\ anl 
 such statutes as their reputed books contain. And certainly no other names present themselves, during the perir«l 
 within which all agree that the main body of this literature must have been composed, as nearly so likely to have ef- 
 ected the authorship. If this be conceded the modifications and additions of subsequent redactions need have b«en 
 much less thorough am transforming than is generally supposed. See Milman's interesting Note, Hist, of Jewt, I 
 190. — T».J 
 
§ 3. CREDIBILITY. 16 
 
 miracles, whose reality he, like Paulus, disputed, and which he then attempted to explain in 
 the well-known ways. The substance of the book, it is true, he thought could not have been 
 fabricated ; the events were stamped with the unmistakable seal of antiquity (iii. 399 tf. in 
 Havernick, Einl. in d. A. T. ii. 1, p. 3), but we must carefully distinguish between the view of 
 the author which is conceived as narrowly as possible, and the history contained in the book. 
 De Wette went still further when he declared that, " as in the Pentateuch, the narrative is, 
 in its prevailing character, mythical" (Introd. to 0. T. § 166). Afterward he added, fol- 
 lowing Maurer, "but there are also individual instances of real history, as ch. i. 11, comp. v 
 12; iii. 4, comp. v. 15 if." (Introd. to 0. T. p. 214, 4 [Germ.] ed.). 
 
 Applying a sharper criticism, yet from a position of belief in revelation, G. A. Hautf 
 has discussed the question of credibility, or historical truth, in the Treatise: " Offenbarungs- 
 qlaube und Kritik der biblischen Geschichtsbiieher am Beispiele des Baches Josua in ihrer noth- 
 wendiyen Einheil dargethan (Belief in Revelation and Crit.ici.-im of the Historical Books of the 
 Bible exhibited in their necessary Unity, in the Case of the Book of Joshua), Stuttgart, 1S43.' 
 Having in the first part of his work sharply defined the process of Biblical criticism, as such 
 that tin; style and mode of representation, the person of the writer, the use of authorities, 
 the time of the composition, plan, and design, and especially also the credibility of the his- 
 lorian must lie open to free investigation, in which however the religious element of this his- 
 tory is to be constantly kept in mind (p. 65 ff), he proceeds to apply these principles to the 
 Book of Joshua, and finds memorable contradictions in its statements : (a) to the statements 
 of other books ; (b) among themselves. The former class relate to the unity of the people, 
 the conquest and division of the land, the religious institutions, the religious character of the 
 people, the mode of divine worship ; the latter principally to the conquest of the land, the 
 conquering personages, the division of the land, the genius and character of Joshua and of 
 the people, the divine worship. While, for instance, as Hautf proceeds, p. 70 AT., the Book 
 of Joshua reports to us that the whole people, without exception, stood under the command 
 of Joshua (ch. i. 2; iii. 1), that the whole land, excepting the coast-strip and Geshur on Her- 
 mon (xiii. 1-3), was captured by Joshua, and distributed, this account of the leadership of 
 Joshua over the whole people cannot easily be reconciled with the question raised in the very 
 first verse of the Book of Judges (p. 76). The situation in which they there stand indicates 
 that the whole land has by no means yet been taken ; and, in reference to the division of 
 the whole land, the notice in Judg. xviii. 1 squarely contradicts the data of our book. Now 
 as regards this notice compared with Josh. xix. 40-46, the explanation will be found in the 
 commentary on that passage ; but in reference to the other two supposed contradictions be- 
 tween Judges and Joshua, we think that question, who should lead the war against the Ca- 
 naanites, after the death of an all-controlling personage, like Joshua, is easily explainable, 
 the more so, as he had died without designating a successor in the otlice, as Moses bad once 
 done. It not only proves nothing against his single leadership, but shows on the contrary, 
 how greatly they needed such a " duke " as Joshua had been. 
 
 No more can we allow any formal contradiction between Joshua and Judges in respect to 
 their views of the conquest of the land. According to Hautf (and in this others, e. g. Ndldeke, 
 have followed him), this discrepancy exists also within the Book of Joshua itself (p. Ill ff.), if 
 the accounts of the first part are compared with those of the second. Here, however, Ewald 
 appears to us to have hit the truth (H'ist. of the People of Israel, ii. p. 342, 2d ed ) when he 
 assumes that Joshua incontestably, in the first years of his invasion of Canaan, subjugated the 
 land on all sides and received the submission of the entire body of the Canaanites, as many as 
 were spared : when he declares further that on closer consideration no doubt is left that even 
 then, after the first victory over Canaan, much of really permanent importance had been accom- 
 plished (of which character he reckons the division of the land, the establishment of the tab- 
 ernacle in Shiloh, the institution of different religious usages and ordinances pertaining to the 
 cultus, particularly the appointment of the Levitical cities, pp. 337, 341) ; when he shows 
 finally — and this is of principal moment here, — how, out of this new condition of things itself, 
 there, must directly arise new dangers (p. 342). For, although the conquest had been effected 
 with great rapidity (p. 336), the first expeditions of the Hebrews could be little more than 
 what the Arabs in all the three quarters of the globe called Algharen, or rather (since the 
 Hebrews had no cavalry,) razzias, swift forays, that is, for momentary conquest rather than 
 for the permanent subjugation of the land ; and when the camp, whether of man)' united or 
 of single tribes, was at a distance, then certainly after the raids had passed by, the dense 
 v>lumns of the inhabitants would soon gather again, having promised submission, indeed, but* 
 
16 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 for the most part without any thought of rendering it (p. 342). With great prcprietj 
 Ewald then reminds us further how long it was before the Saxons in England, the Mohamme- 
 dan Arabs in Egypt, were entirely established. In this view of the ease we cannot, although 
 fully recognizing the different documents which lie at the bottom of our book, in this respect 
 either, affirm any proper contradiction between it and the Book of Judges, or, within the Book 
 of Joshua, between its first and second parts. 
 
 In regard to the religious institutions, Hauff considers the difficulties to be still more im- 
 portant (p. 84). Shechem, made a free and Levitical city (Josh. xx. 7 ; xxxi, 21), appears 
 in Judges ch. ix. as a common city provided with idolatrous worship (ver. 4, 46), in which, 
 therefore, a Levite in the sense of the Mosaic law cannot possibly be imagined. But could 
 not idolatry, in an age of disorder like that of the Judges, when idolatry broke in every 
 where, invade Shechem also ? Again, is it anything contrary to the historical accuracy of 
 the account given in Josh. xxi. of the assignment of the Levitical cities, and to the high 
 legal respect which, as we learn from Josh. viii. and xxii. priests and Levites enjoyed, that 
 at the same period, according to Judg. xvii. 7, xix. 1, " a Levite from Bethlehem-Judah wan- 
 ders about homeless ? " We need only consider that the excellent system established must 
 be gradually carried intb effect, and that for this the time following Joshua was not especially 
 suited. 
 
 When in regard to the religious condition of the people in general, we are told that it was 
 excellent under Joshua, but afterwards (Judg. iii. 7) was such that idolatry had universally 
 crowded out the worship of Jehovah, we may certainly concede that Joshua xxiv. 31 (comp. 
 also Judg. ii. 7) favors this view; but the word of Phinehas to the Gileadites (xxii. 17) as well 
 as the whole transaction of Joshua with the people at Shechem (xxiv. 1 ff.), and in particu- 
 lar his demand that they should put away their false gods (xxiv. 23), proves how untrust- 
 worthy the religious disposition of Israel was, how strongly the people inclined to idolatry, 
 how easily they might fall back into it. 
 
 Of the contradiction between statements made in different parts of the book itself (of 
 which Hauff treats, p. 102 ff.) one, and perhaps the most notable, we have already explained. 
 For the most part the matters enumerated are properly the same as in comparing this book 
 with the Book of Judges. We select one more point only, which Hauff himself brings up, 
 when he writes, p. 128: "In general it is statements in relation to worship — the place where 
 it should be offered, as well as the persons on whom its duties devolved — in which we find 
 discrepancies hard to be reconciled. At first the main camp is at Gilgal (v. 9 ff), even after 
 the altar was built (viii. 30-33, xiv. 6) on the mountains Ebal and Gerizim (?) ; finally, the 
 tabernacle is reared in Shiloh (xvii. 1), and there is also the abode of the heads of the people 
 (xxi. 1 f.) ; there the people come together to consult about the attempt of the two and :. 
 half tribes to build an altar beyond the Jordan ; there, also, perhaps the heads of the people 
 (xxiii. 2) were collected with Joshua. But how comes it that in ch. xxiv. 1, Shechem is the 
 place of meeting, since here, a solemn covenant is adopted and a written document concern- 
 ing it deposited with the. law-book (ver. 26) '? Still further ; the holy ark is in many places 
 the symbol of the presence of Jehovah ; in ch. iii. it is borne in front in the passage of the 
 Jordan ; so ch. vi. at the destruction of Jericho ; in neither of these chapters is a word said of 
 the tabernacle, not even in connection with the residence in Gilgal ; ch. xviii. first tells of its 
 erection in Shiloh, ch. xxii. 19 names a " ]3tt5l!3 there; while ch. xxiv. l,on the contrary, 
 speaks of an assembly of the people DTibsn rfflb in Shechem ; and ver. 26 of a v BHp J 
 there, beside a great terebinth-tree. Those are certainly not harmonious intimations, but 
 they involve no essential contradiction. For if the tabernacle is not mentioned in the ac- 
 count of the capture of Jericho (ch. vi.), but its erection is first reported after the entire 
 land was conquered (ch. xviii. 1), we find the one fact as natural and appropriate to circum 
 stances as the other. What could the tabernacle have to do with the storming of a town ? 
 Quite otherwise was it with the chief possession of the tabernacle, its most remarkable piece 
 of furniture symbolizing the presence of Jehovah — the ark of the covenant, — which could 
 be, as it was, carried before the people. And in reference to Shiloh and Shechem, to the 
 W 13tra in Shiloh and the 1* BfafJD in Shechem, we easily understand them both side by 
 side. There are already nascent, self-developing relations in which Shiloh represents the 
 unity of the cultus at which Moses aimed, which Joshua also, and Eleazar and Phinehas 
 •trove after, while the « BJURID at Shechem looks back yet to the patriarchal time as well a. 
 to the transaction recorded in ch. viii. 30 ff. 
 
§ 4. CHRONOLOGY. 17 
 
 So much in reierence to some of the principal objections of Hauff. These, even if we add 
 what the author says, p. 191 ff., concerning the scope and dale of the book of Joshua, are not 
 strong enough, in our judgment, to bring down the historical value of the book, as Hauff, 
 evidently influenced very strongly by De Wette (p. 204), would do. He comes to the result, 
 in regard to chaps, i.-xi. at least, that the author " aimed not to give any history of Joshua in 
 our sense of the word ' history ' but a history of the taking of the land at Canaan by the Israelites 
 under the mighty pouer of God; that the person Joshua is indeed gathered ,)ut of the history, 
 and the events as such for the most part belong to the real history, bw that the /dan anil arrange- 
 ment serve a higher end. ' This higher end indeed he understands to be essentially of a re- 
 ligious and moral kind, — to enliven zeal for Jehovah and his service by a representation of 
 God's dealings with his people, only, according to Hauff 's conception, the end so influences the 
 narrative that the facts are shaped to correspond to it (p. 237). The consequence of this 
 theory is the mythical conception of the Biblical history. This meets us in Noldeke quite un- 
 qualifiedly, while Ewald favors it, but only in part. Now we will grant that the Book of Joshua 
 "aims to give no history of Joshua in our sense of the word," for that would have required 
 our time with its rich scientific helps, and its advanced scientific culture. But that the book 
 would give the facts, as they survived partly in written records, parti) in oral tradition, with- 
 out enslaving them to any higher aim even though that were the highest of which a Hebrew 
 writer could conceive — the interest of Jehovah's worship, — that we cannot give up. "A 
 higher aim," in itself we would not deny, as may be seen from § 1, only we would and must 
 dispute that this affected the writing of the history in such a way that out of the history there 
 comes at last a. fiction, and that one proceeding on these principles feels obliged to concede, 
 in regard to Moses, e. g., that " on the whole it results from the criticism of the Pentateuch, 
 alas ! that the noble, living image of Moses, as we find it, especially in Exodus and Numbers, 
 wears no historical features, but is mainly a grand creation of later hands. Of the histori- 
 cal Moses there remain to us only a very few certain traces ; at the bottom we know surely 
 concerning liim only that he was Israel's leader out of Egypt, and gave a mighty impulse to 
 the religious development of his people " (Noldeke, 0. T. Lit. p. 26). That truly would be 
 little enough, and strongly reminds us of similar assertions of Strauss, according to which 
 Christ is likewise a grand creation of a later hand, an imagination of the apostolic congre- 
 gation. 
 
 The primary stumbling-block for most of the critics is, when we reach the bottom, miracles, 
 which are assumed beforehand to be something impossible, and incongruous with rational con- 
 ceptions, whether we find them on Old or New Testament ground. Hauff does not deny this ; 
 he explains rather : " the interpreter of the Bible must not bring to his work the assumption 
 beforehand that miracles are impossible. With all his effort, and all his force, it cannot be 
 got rid of sometimes that the Biblical historians intended to relate miracles " (p. 211). On these 
 principles he proceeds, although disavowing the purpose of Rationalism, to fish up in the ac- 
 counts of miracles some expressions out of which the original, natural occurrence might possibly 
 be discovered (p 211). On the other hand, however, Hauff objects to our author that he is 
 accustomed, in order to suit his design, to treat of miracles with intentional exaggeration of 
 the supernatural (p. 215) ; and, with reference to this his design, in a given case would 
 attempt an enhancement of the miracle (p. 223) ; in view of which the miraculous narratives 
 in him " must be apprehended quite otherwise than elsewhere." How far this assertion is 
 correct or otherwise, will be shown by the particular examination of the five miraculous 
 accounts, in ch. iii. and iv. ; v. 13-15; vi. ; vii. ; x. 12-15. On our own general position 
 as to this matter, we may be permitted here to remark merely, thai ice most certainly hold to 
 the possibility of miracles, because God is a living God (iii. 10), and can find, therefore, in mirac- 
 ulous narratives no objection to the credibility of a Biblical Hook, while yet tee would r.ol on thit 
 account, avoid a careful scrutiny of the reports existing in regard to them. 
 
 § 4. Chronology. 
 
 The chronological data afforded by our book are very few, but enough at least to guaran- 
 tee some standards for fixing the reckoning of time. Chap. iv. 19 we are told that on the 
 tenth day of the first month (Abib) the people " came up out of the Jordan," but, unfor- 
 tunately, not as in 1 Kings vi. 1 is the year after the Exodus given. We learn nothing 
 further than that the passage of the river took place in the spring of the year. If now we 
 place the Exodus, according to the common view, about 1500 B. c. (1495 B. C, Fiirst, Gesch 
 
18 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 /. Bill. Li', p. 351), we reach the time about 1460 as the date of the passage of the Jordan 
 But here arise- the second question, How many years were required for the conquest of 
 Canaan V upon which follows the third, How long Joshua held the government altogether, 
 »r. What space of time does our book embrace ? For answer, we have the passages eh. xi. 
 \S : xiv. 7, 10, 11 ; xxiii. 1 ; xxiv. -29. In ch. xi. 18 it is only reported in general that Joshua 
 wa.'ed war a long time C^"] D^D" 1 with the Canaanite kings. Ch. xiv. 7, 10, 11, leads to a 
 more accurate determination of this period, since Caleb says he was forty years old when 
 Moses sent him out to explore the land of Canaan (ver. 7), and Moses swore to him that he 
 would give him as an inheritance the land to be conquered by him (ver. 9), that now fori y-ftt* 
 jl tin have past since Jehovah spoke this word to Moses, which (= during which) hrael wan- 
 dered in :he wilderness. Here evidently " the years of the conquest of Canaan during which 
 Israel had not yet come into the peaceful possession of the land, are in a loose expression 
 added to those of the wandering in the wilderness," as all interpreters without diflerencn 
 admit ; because, when Caleb offered this petition, the conquest of the land, as ch. xiv. 5, 
 agreeing with ch. xi. 23, declares, was already completed. How long then did the con 
 quest require ? Since the mission of the spies under Moses, with which coincides in time 
 the promise of God to Caleb which the latter here recalls (see the Comm.), took place in tha 
 second year of the Exodus (Num. xiii. 14 ; Deut. ii. 14). and the wandering in the wilderness 
 lasted from that time exactly thirty-eight years, as Deut. ii. 14 states, Jewish tradition had 
 already quite accurately determined the time required for the conquest to be 45-38 = 7 years 
 (Joses Seder Olam, ch. xi. in Fiirst, ubi sup. p. 408). This was adopted by Theodoret, whom 
 Keil, Gerlach, Bunsen, of modern commentators, and Furst (but with peculiarities and various 
 em ndations of the text) have followed. Josephus on the contrary (Ant. v. 1, 19) gives the 
 dnr uion of the conquest as only five years. He says, I. c. 'Eros 5e niuTTov fjSri wape\Ti\v8et xai 
 Xcamiav oukct' ouSeh uiroA.e\fiirTO, ir\V « M rtfes els b\vp&ro.T0v reixor ^istptrfov. Ewald supposes 
 the author of ch. xiv. 10 also thought only of five years, which certainly seems very probable 
 when we consider the fondness of the Hebrews for reckoning in round numbers. Knobel is 
 of the same opinion, remarking on ch. xiv. 15, " the wars of Joshua therefore had, according to 
 our author, lasted about five years." To pronounce a definite judgment is difficult, and is 
 quite unnecessary, as the difference between five and seven years is of no consequence. But 
 when Fiirst (ubi sup.) assumes that the conquest occupied seven years in all, five of which 
 were spent in the south and two in northern Palestine, the text gives no clear and definite 
 support for his opinion. 
 
 There still remains the third chronological question, How long in all did Joshua hold 
 the government ? which is the same as, What space is covered by our book ? Chap, xxiii. 
 I speaks just as vaguely as xi. 18 of Q , 2"1 CCJ, after which Joshua, who was already old 
 and advanced in years, CM S2 7f?T, held the national assembly. Inch. xxiv. 29 it is said 
 that he was one hundred and ten years old when he died. These are all the notices which the 
 Book of Joshua, and even the whole Bible gives. We find more in Josephus, who reports. Ant. 
 ?. 1, 29 : Ka! i uiv (sc. 'l-qtrovs) rotravra 7rpi)s tous irapiWas 5ia\tx9e!s reKevra, /3ious eVa-rii/ eT7j icol Se'ica, 
 Siv Mouirei /jLfV, iw'l $L$a<rica\ia riv xP1'"V a " / > avvSicTpityf Ttaaapaxovra., trrpaTTiyhs St una tt)v ckc'ii/ov 
 TeAei/TTjv yivertu ireVe not liKoai. Here the life of Joshua is defined, in agreement with ch. xxiv. 
 29, as having covered one hundred and ten years, of which forty belonged to the period in 
 which Joshua was yet with Moses, and twenty-five to that of his sole leadership. There are 
 then forty-five years left for the time before the Exodus. Ewald (ubi sup. pp. 330. 331) and 
 Fiirst (p. 351) maintain that Josephus took this, in their opinion trustworthy, notice out of 
 "an old document which did not show the gaps of the -book of Origins,' as Ewald calls the 
 (round-text" (p. 330). At the same time Ewald (I. c. Rem. 3) and Fiirst (p. 351, Rem. 4) 
 call to mind that other writers of these later centuries give always twenty-seven (Theoph. Ad 
 Autol. 3, 24 ; Clem. Alex. Strom, i. 21 ; Euseb. Chron. I. pp. 160, 170 of the Armen. trans- 
 lation, and G. Syncellus, Chronogr. p. 284, ed. Bonn), and Eupolemos (ap. Euseb. Prcep. 
 Evany. 9, 30 ; 10, 14) names even thirty years. Nay, the Chron. Sam. Arab. ch. 39, gives 
 him forty-five years dominion, but in other places (ch. xxi., xxv.) only twenty-one Of 
 these higher figures the number twenty-seven is explained by supposing that the conquest 
 was reckoned as occupying seven years; the others appear to betaken quite arbitrarily. 
 Btarke also speaks of twenty-seven years, referring to this reckoning among the Christian 
 Fathers, as follows (Pref. to Joshua. § 10, p. 5) : "The chronology of this book is various!* 
 
§ 4. CHRONOLOGY. 19 
 
 40 
 
 years 
 
 7 
 
 M 
 
 10 
 
 Cf 
 
 299 
 
 a 
 
 40 
 
 a 
 
 40 
 
 u 
 
 40 
 
 u 
 
 given ; some assume twenty-seven years " ; but he then immediately acids : " others, however, 
 with more probability, only seventeen, from the beginning of Joshua's rule to his death, rhe 
 latter rest on 1 Kings vi. 1, since from the Exodus to the temple of Solomon there are reckoned 
 four hundred and eighty years. For the government of Joshua there are actually left 
 seventeen years, if we reckon before and after that government as follows : — 
 
 " (a.) From the Exodus to the government of Joshua are 
 " (b.) From the beginning of the government of Joshua to the division of 
 the land ......... 
 
 " (c.) From the beginning of the division to the death of Joshua 
 
 " (d.) From Joshua to Eli ....... 
 
 " (e.) From Eli to Samuel (1 Sam. iv. 18) 
 
 " {f ) From Samuel to David (Acts xiii. 21) . 
 
 " (g.) From David to Solomon (1 K. ii. 11) 
 
 " (h.) From the accession of Solomon to the beginning of the building of 
 
 the Temple 4 " 
 
 480" 
 
 Instead of four hundred and eighty years, we read in Acts xiii. 20 of four hundred and 
 fifty years only ; in Josephus. on the contrary (Ant. viii. 3, 1), of five hundred and ninety- 
 two, and in two other places ( int. xx. 10, 1, Cont. Apion, 2, 2), of even six hundred and 
 twelve years. In the passage in Acts (xiii. 20) the number tour hundred and fifty is given 
 not as chronologically exact, but approximate only (<•"), and can therefore decide nothing 
 against 1 K. vi. 1 (Bahr, Bibelwerk, A. T. vii. p. 41). But Josephus contradicts himself; 
 four hundred and eighty years must therefore, with Ewald, Winer, Thenius, Rosch, Bahr, 
 and very recently also, Hitzig (Gesch. d. Volkes Israel, i. pp. 13, 14), be held as correct. This 
 being done, then, if we take the twenty-five years of Josephus for the rule of Joshua, the 
 period of the Judges must be shortened, against the reckoning of Starke, by eight years, 
 thus : — 
 
 (a.) 
 
 (b. and c.) 
 (d.) . 
 
 (/•) • 
 (A.) . 
 
 40 years 
 
 25 " 
 
 291 " 
 
 40 " 
 
 40 " 
 
 40 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 480 
 
 Since, however, Josephus generally, as Ewald himself concedes, is not "a good chronolo- 
 gist " (p. 484), we ought not to lay too much stress on his twenty-five years in and of them- 
 selves (comp. also the explanation of ch. xviii. 4 tF. in reference to the date iv 4056^ fi-nvi in 
 Ant. v. 1, 21, ad Jin.). It is possible that Joshua's command lasted so long, and so Des Vignoles 
 and Winer also assume, and that our book embraces thus a space of a quarter of a century, but it 
 is possible also that this space was shorter. The results of our investigation would accordingly 
 be these: (1) the passage of the Jordan by the people of Israel took place in the spring of the 
 year about 1460 B. c. ; (2) the conquest was effected in not less than five, at the. most in seven, 
 years (1460-1455 or 1453 B. c.) ; (3) the leadership of Joshua, embraced a period of at least 
 fifteen years, at the most twenty-seven (1460-1445 or 1433 B. C.) ; (4) the same number of years 
 is included also in our book. 
 
 Observation 1. The time of the elders mentioned in ch. xxiv. 51, and again in Judg. ii. 17, we agree with 
 Ewald in ascribing to the TH of Joshua. He assumes that to the time of Solomon from the Exodus (that be- 
 ing regarded as the terminus a quo of the Hebrew time-reckoDing, p. 479) such rYvTT^T, twelve of forty yeari 
 each, are to be recognized (pp. 481, 482). So also Fiirst, pp. 351, 352, 409. 
 
 Observation 2. Departing altogether from all other inquirers, Bunsen,in his Biblischen Jahrbiichern, inoor 
 •jorated into his Bibelwerk, vol. i. , places the crossing of the Jordan in the year 1280 b. c. on the authority of Egyp- 
 San and Assyrian chronology. He further assumes that Hoses died in the twenty-second year of the Exodus (1299 
 B. C.); that Joshua, who at that time took upon him the command, completed the conquest and division of the 
 .and in seven years, and immediately thereupon, in the forty-seventh year of the Exodus (1274 b. a), closed hit 
 ife. According to tlis reckoning also Joshua was leader of the people for twenty-live years (pp. exxviii., exxx.) 
 
20 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 not all, hontver, in Canaan proper, but eighteen years in the land east of the Jordan, and seven on this side. Th« 
 accuracy of the chronological notice contained in 1 K. vi. 1, Bunsen likewise disputes, since, according to hit 
 salculation, the Exodus took place in the year 1320 b. c. during the nineteenth Egyptian dynasty, and the build- 
 ing of the Temple in 100+ b. c. during the twenty-first dynasty, not four hundred and eighty years, therefore, 
 "mi; only three hundred and sixteen after the Exodus. 
 
 § 5. Character of Joshua. 
 
 As at the time of the Exodus, which as an event of the very highest significance was ever 
 after retained in the mind of the people so vividly as to become their epoch for the reckon- 
 ing of time, as then Moses, the chosen instrument of God's providence, led his nation and 
 impressed upon it the stamp of his own mighty soul ; so Joshua, in the period immediately 
 subsequent, carried forward the work already begun, and by the establishment of a regulated 
 theocratic commonwealth, brought it to a definite conclusion. His period is, as we at leait 
 cannot but view it, something more than " a beautiful twilight after the descending sun ot 
 the Mosaic day " (Ewald, ubi sup. p 311). It has an original, fresh, youthful aspect of its 
 own, is a true image of the spirit which lived in Hosea the son of Nun, as he was called at 
 first (Num. xiii. 8) until Moses named him Joshua (Num. xiii. 16). He was a man in whom 
 there was spirit (Num. xxvii. 18), and that a spirit of wisdom (Deut. xxxiv. 9) such as must 
 fill the real man of God in the O. T. Joshua was not indeed a prophet, as Jesus Sirach 
 makes him out (eh. xlvi. 1), and Josephus also (Ant. iv. 7, 2: MojDotjs 5e yepoiot tftin Tvyxivayi 
 Siatioxov iaurou 'lrj<rovi> KaOiffT-naiv iiri T6 toTs Trpotp-qre'iais, Kal arparriyhp eT ~ov 5e7)<r€ie •yifT\(r6fi.ivov), 
 since he was directed, Num. xxvii. 21, to seek the divine will through Eleazar the high-priest: 
 but he was a divinely inspired General and Regent, greater than any of the heroes who fol- 
 lowed him through the time of the Judges, a real Joshua (p:\EJi7T or ytrin contracted Neb 
 viii. 19, JMB?*; LXX. '\n<xavs, " whose help is Jehovah," like l^C ;,, bs 2 Sam. v. 15; 1 Chron. 
 xiv. 5), a warrior of God, whose help was Jehovah. On this very account also could he be- 
 come a savior of his people. Truly did Moses " at the right moment perceive the real 
 greatness of this hero, and give him the right name ; instead of Hosea (3?".".i'"T), i- e. help, 
 which he was already called as the delegate of his tribe, Moses named him thereafter, with 
 little change of the sound but with an important addition to the sense, Jehoshua, i. e. God 
 help " (Ewald, p. 306). 
 
 Born in Egypt, Joshua had, in common with all other Israelites, deeply felt the load of 
 oppression which weighed the people down, and joyfully hailed the houi of freedom from the 
 house of bondage, of deliverance from the iron furnace (Deut. iv. 20 ; 1 K. viii. 51 ; Jer. xi. 
 1). He was early allowed an opportunity, as one of the chief men of Ephraim (Num. xiii. 
 8), to show his bravery, when at Moses' command, he opposed the swarms of wild Amale- 
 kites in Rephidim (now Erraha, or Raha, see Knobel on Ex. xvii 6), and. supported by the 
 prayer of Moses, triumphantly overcame them. For Joshua discomfited (*" ^n'l) Amalek 
 and his people with the edge of the sword (Ex. xvii. 8-13). By this exploit Joshua rose in 
 the estimation of Moses, accompanied him (Ex. xxiv. 13) on the Mount of God, was at other 
 times constantly about him (Ex. xxxiii. 11) as his minister (see on eh. i. 1), and, being then 
 in the strength of his life (Ex. xxxiii. 11, ~123"I, laid the foundation in this intercourse with 
 Moses of his knowledge of God and confidence in Jehovah who had for the first time revealed 
 himself (Ex. vi. 2, 3) as such to Moses. Through such confidence in God, which was never 
 afterward more gloriously manifested than in the victory at Gibeon (Josh. x. 12-15), his 
 native bravery gained a mighty support, so that he trembled not, whether the enemy met 
 him in open fight, or the excited people, believinir rather the extravagant reports of the other 
 spies than the plain and truthful words of Caleb and himself, cried out that he should be 
 stoned (Num. xiii. 31-34. xiv. 6-9, 10). 
 
 With this boldness, invigorated by filial trust in the Lord, there was joined in him a gift 
 of keenest observation, which enabled him to perceive that their defense had departed from 
 the Canaanites (Num. xiv. 9), so that it might lie foreseen that they must become a prey to 
 the Israelites, ''bread " for them, as he expresses it in that popular style which we elsewhere 
 recognize in him (e.g. Josh. xvii. 14-18: xxiii. 10; xxiv. 12). 
 
 These qualities fitted him in a high degree for the position which Moses, before his death, 
 by the command of God, assigned to him (Num. xxvii. 16-23, comp. with xxxii. 28 ; Deut. iii 
 18 ; xxxi 23). He was appointed, as Muses had desired of Jehovah, to go in and out before 
 
§ 5. CHARACTER OF JOSHUA. 21 
 
 ;he congregation, and lead them out and in, that the congregation ot' Jehovah might not be as 
 a flock without a shepherd (Num. xxvii. 17). Being now, probably, of about the same age as 
 his trusty companion Cal tb, of the house of Judah, the latter being then, as would seem, about 
 eighty years old (s. §4), and the sole survivor besides himself of all the Hebrew men who 
 came out of Egypt (Num. xiv. 30, 38 , he inherite 1 the leadership of his people. From this 
 time onward how eminently did he prove himself ever a God-fearing commander (eh. iii. 5, 
 9, 10 ; iv. 6, 7, 21-24 ; v. 1-9 ; vii. 6-9), trusting confidently in the help of God (ch. iii. 5 ; 
 vi. 6 ft". ; viii. 3 ft'.; x. 12-15, 19, 25), often strengthened and consecrated to the strife by 
 God himself (ch. i. 1—9; vi. 2, 3; viii. 1, 2; x. 8; xi. 6, especially v. 10-15). circumspect 
 and prudent (ch. i. 11 ; ii. 1 ; viii. 4-8), quick and bold (ch. x. 9; xi. 7; x. 28-43; xi. 10- 
 23), always taking full advantage of victories gained, of unexceptionable energy (eh. viii. 26 ; 
 \. Id, 19, 28-42; xi. 8, 9). A commander, nevertheless, who humbly and modestly asked for 
 himself (ch. xix. 49, 50) only a small possession, and in his farewell discourse (ch. xxiii. 
 1—16 ; xxiv. 1-15), despising self-laudation, gave all the honor to Jehovah, of whom it is said 
 that he was with Joshua so that they spoke of the latter in all lands (ch. vi. 27). If he at 
 times dealt fearfully according to our conceptions with some, as against the King of Ai (ch. 
 viii. 29), and against those other five kings (ch. x. 1, 16, 23-27) whom he shamefully hum- 
 bled and pitifully hanged, let us not forget the vast difference between our time and his. If 
 he — to touch yet on one chief complaint brought against him by Eiehhorn and Paulus (nor,- 
 however, by Herder, as Keil assumes, p. liii. (53)), — if he proceeded not only against individ- 
 uals, but against the Canaanites generally with the edge of the sword (3^n 'aj). burning 
 their cities with fire, and casting them down unsparingly (ch. vi. 24 ; viii. 24; x. 28-43 ; xi. 
 10-19), and this all, as is repeatedly stated (viii. 2; x. 25, 40 ; xi. 15), by divine command, 
 with the cooperation of Jehovah, by whom the heart of the Canaanites had been hardened to 
 meet the children of Israel in battle (xi. 20), we may with Ewald reply to all such at'acks 
 upon Joshua, nay, even upon God himself, " that a people, sinking ever more deeply into 
 divisions and moral perverseness, as the Canaanites, in great part at least, then were (comp. 
 vol. i. p. 324 ft". ; Wisd. Sol. xii. 2-6), should fall before another people in whom there arises 
 the harmonious strength of a life trusting in divine powers, and so striving upward, is an 
 eternal necessity." J Thus it happened also in the storms of the popular migrations, in which 
 old but corrupted states of much cultivation crumbled before the pressure of mighty natural 
 races. Not less do the conquering expeditions of the Arabs in the seventh and eighth cen- 
 turies after Christ furnish an analogy. So much on this topic here. We shall have frequent 
 occasion in the interpretation of the book to touch upon it again We here simplv remark 
 that there was no lack of mildness in the hero of Ephraim. He spared Rahab. faithful to 
 the promise which the spies had given, an I with her her father's house (eh. vi. 25), saved the 
 Gibeonites from the hand of the children of Israel (ch. ix. 26), although they had deserved 
 for their cunning falsehood a far different punishment from that which was inflicted on them, 
 namely, to perform menial service in the sanctuary (ch. ix. 27) ; and appointed the cities of 
 refuge for the manslayers (ch. xx. 1-9). 
 
 1 [" It is better'' — so spoke ii theologian of uo fanatical tendency, in a strain, it may be, of excessive [?) but still of 
 noble indignation, — " it is better that the wicked should be destroyed a hundred times over than that thev should 
 tempt tho-e who arc yet innocent to join their company. Let us but think what might have been our fate, and the fate 
 of every other nation under heaven at this hour, had the sword of the Israelites done its work more sparingly. Even as 
 it iras, the small portion of the Canaanites who were left, and the nations around them, so tempted the Israelites by their 
 idolatrous practices, that we read continually of the whole people of God turning away from his service. But had the 
 heathen lived in the land in equal numbers, and, still more, had they intermarried largely with the Israelites, how was it 
 possible, humanly speaking that any sparks of God's truth should have survived to the coming of Christ? Would not 
 the Israelites have lost, all their peculiar character ? and if they had retained the name of Jehovah as of their God, would 
 they not have formed as unworthy notions of his attributes, and worshipped him with a worship as abominable as that 
 which the Moabities paid to Chemosh, or the Philistines to Dagon ? 
 
 But this w:is not to be. and therefore the nations of Canaan were to be cut off utterly. The Israelite's sword, in itl 
 bloodiest executions, wrought a work of mercy for all the countries of the earth to the very end of the world. They 
 seem of very small importance to us now, those perpetual contests with the Canaanites, and the Midianites. and the 
 Amronifo, and the Philistines, with which the books of Joshua and Judges and Samuel are almost filU 1. We may 
 half wonder that God should have interfered in such quarrels, or have changed the course of nature, in order ti *rive 
 one of the nations of Palestine the victory over another. But in these contests, on the fate of one of these nations ot 
 Palestine, the happiness of the humau race depended The Israelites fought, not for themselves only, but for us. It 
 might follow that they should thus be accounted the enemies of all mankind — it might be that they were tempted by 
 their v-ry distinctness to despise other nations; still they did God's work, — still they preserved unhurt the seed of eter* 
 oal life., and were the ministers of blessing to other nations, even though they themselves failed to enjoy if." Arnold'! 
 (Dr. Thos. ) Sermons, vi. 35-37, as found in Stanley's Lectures on the Jewish Church, lect. si. p. 283 ff. And 8«« 
 stsnle 9 whole treatment in that Lecture of the moral difficulty connected with the extermination of the Canaanites. - 
 
22 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Joshua, moreover, was not only as a general an illustrious, highly endowed leader of hit 
 people, and one filled with the spirit of God, but, conspicuous equally in the deeds of peace 
 as in the deeds of war, he was not less capable as a regent than as a soldier. In this relation 
 also he acts always from the higher, theocratic motive. He will establish a commonwealth 
 for his people ; but this commonwealth must correspond to the description given in grand out- 
 lines by God. through Moses, in the wilderness. It should be a commonwealth consecrated to 
 Jehovah, in the midst of which should stand the sanctuary, whose people should be holy to 
 Jehovah. For Israel was to be a holy people (Ex. xix. 6). Accordingly, as soon as the Jor- 
 dan is crossed, by God's marvelous help, and they tread the soil of Canaan, the land of the 
 fathers, Joshua causes the long-neglected circumcision to be performed at Gilgal (ch. v. 1-9) ; 
 and then immediately, on the same ground, the Passover to be celebrated for the first time 
 (v. 10-12). He divides the land not according to his own preference, but by the lot, that 
 God himself might, as it were, give the decision (chaps, xiii.-xix.), raises the holy tent it. 
 Shiloh (xviii. 1), arranges not only the cities of refuge which have been mentioned, but also 
 the Levitical cities (ch. xxi.), acts in harmony with the high-priest Eleazar (xvii. 4 ; xxi. 1), 
 maintains the unity of the cultus when the two and a half tribes build the altar on the bank 
 of the Jordan (xxii. 12-34), in his farewell address admonishes to fidelity towards Jehovah, 
 warns against apostasy (ch. xxiii. 1-16; xxiv. 1-15), and, having already earlier — perhaps 
 directly after the conquest of the country west of the Jordan — caused blessing and curse to 
 be proclaimed from Gerizim and Ebal (viii. 30-35), solemnly renews the covenant between 
 Israel and Jehovah at Shechem (ch. xxiv. 25) with an earnest demand that all other gods 
 which might possibly still be cherished, should be put away. Conscious as he was, therefore, 
 as a general, of his commission from God, he was not less so as a ruler, who constantly kept 
 in view, and followed with all tenacity and perseverance, his great, heaven-appointed aim, 
 namely, to found a theocratic commonwealth. If he was adorned, as a general, with a bravery 
 supported by fear of God and confidence in him, so as a regent he wore the most beautiful 
 ornament of civil rule : an unselfish, noble spirit of justice coupled with gentleness and wis- 
 dom. It was a spirit which gave to every man his own (xiv. 6-15; xxi. 1), but claimed for 
 itself only what was reasonable and moderate (xix. 49, 50), and which could sharply repel 
 unjustifiable demands (xvii. 13-18), although not with "humiliating sarcasm" or with 
 "pointed scorn," as Ewald represents (ub. sup. 317, 316). Of this charge, however, wh shall 
 have to take fuller notice in our explanation of the passage. 
 
 Thus Joshua stands before us distinguished equally as general and as ruler of his people, a 
 worthy follower of Moses ; not a prophet like the latter, and no lawgiver, as was the son of 
 Amram, but filled with the same spirit of fidelity towards Jehovah, and of zeal for the newly 
 incipient commonwealth of God ; a man of God in all that he does and in all that he omits. 
 "In the kingdom of God," says Kurtz (Manual of Sacred History, p. 102), "he is great 
 who knows that of himself he is nothing. This greatness had Joshua. Among the heroes 
 of the sacred history he stands forth as the one, above almost all others, free from self- 
 will. The most conscientious fidelity towards the law, and a disposition the most impertur- 
 bably theocratic, distinguish him. He is prudent, circumspect, where he has to act of him 
 self, for he conducts the wars of the Lord ; but unhesitating, quick, and decided where the 
 Lord sends him. His courage is humility, his strength is faith, his wisdom is obedience and 
 fear of the Lord. A gentle disposition, but the furthest possible from feebleness, as is proved 
 by bis sternly solemn sentence upon Achan, and the strictness with which he executes the 
 curse upon the Canaanites. Such a union of mildness with strength, of simplicity with pru- 
 dence, of humility with magnanimity, has in it something evangelical. This peculiarity of 
 his character, together with the peculiarity of the period in the kingdom of God in which he 
 lived, and of the position which he took, makes him and his work a rich type of Him that 
 was to come. He leads the people into the land of promise and of rest, but there is yet a 
 better rest to be enjoyed, to which his antitype and namesake must introduce us (Heb. iv 
 9)." With this glance at that unique, glorious antitype, at Christ the true Joshua, we close 
 the attempt at a description of the hero of our book. 1 
 
 1 [Baumgarten's characterization of Joshua in Herzog'B Real-Encyc, s. v. Joeua, is in much the same tone as the above, 
 fc'roin Stanley's heclure* on the Jewish Church, vol. i. lect. 13, we extract the following vivid and impressive Bketch of tha 
 lacred leader of Israel, breathing a somewhat different sentiment, and hardly giving (as many will think) that regard to 
 Ms sacredness which it deserves : — 
 
 " The difference, indeed, between Moses and Joshua, was marked as strongly as possible Joshua was the soldier, — 
 the first soldier consecrated by the sacred history. He was not a teacher, not a prophet. He, one may say, hated th« 
 txtensiou of prophecy (?) with ^ feeling which recalls a well-known saying of the great warrior of our own nge He coulc* 
 
§ 6. THE HOLY LAND. 28 
 
 Observation 1. In the N. T. Joshua is mentioned only twice : (1) in the speech of Ste- 
 phen before the chief council, Acts vii. 45, where it is said that the fathers brought in the 
 tabernacle with Joshua into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before their 
 face (e'fiVef b 8e6s) ; (2) Heb. iv. 8 (see on ch. i. Doctrinal and Ethical, No. 4). From this 
 passage Starke gives some intimations concerning the typical relation of Joshua lo Christ 
 He says: "Joshua was in name and action a beautiful type of the Messiah. As he led the 
 children of Israel through the Jordan into the land of Canaan, so the latter leads his believ- 
 ing followers finally through death into the heavenly Canaan. He carried out what Moses 
 could not effect ; the law of Moses could insure to men no peace and no blessedness, which 
 Jesus and his gospel can, Rom. viii. 3 ; Heb. vii. 25. Jesus and Joshua begin after Moses 
 leaves off. Joshua was the leader of the bodily Israel, overcame their enemies, distributed 
 to them their land ; all which Jesus, the Captain of Salvation, does for the spiritual Israel, 
 Heb. ii. 10 " (Starke on ch. i. 1). 
 
 Obs. 2. " We find in the East historical traces of Joshua's heroic deeds, outside of the 
 Hebrew writers. Thus Procopius, Vandal, ii. 20, mentions a Phoenician inscription near the 
 city Zingis in Mauritania, which had originated with the Phoenicians who had fled from 
 Canaan, and ran thus : 'H,ue*s dafiev ol <peuyovTes awb wpoaunrou \t){tov too \t]<ttou vlou Nau7J (Suida? 
 s. v. Xavadv '■ 'Huets eVuev Xaroco?o: obs eSi'c*)|ei' lrjaovs 6 Atjctt^s) ; and a letter of the Persian 
 king Shaubec in Chron. Sam. c. 26, names Joshua likewise " lupus percussor," but according 
 to another recension, 'lupus vespertinus," maty 2ST (comp. Hab. i 8). Winer, Realm, s. v. 
 Josua. Ewald regards the inscription as a fabrication (p. 298) ; and in the Chron. 
 Sam., from its character before described (§ 1 obs.), no confidence can be placed. " Other 
 accounts similar to that in Eutropius are more simple, such as the brief statement that Trip- 
 olis in Africa was founded by the Canaanites fleeing before Joshua (apud Euseb. Chron. Gr. 
 ed. Scaliger, p. 11) ; but present too little that is definite, and may have arisen out of vague 
 conjectures in which later writers so richly abound " (Ewald, p. 299). 
 
 § 6. The Holy Land. 
 
 The land captured by the Israelites under the brave leadership of Joshua, we call com- 
 monly Palestine, or the holy land, sometimes also, after Hebrews xi. 9 (cf. Gen. xv. 18 ; L 
 24 ; Num. xxxii. 11, etc.), the promised land. It was called a holy land (tiTTpn nO"TS) 
 by Zechariah (ii. 12), by the author of the Second Book of Maccabees (i. 7), and in later ages 
 with preference by the Catholics ; against which Bachiene (in von Raurner, Paldstina, p. 23, 
 Anm. 3), without reason remarks, that " this designation rests merely on superstition." It is 
 rather, as Zech. ii. 12 shows, more Biblical than the name Palestine, rittJbs. which originally 
 referred only to the southwestern part of the land, the country of the Philistines. So Jeromi- 
 
 not restrain his indignation when he heard that there were two unauthorized prophesiers within the camp. ' My lord 
 Moses forbid them.' He was a simple, straightforward, undaunted soldier. His first appearance is in battle ' Choose 
 out men, go out, fight with Amalek.' He is always known by his spear or javelin slung between his shoulders or 
 stretched out in his hand. The one quality which is required of him, and described in him, is that he was r very cour- 
 ageous.' ' He was strong and of a good courage.' ' He was not afraid nor dismayed.' He turned not to the right hand 
 nor to the left ; but at the head of the hosts of Israel he went right forward from Jordan to Jericho, from Jericho to 
 Ai, from Ai to Gibeon, to Beth-horon, to Merom. He wavered not for a moment ; he was here, he was there ; he was 
 everywhere, a? the emergency called for him. He had no words of wisdom, except those which shrewd common sense 
 and public spirit dictated. To him the divine revelation was made not in the burning bush nor in the still small voice (?), 
 but as the Captain of the Lord's host, with a drawn sword in his hand ; and that drawn and glittering sword was the 
 vision that went before him through the land, till all the kings of Canaan were subdued beneath his feet. 
 
 " It is not often, either in sacred or in common history, that we are justified in pausing on anything so outward and 
 (usually) so accidental as a name. But if ever there be an exception, it is in the case of Joshua. In him it first appears 
 with an appropriateness which the narrative describes as intentional. His original name, Hoshea, 'salvation,' is trans- 
 formed into Jehoskua, or Joshua, ' God's salvation ; ' and this, according to the modification which Hebrew names under- 
 went in their passage through the Greek language, took, in the later ages of the Jewish Church, sometimes the form 
 of Jason, but more frequently that which has now become indelibly impressed upon history as the greatest of all names, 
 — Jesus. 
 
 K Slight as may be the connection between the first and the last to whom this name was given with any religious signif- 
 icance, it demands our consideration for the sake of two points which are often overlooked, and which may in this rela- 
 tion so catch the attention of those who might else overlook them altogether. One is the prominence into which it 
 trings the true meaning of the sacred Name, as a deliverance, not from ' imputed ' or ' future ' or ' unknmvn ' dangers, 
 but from enemies as real as the Canaauitish host. The first Joshua was to save his people from their actual foes. The 
 lecond was to 'save His people from their sins? Again, the career of Joshua gives a note of preparation for the singu- 
 larly martial, soldier-like aspect — also often forgotten — under which his Namesake is at times set forth. The courage 
 the cheerfnluess. the sense of victory and of success, which runs both through the actual history of the Gospels, and 
 mrough the idealization of it in ' the Conqueror' of the writings of St. John, fiuds its best illustration from the oldei 
 :hurc!i in tbe character and ?areer of J shua. 
 
24 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 on Is. xh. 29 sa_\s. " Pliilixtaos Palaistinos significat ; " am. Willermus Tyr., •' Paiomtina 
 '/uasi Philistina a P/iiliitiim dicitur" (in von Raumcr, p. 24). In our book we find none of 
 these names. As a general designation appears raiher (ch. i. 4) "the land of the Hittites,' 
 whose bounds, according to the old promise, Gen. xv. 18-21, are very widely extended 
 Further we meet principally with two names for the two main divisions of Palestine, for the 
 country west of the Jordan and the country east of the Jordan. The former is Canaan 
 {)V23 — lowland, as opposed to C~lS = highland), the latter is Gilead ("T3?b2 see on the etym. 
 on ch. xii. 5), as may be seen from ch. xxii. 9, 10, 11, 15, 32, where Bashan (1t"2, from 
 )tC— . " level, soft soil"), elsewhere standing separate from Gilead, as in ch. xiii. 11, is 
 included with it. Between the east and west country lies the Jordan valley, now Ghor, 
 then called in one part of it 1T")*n — 133 (Gen. xiii. 10, 11), ''circuit of the Jordan." as in 
 Matt. iii. 5, v ireplx^pos ton 'lopS&vov, or briefly ~l33n (Gen. xiii. 12; xix. 17), and in our book 
 synonymously THTH nV?v| (ch. xviii. 17; xxii. 10, 11), but in its whole patent called 
 n3,"*3?n " low ground, plain, field " [rather, " arid, sterile, desert tract," Gesen., Fiirst. — Tr.1. 
 
 t t-: T J T 
 
 (ch. xi. 16; xii. 1, 3). Instead of this in ch. xiii. 27 we have also pay (see Robinson. 
 Phys. Geo;/, of the Holy Land, p. 81). The west side of the Ghor belonged to Canaan, the 
 east side to Gilead; the Jordan, as we learn partly from the boundaries (ch. xiii. 27 ; xvi. 
 1, 7; xviii. 12, 19; xix. 22, 34, etc.), partly from the notices in ch. xxii. (vers. 10, 11, 
 19, esp. 25), formed the border between those two great provinces of West and East Palestine. 
 
 Palestine as a whole lies nearly between 34^° and 36i° east longitude, and between 31j° 
 and 33J" of north latitude, almost equally distant from the equator and the Arctic circle. 
 The greatest extent from north to south is about one hundred and fifty-five miles, and from 
 east to west about eighty-five miles. Reckoning the average width at seventy miles we have 
 a surface of 8,560 square miles. It is therefore about half as large as Switzerland, one third 
 as large as Bavaria (von Raumer, p. 25), about the size of the Prussian Rhine province. 1 
 " Pudet dicere," writes Jerome, " latitudinem terra repromissioni.i, ne ethnicis occasionem 
 Ka&phemandi dedisse videamur." The boundaries of the land, both for its western and its 
 eastern divisions, are given in our book with accuracy, and will be noticed in the commentary 
 on the passages pertaining thereto, ch. xi. 16, 17 ; xii. 1-6, 7, 8 ; xiii. 1 fF. In general, they 
 giva us to understand that at that time Palestine was already bounded on the south by 
 Arabia Petrsea (ch. xv. 2, 3) and the brook of Egypt (xv. 4) ; on the west by the Sea (xv. 
 4), sometimes called also (Num. xxxiv. 6) the Great Sea, that is, the Mediterranean Sea ; on 
 the north by the mighty heights of Lebanon and Hermon (ch. xi. 17); on the east by the 
 wilderness of Syria and Arabia, toward which Salcha is mentioned as a border town, ch. 
 xii. 5. To denote the extension of the land from north to south we frequently meet with the 
 expression "from Dan to Beersheba " (e. g. 2 Sam. ch. xvii. 11 ; Judg. ch. xx. 1 ; 1 Chron. 
 ch. xxi. 2), but not in the Book of Joshua. A similar designation of the breadth appears not 
 to have been used. 
 
 In this, its secluded position the land was eminently adapted to the purpose which the peo- 
 ple of Israel, according to their historical vocation, had to fulfill. On the south and east, tar- 
 stretching deserts separated it from contact with all other nations. On the west was spread 
 out the sea, which in those ancient times was little traversed, and even to that extent only 
 by methods of a very imperfect description. On the north rose the protecting mountain 
 walls of Lebanon and Anti-lebanon. Here might the O. T. commonwealth of God develop 
 itself in admirable separateness from the world, the more so as Palestine, in the quality of its 
 soil, its climate, its fertility, answered all the conditions which are requisite for the pros- 
 perous development of a community, and for awakening love and attachment to the coun- 
 try, the possession of Jehovah, where the dwelling of Jehovah was erected (ch. xxii. 1 9 ; 
 eomp. Lev. xxv. 23; Ps. lxxxv. 1). Truly, Israel should, as God had said to Moses (Ex. 
 iii. 8; comp. w. xiii. 5; Lev. xx. 24; Ezek. xx. 6), be led into a good and wide land 
 (roSm/l nrritt V?S), into a land flowing with milk and honey (B*nTI 3.bn Hat VIS), 
 the fruitfulness of which is praised (Dent. viii. 7-9) in these words: The Lord thy God leads 
 thee into a good land, a land in which are brooks and fountains and seas, that flow (^'S^ -1 
 
 1 [Roliinson says (Phys. Grog. p. 18) : ,: The whole area of the land of Palestine does not vary greatly from twelv« 
 thousand geographical square miles, — about equal to the area of the two States of Massachusetts and Co in'icticul 
 'ogether." See a 1 ' i Smith's Diet, of the Bible, Am. ed. 2286 ff. Te.) 
 
§ 6. THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 De Wctte : " spring out ") on the hills and in the meadows (713^23, prop, valley betweer, 
 mountains), a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates, a land ol 
 olive-trees and honey, a land in whieh thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, in which 
 nothing is wanting, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose mountains thou mayesl 
 dig brass." (Comp. Deut. xi. 10-12; 2 K. xviii. 32; Neh. ix. 2.3, 35 ; Is. xxxvi. 17, etc.) 
 With these descriptions of the Bible agree Josephus {Ant. v. 1, 21), who praises the fertility 
 and beauty of Palestine: Tacitus, who says, after his manner, with pregnant brevity: •' I'lu'i 
 solum. Exuberant fruges nostrum ad morem pratterque eas bahamum et palmce" (//«'■■/•. v. 
 26) ; Justinus (xxxvi. 2) ; Auunianus Marcellinus (xiv. 8). And these all speak uf the 
 later times when many desolating wars on the soil of the "land of the Hebrews" (Gen. xl. 15, 
 and in Joseph.) had robbed it of its excellence. Only one voice, that of Strabo (xvi. 2. 3, G), 
 appears to contradict these reports. He relates (quoted by von Raumer, p. 92) that Moses 
 led the Jews to the place where Jerusalem stands, and easily took possession of it, because, 
 being rocky and unfruitful round about, no man had claimed it. To this Reland has already 
 replied that this report of Strabo itself, like others, shows Strabo's ignorance in respect to 
 Palestine, and that the vicinity of Jerusalem is not Palestine. True, the soil was not, if we 
 bring before our minds the topography of the land, everywhere equally fruitful : but even in 
 the south of West Palestine, in the Judaea of a later day, where the rough lime-stone hills 
 show in many places only a few traces of vegetation, and, towards the Dead Sea, except in 
 the neighborhood of En-gedi, almost none at all, — even here there were more favored dis- 
 tricts like that about Gibeon, the plain of Rephaim near Jerusalem, the low-lands (n^CtT) 
 on the sea-coast, which have maintained their productiveness till the present day. The 
 mountain of Judah which rises northwardly from Beer-sheba like a higher story of the land, 
 to an average height of 2,400 feet (von Raumer, p. 87), gives that region in many places 
 a gloomy aspect ; but so much the more beautiful appears the green of the deeply-cleft 
 wadies whose waters flow partly towards the Mediterranean, and partly towards the Dead 
 Sea. Much more fertile was an I is the northward extension of the mountain of Judah, 
 called the mountain of Ephraim, "Mount Ephraim," also eh. xi. 16 the mountain of Israel, 
 whose summits, at the time when Joshua divided the land, were still densely covered with 
 forest (ch. xvii. 15). On account of this richer vegetation, the patriarchs also found here in 
 the early days pasture for their herds about Beth-el and Shecliem (Gen. xii. 8 ; xiii. 3 ; xxviii. 
 19; xxxvii. 13). It is most luxuriantly produced, either where the Shephelah 1 extends itself 
 through the plain of Sharon even up to the woody and far outstretching promontory of Car- 
 mel, or, north of Carmel. in the plain of Jezreel. on the heights of the mountain of Naphtkali, 
 named only once in the Bible and that in our book (ch. xx. 7), and in the plain by the sea 
 of Gennesaret. This, now el-Ghuweir, is "described by Josephus (Bell. Jurl. iii. 10, 8) in 
 glowing terms for its fertility and productiveness" (Robinson, Ph>/s. Geog. of the Holt/ Liwil, 
 p. 77.) 
 
 While thus Canaan proper, especially in its middle and northern portions, was eminently 
 adapted to agriculture, the land east of the Jordan offered the most excellent pasturage for 
 cattle. Hence the Reubenites ami Gadites, abounding in herds, to whom also half of the 
 tribe of Manasseh joined themselves, had early requested of Moses to be allowed to settle on 
 that side of the stream (Num. xxxii. 1 tf. 33; Deut. iii. 12 ; xxix. 8; Josh. xiii. 7, 8), on 
 those high table-lands which stretch eastward to the mountains of Hauran, and to the Arnon 
 on the south. These, now called en Rukrah and Belka, were then Bashan and Gilead, or 
 merely Gilead. The former is even to this day of extraordinary fruitfulness, and everywhere 
 tillable. The latter, cleft by the deep valleys of the Jarmuk and Jabbok, and other smaller 
 torrents, is fatno is as a grazing-land, its soil being adorned with a luxuriant growth of grass, 
 out of which rise majestically the evergreen oaks, the oaks of Bashan (Is. ii. 13; Ez. xxvii. 
 6 ; comp. Robinson ubi sup. p. 57 (F. 139 ff.). Here on these high grounds (3,000 feet abov 
 the Mediterranean, 4,300 feet above the Dead Sea), breathes a fresh and invigorating air, 
 doubly invigorating to the traveller who emerges from the deep Jordan valley. This lies far 
 below the surface of the Mediterranean, — 625 feet below it where the Jordan leaves the Sea 
 of Gennesaret, and 1,231 where it empties into the Dead Sea. In it there is no tillable soil 
 except at Bethshan in the north and about Jericho at the south end of the Ghor ; between 
 hese two places the river is shut in on both sides by two ranges of chalky hills (von Raumer 
 p. 58). The region about Jericho in particular was celebrated for its fertility (von Raumer, p 
 
 1 [The PhilistiDe lowlands. See Smith's Did. of the BtUe. art. " SeDhelah." — Tb.1 
 
26 THE BOOK OF jOSIIUA. 
 
 58, Anm. 118 a). Further south all vegetation is dried up. There the Dead Sea, as w< 
 commonly call it, after Galenus and Jerome, but which appears in the historical books of the 
 O. T. under the name of the Sea of tie Plain (mi^rr C . Deut. iv. 49 ; 2 K. adv. 25), 
 or the Salt Sea (nb^rt c, Gen. xiv. 3 ; Num. xxxiv. 3. 12 ; Josh. xv. 2, 5 ; xviii. 19), or 
 under both names at once (Deut. iii. 17 ; Josh. iii. 16 ; xiii. 3), spreads out its desolate sur- 
 face, forty-seven miles long and more than ten miles wide, between bare, high, steep cliffs 
 of limestone and chalk, inhospitably silent, aptly called by the son of the desert " a curst 
 sea'" (von Raumer, p. 61). From its southern point the southern border of Canaan ran across 
 to Beer-sheba, according to eh. xv. 2, and to the river of Egypt, that is. to the point from 
 which we began this survey of the land. 
 
 We have before remarked incidentally how very different is the temperature in the Jordan 
 valley from that on the heights to the east of the Ghor. Other such contrasts appear in 
 the holy land, embracing as it does very lofty heights and profoundest depths ; so that on 
 its climate no general judgment can be pronounced, as can usually be done in the case of so 
 Bmall a country, with more uniform quality of soil, and a different situation. Of Lebanon, 
 whose magnificent mountain scenery has been described in the liveliest colors by Furrer, in 
 his Wanderungen durch Palastina (p. 356 ff.), a work which we shall often have to quote, 
 the Arabic poets say, " that he bears the winter on his head, the spring on his shoulders, in 
 his bosom the autumn ; and that summer slumbers at his feet " (von Raumer, p. 89, after 
 Volnev, i. 243). Consistently with this writes Burckhardt as he comes, on the 5th of May, 
 1812, to the mouth of the Mandhur (Jarmuk, Hleromax), where it empties into the Jordan : 
 "Northward rose the snow-covered Jebel el-Scheick (Hermon) ; on the east the fruitful 
 plains of Jaulan lay bedecked with the flowers nf spring : while in the south the drooping 
 vegetation appeared to show the effects of a tropical heat." The temperature of Jerusalem 
 (and the same is true in general of the whole hill-country west of the Jordan, Robinson, ubi 
 tup. p. 297 f.) is for the most part cool and pleasant, and never oppressively hot except while 
 a sirocco or south wind lasts (p. 293). On the western plain, which rises only a little above 
 the .Mediterranean, it is of course warmer, so much so, indeed, that the harvest ripens there 
 about two weeks earlier than on the mountain (p. 298 f. ). Disregarding the roush. high 
 mountain regions of Lebanon and Anti-lebanon, and on the other side the tropical heat of 
 the Ghor (where Van de Velde found it more trying than in South Africa, von Raumer. p. 
 89), the great part of Palestine has a pleasant, generally healthy climate, excellently suited 
 to agriculture and grazing ; for there are but few swamps or other causes to operate against 
 the salubrity of the atmosphere (Rob. p. 308). Yet Palestine, as in ancient times so now, 
 is not without contagious diseases, and " the pestilence that walketh in darkness," Ps. xci. 6 
 (Rob. /. a.). 
 
 Of the natural productions of the country, wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, 
 olive trees, and honey are mentioned in the passage (Deut. viii. 7-9) before quoted, and it is 
 there said also, that the stones of the land are Iron, and brass is dug out of its mountains. 
 As a matter of fact many iron mines are still found on Lebanon, and, from the communi- 
 cations of Rusegger, who has accurately explored Palestine in respect to its geology, they use 
 the brown iron-stone and spathic iron-stone for building near Merjibah (Ruseg. i. 690, iii. 
 284, ap. von Raumer, p. 96). " Iron and brass shall be on thy shoes," was promised to Asher 
 in the blessing of Moses (Deut. xxxiii. 25). And according to our book Asher must, with 
 great probability, have received a place precisely on Lebanon (ch. xix. 24-31). So that the 
 occurrence of iron and brass in Palestine is a fixed fact, although it is a question whether by 
 the stones of the land which "are iron," we are not to understand rather (as von Raumer 
 supposes, p. 96), the widespread basalt formation of Hauran, Leja, and Jaulan. The plants 
 mentioned in Deut. viii. 7-9, wheat, barley, vines, Jig and olive trees, as well as pomegranates, 
 ure still met with, and are often mentioned in the books of travel. The olive trees grow to 
 the height of from twenty to thirty feet ; the fruit begins to ripen in October, and is pressed 
 after lying in hot water. Early figs were the first fruit of the year to ripen ; a second 
 sort, the summer figs, came on in August, and a third, the winter figs, remained till January 
 on the tree. The vines bear very heavy clusters, grow to be even thirty feet high (Stephan 
 Schultz, in von Raumer, p. 101 [Tristram, Land of Israel, pp. 610, 622]), and yield excellent 
 wine. Pomegranates grow about Gaza, Hebron, and flsewhere in the land. Of the other 
 tall-growing plants of Palestine, we ought specially to indicate the oaks (Is. ii. 13 ; Ezek. xxvii 
 i ; Zech. xi. 2) which are found not on the east side of the Jordan alone (Robinson, Bibu 
 
$ ;. THE OKIGINAL INHABITANTS OF PALESTINE. 
 
 Res. in Pal., etc. ii. 443 [Tristram, ubi sup. p. 120, etc.]) ; the palm trees, near Jericho and 
 En-gedi formerly (Judg. i. 16 ; iii. 13), at the present day near Gaza (Rob. ii. 276), and in 
 Jerusalem (Tobler, Denkbtatter, p. 109 [at Jaffa, Tiberias, and elsewhere, Tristram, pp. 413, 
 ♦ 29, etc.]) ; and finally the cedars, the glory of Lebanon (von Raumer, p. 31 [Tristram, p. 630 
 1'.]). The richness of the land in honey (Ex. iii. 8, 17 ; xiii. 5 ; Deut. viii, 8 ; Jud. xiv. 8 ; 
 I Sam. xiv. 25-45) presupposes the multitude of flowers ; hyacinths, anemones, jonquils, on 
 Carmel ; on the plain of Sharon, tulips, white and red roses, white and yellow lilies, narcis- 
 suses and stockgillies (von Raumer, p. 98). 
 
 The mention of honey leads naturally to some remarks on the animals of Palestine. 
 While the bees are a blessing to the country [comp. Tristram, p. 87 f.] the locusts bring upon 
 it the horrors of desolation, such as Joel has pictured with a master's hand (ch. i. 3 fl'.). To 
 the locust which rises out of the abyss (Rev. ix. 3, 5, 10) was power given, as the scorpions 
 have power on earth. These latter are found in extraordinary numbers in the Jordan valley 
 below Jericho (von Raumer, p. 103), and the mountain of Akrabbim is named from them 
 (ch. xv. 5, from 2~)|7S, "a scorpion"). Serpents which, like them, are created for ven 
 geance on the wicked (Sirach, xxxix. 36), are in modern Palestine but few (von Raumer, p. 
 106). Their place, however, is well supplied by numerous birds, especially singing birds, not 
 merely in Samaria and Galilee, but also along the Jordan, where Robinson (Lai. Bibl. Res. 
 p. 316) heard the nightingale warble [comp. Tristram, pp. 513, 523, 585]. Even the Dead 
 Sea is not uncheered by these songsters. " We ourselves," writes Robinson (Phys. Geog. 
 p. 219), " and many other travellers, saw birds flying in all directions over the sea. That 
 no water-fowl are here to be met with is simply owing to the fact that the sea shows no trace 
 of fish or plant on which those birds subsist. But the region is full of birds : and at Aiu 
 Jidy we were surprised and delighted to hear their morning song in the midst of the solitude 
 and grandeur of these desolations. The trees, and rocks, and air around were full of the 
 carol of the lark, the cheerful whistle of the quail, the call of the partridge, and the warbling 
 of many other feathered songsters ; while birds of prey were soaring and screaming in front 
 of the cliffs and over the waters of the sea." 
 
 Of predaceous quadrupeds, the lions (Judg. xiv. 5, 6 ; 1 Sam. xvii. 34-36 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 
 20; 1 K. xiii. 24, 26; Jer. xlix. 19) which, in the days of Samson and David showed 
 themselves in cultivated districts of Judaea, and when Jeremiah lived still haunted the Ghor, 
 aave now disappeared from Palestine. Bears, on the contrary, are yet found in the uiouii- 
 :ains of the North (von Raumer, p. 106), but especially axe foxes and jackals numerous in all 
 ;he land, and not less so the hares (p. 107). Of domestic animals, the country had dogs, 
 jamels, asses, horses (mentioned in our book ch. xi. 4 as belonging to the Canaanites), 
 mules, oxen, buffaloes, numerous flocks of goats and sheep in which the patriarchs, Jacob 
 in particular, were already rich (Gen. xxx. 43). 
 
 § 7. The Original Inhabitants of Palestine. 
 
 When the Israelites forced their way into this highly favored land where once their father* 
 had dwelt as nomads, the)' found, east of the Jordan, the kingdoms of Sihon and Og (ch. xii 
 1 ff.) and, in Canaan proper, thirty-one smaller kingdoms besides, as would appear, one free 
 state, Gibeon with its dependent towns Chephira, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim (ix. 3, 17). The 
 land was already cultivated, and owed this cultivation to its inhabitants. These lived in 
 cities, tilled the ground, and had planted olive-yards (eh. xxiv. 13), were acquainted with 
 writing, as the previous name of Debir, Kirjath-sepher (ch. xv. 15), proves, owned horses and 
 chariots (ch. xi. 4 ; xvii. 18) ; but in a moral and religious respect were very degraded (Gen. 
 xv. 16 ; xix. 5 ; Deut. xii. 29-31 ; xviii. 9-12 ; Ex. xxiii. 31-33 ; xxxiv. 11-14 ; Josh, xxiii. 
 12, 13 ; xxiv. 15). Of them are separately named in our book, — - 
 
 1. Canaanite tribes (ch. iii. 10; ix. 1 ; xi. 3, where their places of habitation are given, 
 xii. 8 ; xxiv. 11) : ' 
 
 A. The Hittites, \Finn (Xettoioi), living on the mountain of Judah (Num. xiii. 29 ; Josh, 
 xi. 3, and in general — iiia) near Hebron where Moses bought of Ephron the Hittite, a cave 
 for a burial-place (Gen. xxiii. 3-20; xxv. 9, 10 ff.). The race appears to have been very 
 powerful, since ch. i. 4 the whole land promised to the Israelites is called the land of the 
 
 1 [On the different races of the Canaanites compare the brief but comprehensive sketch by Stanley, Hist, of Jewnk 
 3h. lect. ix., and the articles under the respective titles in Smith's Diet, of the Bible. — Te-1 
 
2S8 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Hittites. According to Ewald (Gesch. des Voltes Isr., i. p. 279 ff.) the Hittites were dweller* 
 in the valleys, which, however, does not agree with ch. xi. 3, where they, together with the 
 Auiorites, Perizzites, and Jebusites, are reckoned with the inhabitants of the mountain. 
 [This name is used in the Hebrew always in the singular, '• the Hittitc," with five excep- 
 tions.] 
 
 B. The A monies, *7*-... - ' C A M°P|5<"oi. according to Ewald, "mountaineers" 1 ) Sometimes 
 a name for all the peoples of Canaan (ch. xxiv. 18 ; Gen. xv. 16 ; Judg. vi. 10 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 2. 
 and often), according to ch. xi. 3, dwelling on the mountain also, either on the mountain of 
 Judah, in particular (Gen. xiv. 7, 13), or on the mountain west of the Dead Sea, thence 
 called mountain of the Amorites (Deut. i. 7, 19, 20, comp. w. Num. xiii. 30), and to be re- 
 garded as a southerly continuation of the mount of Judah ; or, northwardly, on the mount of 
 Ephraim, about Shechem (Gen. xlviii. 22, comp. w. John iv. 5) : also on the east of the 
 Jordan where the kingdoms of Sihon and Og in Gilead and Bashan are designated as Am- 
 oritish kingdoms (ch. ix. 10, comp. w. xii. 2, 4 ; Num. xxxii. 33, 39 ; Deut. iv. 47-49). [He- 
 brew always singular.] 
 
 C. The Canaanites, "OVJSn (Xwaraioi, according to Ewald [and Gesen.] " lowlanders "), 
 a designation in a wide sense for all the people of Canaan (Gen. x. 18 ; xii. 6 ; xxiv. 3 , 
 Ex. xiii. 11, and often), more strictly for a race along the sea and along the Jordan (ch. v. 1 ; 
 xi. 3 ; Num. xiii. 29 ; Deut. xi. 30). That they dwelt in Gezer, is expressly mentioned ch. 
 xvi. 10, comp. the Comm. in loc. In ch. xiii. 4 the land of the Canaanites is the same as 
 that of the Sidonians (ch. xiii. 5), that is, the Phoenicians. [Almost always plural.] 
 
 D. The Girgashiles, > C'J~l3ri (mentioned inch. iii. 10; xxiv. 11; Deut. vii. 1; Neh. ix. 
 8, while they are wanting in the lists, ch. ix. 1 ; xi. 3 ; xii. 8 : Ex. iii. 8 ; xxiii. 23 ; xxxiii. 
 2 ; xxxiv. 11), according to Gesenius " those dwelling on clayey or loamy soil " (tt'2^2). They 
 had probably (ch. xxiv. 11), as von Raumer suspects, settled as colonists on the west side of 
 the Jordan. In Matt. viii. 28 the Cod. Sinait. reads not Tepyev-rivuv, which is probably no 
 more than a conjecture of Origen (von Raumer, Gesen.), but Tafrwvuv. [Plural with two 
 exceptions.] 
 
 E. The Hivites, ^nn (Eveuot, according to Ewald, "townsmen, midlanders " [Gesen.; 
 pagani, villagers]; in the cities Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 2) and Gibeon (Josh. ix. 7; xi. 19), 
 but also on mount Hermon in the land Mizpeh, ch. xi. 3, cf. Judg. iii. 3). [In the Hebrew 
 always singular.] 
 
 F. The Perizzites, '"•T~ r? n (*fpe(,"a7oi ,■ according to Gesenius connected with nii~)B, " open 
 country," whence "'TIS Est. ix. 16; Deut. iii. 5 ; 1 Sam. vi. 18, and then also *-T"12 = 
 "countryman, rustic," with which also paganus may be compared), according to ch. xi. 3 : 
 Judg. i. 4, 5. likewise living on the mountains, probably with Canaanites, between Beth-el and 
 Ai in Abraham's time (Gen. xiii. 3, 7). It may be questioned, with von Raumer (p. 362), 
 whether also near Shechem ? which is, I think, from the connection of Gen. xxxiv. 30 not 
 improbable. [Always singular in the Hebrew.] 
 
 G. The Jebusites, ^yT] (from " CfO>, a place trodden down, threshing-floor, r. ~^2 " 
 Gesenius), at Jerusalem (jebus), and in the region around Jerusalem (ch. xv. 8, 63 ; xviii 
 28; Judg. xix. 11), according to ch. xi. 3 on the mountain also (cf. besides Num. xiii. 20), 
 like the Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzites ; invariably, except ch. xi. 3, named in the lists (ch. 
 ix. 1 ; xii. 8 ; xxiv. 1 1 : Gen. xv. 21 ; Ex. iii. 8 ; xxiii. 23 ; xxxiii. 2 ; xxxiv. 1 1 ; Deut. vii. 
 I ). [Always singular.] 
 
 " As regards the origin of the Canaanites," says Winer (Bibl. Realworterbuch, s. v. " Cana- 
 aniter "), " they are reckoned in Gen. x. 15, comp. vers. 6, 18 ; ix. 22 — as descendants of a 
 certain Canaan who was a son of Ham, and so grandson of Noah, — among the Hamites. But 
 this ethnographical conception, which rests, perhaps (Tuch, p. 245). on the tradition concern- 
 ing the original abodes of tie Canaanites, is contradicted by the language of this race, which 
 was no other than the Hebrew (Is. xix. 18, see Gesenius, Hist, of the Heb. Lang. 16 f.). The 
 prevailing view of antiquity regarded them (the Phoenicians, Sidonians) as immigrants in 
 western Asia, comp. also Justin, xviii. 3, 2 ; and according to Herod, i. 1 ; vii. 89, they must 
 have dwelt originally on the Red Sea (that is, on the ocean south of Asia), especially, per- 
 
 1 [This interpretation is said by Grove, Smith's Diet, oftk; BiUe, art " Amorite.'' " to be due to Simonif though con 
 nonly ascribed to Ew:ild.' T — Ta. I 
 
S 7 THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF PALESTINE. 29 
 
 haps, on the Persian Gulf (comp. Strabo, i. 42 ; xvi. 784 ,/, where at a later period, two islands, 
 
 Tyrus and Arados, were pointed out as the home of the Phoenicians (Strabo, xvi. 7b'tj) 
 
 That, finally, the immigrant Canaanites first occupied the northern (Phcen.) coast, and then, 
 crowding back the primitive inhabitants, spread themselves south and east throughout Pales- 
 tine, is probable under all the circumstances." Knobel has, as Lange remarks (Cumin, on 
 Gen., p. 347), "solved the problem by the supposition that the Canaanites who migrated to 
 that country might have received the Shemitic language from Shemites who had previously 
 settled there. Add to this that the affinity of the Phceniciaus and Canaanites with the 
 Hamitic nations of the south seems to be established (Kurtz, p. 90, Kauleu, p. 235)." J. 
 George Muller, on the contrary, had still earlier maintained (iSchweitzerisch.es Museum, 1837, 
 p. 275 if. esp. 282), and again repeats (Herzog's Realencyk., vii. 241), in agreement with Gro- 
 tius, Clerieus, and Gesenius, that the Hebrews had, as early as the patriarchal age, received 
 their language from the Canaanites who migrated from the Egyptian sea. 
 
 On a more careful consideration of these several views, the question at once arises, 
 Whether the ethnological table in Gen. x. shall maintain its historical character or not. 
 This is denied to it by the majority of recent critics. An error in the Table is assumed 
 and then ascribed to national hatred, which is supposed to have shrunk from the idea of a 
 common derivation (Realencyk., ubi sup. 240). Knobel, Bertheau, and J. G. Muller, on the 
 contrary, defend the table, and assume that the Hebrews and Canaanites were of different 
 families, the former belonging to that of Shem, the latter to that of Ham. On this supposi- 
 tion arises the second question : How we are to explain the undeniable agreement in lan- 
 guage, as it appears e. g. in the inscription of Eschmunazar, king of the Sidonians (cf. 
 Schlottmann's careful explanation of it in the treatise, Die Inschrift Eschmunazar's Kbnigs der 
 Sidonier, geschichtlich und sprachlich erkldrt, Halle, 1868). Knobel supposes that the Canaan- 
 ites had, upon their settlement in the country, received the language of the Shemites, whom 
 he conceives to have been resident there already. Among them he reckons the liephaites 
 [Rephaim], Emites [Emims], Susites [Zuzim], Samsumites [Zamzummim], Enakites [AnakimJ, 
 Avites, Hivites ; and he supposes that the Terahites then followed at a later period. Muller, 
 as we have seen, gives the opposite explanation. He maintains that " the Hebrews, who as 
 a rule, throughout their history, have with great facility appropriated to themselves the lan- 
 guages of the peoples among whom they dwelt " (better, perhaps, " appropriate," for whether 
 it was always so we know not, can only conjecture), " without in the least sacrificing their 
 nationality, had substituted the language of the Canaanites for their own, as they also bor- 
 rowed of them other elements of civilization, especially alphabetic writing, republican institu- 
 tions (Sufi'etes), architecture, etc." (p. 242). 
 
 This is the present state of the discussion. One class of investigators give up the ethno- 
 graphical table, and arrive at a not unsatisfactory result ; the others have striven to support 
 the historical authority of the table, but are then compelled to propose hypotheses of which 
 that of Knobel, supposing the Rephaim, etc., to have been Shemites, is against all previous 
 views (see below), while that of Muller raises against it the consideration, Whether iudeed a 
 people so originally endowed as the Hebrews could so easily have given up their " primi- 
 tively Indogermanic," more specifically their " Aryan or Iranian language (!)," and adopted 
 that of the Canaanites ? Under these circumstances we hold that the whole question con 
 eerning the origin of the Canaanites is as yet by no means satisfactorily answered. 
 
 2. The Philistines (CVFlttJbs, more rarely ,!, Pltt7bs, LXX. in Pent, and Josh. : <pvKtaTui^ 
 elsewhere commonly: oi a.KK6<puKkoi, UaKai<n'ivoi Joseph. Ant. v. 1, 18. According to Gesenius: 
 "wanderers, strangers," which is the meaning of *AK6(pvKKoi, from the ^Ethiop. falasa, "travel, 
 wander," Heb. ti'7-), mentioned in our book, ch. xiii. 2, 3. 1 Their cities, according to ch. 
 xv. 45—47, were allotted to the tribe of Judah, but Ekron later to Dan, ch. xix. 43. They 
 were, as appears from Gen. x. 13, 14, descendants of Mizraim, the son of Ham, and hence, 
 like the Canaanites, were Hamites. From [Deut. ii. 23 ;] Jer. xlvii. 4 ; Am. ix. 7, we 
 learn that they came from the island Caphtor, probably Crete. With that agrees, as 
 von Raunier observes, Deut. ii. 23, where it is said that the Caphtorim who came out of 
 Caphtor destroyed the Avim, who dwelt in villages unto Gaza (later the city of the Philis- 
 ines), and then dwelt there, in their stead. From this, through confusion of names, may 
 have arisen the story handed down by Tacitus: " Judceos Creta profugos nocissima Libya 
 insedisse" (Hist. v. 2). Hitzig, particularly, in his Urgeschichte der Philister (p. 17 H'.), has 
 
 1 [The almost entire absence of the article with this name throughout the historical books is noticeable. — Ta.J 
 
'60 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 proved that the designation of David's body-guard ^nbsrn TP3n (2 Sam. xv. 18 ; xx. 7 
 1 Kgs. i. 38, 44 ; 2 Sam. viii. 18 ; xx. 23) lends support to the Cretan origin of the Philis- 
 tines. That the name of Crete is preserved in \"Y13rT is clear at a glance, and in referencs 
 to VwS, Hitzig (p. 21) has shown the possibility of its arising from \"?lttJb3. Whether the 
 former of these words is applicable to the southern, the latter to the northern portion or 
 whether VH3 is the more general, ^jY?? a more particular term, the Philistines being Cro- 
 tans, is questionable. Vaihinger (Herzog's Realencyk. xi. 557) decides for the former view, 
 and would make the immigration of the Cretes or Caphtorim (Deut. ii. 23 ; Am. ix. 7) to 
 have taken place not till after Joshua's time, and at first into the district south of Gaza, 
 which thus included the 222 (Josh. xv. 21-32), but not the rr?2t£7 embracing the five Phil- 
 istine cities (Josh. xiii. 3 ; comp. w. xv. 45-47). Be that as it may, it is certain that the 
 whole people of the Philistines inhabited the " southern sea-plain," as von Raumer descrip- 
 tively calls it (p. 365), and that this plain was preeminently Palestine (see above, § 6). 
 Even in the time of Abraham and Isaac they dwelt about Beer-sheba and Gerar (Gen. xxi. 34 ; 
 xxvi. 1). Already at an early day they appear as a people practiced in war, whose country 
 Moses on that account avoids (Ex. xiii. 17, 18). Joshua seems, if we consider ch. xiii. 3, 
 not to have come into conflict with them, and the division of the Philistine territory among 
 the tribes of Israel (ch. xv. 45—47 ; xix. 43) was and remained, as Winer expresses it, " a 
 project." But under the Judges begins the strife with them, thenceforth prolonged through 
 centuries (Judg. iii. 31 ; x. 7 ; xiii. 1, 5), most victoriously maintained by David (2 Sam. v. 
 17-25 ; viii. 1). after he had already under Saul distinguished himself as a youthful hero, by 
 the overthrow of Goliath especially (1 Sam. 17), but still leaving it necessary for Hezekiah 
 at a much later period to " smite the Philistines " ' (2 K. xviii. 8). It is historically 
 remarkable that precisely this, the people most hostile to the Israelites, should have given to the 
 country of the latter the name by which it must probably be forever most familiarly known to us 
 of the West, — Palestine. 
 
 3. Other Peoples. 
 
 Among these belong, above all, the giant peoples (D^SS" 1 ), of whom repeated mention is 
 made in our book as well as elsewhere, e. g. eh. xii. 4; xiii. 12; xv. 8; xviii. 16. 
 They were divided into various tribes, of which, in ch. xi. 21, 22; xiv. 15; xv. 13; 
 p23J '23, D^pSS are specified. Although they are noted, Judg. i. 10, as Canaanites, this 
 statement does not agree with the other places in which they are spoken of. Von Raumer 
 therefore regards them as aborigines. He says : " Before the time of the Canaanitish races, 
 and among them, dwelt giants (D^SS"!) in Palestine" (p. 364). To these aborigines be- 
 longed also, probably, the Horites (Gen. xiv. 6, 36 ; 20 fF. ; Deut. ii. 12, 22), — cave-dwellers, 
 troglodytes (comp. Job xvii. 6 ; xxiv. 5 fF. ; xxx. 1 ff.), but not mentioned in our book ; and 
 besides these the Avites (D^V) subdued by the Philistines ch. xiii. 3; Deut. ii. 23 ; also the 
 Geshuritts at the foot of Hermon not far from Maacha (ch. xii. 5 ; xiii. 13), and the Geshurites 
 (D'Tltra perhaps connected with ~l!|t!?3 a bridge) in the south of Palestine, near Philistia 
 (ch. xiii. 2 ; 1 Sam. xxvii. 8), and finally the Giblites (ch. xiii. 5, "bsjin from b?3, Arab, 
 jebel = mountain) in the region of Lebanon. 
 
 § 8. . Division. 
 Part First. 
 
 the conquest of the land of canaan ; or, " the exploits of the wab " 
 
 (F. Burmann). Chaps, i.-xii. 
 Section First. The preparation. Chaps, i.-v. 
 1. The summons to the war, ch. i. 
 
 a. The command of God to Joshua, i. 1-9. 
 
 1 [See further on the Philistines particularly the very valuable article s. A. v. in Smiths out. of Bible. On the wtaota 
 r:bjeet of the aborigines of Palestine, the account given by Ritter in vol. ii. of W. L. Gage's abridgment of his great work 
 nay also be strongly recommended. — Tr.1 
 
§ 8 DIVISION. 81 
 
 b. The command of Joshua to the leaders of the people, and to the Reuhenites, Gad- 
 
 ites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, i. 10-18. 
 S. The mission of the spies to Jericho, ch. ii. 
 
 a. Sending of the spies and their reception by Rahab, ii. 1-7. 
 
 6. Preservation of the spies by Rahab on their promise to her that they would spare 
 her and her father's house in the capture of the land, ii. 8-21 . 
 
 c. Return of the spies to Joshua, ii. 22-24. 
 
 3. The passage of the Israelites through the Jordan, chaps, iii., iv. 
 
 a. Regulations of Joshua in regard to the passage through the Jordan, iii. 1-18. 
 
 b. The passage itself of the people through the Jordan, iii. 14 - iv. 18. 
 
 c. The erection of the memorial at Gilgal, iv. 19-24. 
 
 4. The consecration to the holy war, ch. v. 
 
 a. The effect of the entrance into Canaan on the inhabitants of the land, t. i. 
 
 b. The circumcision of the people, v. 2-9. 
 
 c. The Passover. Bread of the land, v. 10-12. 
 
 d. The war-prince of God, v. 13-15. 
 
 Section Second. The contests of Israel with the Canaanites. Chaps, vi.-xi. 
 A. Contest against particular cities. Chaps, vi.-viii. 
 
 1. The capture of Jericho, ch. vi. 
 
 a. Preparation for it, vi. 1-14. 
 
 b. Capture and destruction of Jericho, vi. 15-27. 
 
 2. Achan's theft, ch. vii. 
 
 a. The crime, vii. 1. 
 
 6. The evil consequences in the unfortunate expedition against Ai, vii. 8-ft. 
 
 c. Joshua's humble prayer and God's answer thereto, vii. 6-15. 
 
 d. Detection and punishment of the culprit Achan, vii. 16-26. 
 8. Conquest and destruction of the city of Ai, ch. viii. 1-29. 
 
 a. Joshua's stratagem against Ai, viii. 1-13. 
 
 b. Apparent flight of the Israelites. Their victory, capture of the city, and ill 
 
 destruction, viii. 14-29. 
 4. The altar of the blessing and curse on Ebal, ch. viii. 30-35. 
 
 B. Contest against the allied kings of the Canaanites. Chaps. ix.-xi. 
 
 1. The first league of Canaanitish kings against Israel, ix. 1, 2. 
 
 2. The fraud of the Gibeonites, ix. 3-27. 
 
 a. Coming of the Gibeonites to Joshua and league with them, ix. 3-15. 
 
 b. Discovery and punishment of their fraud, ix. 16-27. 
 
 3. The great victory at Gibeon over the five allied Canaanite kings, x. 1-27. 
 
 a. Investment of Gibeon by the five allied kings, x. 1-5. 
 
 b. Battle at Gibeon, x. 6-15. 
 
 c. Flight and destruction of the five kings, x. 16-27. 
 
 4. Conquest of South Canaan, x. 28-43. 
 
 5. Vanquishment of the northern Canaanites. Capture of their land. General review 
 
 of the conquest of Canaan, ch. xi. 
 a. The second league of Canaanitish kings, xi. 1-6. 
 6. The great victory at the water of Merom, xi. 7-9. 
 
 c. Subjugation of the rest of northern Palestine, xi. 10-15. 
 
 d. General review of the conquest of West Palestine, xi. 16-23. 
 
 Section Third. Catalogue of all the kings conquered under the leadership of Moses and 
 Joshua, in East and West Palestine. 
 
 1. Catalogue of the kings conquered in East Palestine, xii. 1-6. 
 
 2. Catalogue of the kings conquered in West Palestine, xii. 7-24. 
 
 Part Second. 
 
 thf. division op the land op canaan ; ob, " deeds of the peack * 
 
 (F. Burmann). Chaps, xiii.-xxiv. 
 
 Section First. God's command to Joshua to distribute the land in West Palee*ine. Retro 
 
32 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 spective glance at the territory already assigned to the two and a half tribes east of th< 
 Jordan. Beginning of the division. Caleb's portion. Chaps, xiii., xiv. 
 
 1. God's command to Joshua to distribute the land, xiii. 1-7. 
 
 2. The territory of the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan, as already granted t< 
 
 them by Moses, xiii. 8-33. 
 it. Its boundaries. The tribe of Levi, xiii. 8-14. 
 h. The possession of the tribe of Reuben, xiii. 15-23. 
 
 c. The possession of the tribe of Gad, xiii. 24-28. 
 
 d. The possession of the half tribe of Manasseh. More concerning the tribe of 
 
 Levi, xiii. 29-32. 
 
 3. Beginning of the distribution, xiv. 1-5. 
 
 4. The possession of Caleb, xiv. 6-15. 
 
 Section Second. Division of West Palestine among the nine and a half tribes remaining 
 Appointment of the cities of refuge, and the cities of the Levites. Chaps, xv.-xxi. 
 
 1. Territory of the tribe of Judah, ch. xv. 
 
 a. Its boundaries, xv. 1—12. 
 
 6. Caleb's possession. His daughter Achsa. Conclusion to vers. 1-12, XT. 13-20. 
 
 e. Catalogue of the cities of the tribe of Judah, xv. 21-63. 
 
 a- Cities in the south, xv. 21-32. 
 0. Cities in the lowland, xv. 33-4 7. 
 
 7. Cities on the mountain, xv. 48-60. 
 
 8. Cities in the wilderness, xv. 61-63. 
 
 2. Territory of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, chaps, xvi., xvii. 
 
 a. Its boundaries, xvi. 1-4. 
 
 b. Portion of the tribe of Ephraim, xvi. 5-10. 
 
 c. Portion of the tribe of Manasseh, xvii. 1-13. 
 
 </. Complaint of the children of Joseph on account of an insufficient possess'on, 
 xvii. 14-18. 
 8. Territories of the seven remaining tribes : Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulon, Issachar, Asher, 
 Naphtali, Dan, and the possession of Joshua, chaps, xviii., xix. 
 
 a. Setting up of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Description of the land yet to be li- 
 
 vided. 
 
 b. Portion of the tribe of Benjamin, xviii. 11-28. 
 
 a. Its boundaries, xviii. 11-20. 
 
 3. Cities of the tribe of Benjamin, xviii. 21-28. 
 
 c. Portion of the tribe of Simeon, xix. 1-9. 
 
 d. Portion of the tribe of Zebulun, xix. 10-16. 
 
 e. Portion of the tribe of Issachar. xix. 1 7-23. 
 
 f. Portion of the tribe of Asher xix. 24-31. 
 
 (j. Portion of the tribe of Naphtali, xix. 32-39. 
 /(. Portion of the tribe of Dan, xix. 40-48. 
 
 i. Joshua's possession, xix. 49, 50. 
 
 /. Conclusion, xix. 51. 
 
 4. Appointment of the cities of refuge, ch. xx. 
 
 a. God's command to Joshua, xx. 1-6. 
 6. Fulfillment of this command, xx. 7-9. 
 
 5. Appointment of the cities for the priests and Levites, ch. xxi. 
 
 a. Demand of the Levites that cities should be given them, xxi. 1-8. 
 
 b. General account of the Levite cities, xxi. 4-8. 
 
 c. Cities of the children of Aaron, xxi. 9-19. 
 (/. Cities of the other Kohathites, xxi. 20-26. 
 e. Cities of the Gershonites, xxi. 27-33. 
 
 /'. Cities of the Merarites, xxi. 34-42. 
 
 g. Conclusion, xxi. 43-45. 
 
 Section Third. Release of the two and a half tribes belonging across the Jordan Joshua I 
 farewell discourse. His own and Eleazar's death. Chaps, xxii.-xxiv. 
 1. Release of the two and a half tribes, ch. xxii. 
 
§ 9. LITERATURE. Hg 
 
 a. Joshua's parting discourse, xxii. 1-8. 
 
 b. Return of these tribes to their home. Erection of an altar on the Jordan 
 
 xxii. 9, 10. 
 
 c. Embassy of Israel to these tribes on account of the altar, xix. 11-20. 
 
 d. Apology of the two and a half tribes for building the altar, xxii. 21-31. 
 
 e. Return of the embassy. Naming of the altar, xxii. 32-34. 
 
 t. Joshua's parting with the people. His death and that of Elcazar. The bones of 
 Joseph, chaps, xxiii., xxiv. 
 
 a. The first parting address, ch. xxiii. 
 
 a . Promise that Jehovah will still further contend for his people and help them 
 
 to the complete possession of the land, xxiii. 1-11. 
 0. Warning against apostasy from God, xxiii. 12-16. 
 
 b. The second parting address. Renewal of the covenant. Conclusion, ch. xxiv. 
 
 a . The second parting address, xxiv. 1-15. 
 
 0. Renewal of the covenant, xxiv. 16-28. 
 
 7. Death of Joshua and Eleazar. Joseph's bones, xxiv. 29-33. 
 
 § 9. Literature. 
 
 I. Isagogical. — Besides the Introductions to the O. T. of De Wette [translated into English 
 by Theo. Parker], Bleek [translated by Venables, 2 vols. London, 1869], Haverniek [trans- 
 lated, Edinb. 1852], [Home (Davidson)], and Keil [translated by C. Douglass, 2 vols. Glasgow, 
 1870], the following treatises are worthy of special mention: C. H. Van Herwerden, Dispu- 
 tatio de Libro Josua; sine de Diversis, ex quibus constat, Josuce Liber Monumentis deque JEtate, 
 qua eorum vixerunt Auctores Grbning. 1826. G. A. Hauff, Einige Bemerkungen iiber das 
 Buck Josua in Klaiber's Studien der wiirtemb. Geistlichkeit, ii. 1, 105-126; and by the same 
 author : Offenbarungsglaube uml Kritik der biblischen Geschichtsbiicher am Beispiele des 
 Buches Josua in ihrer nothwendigen Einheit dargethan, Stuttgart, 1843. Kdnig, Alttest. 
 Studien. Heft. 1. Authentie des Buches Josua, Meurs, 1836. See Theol. Studien und Kritiken, 
 xi. 260 ff. Baumgarten, on Josua, also on das Buck Josua in Herzog's Theol. Realencyklo- 
 padie, vii. 38-43. Winer, in his Bibl. Realworterbucli, art. Josua. Knobel, Kritik des Pen- 
 tateuch und Josua in the Exeget. Handbuch, 1861, part xiii. pp. 489-606. Ndldeke, Die 
 alttestamentliche Literatur, Leipz. 1868, pp. 13-42. Ndldeke, Untersuchungen zur Kritik des 
 Alten Testamentes, Kiel, 1869, pp. 1-144. Fiirst, Geschichle der biblisch. Literatur, Leipz. 
 1867, vol. i. Fiirst, Der Kanon des Alten Testamentes, Leipzig, 1868. Schlottmann, Die 
 Inschrijl Eschmunazars, Kbnigs der Sidonier, Halle, 1868, pp. 9-34. 
 
 II. Commentaries. 
 
 " Ephraem Syri, Explanatio in Libr. Josua; in vol. i. of his Opera Syriace. Theodoretl, 
 Quwstiones in Josuam, in vol. i. of his Opera, ed. Schulze. Aurel. Augustini, Quastiones in 
 Libr. Josua;, in vol. iii. of his Opera, Antwerp, 1700, fol. R. Sal. Jarchi (Raschi), Comment. 
 Heb. in Libr. Josua;, etc., Lat. vers, a Jo. Fr. Breithaupto, Goth. 1714, 4to. 
 
 "Jo. Calvini, Commentarii in Libros Mosis necnon in Librum Josuoz, Amstelodami, 1667, 
 fol. Nic. Serarius, Comment, in Libr. Josua;, etc., Mog. 1609, vol. i. fol. Andreas Masius, 
 Josuce Imperatoris Historia illustrata, Antwerp, 1574, fol. Dav. Chytroei in Historian) Josua;, 
 etc., Explications Utilissimce, Lips. 1592, fol. J. A. Osiander, Commentarius in Josuam, 
 Tiib. 1681, fol. J. Christ. Ysing, Exercilationes Historicoz in Pentateuchum et Librum Josua;, 
 Regiom, 16X3, 4to. Scb. Schmidt, Annotationes in Libr. Josua;, appended to his Comment, 
 in Jesaiam, ed. 2, Francof. 1692, 4to. Critici Sacri, containing Annotata in Libr. Josuce by 
 Seb. Munster, Fr. Vatablus. Isid. Clarius, A. Masius, Jo. Drusius, and Hugo Grotius, vol. i. 
 ed. 2, Francof. 1696, fol. Synopis Criticorum, etc., adorn, a Matth. Polo, Francof. 1694, 
 vol. i. 4to. Corn, a Lapide, Comment, in Josuam, etc., Antwerp, 1718, fol. Jo. Clerici, Vete- 
 Hs Test. Liiri Historici, etc., ed. nov. Tiib. 1783, fol. 
 
 " Aug. Calmet, Commentaire Literal sur le Vet. Test., Josue, le Juges, etc., Paris, 1711, 4to. 
 J. I). Michaelis, A nmerkungen fiir Ungelehrte, with his Germ, translation of the O. T., part v. i. 
 Gdtting. 1774, 4to. Jo. Christ. Frid. Schulzii, Scholia in Vet. Test., vol. ii., Noriinb. 1784, 
 8vo. Exsqetisches Handbuch des Allen Test., part i. with appendices in three parts., Leipz., 
 1797, 8vo Thadd. Ant. Dereser, Anmerkungen zu tier heiligen Schrift des Alten Test. (a» 
 3 
 
84 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 edited by him and Dom. v. Brentano) part ii. vol. i., Frankf. 1801, 8vo. F. J. V. D. Maurer 
 Commentar Uber das Buch Josua, Stuttg. 1831, 8vo. Em. Fr. Car. Bosenmuller, Scholia it 
 Vet. Test., part xi. vol. i. Josuam continens, Lips. 1833, 8vo." 
 
 To this list of Commentaries given by Keil, and very carefully prepared, we may add 
 still : Walch, Bibl. Theol. iv. 466 sqq., 980. Das Buck Josua nach dem Masoretischem Texh 
 neu ubersetzt (by Edward Kley), edited by Frankel, Leipz. 1817. F. J. V. D. Maurer, Com- 
 mentarius grammaticus criticus in V. T. in Usum maxime Gynasiorum et Academiarum adornatus, 
 vol. i. 97-126, Lips. 1835, 8vo. K. F. Keil. Kommentar Uber das Buck Josua, Erlano-en, 
 1847, 8vo. [translated into English, Edinb. 1857 ']. Kurzgefasstes Exegetisches Handbuch 
 zum Alten Test., part xiii. ; Numeris, Deuteronomium und Josua, erkliirt von Dr. A. Knobel, 
 Nebst einer Kritik des Pentateuch und Josua, Leipz. 1861, 8vo. Biblischer Kommentar uber 
 das Alte Test., edited by K. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Zweiter Theil. Die prophetischen 
 Geschichtsbucher, Erster Band : Josua, Richter und Ruth, von. K. F. Keil, Leipz. 1863. 2 
 (An abridged edition of his former work, revised with reference to the commentary of Knobel 
 which had appeared in the interval [translated into English, Edinb., 1865]). 
 
 [Many of the general Commentaries on the O. T. and special Treatises on pertinent topics 
 mentioned in the first volume of this Commentary on the N. T., p. 19, and in the first on the 
 O. T. pp. 62, 63, might here be recalled. In particular, our old popular commentators 
 should not be altogether overlooked : Mat. Henry, Scott, Gill, Ad. Clarke, etc. Though they 
 may be often less than satisfactory on the " hard places," and sometimes unduly swayed by 
 their theological systems respectively, their insight into the religious significance and uses of 
 the divine word at times shows itself very instructively. 
 We may mention especially on the Book of Joshua : — 
 
 Bush, Notes Critical and Practical on the Books of Joshua and Judges, 1838. 
 Chr. Wordsworth, Holy Bible with Notes, ii. part i. pp. 1-74, Lond. 1865. — Tr.] 
 Of the numerous monographs which have been published on particular passages of our 
 book, especially on ch. x. 9 ff., we specify the following : A. Calmet, Concerning the Com- 
 mand of Joshua that the Sun and the Moon should stand still, and the Rain of Stones which fell 
 on the Canaanites, Josh. x. 11 ff.,'ui his Biblical Researches, iii. 1, 53 ff. An Attempt to prove 
 from the Scripture that the Sun did not stand still in Joshua's Time : in the Theological Re- 
 pository, vol. i. See Allgem. Deutsche Bibliothek, iii. 29 ff. Biblisch-astron. Abhandlung von 
 der Kopernischen Meinung der Wellban, als der heil. Schrift nicht entgegen, Leipz. 1774. 
 Sturm, 1st Jos. x. 12 der Slillstand des Sonnes oder des Hagelwetters zu verstehen ? Schleitz, 
 1778. J. D. Ugen, De Imbre Lapideo et Solis et Luna: Mora inter Pugnam Israelitarum sub 
 Josuce Auspiciis cum Amorrhwis, Lips. 1793, 4to. J. Chr. F. Steudel, Was sagt der Stillstand der 
 Sonne auf Josua Geheiss? in the Tubing. Zeitschrift, 1813, i. 126-152. N. A. Chr. Weigle, 
 Ueber Josua x. 7-15, ibid. 1834, iv. 107-165. Hengstenberg, in the Evangelische-Kirchen- 
 zeitung, 1832, No. 88, and ibid. 1868, Nos. 47 and 49. Das W under des Herrn in der Schlact 
 wider die Amoriter : A Reply to the Essay in the Evang. Church Gazette (Nov. 1832) on the 
 standing still of the Sun, Josh, x., Barmen und Schwelm, 1833. G. F. Goltz, Die Stillste- 
 hende Sonne zu Gibeon, nach Grundsatzen des Koperkanischen Systems erlaiitert und vertheidlg'. 
 Dr. G. Barzilai, Un Errore di Trente Secoli, 1868, translated into German by Dr. J. M. Triest, 
 under the title : Josua und die Sonne : Explanation of the passage Josh. ch. x. 9-14 by 
 Dr. G. Barzilai, Printing-House of the Austrian Lloyds, 1868. Zbckler, Kopernikus order 
 Ptolomaiust Betrachtung Uber Josua x. 12, 13, in the Beweis des Glaubens, iv. (July and 
 Auo-ust 1868), p. 248 ff. G. Jahn, Der gesunde Menschenverstand und die stillstehende 
 Sonne zu Gibeon, Ducherow, 1868. A. Hengstenberg (in Bochum), on Josh. x. 12-14, in 
 the Beweis des Glaubens, v. (June 1869), pp. 287, 288. 
 
 HI. Historical Writings. 
 
 J. J. Hess, Geschichte der IsraelUen vor den Zeiten Jesu, Zurich, 1776-1778, 12 Bde. ; in pai. 
 ticular Bd. 1, History of the Commanders. Bertheau, Israelit. Geschichte, p. 271 ff. H. Ewald, 
 Geschichte des volkes Israel bis Chrislus, Bd. 2, p. 296 ff. (2 Ausg.) Gdttingen, 1853 [trans- 
 lated into English by Russell Martineau, Lond. 1868. The references in this work are to the 2d 
 Germ, edition, but the nature of the topics will easily lead in all cases to the place intended. — 
 Tr.] J. H. Kurz, Lehrbuch der heiligen Geschichte, 6 Aufl., Konigsberg, 1853, pp. 97-103. 
 
 i [References to this earlier work of Keil in the present commentary will be adapted to the English translation. — T». 
 i [References to this work in these pages will apply to the German Edition.— Ta. J 
 
$ 9. LITERATURE. 35 
 
 [Translated into English, Edinb. 1859.] L. Noach, Von Eden und Golgotha, Biblisch-geschichtl 
 Forschungen, Leipz. O. Wigand, 1868. (Hitherto two volumes have appeared full of the 
 strangest hypotheses suited to confound all previous researches. See the critique in the 
 Literar. Centralblatt, 1869, No. 25). F. Hitzig, Geschich/e des Volkes Israel vom Anbeginn bis 
 zur Eroberung Masada's im Jahre 72 nach Christus. In two parts, Part I. To the end of 
 the Persian Rule. Leipz. 1869, p. 95 ff. [Oehler, Das Volk Gottes, in Herzog, Realencyk. 
 vol. xvii. p. 259 f. Dean Milman, History of the Jews, N. Y. 1867, book v. Dean Stanley, 
 Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church, 1st Series, lects. ix.-xii. "The Conquest of Pal- 
 estine." Rawlinson's Historical Evidences, Boston, 1860, lect. iii. — Tr.] 
 
 IV. Geographical Writings. 
 
 1. Books of Travel. As important towards the geographical explanation of the Book of 
 Joshua, we must mention particularly : Travels in Syria and the Holy Land, by Burekhaiut, 
 Lond. 1822. In German : J. L. Burckhardt's Reisen in Syrien, Palastina und der Gegend des 
 Berges Sinai, edited by Gesenius, Weimar, 1823, 2 Bde, 8vo. Seetzen's Reisen durch Syrien, 
 Palastina, Phonizier, die Transjordanldnder, Arabia, Petroza und Unteregypten, edited by Kruse, 
 Berlin, 1854, 3 Theile. G. H. v. Schubert, Reise in das Morgenland in den Jahren 1836 u. 
 1837, Erlangen, 1838-40, 3 Bde. Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai, and Arabia 
 Petroza ; A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838, by E. Robinson and E. Smith, edited by 
 Edw. Robinson, D. D. ; 3 vols. Boston, 1841. 1 [2d ed. 1856, 2 vols. 8vo.] Later Biblical 
 Researches in Palestine, by the same, 1856, 8vo. 2 [Next in importance to Dr. Robinson's inval- 
 uable writings, for the American student, and almost indispensable to interpret even them to 
 our imagination and heart, must now be reckoned Stanley's Sinai and Palestine (Am. ed. N. Y. 
 1868). The praise bestowed on this by Grove in the Diet, of the Bible, is not exaggerated. 
 Singularly valuable towards a revision of the English version of the O. T. is the Vocabulary 
 of Topographical Terms, with which, as an appendix, this work is enriched. — Tr.] 
 Strauss, Sinai und Golgotha, 7 Aufl. Berlin, 1859. J. Rusegger, Reisen in Europa, Asien 
 und Africa, Stuttg. 1841-50, 7 Bde. Philip Wolf, Reise in das Gelobte Land, with a 
 new plan of Jerusalem, Stuttg. 1849. E. W. Schultz, Reise in das Gelobte Land, Mulheim 
 a. d. M. 1853. Titus Tobler, Dritte Wanderung nach Palastina, im Jahr 1857 ; A ride 
 through Philistia, travels on foot in the mountain of Judsea, and gleaning in Jerusalem ; 
 Gotha, 1859, with a map. Titus Tobler, Nazareth in Palastina. Nebst Anhang der vierten 
 Wanderung, with a supplement of Illustrations ; Berlin, 1868. Konrad Furrer, Wanderun- 
 gen durch Palastina, with a view and plan of Jerusalem and a map of Palestine (by Henry 
 Lange), Zurich, 1865. Fr. Valentiner, Das heilige Land, " wie es war " und "wieesist." 
 Keil, 1868. Van de Velde, Memoir, in explanation of his Map of the Holy Land, mentioned 
 below. See on the whole subject, Titus Tobler, Bibliographia Geographica Palozstinm, Leipz. 
 1867. 
 
 [This work is said by Dr. Hackett (Smith's Diet, of the Bible, art. Palestine, p. 2319) to 
 present the names of 1066 writers on subjects connected with the geography of Palestine. 
 The appendix to Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches gives a chronological list of such authors, 
 embracing almost all of much importance up to that time, and the catalogue published in 
 Gage's Translation of Ritter (vol. ii.), with that at the close of the article, Palestine, in the 
 Dictionary of the Bible, Amer. edition, will supply all that is needed to fill out this department 
 of bibliography to the present date. And here we take occasion to say that in that Die 
 tionary almost every geographical topic, mentioned in the present work, and scarcely less 
 topics of biography, antiquities, ethnology, will be found treated with a satisfactory fullness 
 of learning and admirable succinctness. The corrections and additions of the American 
 edition are valuable throughout, and within the sphere of sacred geography are quite essential 
 to the due presentation of a few important questions. It may almost replace for the English 
 itudent, and is in some respects superior, in point of geographical information, to the great Ger- 
 nan Theological Dictionary, Herzog's Theologische Realencyklopadie fur Protestantische Theol- 
 igie und Kirche, Stuttg. & Hamb. 1844-1866. 
 
 Much of the same praise is believed to be due to the geographical articles in the last editioa 
 
 1 [The references to this work in the present volume are adapted to the edition of 1841. The copious Indices will la 
 kunost all cases readily direct to the desired portion of either edition. — Tr.] 
 3 [Tlw references to Later Bibl. Res. in this work are conformed to the 2d ed., Boston, 1857.] 
 
36 THE bunk OF JOSHUA. 
 
 of Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, and Fairbairn's Imperial Bible Dictionary, illus- 
 trated ; with which, however, the present writer is less well acquainted. 
 
 We repeat the titles of two or three books of travel, besides those named above, whirl: 
 teem most likely to be accessible and of service to Biblical students generally, in this country. 
 so far as the Bunk of Joshua is concerned. 
 
 H. B. Tristram, The Land of Israel, a Journal of Travels in Palestine, under/alien with 
 Special Reference to its Physical Character. Lond. 1866. Worthy to stand on the same shelf 
 with Robinson and Stanley. 
 
 Wm. M. Thomson, The Land ami the Book; or Biblical Illustrations drawn from tie Man- 
 ners and Customs, the Scenes and the Scenery of the Holy Land : with maps, engravings, etc. 2 
 vols. N. Y. 1865. Full of general information on the country, the fruit of twenty-live 
 years' experience as a missionary there, and rendered more useful by a large number of reallv 
 illustrative pictorial representations. 
 
 A multitude of American and English travellers in Palestine have published books within 
 a few years, all contributing something towards a complete knowledge of the land, its present 
 aspect and condition, its productions, its ancient monuments, and its history. We name the 
 following without pausing to give full titles, because their works are, for the most part, famil- 
 iar and easily procurable : Bailsman, Miss Beaufort, Drew, Durbin, Fiske, Hackett, Herschell. 
 Lieut. Lynch, McGregor (Rob Roy on the Jordan), Miss Martineau, Olin, Osborne, Miss 
 Rogers, Stephens, Wilson. — Tit.] 
 
 2 Geographies of Palestine. Adriani Relandi, Palastina ex Monumentis Veteribus illuslrata, 
 Trajeeti Batavorum, 1714, 4to. K. Ritter, Erdkunde, 2 Ausg., Berlin, 1850-1852 (Bd. 15 u. 
 16). [Of these remarkable volumes, which must long remain the great storehouse of all that 
 had been communicated concerning the Bible-lands, the portions most essential to the Bibli- 
 cal student have been translated by Wm. L. Gage, and published in four octavo volumes. 
 The Comparative Geography of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula, N. Y. 18C6. — Tr.] By 
 the same author : Der Jordan uwl die Beschijfung des todten Meeres, Berlin, 1850 ; and, Ein 
 Blick auf Palastina und seine christliche Becb/kerung, Berlin, 1852. K. v. Raumer, Palastina , 
 with a map of Palestine, 4 Auf!., Leipz. 1860. L. Vblter, Das heilige Land und das Land der 
 Israelitischen Wanderung, with a map of Palestine and a number of engravings, 2 Ann., Stuttg. 
 ;864. Edw. Robinson, Physical Geography of the Holy Land, Boston, 1865 (excellent). 
 (i. Amoud, La Palestine Ancienne et Moderne ou Geographic Historique et Physii/ue de la 
 Palestine, avec 3 cartes chromo-lithographiees, Paris, 1868 (leaves much to be desired, and in 
 the accompanying maps also. Coinp. the Review in the Jaltrbiichern fur Deutsche Theulngie, 
 xiv 2). 
 
 [On the Geography of Palestine we may add, as perhaps more appropriately belonging undei 
 this head, — 
 
 N. C. Burt, The Land and its >tory: or the Sacred Historical Geography of Palestine, N. 
 Y 18G9. 
 
 H. S. Osborne, Palestine, Past and Present, with Biblical, Literary, and Scientifc Notices. 
 Phil. 1859. 
 
 Very full and valuable on the Geography of Palestine are the articles, " Palestina," by 
 Arnold, in Herzog's Realencyk., vol. xi., and " Stiidten und Ortschaften," vol. xiv. by the 
 same. 
 
 •'The Bibliotheca Sacra (vols. 1-26, 1864-1869) is particularly rich in articles on Biblical 
 Geography from Dr. Robinson and various American missionaries in Palestine and othei 
 parts of the East." — (Hackett). 
 
 The following are worthy of notice more particularly in reference to the Natural Histon 
 of the Holy Land : — 
 
 The Natural History of the Bible, by W. H. Tristram, published by the Society for Promot- 
 ing Christian Knowledge. The sketch by the same author in the article Palestine in the 
 Dictionary of (he Bible, p. 2307 tf. is a real multum in parvo. 
 
 H. S. Osborne, Plants of the Holy Land with their Fruits anil Flowers. Illustrated. Phil 
 I860. 
 
 W. S. Gage, Studies in Bible Lands, with 72 Illustrations, N. Y. 
 
 II. 15. Hackett, Illustrations of Scripture, suggested by a Tour t'~(ugh the Holy Land 
 Boston, 1866. 
 
LITERATURE. 37 
 
 J. G. Wood, Bible Animals: being a Description of every Living Creature men'ioned in th- 
 Scriptures, from the Ape to the Coral. N. Y. 1870. 
 
 Finally we must notice the publication of a work which, from the proved ability of its authors 
 and the peculiar advantages which they have enjoyed, is sure to add much to the accuracv 
 of our knowledge of the Holy Land : — 
 
 The Recovery of Jerusalem ; a Narrative of Exploration anil D'lscncerg in the City and in 
 the Holy Land. By Capt. Wil>on, R. E., Capt. Warren, R. E., etc., etc. With an Introductior 
 by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D. D., Dean of Westminster. Edited by Walter Morison, M 
 P., Honorary Treasurer to the Palestine Exploration Fund, London, 1871. — Tr.] 
 
 3. Maps. Besides those given in the different travels and geographical works on Palestine 
 we will mention : Karte von Palastina, principally after the itineraries and measurements of 
 Robinson and Smith, constructed and engraved by H. Kiepert, Berlin, 1840. Karte von Pal- 
 astina nach den neuesten Quellen bearbeitet und gezeichnet von H. Kiepert, edited by C. Ritter, 
 Berlin, 1842. H. Kiepert, Wandkarte von Palastina in achi Bladem, 3 Aufl. 1866. Karte von 
 Palastina, by C. W. M. Van de Velde. Eight sheets printed in colors. Gotha, Justus Perthes, 
 1866. A German edition of the 2d English edition of the map of the Holy Land, first pub- 
 lished in Gutha by Justus Perthes, 1858. The scale is 1-315000. (Extremely valuable for the 
 study of the second part of our book, and in general quite excellent). — From the same pub- 
 lisher appeared in 1868 : Der Bibelatlas in acht Bldttern, von Dr. Theodor Menke, which has 
 rightly met with high appreciation in all the criticisms upon it, and has rendered us the most 
 essential aid in the preparation of our commentary, by its clear cliarto^raphic representation 
 of the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel before the exile. It even distinguishes by the 
 appropriate numbers (Map iii.), the groups of cities (Jos. xv., xviii.) in Judah and Ben- 
 jamin. 
 
 [Preeminently valuable is the Bible Atlas of Maps and Plans by Samuel Clark, M. A. 
 (Lond. 1868), published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. Except 
 for the expense, this misht satisfy all wants until further discoveries, especially of the Pales- 
 tine Exploration Fund shall, as they must, supersede the best representations heretofore pos- 
 sible. 
 
 Only less complete and accurate than this is Menke's Bible- Atlas, deservedly praised 
 above, and which, although the names are given in German, will still be quite intelligible to 
 any English scholar, — at less than one third the cost. 
 
 What the foregoing collections of Maps are for hand use, in the study, that is the large Wall 
 Ma/> of Palestine and other parts of Syria, by H. S. Osborne, LL.D., and Lyman Coleman, 
 D. D., Philadelphia, for public exhibition in the Sunday-school, or lecture room. It is 6 feet 
 by 9 in size, with a side map of Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity, on a scale much larger 
 still. Its delineation of the boundaries of the tribes west of the Jordan differs, however, 
 considerably from that on Menke's Maps, and needs to be carefully tested by the record in 
 our book. 
 
 About two thirds the size of the former is Kiepert's Wall Map of Palestine, very highly 
 recommended and costing about half as much. 
 
 Raaz's Neio Wall Map of Palestine, photo-lithographed from a very excellent relief, so 
 that " all the effects of the relief in light and shadow, mountains, valleys, lakes, streams, etc., 
 are produced on a plane surface without destroying the illusion of a raised surface," has been 
 reproduced in this country with the names and descriptions in English, and at a very mod- 
 erate price. N. Y. 1S70. Size 52 inches by 32. 
 
 There is also an excellent Relief Map of Palestine, after Van de Velde, easily obtainable 
 through the German bookstores. Size 22 by 1 7 inches. 
 
 Le^s ambitious and costly than most of these are several good atlases and maps (but varying 
 '.n excellence), published by the American Tract Society, the American Sunday School Union, 
 ind by private publishers, such as Colton, New York ; Garigues & Co., Philadelphia, etc., etc. 
 
 A small relief map, prepared by W. L. Gage, is worth far more than its cost ; and quite 
 marvelous for its combination of accuracy, fullness, and cheapness is the little Atlas designed 
 o accompany the New Hand-Book of Bible Geography, Carleton & Lanahan, New York. 1870. 
 -Tr.] 
 
 V. Homiletical Literature. 
 
 Besides the well-known Commentaries of Starke, von Gerlach, Lisco, Dachsel, the Ber- 
 leburger, Herschberger and Calwer Bibles, we cite also : Franciskus Burmannus, Die Richer 
 
38 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Israels oder Auslegung und Betrachtung der Bilcher Josua, der Richer und Ruth, Frankfort 
 bei Jost Hinrich Drecker, Ao. 1695, 4to. Handel has musically wro ight Joshua into his 
 glorious Oratorio. 
 
 [J. N. Darby, Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, in 5 toIs. Vol. i. pp. 299-345. 2d ed 
 Lond. 
 
 Matthew Henry deserves to be specially mentioned under this head. Many of his quaint 
 remarks equal both in piety, aptness, and point, the rich comments of the German writers 
 given in the following pages. 
 
 The Gospel in the Book of Joshua (Anon. N. Y. 1870) may suggest some profitable Chris- 
 tian applications of the language of the O. T., although, like Darby above, but in a greater 
 decree, too much inclined to make gospel where the revealing spirit had only seen fit to put 
 wmething else, perhaps equally good in its place. — Tb.] 
 
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 The Conquest of the Land of Canaan, 
 Chapters I.-XII. 
 
 SECTION FIRST. 
 
 The Preparation. 
 Chapter I. l-V. 15. 
 
 1. The Summons to the War, 
 Chapter I. 
 
 a. The Command of God to Joshua. 
 Chapter I. 1-9. 
 
 1 Now [And *] after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord [Jehovah J, it 
 came to pass, that the Lord [Jehovah] spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' 
 
 2 minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead ; now therefore [and now 2 ] arise, go over 
 this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto [into] the land which I do [omit : do] give 
 
 3 to them, even [omit : even] to the children [sons 3 ] of Israel. Every place that the sole 
 of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said [ ^.FHa'T properly : 
 
 4 spoke] unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even [and] unto the 
 great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea 
 
 5 toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast [border 4 ]. There shall not 
 any man be able to [Not a man shall] stand before thee all the days of thy life : as 
 
 6 I was with Moses, so [omit : so] will I be with thee : I will not fail thee, nor forsake 
 thee. 6 Be strong and of a good courage [strong and firm 6 ] : for unto this people shalt 
 thou divide for an inheritance [for a possession '] the land which I sware unto their 
 
 7 fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous [firm], 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 [Heb. and 8 ] to the left, that thou mayest pros- 
 
 8 per whithersoever thou goest. This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth ; 
 but [and] thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do 
 according to all that is written therein : for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous 
 
 9 and then thou shalt have good success. 9 Have not I commanded thee ? [,] Be 
 strong and of a good courage [firm] ; [?] be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed : for 
 the Lord [Jehovah] thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 
 
 textual and grammatical. 
 
 [1 Ver. 1. Tbe obvious and exact rendering of the conjunction here by " and " seems required to indicate the trw 
 Grammatical relation of this to the preceding books. It is a circumstance of some, although perhaps not great, signill 
 
40 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 canee, in respect to the composition of the historical books of the 0. T. that, as the first four books of the Pentateuch »rt 
 closely joined together by the copulative conjunction at the beginning of each after the first, so the historical books, with 
 out exception as far as to First Chronicles, are thus linked to each other, and all to the Pentateuch as parts of one greal 
 whole. The Chronicles appear to make a new begiuning ; and various reasons might be assigned why Deuteronomy 
 should in this point differ from the three preceding books of Moses. — TR,] 
 
 [2 Ver. 2. — ("li-ll?!. In rare instances the conj. in this compound needs to be understood in an illative sense ; but 
 generally it marks the simple succession of thoughts, and what there is of inference is equivalent!}- expressed by our 
 ''and now. 1 ' So, invariably, De Wette and Fay ; but the English Version almost always reoders as in this passage 
 — Tr.] 
 
 k 8 Ver. 2. — t£?^ ** 3. My also translates : " children of Is.,'' De Wette, always, "sous.'' This is exact and much 
 more faithful to the spirit of the East which now. precisely as in ancient times, names a people with reference to its males, 
 " the Beni Hassan," " Beni Sakkar,"' etc. So the Hebrew nation were the Beni Israel, even when, in many instances, prob- 
 ably the women and children were distinctly thought of; but generally the men were considered in a political respect af 
 instar omnium. — Tr.] 
 
 [4 Ver. 4. — The word ■' coast '" is in this book synonymous with border (boundary line), except in the three places, ch. 
 ix. 1 ; xii. 23 ; xix. 29, where it was intended to denote tf coast " in our present sense, but incorrectly, as would appear, ia 
 the last two passages. " Border " is what we should now say, and that, especially in the plural, signifies figuratively, 
 like the Hebrew, " territory," tf tract," " country."' — Tr.] 
 
 [5 Ver. 5. — Gesen. s. v HCI : I will not cast thee off and not forsake thee. So substantially Fay ; De Wette, on the 
 contrary : I will not withdraw myself from thee, etc. " Fail thee," etc., in our familiar expression, is, perhaps, as near 
 the Hebrew as anything proposed. — Tr.J 
 
 [6 Ver. 6. — v*BS1 piTl. " 'Verbum fTTH proprie notat vires quae sunt in manibus ad prehendendum retinendum 
 que viriliter; sicut contra VDM J&wir'*udtn«n,.qu8B ingenibus est, ad consistendum, ne ab alio quisevertatur,' Michaelis ; 
 
 ;conf. yaWn Job iv. 4, yBS\~in, 1 K. xii. 18, ybW, equus aimer, Zech. vi. 3." Maurer. — Tr.] 
 
 [7 Ver. 7.— Fay here renders "'divide for an inheritance " with the English Version, but De Wette gives simply " to 
 
 partition," and Gesenius appears to be abundantly warranted in saying, 5. V. VH3, that " the specific idea of inheritance 
 
 In this verb is rare." — Tr.] 
 
 [8 Ver. 8 The expression is stronger with " and," and " that vav is put as a disjunctive between words, i q or, is 
 
 hardly supported by a single probable example." Gesen. Lex. p. 266, Robinson's Trans. Fay after this " and " supplies 
 
 [not]._TR.] 
 
 [9 Ver. 9 V'SE.Tl should in consistency with ver. 7 be translated " shalt thou prosper," and the whole clause 
 
 might then perhaps be rendered " for then shalt thou have success in thy way, and then shalt thou prosper." — Tr.] 
 
 t. Joshua's Command to the Leaders of the People, and to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to 
 
 the Half Tribe of Manasseh. 
 
 Chapter I. 10-18. 
 
 10, 11 Then Joshua commanded the officers [overseers'] of the people, saying, Pass 
 through the host [camp] 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 Lord [Jehovah] your God giveth you to possess it. 
 
 12 And to the Reubenites [Reubenite], and to the Gadites [Gadite], and to half the 
 
 13 tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, Remember the word which Moses the ser- 
 vant of the Lord [Jehovah] commanded you, saying, The Lord [Jehovah] your God 
 
 14 hath given [giveth] you rest, and hath given you this land. Your wives, your little 
 ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this [the 
 other -] side [of the] Jordan ; but ye shall pass [pass over] before your brethren 
 
 15 armed [eager for war. or, in ranks *], all the mighty men of valour [strong heroes '], 
 and help them ; until the Lord [Jehovah] have given [shall give] your brethren rest, 
 as he hath given you, and they also have possessed [shall possess] the land which the 
 Lord [Jehovah] vour God giveth them ; then ye shall return unto the land of voui 
 possession, and enjoy [possess] it, which Moses the Lord's [Jehovah's] servant gave 
 you on this [the other] side [of the] Jordan toward the sun-rising. And they answered 
 
 16 Joshua saying, All that thou commandest us. we will do, and whithersoever thou 
 
 17 sendest us, we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, 6 so will 
 
 18 we hearken unto thee: only the Lord [Jehovah] thy God be with thee, as he was 
 with Moses. Whosoever he be [Every man] that doth rebel against thy command- 
 ment [literally, mouth], and will not hearken unto thy word, in all that thou com- 
 mandest him [or, us] he shall be put to death : only be strong and of a good courage 
 [firm] 
 
TEH I. 
 
 41 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL 
 
 [1 Ver. 10. — To indicate distinctly the office of the C^l^C, is desirable, but perhaps (with our scanty data) scarcely 
 
 possible. While etymologically (r. ^12^) scribe or clerk, would suit very well, yet from the passages cited in the 
 exegetical notes on this verse, aud from mauy others, it appears that the name designates a kind of overseer of a section 
 Df the people, in some way ordering them, and on the other hand representing his charge to the judge, governor, or com- 
 mander to whom he was subordinate. Thus in Egypt they stood between the people and the task-masters. According tc 
 Num xvi. 18, the sholerim appear then to have been chosen from the elders of the people, and to have constituted some 
 times a council of advisers, with Moses, and sometimes (Deut. i. 16 ; xvi. 18) a sub-magistracy who, in connection witi 
 the "Judges " dispensed justice to the people. Superintendent, overseer, or director (Fay : Vorsteher, Ordner), probably 
 gives substantially the sense, but is not so clearly specific as we could wish. — Tr.] 
 
 [2 Ver. 14. — '^71 "H3V3. This phrase constantly denotes the region beyond the Jordan where the speaker then was : 
 t» Smplor ex eo, in quo ipse coitstilittus trat, loco, i. e. *z Pnlestina rem metitur. n Maurer. — Tr.] 
 [8 Ver. 14. — Fay, in Sciaaren. See the authorities iu exegetical note. — Tr.] 
 [4 Ver. 14. — De Wette, Fay : a'U slteilharen Manner. But while the English phrase fr mighty men of valor," im 
 
 plies something too marvelous, it may well be doubted whether 7*rTi"7 ^"1132 does not often convey the idea of 
 special ability in the military service, from natural endowments or extraordinary experience of war, something like 
 :t heroes," or f: veterans iu war. ,! — Tr.] 
 
 [5 Ver. 17. — A little more exactly for the sense : In all respects as we hearkened unto Moses, etc. — Tr.] 
 
 EXE8ETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 a. Vers. 1-9. The Command of God to Joshua. 
 The history of the conquest of the land of Canaan, 
 commencing here and constituting the first part of 
 the Book of Joshua, connects itself closely with 
 Deuteronomy. There, at the end, ch. xxxiv., the 
 death of Moses is reported, Israel's mourning for 
 him described, and mention made of Joshua (ver. 
 9) his successor, while yet Moses himself is once 
 more celebrated in words of highest praise as a 
 prophet and leader of the people without parallel in 
 all the subsequent times. Only Samuel afterward 
 in some sense reached the same level (Jer. xv. 1). 
 Here in ver. 1, Moses, after notice of his death, 
 
 is honorably entitled v f?? as in ver. 7, as in 
 Deut. xxxiv. 5 ; Num. xii. 7, 8, in a long series of 
 places in our book (i. 7, 13, 15 ; viii. 31, 33 ; ix. 24 ; 
 xi. 15 ; xii. 6 ; xiii. 8 ; xiv. 7 ; xviii. 7 ; xxii. 2, 4, 5), 
 1 K. viii. 56; 2 K. xviii. 12; xxi. 8; 2 Chr. i. 3 ; 
 xxiv. 6 ; Ps. cv. 26. Sometimes also he is called 
 
 Z'Hib^ 15^. p s . xc. 1 ; 1 Chr. vi. 49 ; 2 Chr. 
 xxiv. 9 ; Dan. ix. 1 1 ; Neh. x. 29. Besides Moses 
 there are so designated or so addressed by God : 
 the Patriarchs, Deut. ix. 27, especially Abraham, 
 Gen. xxvi. 24 ; Ps. cv. 6, 42 ; Job i. 8 ; ii. 3 ; xlii. 
 7,8; Kings, as David (Ps. xviii. 1 ; 1 xxxvi. 1 ; 
 lxxviii. 70; 1 K. viii. 66; 2 K. viii. 19; Ezr. 
 xxxvii. 24), and Hezekiah, 2 Chr. xxxi. 16, as a 
 theocratical leader, but Nebuchadnezzar also as one 
 who executed God's designs (Jer. xxv. 9 ; xxvii. 6 ; 
 xliii. 10) ; Prophets, as Isaiah xx. 3, whom God 
 himself so names (Is. xliii. 10 ; xliv. 26 ; Jer. vii. 
 25; xxvi. 5; Am. iii. 7 ; Dan. ix. 6, and often). 
 Properly all the Israelites also are servants of God 
 (Ex. six. 5 ; Lev. xxv. 42-55) and recognize them- 
 selves as such, the authors of the Psalms most 
 freely expressing this consciousness in their distinct 
 individuality (Ps. xix. 12, 14; xxxiv. 23; xxxv. 
 27; lxix. 37; xc. 16; cxix. 17,65, 84,122,176; 
 cxxxv. 14; cxliii. 2). Hence in the second part 
 of Isaiah, the whole people is so named (Is. iv. 8, 9 ; 
 xlii. 19 ; xliv. 1, 2, 21 ; xlv. 4; xlviii. 20), and 
 then again He who is the Israelite tear' f'joxVi the 
 
 1 [It will be noticed by the reader of the English Bible 
 that iu reterences to the Psalms, the title sometimes counts 
 u one verse. — Tr ] 
 
 2 [The article on the Jordan in Smith's Diet, of the Bible, 
 *ill be found quite full and satisfactory. See also the art. 
 
 Messiah, (Zech. iii. 8; Is. xlii. 1-7; xlix. 3.5, 8 
 Iii. 13-15,53). On the sense of this designation, 
 see below under Do*rinal and Ethical. — Concern- 
 ing Joshua see Introduction. 
 
 Moses' Minister. Observe that Joshua is not 
 
 spoken of as Moses' servant, but as rHffQ, 
 minister ; " adjutant," we should now say, in so far 
 as Moses was not law-giver but commander-in- 
 chief. The formal installation of Joshua in this 
 position is reported to us in Num. xxvii. 15 It". 
 
 Jordan. 17!"??^I> almost everywhere in the 0. 
 
 T. with the art., from the r. "J 3* "to go down," 
 or, when a stream is spoken of, " to flow." " The 
 Jordan therefore means, the ' flowing ' [" the De- 
 scender," Stanley], perhaps with allusion to its ex- 
 tremely abrupt fall and rapid course. At the 
 present day it is called by the Arabs esh Scheriah, 
 1 the drinking-place,' occasionally with the addition 
 el-Kebir, ' the great." The name el-Jurdun (Jor- 
 dan), is however not unknown to the Arabic writers 
 . The length of the Jordan from where 
 it leaves the sea of Gennesaret to the Dead Sea is 
 about sixty miles," measured in a straight lint 
 [but following the sinuosities of the stream tw 
 hundred miles]. Furrer, Wanderimgen, p. 15£ 
 Robinson, Phys. Geog. p. 144 fl". Von liaumer, Pa, 
 iistina, p. 54 ff.- 
 
 Ver. 4. Here the boundaries of Canaan are laii 
 down very much as they are given in Deut. xi 
 24. In the other passage, however, the wilderness, 
 Lebanon, and the Euphrates are taken together 
 as opposed to the great sea, while here, (1.) the 
 wilderness and Lebanon (south and north), and 
 then again (2.) the Euphrates and the great sea 
 (east and west) are brought together. Substan- 
 tially they amount to the same. The land should 
 be bounded on the south by the Arabian desert, on 
 the north by Mount Lebanon, on the east by the 
 Euphrates, and on the west by the Mediterranean 
 Sea, as was already promised to Abraham ( Gen. xv. 
 18-21). Still more vaguely is it expressed (Ex.xxiii 
 31) " from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the 
 Philistines," and " from the desert unto the river" 
 (Euphrates), while in Num. xxxiv. 1-12; Josh. 
 
 "Palestine" in the same work; Bibl. Sarra, Aug. 1848, 
 p. 396 ff., Nov. 1848, p. 764 (T., Apr- 1850, p. 393 fl". Lynch'l 
 Expedition to the Dend Sen ; Cruise of ike Hob Roy on th* 
 Jordan, N. Y. 1870. — Tr.) 
 
42 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 xiii.-xix., the boundaries, stated only in a general 
 way in our passage, are quite accurately fixed. 
 
 The territory to be occupied by the people of Is- 
 rael is further and more exactly ascertained from 
 the definition, " all the land of the Hittites." 
 
 This Lebanon, as in ver. 2 this Jordan, because 
 the river was visible close at hand, and the moun- 
 tain could be seen although at a great distance. 
 
 ]i32yri (i n prose always with the art.) is, from 
 1? v " to be white," the white mountain. Farther 
 particulars see in the Introduction, and in von 
 Baiimer p. 29 ff. Concerning the Hittites as well 
 as the other Canaanitish peoples, comp. the Intro- 
 duction, § 7. 
 
 Ver. 6. Be strong and firm. Luther translates 
 finely but not accurately : " Be comforted and un- 
 dismayed." De Wette : " Be firm and strong." 
 Schroeder : " Be strong and firm," Deut. xxxi. 6 ; 
 
 vii. 23. We prefer this rendering of V^S") P^< 
 since the words, as J. H. Michaelis has noted, sig- 
 nify not firmness and strength in general, but the 
 
 strength in the hands (P*I""I) and the firmness in 
 
 the knees (V Q N, Is. xxxv. 3, cf. Heb. xii. 12, 13). 
 Joshua must lay hold boldly and with a strong 
 hand, and then when he has done so, allow noth- 
 ing to drive him from his position. It will be no- 
 ticed that in ver. 6 we find simply repeated, in al- 
 most the same words, what haa been said to Joshua 
 in Deut. xxxi. 7, 23, precisely as the promise ver. 
 5 is a repetition of Deut. xxxi. 6, 8. 
 
 Vers. 7, 8, admonish Joshua to a careful observ- 
 ance of the law, in order that the great work laid on 
 him by the Lord may be successfully accomplished. 
 Not depart out of thy mouth, is the same as " to 
 be continually in the mouth." Joshua must, on the 
 one hand, speak to the people in the words of the 
 law, in order rightly to impress on them its sacred 
 design, and on the other, must also ground himself 
 always more deeply therein. Hence it is added : — 
 
 Thou shalt meditate therein day and night. 
 We are not to think of this meditation as a learned 
 study, but rather as a mature reflection upon the 
 law by which Joshua penetrates more deeply into its 
 meaning, and thus becomes qualified to speak more 
 clearly, pointedly, and powerfully to the people 
 For to that particularly, and not to the " reading 
 aloud," as Bunsen explains it, is the reference in 
 the command, that the law should not depart out 
 of his mouth. Comp. Deut. vi. 7 ; xi. 19 ; xvii. 19. 
 Comp. further, Ps. i. 2, and on lr?2n, ver. 3 es- 
 pecially. 
 
 Ver. 9 : " The assurance gains in strength when 
 
 to the positive V^" 1 """' tnere * s added also 
 the negative HnrrbST 2"TOn 7H, as in Deut. 
 xxxi. 6, 8." Keil. 
 
 How did God speak to Joshua ? By the Urim 
 and Thummim, as Hess (Gesch. Jos. i. p. 29) sup- 
 poses, appealing to Num. xxvii. 21, or, as most 
 interpreters assume, immediately, by an inward 
 revelation ? Probably the latter, because, although 
 we must admit that Joshua had been directed by 
 God himself to employ the other means, and there- 
 with the mediation of the high-priest, yet the Lord 
 himself by whom — observe that — the initiative is 
 Aere taken, was not bound to this means, as ap- 
 pears very clearly from the manifestation of the 
 angel, ch. v. 13-15. The Lord spoke to Joshua as 
 he had spoken to Moses, and as he afterwards 
 
 l [In hia later work (Bib. Com. in loc.) Keil still deDving 
 
 spoke to the prophets. Together with the divinelj 
 regulated office there went on this free communi 
 cation of God's purposes without disturbance to the 
 functions of that office when they were in proper 
 exercise, but sometimes also to awaken them to 
 life when light and right was extinguished in 
 Israel, 1 Sam. iii. ; Joel i. 13. 
 
 6. Vers. 10-18. The Command of Joshua to the 
 Magistrates of the People as weU as to the Reuben- 
 benites, Gudites, and the Half Tribe of Manasseh. 
 
 After Joshua has received the command from 
 God to cross the Jordan with the people, he 
 adopts his plans and immediately enjoins upon 
 
 the D >- lc3E7 (comp. Ex. v. 10; Num. xi. 16; 
 
 Deut. xvi. 18; Josh. viii. 33; xxiii. 2; xxiv. 1) to 
 go through the camp, and call on the people to 
 provide themselves with victuals (the need of 
 which is explained by the cessation of the manna, 
 ch. v. 12), since within three days the march 
 would begin. This statement of time is not exact, 
 since rather, as Keil also assumes, seven days in 
 all intervene, namely, one day for the journev of 
 the spies to Jericho, three days for their stay in the 
 mountain, three days for the march from Shittim 
 to the Jordan, and the delay there, after all which 
 the crossing of the river took place. Keil says 
 concerning this : " We give up the attempt to 
 identify the three days in ch. iii. 2 with those men- 
 tioned in ch. i. 11, since the text in ch. iii. 2 con- 
 tains not the slightest hint of such a combination. 
 
 The article is not found with n^O' 1 (ch. iii. 2) by 
 
 which the D^O* n2r7tT might be referred to ch. 
 i. 11 ; and we stand by the simple statements of the 
 text, assuming that the spies were sent out imme- 
 diately after the command in ch. i. 11, probably on 
 the same day, ('. e. on the third of Nisan, that they 
 returned after three full days, i. e. on the 6th of 
 Nisan, at evening (ch. ii. 22), and that on the 
 next morning, i. e. on the 7th of Nisan, Joshua 
 broke up from Shittim, came on to the bank of the 
 Jordan (ch. iii. 1), where he rested three days, 
 and on the tenth effected the passage." Not so 
 Gerlach, who says rather : " As regards the chro- 
 nological succession of these events, we see from 
 ch. iv. 19 that the passage of the Jordan was 
 effected on the tenth of the first month. That 
 command of Joshua (ch. i. 11) was given there- 
 fore on the 7th. Early the same day he sent 
 out the spies, and they so quickly accomplished 
 the journey of perhaps scarcely a dozen miles that 
 they left Jericho before the approach of that night ; " 
 (but how does this agree with ch. ii. 2, 5 ff.f) " the 
 three days which they spent in the mountain were 
 not full" days" (where are we told that?) " being 
 the remainder of the 7th" (which must thus 
 have been an uncommonly long day), "the 8th, 
 and part of the 9th. On this last they returned 
 to Joshua, and thus he was able, in accordance 
 with his orders received early on the 7th, to cross 
 over on the 10th. Thus we have a very sat- 
 isfactory correspondence between the series of 
 events and the successive dates." The perplexity 
 in which these two interpreters find themselves 
 may be very simply cleared up if, with Knobel, we 
 assume that the three days mentioned in ch. iii. 2 
 are identical with the three days here in ver. 11, 
 but that ch. ii. was a separate report here worked 
 in by the author, and in the insertion of which, 
 attention was not paid to the exact determination 
 of the dates. 1 
 
 that the " three days " here, ver. 11, are the same m Id oil 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 43 
 
 There follows now, vers. 12-18, a special demand 
 of Joshua upon the Reubenites, Gadites, and the 
 half tribe of Manasseh. These had, according to 
 Num. xxxii. on account of their wealth in flocks 
 and herds, received their possession in the laud of 
 the conquered Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, east 
 of the Jordan. This was on the condition, how- 
 ever, that they should help the other tribes to con- 
 quer West Palestine ; and Joshua now calls upon 
 them to fulfill that condition and carry out the 
 promise they had made. This they declare them- 
 selves ready to do. 
 
 Ver. 13. Remember the word which Moses 
 commanded you, etc. Num. xxxii. 20-24 is 
 quoted not literally but freely according to the 
 
 sense, for CD V fTOO does not occur in the pas- 
 sage cited, — a very beautiful expression : to aflbrd 
 rest, to cause to rest. It is the same as giving a 
 dwelling-place secure and undisturbed by enemies 
 (Deut. xxv. 19), after the long, restless wanderings 
 through the wilderness. The disobedient (Num. 
 xiv. 2ti ft".) come not into this rest (Ps. xcv. 11) ; 
 but not even this is the true rest, the full Kard- 
 iraucns, the true <ra$tiaTia^6s of the people of God, 
 Heb. iii. 11, 18; iv. 1,8, 8, 9. 
 
 This land (Deut. iii. 18) as in ver. 2, this Jor- 
 dan, ver. 4, this Lebanon : the land in which then 
 the whole people as yet and the speaker also were, 
 
 the land east of the Jordan, — while ~Q3?3, trans- 
 lated by Luther, De Wette, and Eng. Vers. " on 
 this side," means on that side, or beyond, and is 
 employed from the writer's point of view. 
 
 Ver. 14. C'ttflDn is variously derived; either 
 (Gesen. 1 Fiirst, [with whom agree Masius, De 
 Wette, Keil]), from tTOn, lumbus, venter, tanquam, 
 sedes, roboris = lumbis accincti, with which comp. 
 Num. xxxii. 27,32 (O^Vj, or S3'J V^D) ; 
 also Job xxxviii. 3; Lu. xii. 35 ; Eph. vi. 14 ; 1 
 Pet. i. 13, — or, (Ewald) from tPDIl, five = ar- 
 ranged in fives, i. e., in companies. With this 
 Knobel sides, in so far that in Ex. xiii. 18, he 
 defines the word, which is met with only here and 
 inch. iv. 12 ; Ex. xiii. 18 ; Judg. vii. 11 (cf. also the 
 
 iii. 2, seeks to reconcile the present date with the actual 
 time of the crossing, by assuming first that it is not meant 
 that tiaey should jiass ocrr within three days, but only begin 
 to move towards it ; and secondly , that although Joshua did 
 desisn to reach the Jordan and cross it within three days, 
 his intention was frustrated by the delay which his spies un- 
 expectedly experienced. He says : " The designation ' in three 
 days ' ((. e,| as appears from a comparison of Gen. xl. 13 and 
 19 with ver. 20. reckoning from the day of giving this com- 
 mand, on the third day following) 'shall ye pass over the 
 Jordan, 1 is not to be taken as an announcement of the time 
 within which the crossing should actually take place, but. 
 with Vatabl, and J. J. Hess, as the term agaiust which the 
 people should he prepared for the crossing : as if he had 
 said : Prepare you victuals in order to go over the Jordan 
 within three days, i.e.. in order then to break up from 
 Shittim, to cross the Jordan and be able to commence the 
 conquest of Canaan. Thus apprehended this statement 
 igrees with chapters ii. and iii. For according to ch. ii. 
 Joshua sent from Shittim spies to Jericho, who after their 
 escape from that city had to hide themselves three days in 
 the mountain, before they could come to the camp of Israel. 
 They were abseut therefore certainly three or four days, 
 ind returned at the earliest on the evening or in the night of 
 loe fourth day from that on which they were sent out. Not 
 until then did the Israelites break up from Shittim in the 
 morning, and moved to the Jordan, where they still tarried, 
 »nd then after three days mor;, crossed over the stream. 
 it the least, therefore, eight full lays, 4+1-1-3, must have 
 
 D'tPn, Num. xxxii. 17, which should be amended 
 to this form), as meaning, drawn together, collected, 
 I. e., in separate divisions or fixed companies, at 
 opposed to individual separateness and irregular 
 dispersion. Knobel seeks the proper etymon in 
 
 the Arabic with a comparison of the Heb. V*P!7" 
 to compress. We translate with Ewald, Knobel, 
 and Bunsen, "arranged in companies." - 
 
 But ye shall pass before, etc. So had they 
 promised Num. xxxii. 17, 27, 32. 
 
 All, not to be taken strictly, since according to 
 ch. iv. 13, only forty thousand men went over, while 
 the two and a half tribes had, according to Num. 
 xxvi. 7, 18, 34, 110,580 men. 
 
 Vers. 16-18 contain the joyful answer pervaded 
 by the spirit of obedience and fraternal love, closing 
 with the same call from the two and a half tribes, to 
 be strong and firm, which God had addressed to 
 Joshua. So David also addresses himself when h« 
 sings .- Die of good courage and he shall strengthen 
 
 thy heart, If? VP^ll PIC!, Ps. xxvii. 15. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. If we would accurately determine the mean- 
 ing of the distinguishing title " servant of Jehovah," 
 ascribed to Moses in ch. i. 1, we cannot be content 
 to say merely that it signifies a " worshipper of 
 Jehovah " who may be also a messenger, an am- 
 bassador of Jehovah. We are concerned rather to 
 know how it comes to pass at all that the pious 
 worshippers and messengers of God are called his 
 servants. The answer might be given in the fol- 
 lowing hints. In the first place, we must not for- 
 get that we are here on oriental qround, where king* 
 and subjects stand related to each other as lords 
 and slaves, where the inferior towards the superior 
 studies the most humble submission and uncondi- 
 tional obedience, and expresses himself also in a 
 proportionately humble manner (Gen. xliv. 27,32; 
 Dan. x. 17). And thus God himself appears only 
 as under the figure of the Most High, the Ruler of 
 all worlds, the Lord of Hosts, before whom all 
 the world keeps silence (Hab. iii. 20; Zach. ii. 13), 
 
 passed between the first mission of the spies and the passage 
 of the Jordan by the people. Without doubt Joshua de- 
 signed to march to the Jordan within three days from the 
 sending of the spies, and to go over the river; and simulta- 
 neously with his command to the people to prepare to cross 
 over within three days, he had sent the spies, so that he 
 was warranted in hoping that they would have accomplished 
 their errand and returned within two or three days. But 
 since they, through the unforeseen discovery of their arrival 
 in Jericho, and the chase of the pursuers, were obliged to 
 hide themselves three days in the mountain, Joshua could 
 not until the day after their return break up from Shittim, 
 and proceed to the Jordan. Neither then could he imme 
 diately cross the river, but must tarry yet three days after 
 his arrival at the briuk." 
 
 As this provides for the less of only three days of the 
 eight, it would appear that Joshua's "design " must have 
 been still a miscalculation by at least two days. In other 
 reBpects the explanation is not as successful as could be 
 desired. — Tr.] 
 
 1 [Gesenius derives the word not from Cil'DPT but from 
 
 an assumed root 127pn, acrem, strenuum esse; erd the 
 sense in which he understands the partic. is slrenuus, atacer. 
 Thes. p. 494.—TR.1 
 
 2 [After all is said, tue derivation remains very obscure 
 and the considerations i" favor of the two principal render* 
 ings very evenly balanced. For the meaning t( armed " the 
 lexicographers give little authority. — Ta.l 
 
14 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 before whom also on his throne, the seraphim veil 
 their faces (Is. vi.). He is, therefore, the master, 
 men the servants. Those, however, among men 
 
 (more particularly in Israel, the w »1^P. Ex. xix. 
 5 ; Deut. vii. 6 ; xiv. 2; xxvi. 18) who serve him 
 with special obedience, and, with extraordinary 
 talent, like the angels in heaven (Job iv. 18), per- 
 form his will, are called his servants in a preemi- 
 nent sense. So Moses ; before him Abraham ; af- 
 ter him David, Hezekiah, the prophets ; all Israel, 
 moreover, in so far as they are, according to Deut. 
 xxxii. 1:"j, xxxiii. 5, 26 ; Is. xliv. 2, the Jeshurun, 
 
 the beloved, pious people, who rightly (1'1~"" * from 
 
 ""^t) walk before Jehovah ; and lastly the Messiah, 
 since in Him all the excellences of his people are 
 combined. In the second place, it is carefully to be 
 considered that in the economy of redemption we are 
 still on the ground of the old covenant, therefore on 
 the ground of the Law, where God commands, and 
 man has unconditionally to perform his dictates 
 exactly to the letter, without any freedom what- 
 ever, hence as a slave, not as a child (Rom. viii. 
 15). Not even the most pious, therefore, can claim 
 any higher distinction than this. A relation of 
 freedom between God and man does not yet exist. 
 Man stands yet under the law, not yet under grace 
 (John i. 17) ; but precisely this absolute obedience 
 leads to freedom. Moses is the instrument of ef- 
 fecting the deliverance of his people out of the slav- 
 ery of Egypt, where they pined in the house of 
 bondage (Ex. xx. 2), the iron furnace (Deut. iv. 
 20) ; hut the Messiah makes man}' righteous (Is. 
 liii. 11) and is a Servant, the Branch (Zech. iii. 9). 
 In his time God gives holy increase, takes away the 
 sins of the land in one day (Zech. iii. 9), and makes 
 peace, so that one invites his neighbor under the 
 vine and fig-tree (Zach. iii. 10). He is the true 
 waTs 0eoD (Matt. xii. 1 8 ; Acts. iii. 13, 26, iv. 27, 30), 
 whom, on account of his obedience, God acknowl- 
 edges as his Son ; on which cf. Nitzsch, Treatise 
 on the irois Bcov in the Acts (Studien u. Kritiken, 
 1828, 2). 
 
 2. The declaration in ver. 4, that God has 
 assigned to the people of Israel its portion of the 
 earth, is in accordance with Deut. xxxii. 8 and 
 Acts xvii. 26, in which passages he marks oft' to the 
 nations their bounds. This is involved in God's 
 government of the world, which embraces every- 
 thing, the least as well as the greatest, so that 
 all accident is excluded. As He determines for 
 each particular man his place on earth, by birth, 
 education, external circumstances, so He deter- 
 mines for each people its habitation in congruitv 
 with the disposition and character which He has 
 lent to them, and the design which He entertains 
 concerning them. That was peculiarly the case 
 witli Israel, when He actually gave to them the land 
 pi utilised to the fathers, where they might in beau- 
 tiful seclusion serve the Lord their God. True, the 
 previous inhabitants must give way, but jure di- 
 rino, because through their enervating idolatry 
 thi'V had forfeited the right to a historical existence. 
 It is not just, therefore, in the manner ot the 
 Wolfenbiittler fragmentist, to charge God and his 
 agents with cruelty and injustice, but rather to 
 heed the fundamental laws of divine Providence, 
 according to which also his judgments are executed. 
 An analogy may he seen in the destruction of the 
 Homan empire amid the storms of the northern in- 
 vasions. Sec Introd. § 3. 
 
 3. The silent collection of one's thoughts, holy 
 meditation, is, in the over-busv activities of our 
 
 time, an aid to all religious and moral life, whicl 
 cannot be too earnestly recommended. It a e-> 
 joined upon Joshua in ver. 8, in simple but verj 
 suitable words, and is necessary, in order that the 
 soul may constantly remember its origin, that tht 
 heart may lose itself ill God and his word, that 
 from this inward concentration of the living facul- 
 ties, word and deed may come forth in noble per- 
 fection. " Uratio, meditatio tentatio," make not 
 only the theologian, but in general every religious, 
 pious, and, in his piety, morally capable, man. 
 
 4. The rest which God gives (ver. 15) is, first, 
 the secure possession of the land of Canaan which 
 had been promised to the people of Israel. This 
 
 nm2Q however is not, according to the view of 
 the Epistle to the Hebrews (iv. 8), the true rest , 
 rather, since God long after Joshua offered through 
 David (Heb. iv. 7) an entrance into rest, must then- 
 still be another rest; "for if Joshua had brought 
 them to the rest. He (God) would not speak of 
 another day after this time " (ver. 8). " Therefore," 
 the conclusion is from these arguments, " there yet 
 remains lawoMiwfTati a Sabbath rest (<raA8<rn<rju<is) 
 for the people of God. For he who has entered 
 into his (God's) rest, has given himself also rest 
 from his works" (i.e. the works of the labor-week). 
 It is still to be carefully noted that to express this 
 rest of God, not KaTouravo-ts but, in allusion to ver. 
 4, or to Gen. ii. 2, the word aa&f}aTi<rix6s, oc- 
 curring nowhere else in the N. T., is employed. 
 The 0-afSfSa.TL<Jii6s is the completed Karatravais, the 
 holy and blessed Sabbath rest in eternity for the 
 people of God, the lapari?. to'u Ssov, after the pil- 
 grimage of life is finished with the toils of the hard 
 week of our earthly existence. Of this rest the 
 
 nn*l3!3 in the earthly Canaan is a type. So speak 
 
 the Rabbins also of the Vn2n H2C' ( Tr. Thamid. 
 f. 33, 2; Jabk. Rub. f. 95, 4). Compare also the 
 beautiful, profoundly tender hymn by Jno. Sig- 
 iiiund Kunth (t 1779), "A rest there is which yet 
 awaits us." 
 
 HOMILET1CAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 God's command to Joshua that he should cross 
 the Jordan, indicates (1) the task proposed to him ; 
 contains (2) the promise of his assistance in its ac- 
 complishment ; but requires also (3) the conscien- 
 tious observance of his law, in order to success ; 
 and closes (4) with another enlivening exhortation 
 to the new leader of Israel. — As Moses was a 
 servant of the Lord, so should we also be his serv- 
 ants, that we may be found faithful like him. 
 (Num. xii. 7; Heb. iii. 2) — Moses the servant 
 of the Lord. Joshua as a type of a good servitor 
 (not slave). — The earthly Canaan a type of the 
 heavenly — God is faithful (ver. 5). I will not fail 
 thee nor forsake thee, — a promise; (1) its rich 
 import; (2) under what conditions to be appro- 
 priated by a Christian to himself. — Be strong and 
 firm, comforted and undismayed, a text in connec- 
 tion with Ps. xxvii., xlvi. of inexhaustible use for the 
 field-worship of God. — < If fidelity to the commands 
 of God. — How should a true general be character- 
 ized ? (1) He should be strong and firm, but (2) 
 also pious and conscientious, that all may go well 
 with him. — Fear not, neither be dismayed, for the 
 Lord thy God is with thee in all which thou shalt 
 do ; to be well considered before the outbreak of a 
 war, as well as before a battle. — Joshua and the 
 Gileadite tribes; (1) his powerful appeal to them 
 for fraternal assistance; (2) their cheerful answei 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 45 
 
 (ver. 12-18). — The Rest of the people of God : (1) 
 Who gives it? (2) In what does it consist? (3) 
 How do we attain to it '. (ver. 13). How beauti- 
 ful when the call of a commander, or a governor 
 of the people, meets with a joyful readiness on their 
 part! Should we not so meet the claims which 
 God himself by his Word makes on us, and espe- 
 cially those which call for brotherly help, even 
 though sacrifices also be required > 
 
 Starke : O soul, remember here first of all the 
 true Joshua, thy Saviour Jesus Christ, who has 
 for thy good acquired the heavenly Canaan, to pre- 
 pare for thee a place there, that thou also mayest 
 dwell there and remain ; fight, therefore, and sub- 
 due thy foes under the lead of thy Jesus, that thou 
 mayest al>o one day take it. Whom God sends, 
 him He also qualifies and procures for him author- 
 ity and respect. The Bible and the sword with 
 Christian rulers go very well together. O that 
 these would also avail themselves rightly of both ! 
 One Christian should take upon him the necessity 
 of another — and bear his burden. In the strife of 
 Christianity also one should not be pusillanimous, 
 but strong and firm (2 Tim. ii. 3). A spirit that 
 would all goods and blood fain for thy mere pleas- 
 ure proffer, and the heart's desires all otter, give 
 me, Supreme Good, through thy precious blood. 
 
 Cramer : As the eyes of the servants are to the 
 hands of their masters, and the eyes of a maiden 
 unto the hand of her mistress, so should our eyes 
 also look constantly to the Lord, Ps. cxxiii. 2. If 
 God is for us who can be against us ? (Rom. viii. 
 31). Christian rulers also are bound to submit 
 themselves to God's commands ; it should not be 
 with them, quod libet licet, i. e. what I please I do, 
 1 K. xxi. 7. 
 
 Marginal note (of Lnther) : He who walks 
 according to God's words acts wisely and happily, 
 but he who goes according to his own head acts un- 
 wisely and to no profit. 
 
 Bibl. Wirt.: In dangerous duties and circum- 
 stances there is no better comfort than when one 
 has a regular call to the position, and God for his 
 patron and protector. God's command should be 
 promptly performed without any long discussion 
 as to whether we will do it or not ; for God re- 
 quires obedience. 
 
 Bibl. Tub : Consoling promise ! soul mark it 
 well, for what God says to Joshua He says also to 
 thee. Therefore be of good courage in the struggle 
 with sin and Satan ; God will stand by thee. 
 
 Osiander : We should (in man) cases) fir* 
 care for our neighbors, for love seeks not her own, 
 1 Cor. xiii. 5. 
 
 Gerlach : The first revelation of God after 
 the death of .Moses installs Joshua formally in his 
 office, gives him the double commission to lead 
 the people into the promised land and to dis- 
 tribute this among them, renews the assurance of 
 divine aid, and admonishes to steadfast fidelity 
 towards God's law and imperturbable confidence 
 in Him (ver. 1-9). 
 
 [Darby : " Every place that the sole of your feet 
 shall triad upon, that have I given you." They 
 must go there, overcome the obstacles with the help 
 and by the power of God, and take actual posses- 
 sion They never took possession of 
 
 all the land which God had given. Nevertheless 
 to faith the promise was sure, ver. 3. Spiritual 
 strength and energy, the courage of faith, are 
 necessary in order that the heart may be free from 
 the influences, the fears, and the motives which act 
 upon the natural man, and that he mav take heed 
 to the Word of God. 
 
 -Matthew Henry: The removal of useful 
 men should quicken survivors to be so much the 
 more diligent in doing good. Such and such are 
 dead, and we must die shortly, therefore let us 
 work while it is yet day. It is a great mercy if, 
 when useful men are taken away in the midst of 
 their usefulness others are raised up in their stead to 
 go on where they broke oft', ver. 2. It is a great com 
 fort to the rising generation of ministers .and Chris 
 tians that the same grace which was sufficient for 
 those that went before them shall not be wanting 
 to them if they lie not wanting to themselves in the 
 improvement of it (ver. 5). — When God has given 
 u- rest we ought to consider how we may honor Him 
 with the advantages of it, and what services we may 
 do to our brethren who are unsettled, or not so well 
 settled as we are (ver.15). — We must not so mag- 
 nify them that are gone, how eminent so ever they 
 were, either in the magistracy or in the ministry as 
 to be wanting in the honor and duty we owe to 
 those that survive and succeed them. 
 
 G. R. B. : As Joshua received and doubtless 
 profited by the admonition of his Gileadite breth- 
 ren, so may the leaders in Israel at all times gain 
 benefit from the pious and well intended, even 
 though superfluous, counsels of God's " plain peo- 
 ple."— Tr.] 
 
 2. The sending out of the spies to Jericho. 
 Chapter II. 
 
 a. Sending of the Spies, and their Reception by Rahab. 
 Chapter II. 1-7. 
 
 1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy [as spies] secretly, 
 saying : Go, view the land, even [and] Jericho. And they went, and came into an har- 
 
 2 lot's house, named Rahab, and lodged [lay down] there. And it was told the king 
 of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to-night of the children [sons] of 
 
 3 Israel, to search out the country [V~H land]. And the king of Jericho sent unto 
 Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which [who] are entered 
 
46 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 4 kito thine bouse, for they be come to search out all the country [land]. And the 
 woman took the two men, and bid them, and said thus, There came men unto me 
 
 o [and said : True, 1 the men, came to me] but I wist [knew] not whence they were ; 
 and it came to pass about the lime of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the 
 men went out ; whither the men went, I wot [know] not : pursue after them quickly 
 
 6 for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house 
 [omit : of the house 2 ], and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in 
 
 7 order [spread out, or stacked up for herself] upon the roof. And the men pursued 
 after them the way to [the] Jordan unto [to] the fords : and as soon as they which 
 pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 [1 Ver. 4. — So the lexicographers and interpreters with one consent understand 13. — Ttt.] 
 
 [2 Ver. 6. — « Of her house " is purely superfluous. The LXX. had substituted Ji^a for 33, and the Vulgate com- 
 Dined both notions, and was followed by the English Version. — Te.] 
 
 b. Rescue of the Spies by Rahab on their Promise to her that, in the taking of the Land, 
 they would spare her and hers. 
 
 Chapter II. 8-21. 
 
 8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; and she 
 
 9 said unto the men, I know that the Lord [Jehovah] hath given you the land, and 
 that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint 
 
 10 r* 12 ' ?! melt] because of you. For we have heard how the Lord [Jehovah] dried 
 up the water of the Red Sea for [before] you, when ye came out of Egypt ; and what 
 ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side [of the] Jor- 
 
 11 dan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed [ye devoted *]. And as soon as we 
 had heard these things, our hearts [heart] did melt [DE^, flow down], neither did 
 [does] there remain any more courage in any man, because of you [ch. v. 1]: for 
 the Lord [Jehovah] your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. 
 
 1"2 Now therefore [And now], I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord [Jehovah], 
 since 2 I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's 
 
 13 house, and give me a true token [a token of truth] ; and that ye will save alive my 
 father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have 
 
 14 [ch. vi. 23, 25], and deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her. 
 Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, 3 when the Lord 
 
 15 [Jehovah] hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. Then 
 she let them down by a [the] cord through the window : for her house was upon 
 
 16 the town-wall [in the "wall-side," Gesen.], and she dwelt upon the wall. And she 
 said unto them : Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide your- 
 selves there three days, until the pursuers be returned ; and afterward may ye go 
 
 17 [go ye] your way. And the men said unto her, We will be [are] blameless of 
 
 this thine Oath which thou hast made US SWear, [unless thou doest what we now say to thee], 
 
 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet [crimson] 
 thread in the window which thou didst let us down by : and thou shalt bring 
 [gather] thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's house- 
 
 19 hold home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of 
 thy house into the street, bis blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless 
 [blameless, as ver. 17]: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood 
 
 20 shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our busi- 
 ness, then we will be [are] quit [blameless] of thine bath which thou hast made us 
 
 21 to [omit: to, as ver. 17] swear. And she said, According unto your words, so be it. 
 And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet [crimson] 
 line in the window. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver 10.— DPP^nn. The meaning of this verb is well indicated in the Exegetical Note on the verse. It seeml 
 rery desirable to express it more specifically than is done by the vague phrase " utterly destroyed." In employing for tnl* 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 17 
 
 purpose, throughout, the word " devote,'' which is used LeT. xrril. 28, 29, Sam. xviii. 14, etc., it is to be regretted th»l 
 we have not a cognate noun to denote the devoted object. Still we may come near to the Hebrew directness by adhering 
 to *' devote. '' "devoted thing, " etc. — Tr.] 
 
 [2 Ver. 12 — *3 ut ati'is s&pissime siontfirat quod 6ti. Maur. To imitate exactly the Hebrew construction is not 
 po-«ib e in idiomatic EngUsh. A nearer approach to it would be : Swear .... that I have shown you kindness and ye 
 wll also show kindness to my fathers house, and give me a token of truth (ver. 13), and save alive, etc. Fay explains by 
 inserticg after " that " [as], De Wette, " because,'' and both omit, of course, the " and " before " give me." or rather substi- 
 tute "also ' Either way gives us substantially the proper sense so far, but whether the verbs Ci7jn2 and Cri^nn and 
 
 Crib-"H are to be translated as coordinate with DiTtt?? and subordinate to SyZltETT (Which they grammatically 
 are'), or as coordinate with the latter, the practice of interpreters differs. We incline to side with Masius, who translate? 
 the verbs iu question as all depending alike on ^3: jurate . . . Vos usuros esse .... pietate ; et daturos . . 
 
 constrcaturosque .... crepturo&que. — Tr.] 
 
 [3 Ver. 14. — Modify, and connect the two sentences thus : Our life for yours ! If ye utter not this oar business, then 
 It Bhall be that when, etc. — Tr.] 
 
 c. Return of the Spies to Joshua. 
 Chapter H. 22-24. 
 
 22 And they went, and came to the mountain, and abode there three days, until the 
 pursuers were returned : and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but 
 
 23 found them not. 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 befel 
 
 24 them. And they said unto Joshua, Truly [omit: Truly 1 ] the Lord [Jehovah] 
 hath delivered into our hands all the land ; for even [and also] all the inhabitants 
 of the country [land] do faint [melt] because of us. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 [1 Ver. 24. — ^3 simply introduces the following clause as quoted See Gesen. Lex. B. 1, b. — Tr.] 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 o. Vjrs. 1-7. Sending out of the Spies and their 
 Reception by Rahab. Probably still the same day 
 on which Joshua had received the divine command 
 to cross the Jordan, he sends forth secretly two 
 spies to go over to Jericho, which was somewhere 
 about fourteen miles distant. 
 
 Ver. 1. Shittim, Num. xxxiii. 49, Abel-shittim, 
 
 i. e. Meadow of the Acacias, from HtStt?. acacia, 
 probably lying northward from Beth-jeshimoth in 
 the land of Moab, the last camping-place of the 
 Israelites east of the Jordan, at the outlet of the 
 Wady Heshban, known from the history of Balaam 
 (Num. xxv. 1 ; Micah vi. 5), not far from the Jor- 
 dan, 60 stadia = 3 hours from the place of crossing 
 according to Josephus {Ant. iv. 8, 1 ; v. 1, 1 ; Bell. 
 Jud. iv. 7, 6). Near to this evidently well chosen 
 camp-ground (Num. xxiv. 5, 6) lay the city of 
 Beth-peor. where Moses delivered his last discourse 
 and was buried (Deut. iv. 46 ; xxxiv. 6). Com- 
 pare, further, Knobel on Num. xxii. 1, [and Stan- 
 ley, S. $• P. p. 291 f. Am. ed. — Tr.] 
 
 Spies. According to the LXX. two young 
 men. nothing like which is said in the Heb. here, 
 but in vi. 23 we learn that the spies were young 
 men. At all events Joshua would choose brave 
 and prudent men for this mission, because, having 
 himself been one of the twelve spies (Num. xiii. 9) 
 
 1 (The accent connects C~in with ~10S7, and it is 
 probable that the secrecy is to be understood as referring 
 equally to the Israelites and to the Canaanites. Maurer 
 would seem to confine it to the former. He quotes Schultz 
 *s follows : '■' Cum Josua tristi experientia edoctus (Num. 
 xiii. 14) sciret, quantum periculi habere posset exploratorum 
 ■t muln'tudo et missio pnblica. duos tantum eosdemque clam 
 *tqne inscio populo emisit. ne. si trisria referrent, in vul- 
 
 he knew from experience the dangers to which thej 
 would be exposed. He takes only two and sends 
 
 them secretly if "H. prop. : Silence, here used ad- 
 verbially) that the enemy might get no intimation 
 of it. 1 Should he have done this ? the question 
 has been asked.'- Toward the answer it may be 
 said, That the use of human prudence, with all trust 
 in divine providence, is not only allowable, but 
 often also a binding duty. Joshua ought not, in 
 his position a? a general, to enter into a strange 
 and hostile land without having explored it first. 
 He proceeded in full conformity with the example 
 of Moses, Num. xiii. 
 
 Jericho. Written here " and everywhere in our 
 
 book "in" 1 "}*, but in the Pent, only ifTT, " Keil ; 
 
 1 K. xvi. 34, nn^T ; a very strong city (ch. 
 vi. 1 ), the key to all the land west of the Jordan, 
 the city of palm-trees (D ,_, ; D.Firt TV, Deut. 
 xxxiv. 3 ; Judg. i. 16:2 Ch. xxviii. 15) ; in the 
 LXX., in the N. T. (Matt. xx. 29 ; Mark x. 46; 
 Luke xviii. 35, xix. 1, x. 30, Heb. xi.30), and in 
 Josephus (Bell. Jttd. iv. 8, 3), 'Iepix<& ; in Strabo xvi. 
 2, § 47, 'lepixoDs: the city of odors and fragrance 
 
 (from nV), n^n, fragrant place ; the ending 
 
 i H being for )\ comp. riVtIJ, ii39, Gesen. 3 ) ; 
 just as far west of the Jordan as Shittim was east 
 
 gus dimanaret narratio, timidoque ac fracto animo fierenl 
 Israelite? lasto cseteroquin duorum seque ac plurium nuntio 
 facile alacriores futuri." — Tr.] 
 
 2 [E. g. by Masius in loc, who formally discusses the 
 question and decides it in favor of Joshua's course. — Tr.] 
 
 8 [For other derivations and other forms of the word, see 
 art. " Jericho." in Smith's Bibt. Diet, wherealso a full topo 
 graphical and historical account of the city mav be found. 
 See Stanley, S. If P. pp. 299-304. - Tr.1 
 
48 
 
 THE BOOK OK JOSHUA. 
 
 of it. The immediate vicinity of Jericho is very I 
 fertile. As the climate approximates to that of ' 
 Egypt the harvest is ripe here by the end of March. 
 Toward the Jordan, however, the surface is arid, 
 and the region between Jericho and Jerusalem was 
 a rocky wilderness, — the Quarantania, not even 
 to this day entirely safe for travellers (Lukex. 30). 
 Comp. Furrer, pp. 149, 151-154. 
 
 The spies successfully reach Jericho, towards 
 evening (ver. 2) ; " at a time, therefore, when the 
 courtezans traversed the streets (Prov. vii. 9 ft". ; 
 Is. xxiii. 16) ; they met with Rahab and followed her 
 
 to her house" (Knobel). She was a !~12T, n6pvri 
 (Heb. xi. 31; Ja. ii. 25), and not an innkeeper 
 SrPfT7313, iravSoKvlnpia (Josephus, Ant. V. 1, 2, 
 Chald.,Rahb., Vatah., Hess, Hist, of Josh. i. p. 37). 
 Her name is mentioned also in the Genealogy of 
 Jesus (Matt. i. 5) where she appears as wife of 
 Salma or Salmon, and mother of Boaz. " The Rab- 
 bins derive from her eight prophets and priests " 
 (Knobel). The Epistle to the Hebrews, and that of 
 James celebrate her memory and glorify her faith 
 and her works (Heb. xi. 31 ; James ii. 25). See 
 on this the Doctrinal and Practical below. In our 
 narrative she is seen as a very prudent person (ver. 
 4), of great presence of mind, degraded indeed, but 
 by no means sunk in vice, and who therefore has 
 intimations of the power of Jehovah the Almighty 
 God (vers. 10,11). 
 
 To-night (n.?Vn as in Gen. xix. 5, 34, here 
 more precisely defined ver. 5). The king of Jericho 
 receives word that in the evening twilight two 
 6trange men have arrived in Jericho and been re- 
 ceived into Rahab's house. Perhaps there were, 
 as Calvin conjectures, men standing at the gates, to 
 notice suspicious people, especially as they were 
 aware, no doubt, in Jericho, of the intentions of the 
 Hebrews beyond the Jordan. The king sends to Ra- 
 hab, therefore (ver. 3), and demands that she shall 
 give up the men. At the same moment (not ear- 
 lier, as Keil supposes) she hides the spies, as the 
 demand of the king's servants was probably made 
 from the outside, with which the "bring forth" 
 (ver. 3) plainly agrees. She boldly lies to the king's 
 messengers (ver. 4, 5) who go away, frustrated, in 
 order to pursue as soon as possible Joshua's spies, 
 whom they suppose to have escaped and fled toward 
 the Jordan (ver. 7). 
 
 Ver. 3. Notice the full circumstantiality of the 
 king's command. 
 
 Ver. 4. In i3??ijlT the suff. sing, is not to be 
 
 changed into Dr> but is an instance rather of " the 
 free discourse in which one passes from the plural 
 to the singular " (comp. Ewald, Gramm. § 309 a.). 1 
 
 I knew not Spoken with the air 
 
 of simplicity. 
 
 Ver. 5. And it came to pass about the 
 time of shutting of the gate. Heb. "I2t2n T^J 
 -riapb as Gen. xv. 12, tfclb tTn^n TTO, and 
 it came to pass about the time of the going down 
 of the sun (cf. Gesen. § 132, Rem. 1). 
 
 1 [Speculations of the Rabbis on this, given by Masius, 
 are curious. « This use of the sing. R. Solomon thinks to 
 indicate both the delay of the woman in hiding them, and 
 the narrowness of the place in which they were stowed 
 away. RR. Kimchi and Levi, however, suppose them to 
 have been hid not in one and the same place, but each one 
 lepirately, either that the flax piled on them both might 
 aot rise too high and become thus an object of suspicion, or 
 
 When it was dark, Tyy? P3, De Weue : as il 
 grew dusk. It may, however, well be translated, 
 " when it was dark,' since in the East, night cornea 
 on soon after sundown, and the evening twilight 
 
 (n?r.?! Job xxiv. 15 ; Prov. vii. 9) is of very short 
 
 duration, so that sometimes H^?3 signifies simply 
 night (Is. v. 11 ; xxi. 4 ; lix. 10)'. 
 
 Ver. 6, relates further where and how Rahab 
 had hidden the spies (ver. 4) on the roof, under 
 the stems of flax. The roof was flat (Mark ii. 4) 
 According to the Jewish law it must be provided 
 with a "battlement" (Deut. xxii. 8), that blood 
 should not come upon the house by any one fall 
 ing therefrom. "Here many men,' as Starke ob- 
 serves, "might stay together, Judg. xvi.27 (comp. 
 also Acts ii. 1 ) ; they could walk about there within 
 the battlement securely (2 Sam. xi. 2) ; could 
 speak from thence to others (Matt. x. 27), and 
 there they used to pray (Acts x. 9). The Romans 
 also, but not all, bad such roofs, and not over the 
 whole house; but parts of some of their houses 
 were furnished with such flat roofs which were 
 called solaria, because they lay exposed on all sides 
 to the sun, and also mamiana, as the Italians now 
 
 also call them altana. y~2T\ ""WipS?, LXX.cor 
 rectly &v rfj AipoKa/aun, Vulg. stipula lini, therefore 
 flax-stalks, not cotton, as De Wette (cf. also Furrer 
 p. 151, obs. 2), following the Arab, translation 
 
 will have it, " since rUTi'S and fitt?S or n^ltpS 
 are every where else used only of flax " (Knobel) 
 Unbroken flax is meant, the stalks of which, abou: 
 Jericho as in Egypt, reach a height of more than 
 three feet and the thickness of a reed (comp. Winer, 
 Realw., s. v. *' Flachs" [and Smith's Diet.]) 
 
 Ver. 7. To the fords — A more exact deter 
 mutation of " the way," and not to be referred to 
 " they pursued after." The fords themselves can- 
 not be identified ; one may consult the maps, espe- 
 cially Van de Velde, who gives a road from Jericho 
 southeastwardly to a ford. 
 
 c. Vers. 8-21. Rescue of the Spies by Rahab, 
 on their Promise to her that in the taking of the land 
 they will spare her and hers. After the departure 
 of the royal messengers Rahab goes up on the roof 
 to the spies, describes to them the faint-heartedness 
 of the people, desires an oath from them as security 
 that they will show kindness to her and her family 
 in return for her kindness to them, and after receiv 
 ing this lets the men down by a rope through the 
 window (vers. 8-15). 
 
 Ver. 9. Jehovah. The word is remarkable as 
 used by Rahab, but she might easily, as even Kno- 
 bel grants, be acquainted with the name of the God 
 of Israel, as the people had already camped long 
 in the neighborhood. 
 
 Terror is fallen upon us [C5i~lp' , S, suff 
 having the force of obj. Gen.], Deut. ii. 25 ; xi. 25, 
 cf. particularly Ex. xv. 13-16. The vision which 
 was there expressed in Moses' song of triumph 
 (ver. 15) has now been fulfilled. The inhabitants 
 of the land melt away for fear ; for they have heard 
 how God (ver. 10) has dried up the Red Sea (Ps. 
 
 lest they should both be discovered at once 
 
 What is handed down in the Commentary which we have 
 said to be called Tanhuma, is a Jewish dream, to wit, that 
 when the woman had hidden Caleb, the other, Phinehas, 
 said to her : I am a priest. Now the priests, being like th« 
 angels, are visible when they please to be, when not they 
 are not perceived ; therefore the other one alone, not he 
 was hidden by the woman. 1 ' Com. in Josuam, in loc. — Te. 
 
CHAPTER H. 
 
 49 
 
 tri. 7, 9, 22 ; cxxxvi. 13, Heb. reed-sea, sea of 
 reeds, and in Egypt, Schari-sea (sehari = reed) i. e. 
 the Arabian Guff; and have heard also how ill it 
 has gone with Sihon king of the Amorites (Num. 
 xxi. 21-31; Deut. ii. 30-37), who refused the 
 Israelites a passage through his land (Num. xxi. 
 23 ; Deut. ii. 30), and after him with Ug king of 
 Bashan (Num. xxi. 33-35 ; Deut iii. 1-7). Both 
 have lost land and people by the edge of the sword, 
 and the recollection of this victory lived yet in the 
 memory of after ages, as may be seen from Ps. 
 
 2xxxvi. 19, 20. Gesenius derives ^fTD from 
 rTO = rinO, from which also ""HP, sweepings, 
 filth (jrepi/caflapjua, 7reptyrj,ua, 1 Cor. iv. 13), comes. 
 Granting the correctness of this etymology, the 
 name Sihon might perhaps be rather a nickname 
 which the Hebrews had applied to the Amorite 
 chief than his real name ; but this we will not 
 
 assume to decide. The name 2137, from 3W, ac- 
 cording to the Arab., to bend, med. E. to be bent, 
 crooked = the crooked one, would suit well with 
 that supposition. 
 
 Ye devoted (C^P^Or?, Hiph. of OTJ)- The 
 ground signification of the unused Kal is " to cut 
 off," 1 in support of which we may compare partly 
 
 tt?!2"]n, a sickle, and partly the related words 
 
 V~"7> "nJJJi i "" l ^ i 7' Accordingly O^Jl is that 
 which is cut off, separated, and especially, sepa- 
 rated for God, devoted to him (Lev. xxvii. 21, 28, 
 29; Num. xviii. 14; Deut. vii. 26; xiii. 18; Josh. 
 vi. 17, 18; vii. 1 ff. ; 1 Sam. xv. 21 ; Ezek. xliv. 
 29), and that too " without a possibility of re- 
 demption." avdSe/j.a (Rom. ix. 3 ; 1 Cor. xii. 3; 
 Gal. i. 8. 9; 1 Cor. xvi. 22), 2 xaripa (Gal. iii. 13). 
 Objects of such a doom might be persons, as here 
 Sihon and Og (comp. further 1 K. xx. 42 ; Is. 
 xxxiv. 5) or things (Josh. vi. 17, 18; vii. 1 ft'.). 
 
 Therefore O^nn is to put something under the 
 ban, to doom, i. e. to consecrate or devote it exclu- 
 sively to Jehovah without a possibility of redemp- 
 tion, whereby the consecrated object perishes, being 
 destroyed. Thus the word is to be understood here 
 as often in our book, viii. 26 ; x. 28, 37 ; xi. 21 ; a 
 found in xi. 12, as in 1 Sam. xv. 8, having " with 
 the edge of the sword " appended. [See further on 
 this subject the exeget. note on ch. vi. 17, and the 
 doctrinal and ethical there, No. 1 .] 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . Neither did there remain any more 
 courage, that is, on account of fear. Differently 
 in 1 K. x. 5, where " there was no more spirit in 
 her" expresses the result of astonishment, — Ra- 
 hab recognizes God as the Almighty and Omni- 
 present, a knowledge which is possible to the hea- 
 then (Rom. i. 19-21). 
 
 "Ver. 12. A token of truth, Heb. jTIN, a sign, 
 ariijLz'iov, tessara, as in Ex. iii. 12 ; 1 Sam. ii. 34 ; 
 x. 7, 9 ; 2 K. xix. 29 ; xx. 8, 9; Is. vii. 11, 14 ; 
 xxxviii. 7, 22; Ln. ii. 12; 2 Cor. xii. 12; 2 
 Thess. iii. 17. ["Sign of truth, i. e. a sign by 
 
 1 [So Winer (Simonis Lex.) : Gesen. and Fiirst take sep- 
 arate views of the etymology of the verb, but all agree as to 
 the meaning of this form. — Tr ] 
 
 2 [See Smith's Diet, of the Bible, art. Anathema Tr.] 
 
 8 [Whatever unholy object was devoted to Jehovah, being. 
 
 *f course, incapable of use, for him and for his cause, and 
 in abomination in his sight, must needs be destroyed. — 
 
 *-l 
 
 4 [Keil als' supposes that " this sign consisted in nothing 
 .■e than th« solemn oath which they were called upon to 
 
 which they guarantee to her the truth, or reality 
 of the exhibition of the "IPO desired by her,'' 
 Keil.] Knobel interprets : " a proof, an evidence 
 (Job xxi. 29), that yon are honest and true men." 
 and supposes further that " Rahab points them to 
 the moral law, which for a favor shown prescribes 
 a thankful and true return," and he rejects the 
 common supposition of an outward sign, with the 
 remark that " this would have been demanded by 
 her not till after the request in ver. 13, and would 
 have been given by the spies now before they were 
 letdown." 4 But (1.) such a sign might lie required 
 just as well before as after the request in ver. 13 ; 
 (2.) all the passages quoted above, especially 2 
 K. xx. 8, 9; Is. vii. 11, 14; xxxviii. 7, 22 ; Lu. 
 ii. 12 ; 2 Thess. iii. 17, favor the common explana- 
 tion which is supported by an actual instance in 1 
 Sam. xviii. 3, 4; (3.) in ver. 18 the crimson line 
 is in fact given as such a " token;" (4.) Rahab 
 might provisionally content herself with the oath 
 given in ver. 14, although the sign was not yet 
 given her, but she received it afterwards. 
 
 Ver. 14. Our life for yours, [lit. "our soul 
 instead of yours for death," anima nostra pro vobis 
 moriatur, JIaur,] i e. " You with the population 
 of Jericho are threatened with death, but it shall 
 not strike you but us, if we prove false ; God 
 shall in this case destroy us instead of you " 
 (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 15. Her house was, etc. The house was 
 built against the city wall, but she dwelt on the 
 city wall, that is, her chamber was in the upper 
 story of the house, which rose above the wall. 
 Many such houses still stand in old cities, as along 
 the Rhine, for instance. 6 As the spies were res- 
 cued here so was Paul (Acts ix. 25) at Damascus 
 Starke makes here the following honest obser- 
 vation : " It was generally held, particularly in 
 ancient times, punishable to leap or climb over a 
 wall ; but we readily see that this was so consid- 
 ered properly on account of the wanton contempt 
 that was shown, comp. Neh. iv. 2. But here the 
 thing was done to save the lives of innocent people 
 and servants of God ; besides, as has already been 
 seen, Rahab was no longer bound to seek the inter- 
 est and honor of her town, accursed and doomed 
 by God." 
 
 The men have reached the ground and stand 
 below. Rahab, from above, advises them to turn 
 to the mountain, while they point out to her the 
 special conditions on which they wil' keep the 
 oath ; and then go their way (vers. 16-2' 1 ) 
 
 Ver. 16. Get you to the mountain. Proba- 
 bly the cavernous mountain t> the north of Jeri- 
 cho, which the Arabs now call Riruntul (see Role 
 inson, ii. 303 [Quarantania, see Stanley, S. #• P 
 301 f.]). On the road to th.». Jordan "the king's 
 messengers would undoubtedly have met them, as 
 Rahab implies in the beginning o) her counsel, 
 " lest the pursuers meet you." 
 
 Ver. 17. We are blameless, tti. To under- 
 stand these words we must supply : ITiU-ss you do 
 what we shall now say to you, Gen. xxiv. 41. 
 
 render and did render, ver 14." This view, b-M"e\er, it may 
 be remarked, is entirely precluded by the tran„'atioL of veri. 
 12 and 13, advocated above in the textual not© fin the pas- 
 sage ; for what the men are called upon to swear that they 
 will do, they cannot in the very act be doing. — Tr.] 
 
 5 [Knobel supposes the house may have been partly em- 
 braced within the wall, and Rahab's chamber strictly on 
 top of the wall [t which must therefore hs le been tolerably 
 thick." _ Ta.] 
 
50 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Vers. 18-20. This line of crimson thread 
 njW = ^5 ' s ' ln6 > DOt r0 P e > '30- This line was 
 3pun out of "crimson thread" ( , 3^r' ti^n). 
 s ?^ is the crimson color produced by nSvlfl 
 
 ^V?> Coccus ilia's, Linn, a cochineal insect living 
 on the holm-oak, the larvte of which yield the 
 crimson dye ("crimson," from the Arabic name 
 of the insect, Kermes). This line is to be distin- 
 guished from the cord (ver. 15), and not identified 
 with it as is done by Luther, who even connects 
 
 the relative clause 12 "IKE'S ungrammatically 
 
 with n mn instead of ]i vfl, as Knobel also 
 approves. This is the " token " given by the spies 
 to Rahab, and by her (ver. 21 ) fastened to the win- 
 dow. 1 A thick red cord would hardly have been 
 proper for this, as Schulz perceived when he re- 
 marked : " Neque etiam probabile est, eundem ilium 
 funem, quo Rachab in demittendis exploratoribus 
 usa sit (ver. 15), fenestra alligatum fuisse, uti 
 Lutheri versio vernacula statuit multis sequacibus ; 
 funis enim iste facilem suspiciouem movisset, ex- 
 ploratores in Rachabis sedibus quaesitos ejus restis 
 ope demissos esse, cum contra teuue ac leve filum 
 coccineum nihil suspecti haberet." This view is 
 held also by Maurer and Keil, and before Schulz, 
 by J. D. Michaelis. From its bright red color the 
 line was visible at a distance. But how did Rahab 
 reach the line when the men were below and she 
 above at the window ? They probably fastened it 
 to the cord which she then drew up. To this first 
 condition the spies add a second, namely, they 
 would be clear of their oath also if she did not 
 gather all her relatives into her house, which they 
 were not to leave (vers. 18, 19). The third and 
 last condition is that Rahab shall betray nothing 
 (ver. 20). 
 
 His blood be upon us. Blood = blood-guilti- 
 ness, responsibility for blood, Gen. xxxvii. 26 ; 
 Lev. xvii. 4. In this signification we have the 
 
 plural also D^OT. Hence D^OT T2, ,T2, 
 house, city of blood, 2 Sam. xxi. 1 ; Ezek. xxii. 2 ; 
 " man of blood," Ps. v. 7 ; xxvi. 9 ; lv. 24. Com- 
 pare besides Matt, xxvii. 19, 24, 25. 
 
 Ver. 21. She fastened the line in the window, 
 not the cord. 
 
 c. Vers. 22-24. Return of the Spies to Joshua. 
 The last verses of the chapter relate the return 
 of the spies who, after tarrying three days in the 
 mountain, recrossed the Jordan [probably by swim- 
 ming, as the water at this season was too high to 
 ford. — Tr.] and came with joyful tidings to Joshua 
 (vers. 22-23). 
 
 All that befel them. " The rriS?brrb| 
 DrriN is synonymous with DHIS nhj|0"'| 
 Gen. xlii. 29 " (Keil) " On SSn, to overtake, be- 
 fall, eorap. Ex. xviii. 8 ; Num. xx. 14. Similarly 
 rh[i, Gen. xlii. 29." (Knobel) 
 
 Ver. 24 contains the most important part of 
 their report, that the inhabitants of Canaan were 
 
 very much dispirited and fearful ("l-QD, as in 
 ver. 9). 
 
 1 [Knobel denying the reference to any material sign in 
 ••r. 12, is obliged by the art. in !TTn to identify mfOT 
 line) with b2nn (rope) ver. 15. — Ta.] 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. Besides that Rahab has received an honorable, 
 position in the genealogical record of Jesus (Matt. 
 i. 5), she is mentioned with praise by the author of 
 the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi. 31 fas well as In 
 James (ii. 25), as a woman of vigorous taith. "The 
 former of these, " as Riietschi observes ( Ri al- 
 Encyklop. xii. 514), is followed by Clemens Rom 
 who not only makes Rahab a pattern of irioris 
 and <piAo£€n'a, but praises in her a certain vpo<p- 
 7jTeia, since he finds in the red line a sign of the 
 redemption through Christ's blood of all who be- 
 lieve and hope in the Lord." This red line is applied 
 allegorically by Starke also, " This red, scarlet 
 precious line," he says, " leads us to the blood of 
 the paschal lamb of the O. T .... but still 
 more plainly points us to the precious, crimson 
 blood of Jesus, shed for us, etc., by which we are 
 upheld and kept unto salvation, as Rahab and her 
 family were kept alive and safe by that red line." 
 
 It need scarcely lie said that the Scripture itself 
 knows nothing of this signification of the red line, 
 and yet it may be well worth while to subject the 
 two passages, Heb. xi. 31 and Jas. ii. 25, to a brief 
 examination. In Heb. xi. it had just been said 
 that the walls of Jericho fell down through faith 
 after they had been compassed about by the Israel- 
 ites seven days. Then we read : " by faith the 
 harlot Rahab perished not (ov o-wawdbteTo) with 
 them that believed not (tois aTrei6r]<ra<Ti, ) since she 
 received the spies with peace (m«t' eipijujs, Luth. : 
 with friendship). Faith is thus ascribed to her as 
 to the Israelites, that faith, namely, which is the 
 "substance" a confident expectation (!nr6<rrcurts\ 
 of that for which one hopes, and the " evidence," 
 or conviction of the reality of things not seen ( Heb 
 xi. 1 ). She is also called, honestly, TropvQ, while the 
 Rabbins (see above, after the example of Josephus, 
 Ant. v. 12, 7), uniformly make of her an inn-keeper, 
 or also a concubine (Kimchi). On the same track 
 Christian interpreters followed later, proposing to 
 
 translate the H31T "stranger" or "heathen wo- 
 man." But in this matter we must abide by the 
 historical truth of the Epistle to the Hebrews, as 
 Matthew also, in bringing in Tamar, Rahab and 
 Bathsheba into the genealogical register. " without 
 doubt aimed to show the Jewish-Pharisaic spirit 
 that there was a higher righteousness than that of 
 outward Jewish holiness" (Lange, Comm.on Matt 
 i. 5). By her faith Rahab was led to this higher 
 righteousness, " and rose above the fact that she had 
 until then been a heathen and a harlot" (Lange, 
 /. c). Therefore she perished not with the unbe- 
 lievers when she had received the spies with peace. 
 Her faith in the God of heaven and earth (Josh, ii 
 1 1 ) had so sharpened her sight that she distinctly 
 foresaw the conquest of the land (ch. ii. 9) anc 
 clearly perceived the disheartened mind of the 
 Canaanites. It was a strong faith, whif h showed 
 its fruits in works of love (Gal. v. t,). Hence, 
 James places her beside Abraham (ch. ii. 24) and 
 says of her that by (e'f) works she was justified , 
 "likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified 
 ( itiKaicidT) ) by works since she received the mes 
 sengers {ayye\ovs not Ka.Taaic6irovs, as in Heb. xi 
 31) and sent them out another way." We first 
 notice here that, as in Heb. xi., Rahab is called 
 Tripv-n. then that her practical faith exhibited in the 
 reception of the spies is praised, as Abraham's prao 
 tical faith manifested in the offering of Isaac is id 
 ver. 21. But yet it is in James also expressly /h/ti 
 (ver. 22) which constitutes the principle of all ou« 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 61 
 
 ward conduct. Therefore, since we must deny all 
 fundamental difference between Paul and James, we 
 cannot agree with Ruetschi in saying {ubi sup.) : 
 " The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews brings 
 forward Rahab as an example of faith, and James 
 (ii. 25) consistently with his position, as an example 
 of righteousness through works." For, in reference 
 to eSttccuuiSr), Lange has hit the truth when he says 
 on this passage, " The term StKaiouv means with 
 James, according to the O. T. way of speaking but 
 with a N. T. depth, that God declares righteous in 
 the theocratic forum before the theocratic congre- 
 gation regarded as permanent. It is the divine 
 declaration of the proof [proved reality ?] of faith 
 in God's kingdom and for it, while the AoyttWttai 
 els 5iKawo-vvnv of James, or the Stxaiouv of Paul 
 is an act which passes simply between God and 
 the sinner in the forum of his consciousness." In 
 this theocratic sense now Rahab was justified, 
 "not merely in that her life was granted (Josh. ii. ; 
 vi. 22 ff.), but in that, still further, she became 
 a highly honored mother in Israel " Lange, Coiiim. 
 on James in /. ft). Her faith was not a dead 
 faith but living and effectually active. But faith re- 
 mains ever, even according to the view of James, the 
 principle of her action, for he adds in confirma- 
 tion of this (ver. 26) : " For as the body without the 
 spirit is dead, so is faith also without works dead." 
 Faith must perfect itself through works (ver. 22) 
 that it may suffice for justification not only before 
 God but also before the congregation. So was it 
 with Abraham's and also with Rahab's faith. Both 
 stand justified before God and before men ; be- 
 fore God immediately through faith, before men 
 through faith, evincing, certifying, displaying itself 
 in works. 
 
 [If God acts He goes beyond the limits of the 
 existing dispensation, and oversteps his established 
 relationships with man. It is thus that the divine 
 nature of Jesus, and the divine rights of his person, 
 manifested themselves. He was sent only to the lost 
 sheep of the house of Israel. That was the limit 
 of his formal relationship with men. But if faith 
 lays hold of the goodness of God, can that good- 
 ness deny itself, or limit itself, to those who for 
 the time being were alone the subjects of his dis- 
 pensation ? No, Christ could not say, God is not 
 good, I am not good, to the degree you have im- 
 agined. How could God deny himself 1 The Sy- 
 rophenician woman obtains what she asks for. 
 Precious prerogative of faith, which knows and 
 owns God through everything ; which honors Him 
 as He is, and ever finds Him what He is ! " 
 
 " Wherein was manifested that faith in Rahab 
 which the Apostle cites as a pattern ? Admirable 
 proof that the way in which God acts in grace is 
 before and above law, that grace overleaps the 
 boundary which law ascribes to man, even while 
 maintaining its authority, — an authority, however, 
 which can only manifest itself in condemnation. 
 What then was Rahab's faith? It was the faith 
 which recognizes that God is with his people, all 
 weak and few as they may be, unpossessed of their 
 inheritance, wandering on the earth without a 
 country, but btloced of God. If Abraham believed 
 God when there was not a people, Rahab identified 
 herself with this people when they had nothing but 
 God." Darby, p. 309.— Tk.] 
 
 But Rahab lied to the messengers of her kin< 
 Did this falsehood also come through faith • Ce 
 
 1 [On the propriety in itself of the appeal to God by 
 ■inccre worshipper in confirmation of his veracity (which is 
 ■senti&Uy the oath , 8ee Thnluck's Com. on the Sermon on 
 
 tainlynot; rather in it she showed her natural 
 disposition, precisely as it was with the Hebrew 
 midwives (Ex. i. 19) who, although they feared 
 Uod(Fx. i. 17), nevertheless deceived Pharaoh' 
 or with that woman at Bahurim (2 Sam xvii 
 18-20), who denied that Ahimaaz and Jonathan, 
 David's spies, were with her when Absalom's ser- 
 vant sought them. Abraham on the other hand, 
 when Isaac's perplexing question (Gen. xxii. 7) 
 tempted to a so-called "white" lie, answered from 
 faith (Gen. xxii. 8) and gave in so doing an ex- 
 ample for every one in such eases. 
 
 [Added from Keil by the translator 
 The falsehood with which Rahab was shrewd 
 enough not only to turn off all suspicion of her 
 being in collusion with the men of Israel who had 
 come into her house, but also to lead the further 
 pursuit of them away from her house, and to frus- 
 trate the attempts to capture them, can be excused 
 neither as a lie of necessity to accomplish a good 
 end, nor with Grotius on the unfounded plea, that 
 
 ante Evangelmm mendacium viris bonis salutare 
 corpse non ducebatur." Nor can it be explained as 
 either " allowed " or " even praiseworthy, ' because 
 the author simply reports the fact without judgment 
 of his own. nor yet because Rahab, as appears 
 from what follows (ver. 9 ff.), being persuaded of 
 Jehovah's omnipotence and of the reality of the 
 miracles wrought by liod for his people, acted in 
 pious faith that the true God would give the land of 
 Canaan to the Israelites, and that all opposition to 
 them was vain and a resistance to Almighty God 
 himself. For a lie is and always must be a sin. 
 Although, therefore, Rahab in tins was moved by 
 no thought of protecting herself and her family 
 from destruction, and the disposition from which 
 she acted was rooted simply in faith in the living 
 God (iriorei, Heb. xi. 31), so that what she did in 
 this disposition for the spies, and so for God's 
 cause, is reckoned to her for righteousness (e'£ 
 toyuiv 45ikcuiIi8ti, James ii. 25), still the course which 
 she adopted was a sin of weakness, which for her 
 faith's sake was graciously forgiven her, — an " in- 
 tirmitas, quajipsiob tidem gratiose condonata est." 
 Calm— Tk.] 
 
 2. That the spies gave their oath was quite proper, 
 since " necessity required it." Generally in an- 
 tiquity, and so also among the Israelite-, the taking 
 of oaths was much more common than with us 
 (Gen. xxiv. 37 ; 1. 5 ; Judg. xxi. 5 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 
 24 etc., Matt. xiv. 7), and this was especially the 
 case in private intercourse. To avoid, as far as pos- 
 sible, the use of God's name in this, they in later 
 times availed themselves of other objects by which 
 to swear, as clearly appears from Matt. v. 33-37 ; 
 xxiii. 16 ff. ; James v. 12. Against such frivolous 
 swearing both Christ and the Apostle James speak, 
 while both alike indicate the ideal of Christian 
 truthfulness in that yea should be yea, and nay, 
 nay. The more our life and the life of others ap- 
 proaches to perfection, the less need "ill there be 
 of oaths and confirmation of the nature of oaths. 
 In the private intercourse of Christians with each 
 other, this is indeed the case now wherever the 
 spirit of Christianity is in any considerable degree 
 active in their hearts. The state also will have to 
 strive after this, but as things in general now are, 
 and representing as it does the law and not the 
 gospel, it cannot yet forego the oath as a means ol 
 justice. 1 Therefore the Christian also, out of 
 
 the Mount, at Matt. v. 33-37. But this being fully granted, 
 it seems to the present writer extremely questionable whetbes 
 the entire disuse of such appeals before our courts, custom 
 
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 obedience to " the powers that be " (Rom. xiii. 1) 
 will have to submit to the taking of the oath. The 
 rejection of the oath by Anabaptists, Mennonites, 
 and Quakers, was closely connected with that of 
 military service, and with the refusal to assume 
 public offices, and rested on antinomianism. — That 
 to pledge the soul, therefore the life, as is done 
 here, ver. 14, and elsewhere in the 0. T., is not 
 allowable for us Christians, needs no argument. 
 On the other hand, it is carefully to be observed, 
 and has with right been specially pointed out by 
 interpreters of this passage, what care the spies take 
 with the conditions, under which they should be 
 clear of their oath ; how precisely they put them 
 in form, how clearly and plainly they express 
 them, that they might not afterwards be charged 
 with perjury (vers. 14, 17 ff.) Another example 
 of great conscientiousness in reference to an oath, 
 see in ch. ix. 19, 20. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 The sending of the spies to Jericho. (1.) Send- 
 ing forth and reception by Rahab (ver. 1-7) ; (2.) 
 their rescue (ver. 8-21 ) ; (3. ) their return to Joshua 
 (ver. 22-24). — The heathen woman Rahab as a 
 heathen of true faith, with reference to Heb. xi. 
 31 ; James ii. 25. — Base things before the world 
 and things which are despised has God chosen 
 
 — proved by the example of Rahab especially as 
 presented by Matt. i. 5. Comp. 1 Cor. i. 28. — 
 How faith sharpens discernment concerning the 
 condition of an individual or of a whole people. 
 
 — Despondency as a result of heathen sentiment 
 and life. — Even yet we may hear what the Lord 
 does if only we will hear. — The glory of God as 
 (1.) above in heaven, and (2.) below, on the earth. 
 
 — One should care not only for himself but for all 
 those belonging to him. — Rahab as a faithful 
 daughter and sister. — Kindness and truth a beauti- 
 ful ornament of God, not less also of men. — The 
 rescue of the spies out of Jericho and that of Paul 
 out of Damascus compared with each other (ver. 
 15; Acts. ix. 25). Good advice ought always to 
 be received. Proceed carefully when you have to 
 take an oath, that no one afterwards may charge 
 you with its violation. — Of an oath ; (1.) when 
 is it allowable? (2.) what is it? (3.) what results 
 from it ? — Let it be as you say — much spoken 
 in few words. — The joyful return of the spies 
 to Joshua with praise and thanksgiving to the 
 Lord. 
 
 Starke: Christian! To us also heaven is prom- 
 ised, Luke xiii. 24 ; Col. iii. 1, 2 [Heb. iv. 1, 11]. 
 Truth and friendship are never better sought than 
 in extreme danger. — Woman's craft exceeds all 
 craft, therefore beware of it. By God's name only 
 
 house officials, revenue assessors, etc. etc., would not rather 
 promote the ends of justice, while it would certainly do 
 away with a shocking scandal to religion. This is of course, 
 on the supposition that something like the (r affirmation 
 now allowed should be regularly substituted, and the civil 
 penalties for falsehood here be righteously assigned and rig- 
 orously exacted. It is one thing to conjecture of what use 
 the oath might be in these civil transactions if reverently 
 administered and intelligently taken ; it is quite another 
 thing which we actually witness, and are likely to witness, 
 when men by myriads throughout the land daily mumble 
 over the most solemn form of words, without a thought of 
 their significance, and seal the mockery for the most part 
 •y an act of superstitious nonsense. When we consider that 
 
 should one swear, Deut. vi. 13, Zeph. i. 5. — How 
 sacred and inviolate must the oath have been at all 
 times among the Israelites, when even a heathen 
 woman would trust her life to it. 0, that Chris- 
 tians would observe this, and keep their oaths also 
 sacred and inviolate! Ecc. v. 4. — In making con- 
 tracts men should explain themselves dearly tc 
 each other, and use no ambiguous language. — 
 Christians should be silent, for a loquacious tongue 
 brings many into sorrow, Prov. xiii. 3, 16, 26; 
 [James ii. 2 ff.]. In time of persecution to conceal 
 one's self is quite proper for the ministers and ser- 
 vants of God also. God can soon take courage 
 away from enemies. 
 
 Hedinger : While one has ordinary means 
 one should use them ; but if these fail one may be- 
 take one's self to God's immediate help. We enter 
 not by the little side door except when the great 
 portal is shut. Even the greatest sinners when 
 they truly repent, are agreeable to God (Jer. v. 3). 
 One discreet and faithful person in a house is wont 
 to cause much good ; where, on the contrary, all 
 are careless and secure, then it often happens that 
 they all perish together (Gen. xxxix. 2-5). 
 
 Cramer : For the best good of his country 
 every patriot should give himself up even to the 
 hazard of body and life (1 Sam. xvii. 41). Those 
 who are on their journeys God can wonderfully 
 keep from dangers, Ps. xxxi. 21, xci. 1. 
 
 Osiander: Right faith breaks forth thus in 
 free confession of the truth, magnifying and prais- 
 ing God, and streaming out in love towards fellow 
 men. 
 
 [Matthew Henry : There are many who be- 
 fore their conversion were very wicked and vile, 
 and yet afterward come to great eminence in faith 
 and "holiness- — They who truly believe the divine 
 revelation concerning the ruin of sinners, and the 
 grant of the heavenly land to God's Israel, will 
 give diligence to flee from the wrath to come, and 
 to lay hold on eternal life, by joining themselves to 
 God and to his people. — They that will be conscien- 
 tious in keeping their promises will be cautious in 
 making them, and perhaps may insert conditions 
 which others may think frivolous. — Sinners' frights 
 are sometimes sure presages of their fall. 
 
 Thos. Scott (on ver. 12, 13) : When we 
 really discover the danger to which our souls are 
 exposed, from the wrath of an offended God, and 
 are earnestly seeking salvation, we shall begin to 
 feel for those who are not sensible of their own 
 lost condition. This will induce us to attempt 
 what we can to forward the salvation of our beloved 
 friends and relations; and thus they who have 
 been the grief and disgrace of their families, may, 
 by the grace of God, become their protection as 
 well as ornament. — Tr.] 
 
 an oath thus carelessly employed, is in the most aggravated 
 sense, taking the name of CJod in vain, and that our laws 
 almost necessitate this in cases so numerous that their 
 united sound may be imagined rising as a constant murmur 
 to heaven amidst the voice of our public life, we may well 
 dread the condemnation due to a profane people. Is there 
 really any counterbalancing gain in the ascertainment of 
 the truth ? 
 
 Is not the evidence now got by affirmations as satisfactory 
 as that by oaths ? The word of the man who actually 
 regards God needs not the sanction of an oath ; for him 
 who does not the penitentiary alone has any terror, and U 
 that he might as well appeal. — Ta.] 
 
CHAPTERS III .-IV. 53 
 
 3. The Passage of the Israelites through the Jordan. 
 Chapters III.-IV. 
 
 a. Joshua's Regulations concerning the Passage through the Jordan. 
 Chapter III. 1-13. 
 
 1 And Joshua rose early in the morning ; and they removed [broke up '] from Shit 
 tim and came to [the] Jordan, he and all the children [sous] of Israel, and lodged 
 
 2 there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers 
 
 3 [overseers] went through the host [camp] ; and they commanded the people, saying, 
 When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] your God, and the 
 priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove [break up] from your place, 
 
 4 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. 
 
 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves ; for to-morrow the Lord 
 
 6 [Jehovah] will do wonders among you. And Joshua spake 2 unto the priests, say- 
 ing, 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. 
 
 7 And the Lord [Jehovah] 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 
 
 8 be with thee. And thou 3 shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the cove- 
 nant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of [the] Jordan, ye shall 
 stand still in [or, at the] Jordan. 
 
 9 And Joshua said unto the children [sons] of Israel. Come hither, and hear 
 
 10 the words of the Lord [Jehovah] your God. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall 
 know that the [a] living God is among you, and that he will without fail 4 drive out 
 from before you the Canaanites [Canaanite], and the Hittites [Hittite], and the Hiv- 
 ites [Hivite], and the Perizzites [Perizzite], and the Girgashites [Girgashite], and 
 
 1 1 the Amorites [Amorite], and the Jebusites [Jebusite]. 5 Behold the ark of the cov- 
 enant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into [through the] 
 
 12 Jordan. Now therefore [And now] take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, 
 
 13 out of every tribe a man. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet 
 of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] the Lord of all the earth, 
 shall rest in the waters 6 of [the] Jordan, that the waters of [the] Jordan shall be 
 cut offfrotn [omit ; from], the waters that come down from above ; [,] and thev 
 [omit ; they] shall stand upon a heap [in, or, as a heap.] 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 [Ver. 1. — J7D3, see Gesen. s. b. — Tr.] 
 
 - t' 
 
 2 [Ver.6. — Prop : said, ^QK, but since, when this verb is (Tery rarely) repeated as here, our language would not 
 now bear " he said .... saying," there is no way but either to render the first verb " spake " with English Ven. 
 or omit the participle altogether. — Tr.] 
 
 S [Ver. 8. — Fay translates, « and now," as though he read Hrii 1 ! instead of rTj^SI. — Tr.] 
 
 4 [Ver. 10 — E7 , "^V tr^in. The emphatic force of the infin. absolute in connection with the finite verb is habit- 
 ually neglected in translation by De Wette and Fay. Herein we think our version certainly is to be preferred, although 
 it doubtless sometimes makes too much of this peculiar Hebrew combination. To give as nearly as possible the shade of 
 meaning intended is often a matter of much nicety of expression. Cf. Gesen. Gram. § 133, 3 a. — Tr.] 
 
 5 [Ver. 10. — The Gentile names here are all in the sing., and although the Hebrew usage in this respect does not 
 always coincide with the English, in the present case at least our version would gain as much in force as in fidelity by an 
 exact imitation of the original. — TR.J 
 
 6 [Ver. 13. — The Hebrew noun for water is always plural, but construed with verbs of either number. The English 
 VerB. varies capriciously between the two. In some connections the plural is doubtless more adequate in the English, bu* 
 leneraJly " water " would be the right expression. — Tr.J 
 
 6. The Passage of the Jordan. 
 Chapter III. U-IV. 17. 
 
 14 And it came to pass, when the people removed [broke up] from their tents to 
 pass over [the] Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the 
 
!>4 THE BOOK OF JOSHU^. 
 
 15 people; and as 1 they that bare the ark were come unto [the] Jordan, and the feei 
 of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for [the] 
 
 10 Jordan overfloweth all his [its] banks all the time of harvest,) 2 that the waters which 
 came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap, very far from [by 3 ] the 
 city Adam, that is beside Zaretan ; and those that came down toward the sea of the 
 plain [the Arabah 4 J even [omit : even] the salt sea, failed, and were cut off [were 
 
 17 entirely cut off ] : and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the 
 priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] stood firm on [the] 
 dry ground in the midst of [the] Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on [the] dry 
 ground, until all the people [nation, ''ian] were passed clean over [the] Jordan. 
 
 1 IV. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over [the] Jordan, 
 
 2 that the Lord [Jehovah] spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of 
 
 3 the people, out of every tribe a man, and command ye them, saying, Take you 
 hence out of the midst of [the] 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 ye shall lodge this night. 
 
 4 Then [And] Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children 
 
 5 [sons] of Israel, out of every tribe a man ; And Joshua said unto them, Pass over 
 before the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] your God into the midst of [the] Jordan, 
 and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the 
 
 6 number of the tribes of the children of Israel : that this may be a sign among you, 
 that [omit: that] when your children ask their fathers [omit: their fathers] in time 
 
 7 to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones ? Then ye shall answer them 
 [say to them], That the waters of [the] Jordan were cut off before the ark of the 
 covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] ; when it passed over [the] Jordan, the waters of 
 [the] Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children 
 
 8 [sons] of Israel forever. And the children [sons] of Israel did so as Joshua com- 
 manded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of [the] Jordan, as the Lord 
 [Jehovah] spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children 
 [sons] of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, 
 
 9 and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of [the] 
 Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant 
 
 10 stood, and they are there unto this day. For [And] the priests which bare the ark 
 stood in the midst of [the] Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lord 
 [Jehovah] commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses 
 
 11 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 Lord [Jeho- 
 
 12 van] passed over, and the priests in the presence of [before] the people. And the 
 children [sons] of Reuben, and the children [sons] of Gad, and half the tribe of 
 Manasseh passed over armed [eager for war, or, in companies ch. i. 14] before the 
 
 13 children [sons] of Israel, as Moses spake unto them. About forty thousand pre- 
 pared for [the] war passed over before the Lord [Jehovah] unto battle, to the plains 
 [desert plains, steppes, iTCH? 5 ] of Jericho. 
 
 14 On that day the Lord [Jehovah] magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and 
 they feared him [,] as they [had] feared Moses, all the days of his life. 
 
 15 And the Lord [Jehovah] spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that 
 bear the ark of the testimony [law, Gesenius] that they come up out of [the] Jor- 
 
 16 dan. Joshua therefore [And Joshua] commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up 
 
 1 7 out of [the] Jordan. And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the 
 covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] were come up out of the midst of [the] Jor- 
 dan, and [omit: and] the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up [plucked out 
 !ipri3] unto the dry land, that [and] the waters of [the] Jordan returned unto their 
 place, and flowed over all his [its] banks, as they did before. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 [Ch. 3. Ver. 15 — Our version is here particular to mark the difference between 2 with Inf. const. (S12.3) and 2 to 
 the same connection in ver 13 (3?D33). The distinction is slight tnd in many cases probably none was deliberated 
 
CHAPTERS IIL-IV. 
 
 66 
 
 at in the choice of the particle ; yet strictly the latter (2) denotes an action as contained in another (in time) 
 
 She former (3') denotes it as bearing a comparison with that other in respect to time (or quality or condition), as simnl 
 taneous, following close upon, about the same as, etc. — Tr.] 
 
 2 [Ch iii. 15. — Literally, and the Jordan was full on all its banks all the days of harvest. — Tr.] 
 
 3 [Ch iii. 16. — Very far ("se. from the place of crossing," Keil) at or by the city of Adam. Our version followed the 
 Keri here apparently without good reason. — Tr.] 
 
 4 [Ch. iii. 16. — The Arabah (as in ch. xviii. 18, 22) the definite, individual r plain," which bordered the Jordan Rivei 
 and the Dead Sea. See the Exeget. Note on this verse. — Tr.] • 
 
 [5 Ch. iv. 13. — These were the expanse of the Jordan-valley (Arabah) in the neighborhood of Jericho, greatly widened 
 here by the retreat of tbe mountains toward the west. — Tr.] 
 
 [6 Ch. iv. 18. — The exact translation would be : H And it came to pass — were come up out of the midst of the Jordan, the 
 Boles of the priests' feet were plucked out unto the dry land, and the waters of the Jordan returned and went as before on all 
 its banks." The return of the water to its course is thus carefully associated with the last step of the priests from the 
 
 muddy bed of the stream. — rT2"^nn vS *lp^l3 is prceg- for, " were plucked up out of the bed of the Btream and 
 stepped on the dry or solid land.'' Keil. — Tr.] 
 
 c. The Erection of the Memorial at Gilgal. 
 Chapter IV. 19-24. 
 
 19 And the people came up out of [the] Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, 
 
 20 and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stonea 
 
 21 which they took out of [the] Jordan, did Joshua pitch [set up] in Gilgal. And he 
 spake unto the children [sons] of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their 
 
 22 fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones ? Then ye shall let your 
 
 23 children [sons] know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on [the] dry land. For 
 the Lord [Jehovah] your God dried up the waters of [the] Jordan from before you, 
 until ye were passed over, as the Lord [Jehovah] your God did to the Red sea, 
 
 24 which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over : that all the people 
 [peoples] of the earth might know the hand of the Lord [Jehovah], that it is mighty, 
 that ye [Fay : they] might fear the Lord [Jehovah] your God for ever. 
 
 exegetical and critical. 
 
 a. Joshua's Arrangements for the Passage of the 
 Jordan. — And Joshua rose early. E^ti^l as in 
 Gen. xix. 2, 27 ; xx. 8 ; xxii. 3 ; xxviii. 18 ; xxxii. 
 1, with and without the addition " in the morning." 
 Properly C'St^il is a denom. from "270, "to 
 load up, on the backs of beasts of burden, which 
 among the nomads is done early in the morning," 
 
 = \3 y 2 Is. xxxiii. 20. — This breaking up took 
 place immediately after the return of the spies, and 
 this verse accordingly belongs properly to ch. ii. 
 
 Ver. 2 is in continuation of ch. i. 10-16. The 
 three days here are the same as in ch. i. 1 1 . In 
 ch. ii. which is otherwise very appositely inserted, 
 and in a way completely suiting the connection, 
 the differences in the dates were not, we must 
 simply admit, duly taken into account. On the 
 other hand it seems to us unnecessary, to assume 
 a contradiction between ver. 1 on one side and vers. 
 2-6 on the other, on the grounds that (a.) the 
 people, according to ver. 1 , were at the Jordan and 
 not 2,000 cubits off from it ; (6.) the Israelites spent 
 
 only one uight PC -^1) there, and so could not have 
 been there after three days. Although we grant 
 that the word here translated " lodge commonly 
 means to " spend the night " (Gen. xix. 2 ; xxiv. 
 25; xxviii. 11 ; xxxii. 14, 22), still in view of such 
 passages as Job xix. 4 ; xli. 14 ; Ps. xxv. 13 ; xlix. 
 13], we may well take it here in the sense of to en- 
 camp, to tarry, as the Vulgate, when it translates 
 
 1 [Leyrer, in Uerzog*s Eneyklop., vol. xiv. p. 1, note, 
 rapposing the ground-meaning of ~^£' to have been " to 
 ?ut in order," t[ sot in a row, hence to make a row, of let- 
 
 morati sunt. [The English word " lodge " very 
 appropriately represents ,17.] Again: "they 
 
 came to the Jordan," JTTTnj? ^IS^l is certainly 
 not to be understood with literal preciseness. It 
 means : they came near to the Jordan, not exactly 
 on the brink of the river. Two thousand cubits 
 may very naturally still have intervened, especially 
 when we take into account the great extent of the 
 camp. This view is very evidently supported by 
 vers. 14, 15, which, according to Knobel from the 
 same author as ver. 1 a, state that the people re- 
 moved out of their tents and the priests came to the 
 Jordan. Had they encamped close on the river- 
 brink, as ver. 1 is interpreted by Knobel, we should 
 have been told immediately of the dipping of their 
 feet in the water, but not certainly of their coming 
 to the Jordan. 
 
 Ver. 3. Overseers. As in ch. i. 11 so also here 
 
 Q^t^tr, LXX. ypafjLfiaTeU : Vulg. praicones; Lu- 
 ther, Hauptleute (head-men) ; Stier, Amtteute (offi- 
 cials) ; at first probably altogether general officers, 
 head-men of the people (Ex. v. 6-19 ; Num. xi. 
 16), those who knew how to write. Later, the 
 magistrates in the towns (Deut. xvi. 18; 1 Chron. 
 
 xxxiii. 4). In Arabic ~1£SP signifies simply to 
 
 write. la 2 Chr. xxvi. 1 1 "lt3tP and ">SD stand 
 side by side. In Prov. vi. 7, the former, English 
 
 Vers. " overseer," stands with ^t?E " guide " and 
 
 V?? T " ruler." i 
 
 ters," Bays: "we may rather conceive that the n^^^yT, 
 from the ground-nieaning of the word and from their" pri- 
 mary function, are called ordinatores, than from a derived 
 
56 
 
 THK BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Ark of the Covenant. Here "ark of the cove- 
 nant of Jehovah," elsewhere also " ark of God," 1 
 Sam. iii. 3, " ark of the testimony " [law], Ex. xxv. 
 22 : the sacred ark with the tallies of the law (ac- 
 cording to Heb. ix. 4, with other objects also), pre- 
 pared by Moses (Ex. xxv. 10 ft'.) after a divine 
 pattern. It was two and a half cubits long, one 
 and a half cubits high, and the same in breadth. 
 It was made of acacia wood, overlaid within and 
 
 without with gold plate. The name |V1S i S de- 
 rived from ^"^^i to bore out, hollow out, and sig- 
 nifies properly something hollow, hence also " a 
 cofhn," Gen. 1. 26. Figures may be seen in Hoff- 
 mann and Redslob, Universal Bibel-L'xicon for the 
 P-eojde, i. 244; Kiepert, Bible Atlas, v. Fig. 15. 
 [Smith's and other Bilile Dictionaries, and works 
 of the same design, may be consulted. Also Jahn, 
 Coleman, and other writers, on Hebrew antiquities. 
 — Tr. ; 
 
 Ver. 4. Yet there shall be a space .... 
 two thousand cubits by measure. As a reason 
 it is given that the ark should show the way. Had 
 the masses of the people, who by no means marched 
 as soldiers, crowded around it. those that were be- 
 hind could not have seen it. The sarredness of the 
 ark is not here directly the reason, as various inter- 
 
 greters have supposed (Mas., C. a Lapide, Seb. 
 chmidt, v. Lengerke and Knobel), but yet may 
 come in as a secondary consideration. According 
 to Num. iv. 15 the sons of Kohath bore the sanc- 
 tuary, but might not touch it. Uzziah died when 
 he did this (2 Sam. vi. 7). We may notice also 
 what Starke has pointed out, that no longer the 
 pillar of cloud but the ark of the covenant leads the 
 way. The manna likewise ceased at this time. 
 The days of the pilgrimage are past. Two thousand 
 cubits = one Sabbath day's journey (Acts i. 12) 
 
 = three thousand feet. The Kethib 13 N 3 is to be 
 
 retained instead of Ken, V3*3. So also ch. viii. 1 1 , 
 
 " since the plural Vi'O is limited almost entirely to 
 the case where the suff. also has the plural sense. 
 Comp. Ewald, § 266 a." (Keil). 
 
 Ver. 5. [Sanctify yourselves. " The sanctifi- 
 cation of the people consisted not in the washing 
 of their clothes, which is mentioned Ex. six. 10-14 
 
 with the tT.'i'ii, for there was no time for this ; nor 
 in the changing of garments merely, which ac- 
 cording to Gen. xxxv. 2, might take the place of 
 washing, and in abstinence from conjugal inter- 
 course, Ex. xix. 15. These were only the outward 
 signs of the sanctification which really consisted at 
 the same time in the spiritual purification, the 
 turning of the heart to God, in faith and trust in 
 his promise, and in willing obedience to his com- 
 mands, that they might rightly take to heart the 
 wonder of grace which the Lord would the next 
 day perform among them." Keil. — Tr.] 
 
 To-morrow. According to ch. iv. ly the 10th 
 of Nisan. 
 
 Ver. 6. And they took up the ark of the cov- 
 enant. This statement is not exact [not in place 
 here], the correct account is given in ver. 15. since 
 vets. 7-13 could not be spoken after the procession 
 was already in motion. Keil : " Whether the com- 
 mand in ver. 6 was given the evening before, as 
 Maurer, or on the morning of the crossing, as 
 IJo.scnmuller supposes, cannot be determined, since 
 both were equally possible. The former is the more 
 
 probable ; but it is certain that the execution of thii 
 command in the last words of the verse is antici- 
 pated. For the following revelation of God to 
 Joshua, together with Joshua's discourse to the peo- 
 ple, cannot have taken place after the priests with 
 the ark had already begun the march." Knobel 
 refers the words to the breaking up of the camp 
 from Shittim. 
 
 Vers. 7, 8. Revelation of God to Joshua, in 
 which the Lord promises to make him great from 
 this day forward as he had made Moses great ; 
 agreeing substantially with ch. i. 2-9. Then fol- 
 lows, ver. 8, God's command that " Joshua should 
 direct the priests bearing the ark to halt when they 
 came to the edge of the water of the Jordan, i. e., 
 as soon as they reached the water in the bed of the 
 Jordan, and their feet stood in it, and to remain 
 
 standing. On "TO37 comp. Gen. xliii. 15. What 
 Jehovah communicated further is not here told, 
 because it appears from the following." (Knobel). 
 Ver. 9-13. In these verses we have to think of 
 ourselves as addressed in a solemn assembly of the 
 people, a congregation of Jehovah. They contain 
 the purport of the divine revelation, and more fully 
 than it had been stated in vers. 7 and 8. 
 
 Ver. 9. 'ItTS with accent drawn back as in 
 Ruth ii. 14 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 38, comp. Ewald, § 100 a, 
 and 227 b." (Keil). 
 
 Ver. 10. Hereby shall ye know that a living 
 God is among you. The design of the miracle, 
 the furtherance of the knowledge of God as a 
 
 living mighty God, is significantly put first. Tl "S ; 
 
 God is here called 7N from ''IN, prop, the Strong 
 One in opposition to the gods of the heathen, 
 which are ^? .*?., Lev. xix. 4; xxvi. 1 , nothings, 
 C'^nn, prop, breaths, Deut. xxxii. 21 ; Jer. viii. 
 
 19; xiv. 22; Ps. xxxi. 7, or even Sl.tT "020, 
 Jon. ii. 8, " lying vanities." He is, however, not 
 called st> merely, which term in the plural occurs 
 also of the gods of the heathen (Ex. xv. 11), but 
 s n bS. to indicate that he is not dead like them, 
 comp. Jer. x. 9, 10. On the original inhabitants 
 of Palestine see the Introduction, § 7. As here, so 
 previously in T)eut. vii. 1 , and again in this book 
 ix. 1 ; xi. 3; xxiv. 11, seven races are enumerated, 
 but in varying order. The Jebusites, however, 
 always, except in ch. xi. 3, stand last. 
 
 Ver. 11. Lord of the whole earth. A signifi- 
 cant appellation of God, where the conquest of a 
 land is in question. From Him Israel has his title 
 to Canaan. 
 
 Verse 12 compared with ch. iv. 2 occasions diffi- 
 culty. Two questions arise : (1.) When was this 
 direction given ; before the crossing or during the 
 crossing ? The former according to this pas- 
 sage, the latter according to iv. 2. The former 
 seems more probable, because the twelve men could 
 not possibly be chosen during the passage. (2.) 
 Does the choice of the twelve men rest as Knobel 
 teaches, according to our passage, on the regulation 
 of Joshua alone, or on the divine command, as ch. 
 iv. 1 expressly says. Answer: The author has here 
 the same view of the divine authority of the com- 
 mand as in iv. 1, otherwise he would not have incor- 
 porated these words in a discourse which contain* 
 the solemn announcement of a divine revelation. 
 
 meaning and from a mere accident of their office. See Lengerke, Kenaan, p. 374, Anm. ; Hoffman, the Art. " Hebr 
 Vater, toI. iii. of his Com. ; Von Bohlen, Genuis, p. ilii. ; Schrift " in Erech u. Qruber's Encyklop." — Ts.) 
 
CHAPTERS III.-1V. 
 
 Ver 13. Soles of the feet, comp. ch. i. 3. — 
 The water .... shall be cut off, flTTlS?, 
 Luther : be broken off; De Wette : part ; literally : 
 ' shill becutoff," that is, the water above the place 
 
 «>f crossing stood still, so that no more flowed by. 
 The water below ran away toward the Dead Sea. 
 
 6. Chaps, iii. 14-iv. 18. The Passagi- of the People 
 through tl<>> Jordan. This took place according to 
 ch. iv. 19, on the tenth day of the first month (called 
 Nisan or Abib), hence in the same month as for- 
 merly the departure out of Egypt. This like that 
 was immediately before the Passover, which accord- 
 ing to ch. v. was celebrated four days later for the 
 first time on the soil of the Holy Land. The har- 
 vest here, in the deeply sunken heated valley of the 
 Jordan, was already begun. The "yellow" water 
 of the river stands high at this season, because the 
 snows are melting on the mountains (comp. Furrer, 
 p. 154). So much more wonderful was the event, 
 a proof of the actual help of the " living God " 
 
 Ver. 15. And the Jordan overfloweth . 
 . . harvest. A parenthetical sentence. The 
 Jordan-valley, the Ghor, is two hours across, the 
 proper river-bed, through winch the stream flows, 
 only a quarter of an hour, and the stream itself 
 according to Fund's estimate (p. 154), only 90 
 feet in breadth. This latter valley was over- 
 flowed, and is still overflowed, by the " high-water ' 
 at the time of harvest, precisely as then. See Seet 
 zen, Burckhardt, Robinson, [Stanley, 5. cf- P.,] Fur- 
 rer. The last named says : " When, late in the 
 spring, the snow on Hermon begins to melt, the 
 Jordan commonly overflows its lower bank, and 
 puts reeds and hushes under water. So found it, 
 as was related in Israel, the fathers under Joshua ; 
 ' The Jordan was full on all its banks all the time 
 of harvest.' " 
 
 Ver. 16. Near Adam. Heb. 0"JN2. The 
 Kethib is to be preferred, since its meaning is that 
 very far from the place of crossing, by the city 
 Adam which lay at the side of Zaretan, the water 
 stood still. This city Adam was situated, probably, 
 where now we find the ford Damieh with remains 
 of a bridge of the Roman period ( Lynch 's Report, 
 p. 150 f., Van de Velde, narrative, ii. p. 322 f.), 
 " Several hours north of Jericho " (Knobel). Zare- 
 tan. ''Not improbably Kurn Sartabeh. near the 
 lord Damieh, a long, prominent rocky ridge, from 
 which a lower range of hills reaches almost to the 
 Jordan, and seems to extend itself obliquely through 
 to the eastern mountains. Here the Jordan valley 
 is compressed within its narrowest limits, and the 
 Ghor divides itself into the upper and the lower. 
 On Kurn Sartabeh it is reported that there are 
 still ruins." So Knobel after Robinson (Lai. Bilil. 
 Res. pp. 283 f., 217 f.). It is worthy of remark 
 that just here the water "is cut off where from 
 both sides the mountain ridges narrow the river, 
 
 1 ["The plain" here (it^Tiyn), is the arid bottom 
 laad in the gorge of the Jordan — ft the Ghor " (see Introd. 
 § 6). To this remarkable feature of the country the name is 
 nnitOrmly applied througnout our book, where it 13 never 
 applied to anything else. It always has the article in this 
 connection, and nothing seems to hinder its being under- 
 stood simply as a proper name (in which sense our version 
 '„wice views it, xv. 6, sviii. 18; except the occurrence of 
 'he plural form to denote the broader parts of the depressed 
 •alley, as about Jericho. Robinson ( Pays. ljtog. p. 73) never- 
 Jieless declares it decidedly -t the proper name of this valley.'" 
 
 this plain ii inpa 1 the Dead Sea also, more or less dis- 
 
 inctly. and then stretched on in the modern Wady el-Arabah 
 "o the head of the Elanitic Gulf. But see, for a complete 
 lecoun/ -' this verv extraordinary i itural phenomenon. 
 
 and the river valley. The name Zaretan, perhaps 
 identical with Zareda, the home of Jeroboam (1 K 
 xi. 26), as Knobel conjectures, is explained from 
 the Arabic : elatus montium locus. Gesenius like- 
 wise holds the two names identical, but derives from 
 
 "T°!^i according to the Arabic, to be cool = cool- 
 ing, also a suitable name for a town on a fresh hill- 
 top in the vicinity of a river. The name Adam 
 calls to mind Admah, one of the five cities in the 
 vale of Siddim (Gen. x. 19 ; xiv. 2 ; Hos. xi. 8), as 
 also Adanii, a city of the tribe of Naphtali (Josh. 
 xix. 33). Edom may also be compared with it. 
 
 Failed and were cut off. [The conception of 
 this scene indicated by the Keri ("very far from 
 Adam,) " is different from that, of our author and 
 the recent commentators generally. It coincided 
 with (although not necessary to) what we suppose 
 to have been the common (popular) view, well 
 stated and explained by Gill (among others) on 
 the place. He naively remarks, indeed, that " both 
 readings, as is usually, if not always the case, are 
 to be received," but his own exposition does not 
 require anything so unreasonable. Let the waters 
 have been actually "cut off" above where the 
 priests stood, in full view of the people (as th< 
 spirit of the whole account seems to lie in the visi 
 btlity of the wonder to the people), and still tin 
 water would be arrested and " stand," before the 
 crossing was finished, " very far off." The current 
 might have ceased " at Adam," though that were 
 thirty or even more miles above. Not only would 
 this be immeasurably more impressive to the multi- 
 tude as an exhibition of the divine power than the 
 mere phenomenon of a bare river bed, the reason 
 for which they could not see, but thus the fear 
 with which " they hasted and passed over " (see on 
 ch. iv. 10), is much more naturally accounted for. 
 This view of the miracle ought, at least, not to be 
 wholly ignored. Indeed, Keil seems so to conceive 
 the scene, and he even represents (on ver. 8) the 
 priests with the ark (symbolizing the divine pres- 
 ence) as constituting the dam, so to speak, by which 
 the rushing waters were restrained and piled up in 
 a heap. — Tit.] 
 
 Toward the sea of the plain (Arabah), the salt 
 sea. It is evident that the Dead Sea is meant, 
 concerning whose origin we have a report in Gen. 
 xix. 24. It is called sea of the plain in Deut. iii 
 17 ; iv. 49 also. 1 The region round about is deso 
 late, yet birds sing on the shore of the sea in 
 numerous choirs and fly freely over the water 
 (Furrer, p. 258, Robinson, Plu/s. Geog., p. 219) 
 The water of the sea is clear but very strongly 
 tinctured with salt, and hence fatal to fish. Bath 
 eis become covered with an oily envelope, some 
 times painful, sometimes not. FYom the southern 
 point of the Dead Sea clear to Elath stretches the 
 desert valley in which the Israelites wandered for 
 forty years. 
 
 Mr. Grove's article on the Arabah in Smith's Diet, of the 
 Bible, and Ffoulke's on the Jordan, in the same work. — Ta.] 
 2 [A very full and in:eresting digest of what is knowo 
 concerning the Dead Sea is given in Smith's Dirtionari/, Art 
 Sea, the Salt." In reference to the relation between this sea 
 and the cities of the plain, the criticisms of Dr H'olcott oo 
 the views of Mr. Grove in the article just named and in those 
 on Sodom and Zoar, and Siddim, should by all means be 
 carefully considered. See also Conant's instructive note on 
 hia Revised Version of Genesis, p. 79. Nor should Stanley's 
 vivid and flowing representation in ch. is. of Sin. fy Pat., 
 f ' The Jordan and the Dead Sea, " be overlooked. Th« 
 colored views of the aea and its surroundings i I Tri* 
 tram's Land of Israel assist the imagination great!' in pi" 
 turing to itself the scene. — Ta.l 
 
58 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Ver. 17. 'P-H: "Properly: firmando, i. e.frm- 
 
 iter, with solid foot." ^S used here of Israel, as 
 ch. iv. 1 ; v. 6, 8; x. 13 ; Ex. xix. 6 ; xxxiii. 13 ; 
 Deut. xxxii. 28. Where the passage took place 
 cannot now be determined. 
 
 Chap. iv. After the author has, in ch. iii. 14-17, 
 briefly related the history of the crossing, he com- 
 pletes his report in this chapter. The account is 
 not strictly speaking without order, and confused, 
 as some have said, but yet neither is it without 
 repetitions which indicate a variety of authorities, 
 blended together by a later hand. These, however, 
 we cannot assume that it is possible to determine 
 accurately, according to their original parts, as 
 Knobel has with much acuteness attempted to do. 
 
 Ver. 1. And it came to pass when all the 
 people were clean passed over the Jordan. 
 These words were omitted by Luther in his trans- 
 lations. Why ? Did he possibly consider the im- 
 mediately following Piska (o) as a sign of their 
 spuriousiiess ? This Piska is, according to Keil 
 (Bib. Com. in loc), " a sign in use before the Mas- 
 oretes, and by them left remaining to denote a 
 division in the middle of a verse where a Parasche 
 begins : comp. Hupfeld, AusfUhrl Heb. Gramm- pt. 
 i. pp. 86 and 89. Gesenius in his Lthrgeb. p. 121, 
 takes a different view." 
 
 Ver. 2. See ch. iii. 12. 
 
 Ver. 3. For V^ll we should read f^n, as in 
 ch. iii. 17. 
 
 Ver. 4. Knobel regards this as a continuation 
 of ver. 1, a. What intervenes he refers to the second 
 source of his Jehovist, according to which the 
 choice of the twelve men rested on a divine direc- 
 tion, while the first knew nothing of it. We con- 
 fidently hold that ch. iii. 12 presupposes a divine 
 direction, which however is first stated here in the 
 way of a supplement. 
 
 Ver. 6-9. When your children ask. Comp. 
 xxii. 27-28 ; Ex. xiii. 8-14. — Stones. Here it is 
 a heap of twelve stones, in Gen. xxviii. 18 ; xxxv. 
 14 a single stone, but in Gen. xxxi. 46, again as 
 here, a heap of stones. They were sacred me- 
 morials of the simplest kind. According to ver. 9, 
 " Joshua takes twelve other stones, and sets them 
 
 up in the bed of the Jordan on the spot yin/l 
 as in Ex. x. 23 ; xvi. 29) where the feet of the priests 
 stood, and where the stones have remained till 
 the time of the narrator " (Knobel). It has been 
 asked : To what purpose, since afterwards the water 
 streamed over them again ? They might become 
 visible in a low stage of the water. 1 This second 
 measure Joshua adopts of himself without express 
 divine direction. 
 
 Unto this day. A very common phrase in our 
 book, as Bleek (Inlrod. to 0. T. § 135) observes: 
 ch. v. 9 ; vi. 29 ; vii. 26 (bis) ; viii. 28, 29 ; ix. 27 ; 
 X. 27 ; xiii. 13 ; xiv. 14 ; xv. 63 ; xvi. 10. 
 
 Ver. 10. The priests remain standing in the 
 Jordan until all the people have passed through. 
 They had therefore, when the camp broke up, only 
 gone the two thousand cubits in advance to show 
 the way, then remain standing after they have 
 taken their position in the midst of the dried bed 
 
 1 [Or might it be that the tf midst of the Jordan " where 
 the priests stood in this time of the freshet, was at the 
 sdge of the dry liat in ordinary seasons ? Then the pile of 
 twelve stones would in general be visible and less exposed 
 to the force of the water when high Here the caution of 
 
 Vlaurer, Ne premas, TJI/^1 vocabulum, is to be heeded. 
 
 of the stream until the passage is completed. Theii 
 quiet waiting was well calculated to impart cour- 
 age to the people who hasted and passed over 
 through fear. The contrast well deserves considera 
 tion. Knobel assumes that this very standing stil. 
 of the priests was the ground of this haste. He 
 says: " The people passed as quickly through as 
 possible, and that on account of the priests, who 
 during this long passage must stand in one place 
 and bear the ark." This reason may possibly have 
 operated also, yet such a consideration is rather 
 modern than conformable to the sentiment of an- 
 tiquity. The chief reason for the haste was cer- 
 tainly fear. 2 
 
 Ver. 1 1 After the passage, the ark again takes 
 the lead, as in ch. iii. 3 ff. 
 
 After the history of the crossing has thus been 
 given first briefly in ch. iii. 14-17, then more com- 
 pletely ch. iv. 1-11, we have some supplementary 
 notices in vers. 12-17, and finally the conclusion ver. 
 18 announcing the return of the water. 
 
 On vers. 12 and 13 comp. ch. i. 12-18. 
 
 On ver. 14 comp. ch. iii. 7. 
 
 What is related in ver. 15-17 is a more partic- 
 ular statement of the fact mentioned in ver. 11 of 
 this chapter, referred by Knobel, on account of 
 the designation of the ark as " the ark of the testi- 
 mony," to the Elohistic original. This he sup- 
 poses to have been used here first in the book of 
 Joshua. 
 
 Ver. 18. States the conclusion, pointing back to 
 ch. iii. 16. 
 
 c. On ch. iv. 19-24. Erection of the Monument 
 at Gilgal. — Ver. 19. The date, on the tenth 
 (day) of the first month, is very exact, and on 
 this account Knobel ascribes the verse to the Elo- 
 hist. The first month (as Ex. xii. 2, 18 ; xl. 2, 17 
 and often) is elsewhere called also Abib, t. e. 
 month of green ears (Ex. xiii. 4 ; xxiii. 15 ; Deut. 
 xvi. 1), and subsequently Nisan (Neh. ii. 1; Est. 
 iii. 7.) " This name is probably of Pei^ian origin, 
 and to be explained from the Zend nara<;an, new 
 day, which was transferred to the first month of the 
 year, from New Year's day. See Benfey, Names 
 of the Months, p. 131 ff." Gesenius. 3 Fiirst, in his 
 Hist, of Bibl. Lit. p. 400, fixes the year as having 
 been 1454 b. c. There were four days before the 
 Passover which fell on the 14th, ch. v. 10. 
 
 Ver. 20. Gilgal, see ch. v. 9. 
 
 Ver. 21 like ver. 6, with Epic breadth as in 
 Homer. 
 
 Ver. 22, 23, might, from the repetition of 
 
 EJ'Oin C7 > 2in ntva^n, seem to be a citation 
 from a poetical panegyric on the Passage of the 
 River, as Bunsen assumes in ver. 7 when ho trans- 
 lates : — 
 
 « As through the Jordan passed the Ark, 
 Flowed away the waters of the Jordan." 
 
 Here we are reminded of the " Book of Jasher," 
 mentioned ch. x. 13, which, however, was not a 
 " Law-book " but precisely the opposite, a poetical 
 Hero-book. See Introd. and on ch. x. 13. 
 
 Ver. 24. All the peoples of the earth, 
 [Keil : of the land, sc. of Canaan. But not well.] 
 Might know the hand of Jehovah. A beau- 
 
 2 [This fear would evidently be much more natural on 
 the supposition stated above on ch. iii. 16, that the waters 
 were cut off and stood in a threatening precipice immediately 
 above the place of crossing. But is not the haste of the 
 people sufficiently explained by the fact which Keil empha- 
 sizes, that so vast a multitude must cross in one day ? — T*.* 
 
 8 [But see this disputed in Smith's Diet of the BibL ■ t 
 Months, p 2006. —Tb.] 
 
CHAPTERS III. IV. 
 
 59 
 
 tifal catholicity ! The miracle made the pas 
 sage possible and easy for Israel, but was at the 
 same time to serve also for imparting to the 
 heathen nations of all ages a knowledge of the 
 power of Jehovah, and a fear of the Almighty 
 
 (Knobel). Instead of Of^Q) read Or*<"^ 
 (Ewald, Maurer, Knobel). with reference to the 
 coordinate H?^ W^V- [This is quite doubtful 
 we rather agree with Keil, that the Masoretic point- 
 ing should stand. — Tr.] 
 
 [Stanley in the following paragraphs has finely 
 combined the various incidents of this marvelous 
 event, and we have only to regret that he should, 
 as his custom too often is, bring in the Septuagint 
 version, and Josephus, and what not, as if of about 
 equal authority with the inspired text. His work 
 thus wears, with all its charms of learning, ar- 
 rangenlent, and style, too much the air of a secular 
 relation of the history of the ancient " Church." 
 
 " The scene of the passage of the Jordan is 
 presented to us in the Sacred Narrative in a form 
 so distinct, and at the same time so different from 
 that in which it is usually set forth in pictures and 
 allegories, that it shall here be given at length, so 
 far as it can be made out from the several notices 
 handed down to us, namely, the two separate ac- 
 counts in the Book of Joshua, further varied by 
 the differences between the Received Text and the 
 Septuagint, the narrative of Josephus, and the 
 114th Psalm. 
 
 " For the first time they descended from the 
 upper terraces of the valley, they ' removed ' from 
 the acacia groves and came to the Jordan, and 
 ' stayed the night ' there before they passed over. 
 
 " It was probably at the point near the present 
 southern fords, crossed at the time of the Chris- 
 tian era by a bridge. The river was at its usual 
 state of flood at the spring of the year, so as to rill 
 the whole of the bed, up to the margin of the 
 jungle with which the nearer banks are lined On 
 the broken edge of the swollen stream, the band of 
 priests stood with the Ark on their shoulders. At 
 the distance of nearly a mile in the rear was the 
 mass of the army. Suddenly the full bed of the 
 Jordan was dried before them. High up the river, 
 ' far, far away,' ' ' in Adam the city which is be- 
 side Zaretan,' ' as far as the parts of Kirjath- 
 jearim,' 2 that is, at a distance of thirty miles from 
 the place of the Israelite encampment, ' the waters 
 there stood which " descended " from the heights 
 above,' — stood and rose up, as if gathered into a 
 water skin ; :3 as if in a barrier or heap, as if con- 
 gealed ; * and those that ' descended ' towards the 
 6ea of ' the desert,' the salt sea, failed and were cut 
 off.' Thus the scene presented is of the ' de- 
 scending stream' (the words employed seem to 
 have a special reference to that peculiar and most 
 significant name of the Jordan), not parted asun- 
 der, as we generally fancy, but, as the Psalm ex- 
 presses it, 'turned backwards;' the whole bed of 
 the river left dry from north to south, through its 
 long windings ; the huge stones lying bare here 
 and there, embedded in the soft "bottom ; or the 
 shingly pebbles drifted along the course of the 
 ;hannel. 
 
 " The ark stood above. The army passed below. 
 The women and children, according to the Jewish 
 
 1 Ma*pdp (T<po5pd cr<poSpa«, I.XX. 2 LXX. 
 
 8 Symmachus, as the LXX. iu Ps. xxxiii. 7. 
 4 LXX. 
 
 fi [This is Professor Stanley's interpretation of the occur- 
 ence mentioned ch. uii. 10 11 — Ta.] 
 
 tradition, were placed in the centre, from the fear 
 lest they should be swept away by the violence of 
 the current. The host, at different points prob- 
 ably, rushed across. The priests remained motion- 
 less, their feet sunk in the deep mud of the chan- 
 nel. In front, contrary to the usual order, as if to 
 secure that they should fulfill their vow, went the 
 three Transjordanic tribes. Their own memorial of 
 the passage was the monument already described. 5 
 But the national memorial was on a larger scale. 
 Carried aloft before the priests as they left the river- 
 bed, were the twelve stones, selected by the twelve 
 chiefs of the tribes. These were planted on the 
 upper terrace of the plain of the Jordan, and be- 
 came the centre of the first sanctuary of the Holy 
 Land, — the first place pronounced " Holy," the 
 "sacred place" of the Jordan valley, where the 
 tabernacle remained till it was fixed at Shiloh. 
 Gilgal long retained reminiscences of its ancient 
 sanctity. The twelve stones taken up from the 
 bed of the Jordan continued at least till the time 
 of the composition of the Book of Joshua, and 
 seem to have been invested with a reverence which 
 came at last to be regarded as idolatrous.'' The 
 name was joined with that of the acacia groves of 
 the farther side, in the title, as it would seem given 
 in popular tradition or in ancient records, to thil 
 passage of the historv : from Shittim to Gilgal" 
 [!] Lects. on Jewish Church, i. 255 ft". — Tk.] 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 The ark which was borne by the priests ana 
 Levites in front of the people, takes henceforth, as 
 was noticed above, the place of the pillar of cloud 
 and fire which had led Israel through the wilder- 
 ness (Ex. xiii. 21, 22). It may take this place be- 
 cause it not only serves for the preservation of the 
 tables of the Law (Ex. xxv. 16), but is also a symbol 
 of the presence of God among his chosen people. On 
 the cover of the ark, the Kapporeth adorned with the 
 Cherubim, God sits enthroned (Ex. xxv. 17-22; 
 Num. vii. 89; Ps. xcix. 1), and from this place 
 speaks with Moses (Ex. xxv. 22; Num. vii. 89). 
 Hence, as follows indirectly from our passage, and 
 directly from passages like Num. iv. 20 ; 1 Sam. vi. 
 19 ; 2 Sam. vi. 6 (compared with Lev. xvi. 13), the 
 ark is unapproacltable. But hence also, on the other 
 hand, here is the true place of atonement for the peo- 
 ple, where the blood of atonement was sprinkled on 
 the cover of the ark (Lev. xvi. 15), once in the year 
 only, on the great day of atonement, by the high- 
 priest's hand. To this Paul refers, Rom. iii. 25, 
 when he calls Christ the true mercy-seat, whom 
 God has set forth before (irpos'fleTo) all the world, 
 as a manifestation of his righteousness, for those 
 who through faith in the efficacy of Christ's recon- 
 ciling death, approach this New Testament place 
 of atonement. " The l\ao"ri)piov is brought out of 
 the most holy place into the public view of the 
 whole world for those who believe" (Lange on 
 Rom. iii. 2). In Christ God dwells among his New 
 Testament congregation (John i. 14), goes before 
 them (John xiv. 6), and is reconciled to them (2 
 Cor. y. 19.) 
 
 2. The conception of the living God, the ""P /S 
 (ch. iii. 10), is of great importance for the present 
 
 6 [The passages adduced in support of this only show 
 that a superstitious sanctity was afterwards ascribed U the 
 place Gilgal. — Ta.] 
 
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 day also, since it appears to have vanished utterly 
 from the consciousness of many of our contem- 
 poraries, especially that of the Materialists. These, 
 after the example of Epicurus, substitute for this 
 living author of all things, Chance, that is, an ulti- 
 mate cause which they omit tu define because it 
 is utterly incapable of logical definition. Other 
 thinkers, better schooled in philosophy, replace the 
 living God with an Order of Nature determining 
 everything by inevitable law, to which order, as 
 such, they deny self-consciousness and maintain 
 that it comes to self-consciousness only in the con- 
 sciousness of rational beings — never in and of it- 
 self. This they do from fear of transferring 
 human limitations to the Absolute, especially the 
 conception of personality. Of personality it is 
 maintained that it is predicable of the human in- 
 dividual, never of the Godhead ; as if Goethe were 
 unquestionably in the right when he says, — 
 
 n The professor is a person 
 But God is none." l 
 
 But still we think humanly of God even then when 
 we identify him with the Order of Nature, nay, it is 
 absolutely impossible for us to think in any other 
 wav concerning God than consistently with our 
 faculties, that is humanly. We certainly shall not, 
 therefore, be found in the wrong course if we again 
 tarn more and more toward the sound Biblical real- 
 ism which recognizes a living God who is at the 
 same time " the Lord of the whole earth" (ch. iii. 
 11); therefore a God who is the conscious, inde- 
 pendent and free Creator and Ruler of all things, 
 of whom, in whom, and for whom we are, who also 
 wakens life in us, so that we possess power, devel- 
 ope power, and bring forth new power. For life is 
 fullness of power; where powerlessness enters — 
 there is death. 
 
 Such a living God can perform even miracles- 
 He can, since He is independent and free, establish 
 exceptions to rule, which are and remain excep- 
 tions, but which, because planned by his wisdom, 
 no more endanger the continuance of order than 
 any exceptions to rule which a wise house-father 
 may make will disturb the order of his house. 
 Compare Kothe, Dotpnatik, p. SO ft. 
 
 Rationalistic explanations of miracles, such as have 
 been attempted in reference to the passage of the 
 Jordan by the people of Israel, are to be avoided. 
 On the other hand, investigation of the Scripture, 
 reverent and believing but not fettered by the spirit 
 of prescription, cannot be avoided. Every report 
 of any miraculous transaction is as much to be 
 examined as the report of any other fact (Introd. 
 p. 17). Such investigation will readily concede 
 that reports, especially these reaching back to the 
 most ancient times, may possibly have acquired a 
 mythical coloring ; the more readily, when it is 
 demonstrated that poetical elements have been ad- 
 mitted into the text. As such mythical coloring 
 we regard what is said in the passage before us (ch. 
 iii. 16) about the water of the Jordan standing by 
 Zaretan.'- 
 
 1 [Against the arrogance an 1 unreason of godless science 
 Borne of the Essays of Rev. James Martiueau (2 vols ttost. 
 1866, 1868) are very effectively directed, e. g that on Nature 
 antt God, i. 121 ff. See also a recent article by the same 
 tuthor: n Is there any Axiom of Causality?" in the Con- 
 *enpnrary Review for August, 1870. 
 
 The Materialism of the Present Day, a critique of Dr. 
 Biichner*8 system ; translated from the French of Janet by 
 9ustave Masson, London, 1866 (in Bail iere's Library of Con- 
 «mporaueous Philosophy), is a very able aud convincing 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 The regulations of Joshua touching the passag* 
 of the Jordan (ch. iii. 1-13). — Even without pillar 
 of cloud and without ark of the covenant, the Lord 
 still and forever goes before bis people. — Sanctifv 
 yourselves! A word of preparation for the Lord's 
 supper. — Whom the Lord makes great, he is truly 
 great, as once Moses and Joshua. — Joshua's dis- 
 course to the people. It contains: (1) a demand 
 to hear the word of the Lord ; (2) a promise of the 
 effectual help of the living God. — By what do we 
 also recognize the presence of a living God among 
 us ? ( 1 ) By his word which He still causes to be 
 perpetually published among us; (2) by his deeds 
 which He is still perpetually performing. — The 
 Living God! (ver. 10). How should we think of 
 God 1 (1) Not as a rigid order of nature, but (2) 
 as the living God and ruler over all the earth. The 
 ruler overall the world ; (1) The mightiest, (2) 
 the best Ruler. 
 
 The wonderful passage of Israel through the 
 Jordan (ch. iii. 13—4; 18) to be treated as a Bible 
 Lesson, for which use all these longer sections are 
 generally speaking, well adapted. — As Israel went 
 drvshod through the Jordan so we go unharmed 
 through many a danger. — The memory of God's 
 mighty deeds. It is (1) to be faithfully preserved 
 by the parents, (2) carefully to be impressed on the 
 children. — The erection of the memorial at Gilgal. 
 — After the pilgrimage comes the rest. — Increase 
 of the knowledge and fear of God is the holy aim 
 of all his works. 
 
 Starke : He that will enter into the promised 
 land on high must also be up early and waste no 
 time, otherwise he will not reach it, Matt. vi. 33. — 
 Whoever will be and be called a right spiritual 
 priest must not only have Christ in his heart but 
 also by an edifying example make him known to 
 others and praise him, 1 Tim. iv. 12 ; Eph. v. 25- 
 27. — God may indeed well allow us to erect me- 
 morials by which we may remember his wonderful 
 works and his benefits, Gen. xxviii. 18 ; xxxi. 45 ; 
 1 Sam. vii. 12 ; Esth. ix. 27, but we must notwor- 
 ship such things, for that is an abomination to the 
 Lord, Matt, iv." 10. — Teachers and preachers must 
 be an example in faith and constancy, and let no 
 danger terrify them. — A Christian on the journey 
 towards the ' heavenly fatherland must not tarry, 
 must not put oft' repentance, nor be lazy and sloth- 
 ful in God's ways, Phil. iii. 14 ; 1 Cor. ix. 24. — It 
 is not enough to begin to be pious, but one must 
 persevere even to the end, Rev. ii. 1 0. — A Christian 
 should never act without, but always according to, 
 God's will and word, Matt. xxi. 6. — It is the duty 
 of the magistracy also to care that the youth 
 should be educated in the fear of the Lord, Luke 
 vii. 5. — Parents should relate to their children and 
 hold before them, not their own vile deeds but 
 God's merciful deeds, Ex. x. 1,2, Deut. vi. 20.— 
 That is the right application of God's marvelous 
 and beneficent acts when we learn from them 
 trulv to know, fear, and love him, John ii. 11. 
 
 Cramer : When we go to church to hear God's 
 
 refutation, in short compass, of the doctrines which would 
 explain the universe without a God. — Tr.] 
 
 ■2 [This statement, however, seems quite consistent with 
 the rest. If we are to imagine the water cut off perpendicu- 
 larly above the path of the Israelites, the fluid wall would 
 continually be raised by the down-coming flood, and the dis- 
 tance to which the water would set back ( :t stand "). must 
 depend on the time during which the interruption lasted 
 So that there is no need of suspecting myth particularly ii 
 this. — Tr.1 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 61 
 
 word and to receive the holy sacrament.-, we should 
 carefully prepare ourselves, and approach God with 
 a chaste, temperate heart, and hold up holy hands, 
 1 Tim. ii. 8. — Whom God will make great, him he 
 6rst makes small through wearisome cross, and 
 care, and toil, and danger, Ps. xviii. 36. — If often 
 the faithful God before our eyes graciously helps 
 others out of need and peril, while we, in our own 
 thought, are left far behind, still our hour also 
 shall yet come. Let us only await the right time, 
 (ver. 17.) God has patience even with the weak, 
 Rom. xiv. 4 ; Matt. viii. 25, xiv. 30. — So long as 
 Christ, the true mercy-seat, is under us, and his 
 ministers in this unquiet life preach the gospel, we 
 need not fear ; the great floods of sins and of the 
 wrath of God must retire, because for them that 
 are in Christ Jesus there is now no condemnation, 
 Rom. viii. 1. Nor can the enemies of the Church 
 proceed further than has been appointed to them. 
 But if Christ and his word depart from us then 
 must we be eternally overwhelmed and perish and 
 experience the wrath of God. — Christ with many 
 saints has passed over into his father's house 
 through much water of affliction, which came in 
 even unto his soul, Ps. lxix. 1. But he has left a 
 memorial behind him, namely, his twelve apostles 
 and their writings. Happy they who understand 
 this, and thank him therefor. 
 
 Hedingeb : If those who are to be merely spec- 
 tators of the great works of God should first sanc- 
 tify themselves, how much more have those need 
 of sanctitication whom God will employ as his ser- 
 vants tor the performance of his work, 1 Cor. ix. 
 27. 
 
 Biiil. Tub.: Before thee also, O soul! there 
 stand waters of affliction, through which thou 
 must travel, before thou canst enter the heavenly 
 Canaan. But only go in with good heart, and 
 trust thyself to God's help ; He will open a way for 
 thee, so that the streams cannot drown thee, Ps. 
 lxvi. 12; Is. xliii. 2. 
 
 Osiaxder : Dear Christian, remember here the 
 twelve apostles, who have by the preaching of the 
 gospel spread through the world the kindness of 
 Christ in that He would lead us, through the power 
 of his death unto everlasting life; remember them, 
 and heartily thank God for them, — God can cause 
 respect for the magistracy, and also take it from 
 them again and cover them with contempt because 
 of their ungodly life, Ps. cvii. 4. 
 
 ^Matt. Henry : Those that would bring great 
 things to pass must rise early, "Love not sleep 
 lest thou come to poverty." Joshua herein set a 
 good example to the officers under him, and taught 
 them to rise early, and to all that are in public 
 station, especially to attend continually to the duty 
 of their place. — They must follow the priests as tin 
 as they carried the ark, but no further ; so we mu ? t 
 follow our ministers only as they follow Christ. — 
 Though the opposition given to the salvation of 
 God's people have all imaginable advantages, yet 
 God can and will conquer it. — God's works "of 
 wonder ought to be kept in everlasting remem- 
 brance, and means devised for preserving the re- 
 membrance of them. — God had said in his wrath, 
 that they should wander forty years in the wilder 
 ness, but to make up that forty years we must take 
 in the first year, which was then passed, and had 
 been a year of triumph in their deliverance out of 
 Egypt, and this last, which had been a year of 
 triumph likewise on the other side of Jordan, sc 
 that all the forty were not years of sorrow ; and at 
 last he brought them into the land of Canaan five 
 days before the forty years were ended, to show 
 how little pleasure God takes in punishing, how 
 swift He is to show mercy, and that, for the elects' 
 sake, the days of trouble are shortened. — Those 
 that will be wise when they are old must be in- 
 quisitive when they are young. Our Lord Jesus, 
 though He had in himself the fullness of knowl- 
 edge, has, by his example, taught children and 
 young people to hear and ask questions. — In all 
 the instructions and informations parents give 
 their children, they should have chiefly in their eye 
 to teach and engage them to fear God for ever. 
 
 Scott (on iii. 3) : We cannot in general go 
 wrong in keeping close to the ordinances of God, 
 and thus, as it were, following the ark in all its 
 removals. In so doing we need not fear rivers of 
 trouble, mountains of difficulty, nor hosts of op- 
 posing foes ; but confiding in the faithful promise, 
 the Almighty power and covenant-love of our 
 God, " the living God, the Lord of the whole 
 earth," we may proceed with boldness and alacrity 
 
 The Same (iv. 10): When with careful attention 
 to the commands and providence of God, we havt 
 taken the place and engaged in the service assigned 
 us, we ought patiently to abide in it, and not to at- 
 tempt to remove till He evidently commands us 
 thence. — Tr.] 
 
 4. The Dedication to the Holy War. 
 Chapter V. 
 
 a. The Effect of the Invasion on the Inhabitants of the Land. 
 Chapter V. 1. 
 
 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites which were on the [other] 
 side of [the] Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites which were by the 
 sea, heard that the Lord [Jehovah] had dried up the waters of [the] Jordan from be- 
 fore the children [sons] of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted 
 neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children [sons] of Israel. 
 
62 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 t. The Circumcision of the People. 
 Chapter V. 2-9. 
 
 2 At that time the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Joshua : Make thee sharp knives [knives 
 
 3 of stone], and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua 
 made him sharp knives [knives of stone], and circumcised the children of Israel at 
 
 4 the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise : all the 
 people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even [omit : even] all the men of war 
 
 *) [had] died in the wilderness by the way, after [as] they came out of Egypt. Now 
 
 For] all the people that came out were circumcised; but all the people that were 
 
 born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had 
 
 6 not circumcised. For the children [sons] of Israel walked forty years in the wilder- 
 ness, till all the people [nation] that were [omit : that were] men [the men] of war, 
 which came out of Egypt were consumed, because they obeyed not [hearkened not 
 to] the voice of the Lord [Jehovah] : unto whom the Lord [Jehovah] sware that he 
 would not show them the land which the Lord [Jehovah] sware unto their fathers 
 
 7 that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. And their children 
 [sons], whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised : for they were 
 
 8 uncircumcised : because they had not circumcised them by the way. 1 And it came 
 to pass when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their 
 
 9 places in the camp, till they were whole [healed]. And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto 
 Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore 
 [And] the name of the [that] place is called Gilgal unto this day. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 [Ver. 7. — More accurately : And their sons he raised up in their stead : them Joshua circumcised ; for they were un 
 •lrcumcised ; for thty had not circumcised them by the way Tb.] 
 
 c. The Passover. The Corn of the Land. 
 Chapter V. 10-12. 
 
 10 And the children [sons] of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on 
 
 11 the fourteenth day of the month at even, in the plains of Jericho. And they did 
 eat of the old corn [the produce] of the land in the morrow after the passover, un- 
 
 12 leavened cakes and parched corn [roasted ears] in the self-same day. And the 
 manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn [produce] 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. 
 
 d. The Captain of the Lord's Host. 
 Chapter V. 13-15. 
 
 13 And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted 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 him, Art thou for us, or for our 
 
 14 adversaries ? And he said, Nay ; but as captain ' of the host of the Lord [Jeho- 
 vah] am I now come. 2 And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, 
 
 15 and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant ? And the captain of 
 the Lord's [Jehovah's] host said unto Joshua. Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, 
 for the place whereon thou standest is holy : and Joshua did so. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 14. — Scarcely any problem is more perplexing to the translator of the 0. T. than to find appropriate design*, 
 lions for the officials and dignitaries, civil and military, among the Jews and related nations. The word O'^ltJtP haa 
 already afforded an illustration. An identical revision of the entire 0. T. with reference to this point would doubtless be 
 requisite to remedy the difficulty, and could then, from the very nature of the case, attain only to partial success. The 
 
 English Vers, is, however, unnecessarily vague. Thus, besides " captain," as here, "Ifi' is rendered by at least a dozes 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 63 
 
 afferent terms, while "captain " answers to nearly or quite as many Hebrew words. The same is true of WW2 princa, 
 and in a great measure of many others. The result ia indistinctness and confusion to the reader where the Hebrew to 
 the Hebrews was probably clear and specific. Doing our beet, we could not, perhaps, from our inadequate terminology 
 in this sphere, do with less than three different words for "1J1\ in its civil, military, and occupational applications ; as 
 
 captain or general (used 1 Chr. xxvii. 34), governor, chief. And so mutatis mutandis with the rest. Tr.1 
 
 P Ver. 14. — If, as many suppose, the angelic communication was interrupted here by Joshua's startled sense of awe 
 
 aod reverence, the connection would be better indicated by a dash in place of the period, thus : Am I now come And 
 
 Joshua etc. — Tr.] 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 Starke has given to this chapter the somewhat 
 clumsy yet substantially correct superscription : 
 " The things which followed immediately upon the 
 
 Eassage through the Jordan." Thus we have here 
 rought before us in succession, related and dis- 
 played, (a.) the effect of the invasion of Canaan 
 uponihe heathen, ver. 1 ; (A.) the circumcision of the 
 people, ver. 2-9 ; (c.) the enjoyment of the bread of 
 the land and the Passover in connection with the 
 cessation of the manna, ver. 10-19 ; and finally, (d.) 
 the appearance of the war-prince of God (ver. 13- 
 15). In a critical point of view, tins chapter offers, 
 when compared with chapters 3 and 4, no difficul- 
 ties, so to speak ; since the continuity of the narration 
 is interrupted by nothing and no repetitions occur. 
 Even Knobel has received the same impression of 
 the present chapter, except ver. 10-12. He ascribes 
 all the rest to one and the same author, namely, 
 that of the " Law Book." Since for us this "Law 
 Book " in Knobel's sense has no existence, we can 
 agree with him only in so far as we believe that in 
 ver. 1-9 and 13-15 we meet with the same hand. 
 
 As to vers. 10-12, they stand nearly related to 
 ch. iv. 17, 19, through the exact designation of time 
 which characterizes them. In ver. 10 also, as 
 there in ver. 19, Gilgal is mentioned, so that all 
 which is reported between may be omitted, and in 
 ch. v. 10 the author takes up the thread which he 
 had dropped in ver. iv. 19. On the other hand 
 ch. v. 10 connects itself easily and naturally with 
 ch. v. 9, so that there appears to be no absolute 
 necessity to go back to iv. 19. When, however, we 
 examine ver. 9 b more sharply, the whole turn 
 of the sentence, and also the expression, here again 
 repeated, " until this day," presents itself as de- 
 signed to introduce vers. 10-12, which we must 
 refer to the Elohistic document, on account of its 
 character in other respects, and therefore regard 
 as the proper continuation of eh. iv. 19. 
 
 a. Ver. 1. The Effect of the Invasion upon the 
 Heathen. The verse stands in the most exact con- 
 nection with ch. iv. 24. All the peoples of the 
 earth were to learn how mighty is the hand of the 
 Lord and fear Him. A first example of this effect 
 is given by the Canaanites, whose heart melts, and 
 whose courage flees. The terror which, according 
 to the words of Rahab, had before seized I hem (ch. 
 ii. 9-11), had been increased by the marvelous pas- 
 sage of the Jordan. A panic had fallen upon them. 
 
 — "135? does not refer here, as in ch. i. 14-15, to 
 the country east of the Jordan, but as is shown by 
 the careful addition HD^, to the west side of the 
 river. — The more difficult Kethib •13~3B, is to be 
 
 retained like 'O v, ver. 6. " In ^TP? the author 
 assumes the person of the people and speaks in their 
 name, as in ver. 6, comp. Ps. lxvi. 6." (Knobel). 1 
 
 1 [Yet this form of expression has been not without 
 reason long held, and still is by Keil and others, as a proof 
 that the narrative was written by one who had shared in 
 the transaction — Te.] ' 
 
 b. Ver. 2-9. The Circumcision of the People . This 
 takes place upon an express command of Jehovah 
 because, as vers. 4-6 state, it had been omitted in 
 the wilderness. The covenant-people should, as 
 such, bear the sign of the covenant which Abraham 
 had formerly received as a seal (trippayis) of the 
 righteousness of faith (Rom. iv. 11J, and with it, as 
 a sanctified people, holy to the Lord, enter into 
 the promised land. 
 
 Knives of stone. Thus and not " sharp knives " 
 must we translate C , "12 ni2"|n. Joshua fol- 
 lows the custom of antiquity which, as Ex. iv. 25 
 shows, performed circumcision with stone knives, 
 because they had as yet no others. Afterwards 
 this kind of knives, as being more venerable, 
 were still employed in sacred transactions. [Among 
 the additions of the LXX. at the end of this book, 
 is the curious statement after ch. xxiv. 30 : " there 
 they placed with him in the tomb where they buried 
 him, the knives of stone (tos /xaxiipas tos irerpiVas) 
 with which he circumcised the sons of Israel in 
 Gilgal. — Tr.] " The testa samia with which the 
 priests of Cybele castrated themselves (Plin. 35, 46), 
 and the stone knives of the Egyptian embalmerfl 
 (Herod. 2, 86), may serve as parallels" (Winer, 
 Bibl. Realm., s. v. "Messer.") The Vulgate has 
 rightly fac tibi ailtros lapideos ; the LXX. mingle 
 together a right translation and wrong interpreta- 
 tion : iroi-nao v atavrtp paxalpas nerplvas e*K irtrpas 
 aKpoTO/iou. Stone knives were found also at the 
 discovery of the pile-dwellings, e. g. in the lake of 
 Zurich near Meilen (1854), where I myself saw 
 them. They are very finely ground, and cut, not 
 indeed like a knife of steel, but better than one 
 would believe. Always, however, the operation 
 with these instruments was a very imperfect one, 
 and in the case before us extremely painful. 2 
 [Circumcise again .... the second tune. 
 
 f^T does not indicate, of course, that the circum- 
 cision of the same people was to be repeated, but 
 that, as the whole people which came out of Egypl 
 had been circumcised, so now there should be a cir- 
 cumcision of the present people. Cf. Keil, Bib. Com. 
 
 in loc. Masius understood rP3U? to mark the 
 rein traduction of the rite with reference to its first 
 employment by Abraham. Com. in Josuam, p. 81 
 This is too far sought. — Tr.] 
 
 Hill of foreskins. Perhaps so named from this 
 transaction. Lev. xix. 23, where circumcision of 
 the trees is spoken of, appears not to belong here 
 [against an intimation of Knobel's]. 
 
 Ver. 4-7. Statement of the reason why Joshua 
 performed this rite. Knobel expresses doubt 
 whether what is here reported is historical fact. 
 In support of this he appeals to the Elohist, who 
 says nothing of such omission, ch. iv. 19 compared 
 with v. 10. But even assuming that these passages 
 are, as we concede, Elohistic, they do not suffice to 
 
 'i [See Dr. Hackett's addition to art. (f Knives,' in Smiln'l 
 Diet, of tke Bible, Amer. ed. — Tr.] 
 
54 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 
 
 impeach the historical character of the reason as- 
 signed, since they furnish at the most a very weak 
 aiyiimfntum e silent io, while on the other side it 
 is highly probable that although circumcision " had 
 been sharply enjoined" on the Israelites at Sinai 
 (Lev. xii. 3), they had, in their unsettled wander- 
 ings, neglected to follow the command of God. 
 The same thing took place later in the case of the 
 Passover, through hundreds of years, as we learn 
 from 2 K. xxiii. 22. 
 
 Ver. 6 All the nation, the men of war. Ac- 
 cording to Num. xiv. 22-30 the adult generation, 
 with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, were 
 doomed to die in the wilderness, and a new gener- 
 ation must enter into Canaan. That the men of 
 war specially are mentioned, agrees with Num. xiv. 
 29-32, according to which all who were mustered 
 after their number (Comp. Num. i. 45 ff.), from 
 twenty years old and upward, should die in the 
 wilderness. Since, then, the former circumcised 
 men of war were no more, their bodies having 
 fallen in the wilderness, on account of disobedi- 
 ence, the present race of young men must, before 
 they dare undertake the conquest of Canaan, first 
 receive the sign of the Lord's covenant of which we 
 |ust now spoke. 
 
 A land that floweth with milk and honey. 
 Ex. iii. 8, 17 ; xiii. 5; xvi. 14; xxxiii. 3 ; Lev. xx. 
 24 ; Xum. xiii. 27 ; xiv. 8 ; Deut. i. 3, and often. 
 " Miik and honey are productions of a land rich 
 in grass and flowers which make residence therein 
 pleasant and beautiful. Both articles were abun- 
 dantly produced in Canaan, even in a state of de- 
 vastation, Is. vii. 15, 22. Milk, eaten partly sweet 
 and partly thick or curdled, that of cows as well 
 as of goats and sheep (Deut. xxxii. 14), was prom- 
 inent in the diet of the ancient Hebrews, as in that 
 of the Orientals of the present day. This is be- 
 cause Palestine was and is so well suited to the 
 care of cattle, comp. Winer. Realw. ii. 768 ff. The 
 land yielded great quantities of honey also, especi- 
 ally that from wild bees (Judg. xiv. 8 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 
 26; Matt. iii. 4), and still yields it in its wasted 
 condition" (Keil). [See references Introd. § 6, 
 p. 27.] That we are to understand here real 
 honey and not syrup, appears from its connection 
 with milk. Keil quotes similar descriptions from 
 Euripides and Theocritus. Thus it is said in 
 Eurip. Baecha;, 142: 
 
 " Pet 5e yaXaKTt Tre'Sof 
 ' Pet 5'oipti), pet Se u^\tcrcru)v 
 NeKTapt 
 
 No mention is made here of wine, although the 
 vine thrives extraordinarily well, especially in the 
 region of Hebron. Compare also Num. xiii. 21, 
 24, as well as the beautiful expression that each 
 one dwelt, or should dwell, under his vine and fig- 
 tree, 1 K. iv. 25 ; Mic. iv. 4. 
 
 Ver. 7. Them Joshua circumcised, that is, as 
 in ver. 3, Joshua ordered their circumcision. The 
 operation itself was performed by the several 
 fathers of families, as it is related of Abraham, 
 Gen. xvii. 23 If., for which Acts xvi. 3 also may 
 
 1 [Keil elaborately calculates that from 670,000 to 720,- 
 OOn required to be circumcised, while there were besides from 
 280,000 to 330,000 circumcised In early life who might per- 
 form the labors of the Passover celebration. — Tr.] 
 
 2 [Besides the common answer to the question, Why the 
 rite of circumcision had been disused for thirty-eight years 
 In the wilderness, namely, that the unsettled condition of 
 the people would not al'.jw it to be practiced conveniently 
 ir safely ('.) Masius subjoined: f ' Quod Jilii non eircumrider- 
 miur, puna tpniex fuisse videtm qua Deus non tarn ipsos 
 
 be compared. Thus we most easily escape tin 
 difficulty which otherwise arises, (a) in view of the 
 great number to be circumcised, and (b) of tht 
 shortness of the time, since according to ver. 10 
 they celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth of 
 the month Abib. We surely cannot think of help 
 from the mothers and other women (Rosenmiiller). 
 We refrain from an exact determination of the 
 number of those circumcised, such as Keil has at- 
 tempted (pp. 74, 75). 1 
 
 Ver. 8. Till they were healed. " When the 
 whole people were circumcised they remained in 
 their place (Ex. x. 23; xvi. 29) in the camp, tha: 
 is, did not leave the camp nor undertake anything 
 
 until they were healed. This is HT, prop, to 
 live, become lively (Gen. xiv. 27), revive (Job xiv. 
 14; Ezek. xxxvii. 3), then also to be healed (2 K. 
 i. 2 ; viii. 8). On the third day the pain was at its 
 height (Gen. xxxiv. 25)." (Knobel.) 
 
 Ver. a. The reproach of Egypt. The reproach 
 which has attached to the people all the way from 
 Egypt, and which consists in the misery of the 
 people who had there become a people of slaves. 
 This reproach had not yet been removed while 
 they were journeying through the wilderness, be- 
 cause God had been angry with his people for their 
 disobedience, and they on their part had neglected 
 circumcision- Now a new day has dawned. The 
 reproach is rolled away through the resumption of 
 the sacred covenant-rite. Hence Isaiah also, at a 
 later period, warns them (eh. xxx. 1-5) against al- 
 liances with Egypt, lest the strength of Pharaoh 
 
 should become a shame (i"ltp2) to them, and 
 prophesies expressly that Egypt will he no help 
 nor any profit at all, but a shame and a reproach. 
 One day, however, a time will come, according tc 
 the testimony of the same prophet (xxv. 8), when 
 the Lord wili swallow up death forever, and wipe 
 away the tears from every face, and take away tlie 
 reproach of his people from otf the earth- The re- 
 proach of former slavery is meant, the reproach of 
 banishment, of widowhood, as it is called, Is. liv. 1. 
 
 n3~in is synonymous with FIW51, or '^S, 
 
 ]ib|"J. nSV? (Is. xxx. 5 ; Ps. Ixix. 20 ; cxix. 22 ; 
 Prov. xviii. 3; Ezek. v. 15). 
 
 And the name of this place is called Gilgal 
 unto this day ; according to the view of the 
 author, because God had in this place rolled away 
 the reproach from off his people. Knobel, Fiirst, 
 and others, question this derivation because two 
 cities l>esides of this name are mentioned, one be- 
 tween Dor andThirza (Josh. xii. 23), and another, 
 six Roman miles north of Antipatris (Deut. xi. 30), 
 " which Eusebius still knew by the name of Mag 
 dala, and accurately indicates." Accordingly othct 
 derivations have been sought. The name should 
 signify, in reference to ch. iv. 19-24, the place of the 
 
 stone-heap, or stone-heap monument, or = '??', 
 
 a wheel-shaped height, to which n.7373 = Gol- 
 gotha might be cited as analogous. Fiirst, and 
 
 plectcbat filios quam impiorum parcntum urrbal animos, 
 quum vidcrcnt liberos suos sacrosancti foederis si/mbalo carere 
 Hue enim, mihi eerie, videnlur spectare ilia in Numerts xiv 
 33 Dei verba, cum dicil : Vesica ipsorum corpora, etc., q. e* 
 quia abdicastis vos a mea familia per rtbcllionem, fil'.i 
 quoque veslri adoptionii nota carebunl quamdiu vos in rn'ii 
 eritis. Several modern critics (Keil, Hengstenberg) make 
 this the principal reason for the long abeyance ol circum 
 cision — Tr.] 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 65 
 
 Knobel (on ch. xv. 7) explain the word by circle, 
 circuit, likf the cognate - ,, 7? (hence Galilee), as 
 also we have fTO^?, Josh, xviii. 7 for ^27?^ xv . 
 7, and according to LXX. ^ 7?> Josh. xii. 23. Sub- 
 sequently 72 y? was pronounced ^3?3 (To\yui/, 
 
 Golgol), cf. Phcen. bj^^S (coast of the circle), 
 pr. nom. of the city Igilgili ['lyi\yt\ei, Ptol. 4, 2, 
 Situs [gilyilitanum, in Arnm. 29, 5, 5 ; now G'i'- 
 
 'gelli, near the river Ampsaga in Algiers) ; /| ?2 
 (Gulgog), pr. nom. of a Phoenician settlement in 
 Cyprus." We adopt this last-named etymology, 
 since manifestly these places previously bore the 
 name Gilgal, and not, like Bethel or Bethlehem 
 (Gen. xxviii. 19; xxxv. 15, 19), a different one. 
 But after a definite historical event had occurred 
 here, which was recalled by the word, the name Gil- 
 gal was subsequently interpreted symbolically by 
 the Israelites. Compare with this, out of the most 
 recent history, the symbolical significance of the 
 name Kbniggratz = (dem) Konig g'rath's [the 
 king succeeds.] * 
 
 c. Ver. 10-12. The Passover, connected with the 
 first Enjoyment of the Bread of the Land, and the Ces- 
 sation of the Manna. On the special relation of this 
 short passage, which in every view suits very well 
 with the entire narrative, we have already com- 
 mented, on ch. iv. 15-17, 19. "The children of 
 Israel encamped in Gilgal where they had already 
 pitched, according to ch. iv. 19, and observed the 
 passover on the fourteenth day of the month at 
 evening. The designation of time recalls Ex. xii. 6, 
 18 ; Lev. xxiii. 5 ; Num. ix. 3 ; xxviii. 16, and is not 
 met with elsewhere in the Pentateuch " (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . On the morrow after the passover ; 
 not as Keil strangely supposes, on the sixteenth, 
 but on the fifteenth, precisely according to the pre- 
 cept of the law, Lev. xxiii. 5, 6.- 
 
 In the self-same day, " on which they observed 
 the Passover." For the evening of the fourteenth 
 belonged to the fifteenth day, see Ex. xii. 6; Gen. 
 i. 5 (Knobel). [Or, the self-same day on which 
 they ate the unleavened bread from the new grain. 
 
 Tb.] — 77^7 "**-¥$, of the produce of the land. 
 According to Gesen. the etymology is uncertain. 
 Fiirst derives ~fO.'S from ~I2V =to make fruitful. 
 Both compare the Aram. S'TQIJJ, fetus, surculus. 
 Targum and Peshito use ~>^V for 72^ and 
 *?5Q\ Instead of Y" 1 ^ 11 "1123?, which occurs no- 
 where else in the 0. T., Y"7^ '"IMSOJyl is used Lev. 
 xxiii. 39, as well as here in the latter part of ver. 
 12. In the translation, the distinction between the 
 words is attempted to be preserved by " produce " 
 (not old corn) and "fruit" (yield). The word 
 
 HSQ^l means precisely "income" (from S13). 
 
 1 [There is no evidence, however, that there had been 
 any town or inhabited place here before to reqnire a name 
 at all. No trace of one has been discovered or is likely to 
 be. It was merely a suitable camping-ground, as they 
 found it, perhaps on the easternmost verge of fertile land — 
 Josephus says it was about one and a quarter miles from 
 Jericho. — and was named simply by and for themselves. 
 And why not Gilgal (as suggested by "rolling") then as 
 well as anything? It certainly is not against this that peo- 
 ple of the same language gave the same name to many 
 Dther places for related reasons. — Tr.] 
 
 2 [And yet, considering that the law forbade them (Lev. 
 xxiii. Hi to eat roasted ears, etc., until the day on which 
 
 Roasted ears. Roasted harvest ears are meant ; 
 an article of food still much esteemed by the 
 Arabs. [See Smith's Diet, of the Biliie, an. " Ruth, 
 Book of," p. 2756 b.] 
 
 Ver. 12. And the manna ceased on the mor- 
 row after they ate, etc. On the sixteenth there- 
 fore, the manna ceased, because the people had 
 now arrived in Canaan, and no longer needed this 
 bread of the wilderness (Ex. xvi. 15, 31 If. : Num. 
 xi. 6 ff. ; Deut. viii. 3; Neh. ix. 20; Ps. Ixxviii. 
 24; John vi. 31, 49, 58; Rev. ii. 17). At this 
 place also the ark was substituted for the pillar of 
 cloud and of fire, as the guide in the way.' Tiny 
 stand in the most intimate relation to each other, 
 since in the plan of God, the historical develop- 
 ment of the people was gradually to take the place 
 of his immediate guidance and support. 
 
 In respect to the manna itself, it is well known 
 that reference has often been made to the tamarisk- 
 manna of the Sinaitic peninsula, which result? 
 from the puncture of the leaves of the Tamara 
 manmfera, or oricntalis, by an insect of the coccus 
 family (Coccus manniparus) , and in the form of a 
 sweet, honey-like resin. So the whole body of 
 rationalist interpreters explain. On the other 
 side, von Raumer ( The March of the Israelites, p. 
 21 ff) maintains that, "that manna of the Israel- 
 ites differed from the present tamarisk-manna toto 
 ccelo ; the honest student of Scripture cannot pos- 
 sibly regard that "corn of heaven," that "angel's 
 food, "as it is called (Ps. Ixxviii. 25 ff.), with which 
 God fed his people, as being the same as the louse- 
 production (!) of the naturalist." Stiff supra- 
 naturalism ! to which even Hengstenberg and Keil 
 do not agree. These assume rather that in the 
 feeding with manna, " the supernatural rises on 
 the ground of the natural, as in the case of the 
 miracles in Egypt, and in that of the quail-food." 
 See Keil on this passage (p. 83 ff.). 
 
 As analogous to this we might cite the miracu- 
 lous feeding in John vi. where also the natural basis 
 of bread and fish was present (John vi. 9). The 
 miracle consists in both cases in the increase, on 
 the grandest scale, of the food which they already 
 had. While now, even in the most rainy sea- 
 sons, not more than fifty or sixty pounds is gath- 
 ered, the Israelites gathered, according to von Rau- 
 mer's calculation, at least on certain occasions, 
 near 600,000 pounds. It lay after the dew like frost 
 around the camp (Ex. xvi. 14). God rained it on 
 the Israelites (Ps. Ixxviii. 25). This last expres- 
 sion, which however is employed also concerning 
 flesh, Josephus follows when he says (Ant. iii. 1, 6), 
 that it still rains manna in the wilderness of Sinai. 
 Keil disputes this statement of Josephus, because 
 
 (a) it is supported by no trustworthy authority; 
 
 (b) it is made by him evidently on the ground of 
 uncertain accounts which had come to him ^ ;•■ 
 hearsay. Recent travellers know nothing at all 
 of any manna rain. 4 The great abundance of the 
 
 they brought an offering to their God. which offering (ver 
 12) was to be made on the day in which they " waved the 
 sheaf," which again (ver. 11) was the morrow after "the 
 Sabbath " (commonly understood to mean here the day of 
 "holy convocation," i. e. the fifteenth of the month), there 
 is much reason for Keil's view. And so many commenta- 
 tors have always held. The chief doubt seems to rest on 
 the reference of the word Sabbath in this passage. See the 
 main points of the dispute indicated iu Smith's Dirt, of 
 Bible. Art. " Passover," (z) p. 2346, and Pentecost, note 6, p 
 2341 fc— Tb] 
 
 3 [This is probable, yet the pillar of cloud and fire has fof 
 some time disappeared from the narrative. — Tn-1 
 
 4 [Comp. the phenomena of " Houey-dew " familiar t& 
 
66 
 
 THE BOOK OP JOSHUA. 
 
 manna, therefore, remains a miracle. In respect 
 to the substance also a difference between the 
 manna of the Bible, and that of the present day 
 seems to nold good, since the latter cannot be 
 pounded, ground, baked in cakes, as is reported 
 (Sum. xi. 7, 8) concerning the former. A further, 
 " essential " difference we cannot assume, with Keil, 
 at least not on the ground that " the present manna 
 L> used only as an accompaniment to other food 
 and as a dainty, or even as a purgative medicine," 
 since Num. xi. 6 proves how greatly the Israelites 
 loathed the manna as the solitary staple of their 
 
 diet. Their soul was dried away (nijQ^) upon it. 
 They longed therefore for flesh, which the Lord 
 also gave them (Xum. xi. 31 ; Ps. lxxviii. 27; cv. 
 40), as conversely he had before (Ex. xvi. 13) 
 given them first quails and then manna. Keil 
 concludes his explanation of our passage in these 
 words : " The feeding of the Israelites with manna 
 remains, therefore, a miracle of God which has in- 
 deed, in nature, a faint analogue, but can never be 
 explained on natural principles." In this he 
 means right, as his preceding exposition shows, 
 but ought rather to have said that this miracle 
 rises indeed on a foundation given in nature, but 
 can by no means be identified with the phenom- 
 enon of the manna still commonly exhibited at the 
 present day, nor be fully explained by it. 1 
 
 As to the etymology, the word 7^3 according 
 
 to Ex. xvi. 15, 31, has its name from 1?2, what '(, 
 but this is elsewhere only Chaldee. Gesenius de- 
 rives it from the Arabic, and explains it as mean- 
 ing part, present, gift, namely of heaven, as the 
 Arabs actually call it. He thus follows Kimchi, 
 
 and Ibn Esra, who also compare Heb. i" 1 ^ • Fiirst 
 resorts to an extra-Semitic etymology, because the 
 manna was strange to the Hebrews, and they (Ex. 
 xvi. 15, 31) had no name for it. We think this 
 unnecessary, and would rather refer the word to 
 
 the unused root 12£ = ^?V' t0 d i vicle ' to P art > t0 
 measure, precisely as ]5< Ps. lxviii. 24. Com- 
 pare also 7?? from ptf, ^n (in compounds like 
 
 biOSn, sounded also 10) from 7?n. 
 
 c. Ver. 13-15. The War -Prince of God. As 
 the people receive the consecration to the holy war 
 through circumcision and the Passover, so Joshua, 
 their leader, receives his through the appearance 
 of the prince over Jehovah's army, who commands 
 him, as was done to Moses (Ex. iii. 5), to take off 
 his shoes because the place whereon he stands is 
 holv. 
 
 Ver. 13. By Jericho [lit.: in Jericho], (cf. ch 
 x. '6; xxiv. 26; Gen. xiii. 18). The man bears 
 i drawn (Luther : bare) sword in his hand. Such 
 an one is borne also by the angel who meets Ba- 
 laam in the way (Num. xxii. 23), and not less by 
 the Cherub at the gate of Paradise (Gen. iii. 24). 
 Joshua, thus proving that God has not in vain ad- 
 
 every naturalist. This sometimes occurs over wide dis- 
 tricts of America and Europe in such abundance as to drop 
 freely from the leaves and twigs of various species of trees, 
 while yet several years may elapse without any at all, or at 
 the most only a trifling quantity being seen. Apiarians have 
 much occasion to notice it. Whether it is uniformly the 
 excretion of Aphides in any of their widely different kinds, 
 or sometimes a direct exudation from the trees, and if the 
 latter, from what cause, are still disputed questions. On 
 the whole subject of the manna see the Diet, of the Bible, 
 I. t. ; Bitter in Gage's Transl. ii. pp. 271 -292. — Ta.] 
 
 monished him (ch. i. 6, 7, 9) to be strong ant 
 firm, goes near the apparition and asks the man : 
 Art thou for us or for our adversaries ? " Th« 
 question was appropriate for the military leader of 
 the Israelites " (Knobel.) 
 
 Ver. 14. " The one addressed answers in thu 
 negative, and belongs, therefore, neither to one nor 
 to the other, but is rather the captain of Jehovah's 
 host, that is, prince of the angels. For these, 
 called also the host of heaven (1 K. xxii. 19), are 
 
 to be understood as the ^ ^22, as Ps. ciii. 21 ; 
 cxlviii. 2" (Knobel). Compare further, 2 Chron. 
 xviii. 18, and Luke ii. 13. And Jehovah himself 
 is " Jehovah of hosts," or more fully, " Jehovah 
 God of hosts" (Jer. v. 14; xv. 16), as God is 
 called by the prophets and frequently in the 
 Psalms, Is. vi. 3 ; xxxvii. 16; li. 15 ; Jer. xxxiii 
 11 ; Am. ix. 5 ; Ps. xxiv. 10 ; lxxx. 8, 20 ; lxxxiv. 
 2 ; in the N. T. Jas. v. 4. On the significance of 
 this angel see below, Theological and Ethical. 
 
 Am I now come,- Eor what, is not told, since 
 Joshua interrupts the angel, and with the deepest 
 
 reverence asks : "What speaks my Lord O^H^f 
 
 as Gen. xix. 18, not "3TS, should be read [?] be- 
 cause Joshua recognizes the man as a higher being ; 
 Knobel) to his servant. 
 
 Ver. 15. Loose thy shoes from off thy feet, 
 prop, throw off thy shoes from thy feet. We point 
 
 according to Ex. iii. 5, T^H *»?? TI???"^ 
 
 instead of vj??? and ^l!??"]. [This change is of 
 very doubtful warrant.] De Wette and Luther 
 also adopt the plural in their translations. The 
 shoes must be removed because to them cleaves 
 defilement from the earth, which God has cursed 
 (Gen. iii. 17.) Hence the priests also must wash 
 their hands and feet, when they entered the sanc- 
 tuary (Ex. xxx. 19 ; xl. 32), and went in probably 
 barefooted. But a direct precept to go barefoot is 
 nowhere found. 
 
 For the place .... is holy. It is holy from 
 the appearance here of the angel. Probably the 
 latter communicated still further to Joshua what 
 he was to do. Knobel supposes directions for the 
 approaching war, as well as promises and encour 
 agements ; rightly. 
 
 [There is much in favor of the view advocated 
 by Keil, and many before him, that the communi- 
 cation of the angel to Joshua is contained in ch. 
 vi. 2-5. Chapter v. 13-vi. 5, would thus consti- 
 tute one paragraph ; ch. vi. 1 being a parenthetical 
 statement of the historical circumstance which 
 gave occasion for this divine intervention ; and the 
 division of chapters ought to be before or after ihe 
 entire paragraph. That the Angel should be at 
 last recognized by the narrator as Jehovah and so 
 designated, ch. vi. 2. is in full accordance with 
 Gen. xviii. 17, 20. This conception of the scene 
 prevents the theophany from bemg so aimless and 
 void of result as it otherwise appears. 
 
 Is it accidental merely that the former appear 
 
 [1 Dr. Stowe in the Bible Diet. s. v. regards it as whollj 
 miraculous.] 
 
 [•2 The nn37, "now," in this phrase is probably <W 
 signed to indicate that the speaker is present to make * 
 communication of importance, cf. Dan. ix. 22 ; x. 11, 14. 
 So Masius, referring to those passages : " Significant ittt 
 verba eum qui sie loquitur de re quapiam singutari idau. 
 suamque pretsentiam declarare." — T» 1 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 67 
 
 Mice also of the Jehovah-angel, to Abraham, is 
 represented as having occurred immediately after 
 ine circumcision of his family, Gen. xvii. — Tr.] 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL 
 
 1 . Circumcision and the Passover were the two 
 covenant signs and seals (atppaylSts) of the 0. T. 
 
 The former was, as Christ himself testifies, older 
 than Moses; it was of the fathers (John vii. 22), 
 since God, as Stephen says, Acts vii. 8, had given 
 the covenant of circumcision to Abraham. By it 
 the nation was, through its fathers and youths, 
 consecrated to Jehovah. That was to be indeed a 
 holy people, which belonged to him as the people 
 of his possession. To the true Israelites, therefore, 
 who perceived in the circumcision of the flesh an 
 index to the circumcision of the heart, which must 
 be freed from all impurity even through pain, it 
 was a token of exalted honor. 1 In later times, in- 
 deed, upon the entrance of heathen customs, many 
 became ashamed of it, and artificially removed the 
 traces of it. It was performed, as is well known, on 
 the eighth day (Gen. xvii. 12; Lukeii. 21),andouly 
 he who was circumcised could partake of the Pass- 
 over which was the other covenant sign of the 0. T. 
 (Gen. xii. 1 if., and especially 43 ff.). This latter 
 was of Mosaic origin, and was first of all a meal of 
 thankful, joyous remembrance of the deliverance of 
 
 the people out of Egypt, of their exemption (HpQ) 
 from the plague, of the rescue from the house of 
 bondage. Both signs point beyond themselves to 
 other and greater things, to baptism and the Lord's 
 supper, which are of a more universal, spiritual na- 
 ture, but just as exactly and intimately connected 
 with each other as circumcision and the Passover. 
 
 2. The captain of the Lord's host is the angel 
 of the presence or face (Ex. xxiii. 20) in whom 
 was God's name (ver. 21), of whom God says to 
 Moses (xxxiii. 14), " My presence shall go, thereby 
 will I lead thee." From the passages quoted he as- 
 Bumes an altogether peculiar position towards God, 
 who raises him above all other angels, so that we 
 may perhaps recognize in him the \6yos incar- 
 nandus. Comp. also Prov. viii. 30. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 The terror of the Canaanites. — The heart melts, 
 courage flees when one knows not the living God 
 yet hears of his mighty deeds. — Where there is no 
 confidence in God there is no courage. The conse- 
 cration of the people for the occupancy of the Holy 
 Land through, (1) the circumcision of the warriors 
 born in the Wilderness. (2) The Passover kept by 
 all Israel. — Circumcision and the Passover in 
 their typical relation to baptism and the Lord's 
 supper. The sacraments of the Old and those of 
 the N. T. — As the enjoyment of the paschal lamb 
 and the sweet bread was conditioned on the circum- 
 cision of the participant, so is that of the Holy 
 Supper on baptism. — Of the true circumcision, 
 which is performed not on the body but on the heart- 
 (Rom. ii. 29; Col. ii. 11). — Death the punishment 
 of disobedience. — Through the wilderness to 
 Canaan ! — The heavenly Canaan much richer, 
 more lovely and beautiful than the earthly, of 
 which, however, it is said that it is a land flowing 
 
 l [On the significance of circumcision, see Ebrard's inter- 
 esting views in his Dogmatik, § 526, briefly stated by the 
 weaeot writer in the Baptis' Quarterly for July, 1869. — Tr.] 
 
 with milk and honey. — To-day have I rolled 
 away the reproach of Egypt from off you ! This 
 word is fulfilled, (1.) at Gilgal ; (2.) much more 
 gloriously at Golgotha. — The reproach of Egypt 
 — sin and its misery. 
 
 The first Passover on the soil of Canaan : (1) 
 A feast of thankful remembrance; (2) a feast of 
 blessed hope. The bread of the land although not 
 manna, yet also bread from heaven ! — There is a 
 manna which never fails. Comp. John vi., Rev. 
 ii. — The true bread of life. 
 
 The consecration of the army-leader Joshua by 
 the appearance of the captain of God's army. ( 1 ) 
 Who stood opposite him? (2) How did Joshua be- 
 have ? (3) What command did he receive ? — The 
 brave question of Joshua : Art thou for us or our 
 adversaries 1 — The prince of the Lord's host in his 
 relation to Christ the prince of life. — Joshua's 
 humility the more beautiful because accompanied 
 with steadfast courage. So should Christians also 
 be as Joshua was, courageous and humble minded. 
 They will be so if they themselves know the true 
 
 source of courage and humility, the living God 
 
 Loose thy shoes from off thy feet, for, etc. Com- 
 parison of the call of Moses (Ex. 3) and the conse- 
 cration of Joshua. — Comparison of the consecra- 
 tion of the leader Joshua and of the prophet Isaiah 
 (Is. 6). — "And Joshua did so." Let us also 
 always do what God commands. 
 
 Stakke : God's words and works have not the 
 same effect with the ungodly and the pious. — If 
 the Israelites could not without the bodily circum- 
 cision enter the earthly Canaan, how should it be 
 possible for any one without the spiritual circum- 
 cision of the heart to enter into the heavenly Ca- 
 naan. — Who loves God, him God loves in return 
 and reveals Himself to him (John, xiv- 21). — 
 Even the exalted in this world should not be 
 ashamed to bow the knee before God. 1 K. viii. 
 54 ; Ps. xcv. 6. 
 
 Bibl. Wirt : When God will punish a land 
 or a people He gives them first a tearful and faint 
 heart, Lev. xxvi. 36 ; Deut. xxviii. 65, xi. 25. 
 
 Cramer : He who will have prosperity and a 
 blessing, must begin his enterprise with God, with 
 his word and the use of the holy sacraments, Prov. 
 i. 7, Matt. vi. 33. God usually performs no 
 miracles when one can have natural means to ac- 
 complish something, and then He points us to 
 the ordinary way of subsistence and toil ; He will 
 bless that and will support us therein. There- 
 fore, Christian, sing, pray, and go on in God's 
 ways. 
 
 Gerlach : " The Lord cometh," when his peo- 
 ple especially feel their need of his help, and become 
 comfortably conscious of his presence and aid. 
 Gen. xviii. 1. 
 
 [Matt. Henry (on vers. 13-15): Observe, I. 
 the time when he was favored with this vision ; it 
 was immediately after he had performed the great 
 solemnities of circumcision and the Passover ; then 
 God made Himself known to him. Note, we may 
 then expect the discoveries of the divine grace, 
 when we are found in the way of our duty, and are 
 diligent and sincere in our attendance on holy or 
 dinances. 
 
 II. The place where he had this vision; it mj 
 by Jericho. . . . There he was (some thini) 
 meditating and praying ; and to those who are 
 so employed God often graciously manifests^ Him- 
 self. Or, perhaps, there he was to take a view of 
 the city, to observe its fortifications and contrive 
 how to attack it, and perhaps he was at a losi 
 within himself how to make lis approaches, when 
 
68 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 God came and directed him. Note, Gud will help I who watch, not those who sleep" Joshua w&i 
 those 'hat help themselves : Vigilant Huts non dor- in his post as Urn, nil when God i nine and made 
 wnlious sucurrit lex — "The law succors those I Himself known to him as Generalissimo. — Tr.I 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 
 The Contests of Israel with the Canaaniti 
 Chapters VI.-XI. 
 
 A. Contests against particular cities. 
 Chapters VI.-VIII. 
 
 1. The Capture of Jericho. 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 a. Preparation for the Capture. 
 Chapter VI. 1-14. 
 
 1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up [lit. had shut up (her gates) and was shut up], 
 
 2 because of the children [sons] of Israel : none went out, and none came in. And 
 the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, 
 and the king thereof, and [omit : and] the mighty men of valour [strong heroes]. 
 
 3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city 
 I once : thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark 
 
 seven trumpets of rams' horns [seven alarm-trumpets '] : and the seventh day ye 
 shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 
 J And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn 
 [alarm-horn], and [omit : and] when ye hear the sound'of the trumpet, all the peo- 
 ple 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 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 
 
 7 [alarm-trumpets] before the ark of the Lord [Jehovah]. And he [they-] said 
 unto the people. Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed f pass 
 on before the ark of the Lord [Jehovah]. 
 
 3 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven 
 priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns [alarm-trumpets] passed on before 
 the Lord [Jehovah], and blew with the trumpets : and the ark of the covenant of 
 
 9 the Lord [Jehovah] followed them. And the armed men went before the priests 
 that blew with the trumpets, and the rere-ward came [went] after the ark, the 
 priests [omit: the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets. 4 
 
 10 And Joshua had [omit: had] commanded the people, saying. Ye shall not shout, 
 nor make any noise with your voice [let your voice be heard], neither shall any 
 word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout, then shall ye shout. 
 
 11 So [And] the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] compassed the city, going about it once 
 and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. 
 
 12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of tht 
 
 13 Lord [Jehovah]. And [the] seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns 
 [alarm-trumpets] before the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] went on continually, and 
 blew with the trumpets : and the armed men [as in ver. '.I] went before them ; but 
 the rere-ward came [went] after the ark of the Lord [Jehovah], the pn'ests [omit: 
 
CHAPTER VI. 69 
 
 14 the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets [as in ver. 9]. And the 
 second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did 
 six days. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 4.— C^bsiTl ninCitT? = 73Vn y^O (ver. 5). The specific character of the trumpets or horns 
 
 here mentioned, as indicated by the very obscure word 72V, is elaborately discussed in the Exegetical Notes, to which 
 may well be added the information contained in Smith's Bib!. Diet, articles ( Cornet " and ft Jubilee." See also Ley rer's 
 remarks in Herzog's Tneol. Reatencyk. s. v. "Musik," vol. x. p. 131. With reference to the translation to be adopted, a 
 
 word is ventured here. From a comparison of the passages cited below it is obvious that the T>5*^ OThetber meaning 
 direaly a sound or an instrument of sound) indicated a loud sound, a sound of a very impressive, if not formidable charac- 
 ter. It was a sound always serving as a signal, or alarm in iheniore general fense of this word. Hence, that it was produced 
 
 literally by a ' r rams' horn " employed as the instrument (making 72V denote a ram), seems a physical impossibility, 
 even if the etymological ground for such an interpretation were more than a chimera. But it is not; this meaning, 
 therefore, may unhesitatingly be set aside In their uncertainty as to the real deiivatiou of the word, many lexicogra- 
 phers au*l interpreters have then been content to pass it with the vague seuse of Jubilee (Jubel) horn, because tuis particu- 
 lar instrument was employed to signalize through the laud the return of the Sabbatical (Jubilee) \ear. But this is a 
 Hysteron-proteron, for the word is used before the Sabbatical year had ever been mentioned (Ex. six. 13), to indicate the 
 signal or alarm by which the people should be warned of the appearance of God on Mount Sinai. It is, furthermore, sig- 
 nificant that dowu to the last nienran -i the 72V in Scripture, there had been no occurrence of the year of Jubilee to 
 give a denomination to the trumpet or anything rise connected with its observance The Sabbatical year, therefore, 
 received its name as the year of the ^2V, or as itself the 72V' from the name of the instrument or of the sound by 
 which it was to be ushered in and heralded to all the people. Instead of learning the character of the instrument 
 from that of the sacred year, we must, vice versa, learu that of the year (so far as intimated by its name) from the pecul- 
 iar mode of its announcement. Its intrinsic character to the experience of the people had ytt to be ascertained by them, 
 and could now be only obscurely foreseen. 
 
 We are left then to study the actual quality and u*e of the born of 72V, first from the passages outside of the circle 
 of the jubilee year, and then from those relating to that year, to get practically at the meaning of the word. 
 
 Perhaps neither of the meanings ''signal," r( alarm,"' to which we are thus brought can be rigidly adhered to in all 
 places. In the Pentateuch generally ■' signal ;t would perhaps be more appropriate ; here in Joshua ''alarm " is at least 
 equally so. If we were at perfect liberty to make compound words, c ' loud-horn " might pretty well cover all the uses. 
 Zunz's excellent version gives schmettenutes Horn, ec rattling." " clattering horn."' — Tr.] 
 
 [2 Ver. 7. — THUDS' "1 . " The plural is not to be altered here, but to be explained from the fact that Joshua made 
 the announcement not in person but through the Schoterim (i, 10 ; iii. 2) by whom his orders were officially published. 1 ' 
 Keil. — Tb.] 
 
 [3 Ver. 7- — Him that is armed (the armed body), t^-1 fill. ( f( expedites, stripped . . . . t. q. armed, ready, etc.* 
 
 Gesen. s. v.) here distinguished from ?}3StDn '' rere-ward " ver. 9, as a part only of the f( men of war," verse 3 
 They may have been a special branch of the forces (light-armed, nekTao-rai, which the etymology would slightly favor), 
 or, more probably, the soldiery of the Transjordanic tribes who were to cross the river S2"-^n ^^H, iv. 13, comp 
 Keil in loc. — Ta.] 
 
 [4 Ver. 9 — The Heb. leaves the subject of this indefinite ; our knowledge otherwise gained suggests the priests. — T*.] 
 
 b. Capture and Destruction of Jericho. 
 Chapter VI. 15-27. 
 
 15 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 [this] manner seven times : only on 
 
 16 that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh 
 time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto fch« people, Shout ; 
 
 17 for the Lord [Jehovah] hath given you the city. And the city shall be accursed 
 [devoted], even [omit : even] it, and all that are therein, to the Lord [Jehovah] : 
 only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because 
 
 18 she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the 
 accursed thing [from that which is devoted], lest ye make yourselves accursed, when 
 ye take of the accursed thing [that which is devoted], and make the camp of Israel a 
 
 19 curse [devoted thing], and trouble it. 1 But [And] all the silver, and gold, and ves- 
 sels of brass and 'ron, are consecrated unto the Lord [Jehovah] : they shall como 
 
 20 into the treasury of the Lord [Jehovah]. So the people shouted when the priests 
 blew 2 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 
 fiat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they 
 
 21 took the city. And they utterly destroyed [devoted] all that wo in the city 
 
70 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge oi 
 the sword. 
 
 22 But Joshua had [omit : had] said unto the two men that had spied out the coun- 
 try, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she 
 
 23 hath, as ye sware unto her. And 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 [Heb. families, and so Bunsen], and 
 
 24 left them without the camp of Israel. And 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 
 
 25 put into the treasury of the house of the Lord [Jehovah]. And Joshua saved Ra- 
 hab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had ; and she dwel- 
 leth in [in the midst of] Israel even [omit: even] unto this day; because she hid 
 the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. 
 
 26 And Joshua adjured them [caused them to swear] at that time, saying, Cursed be 
 the man before the Lord [Jehovah], that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho : he 
 shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set 
 
 27 up the gates of it. So the Lord [Jehovah] was with Joshua ; and his fame was 
 noised [omit : noised] throughout all the country [in all the land.] 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 [Ver. 18. This verse would be more correctly given somewhat thus : " Only do ye keep yourselves from what ia do 
 voted, lest ye devote, and take of what is devoted, and make the camp of Israel a devoted thing, and trouble it." To 
 devote (to Jehovah) and to take (for themselves) were two incompatible things : " Ulrumque consistere non polerat, pug- 
 mtnlia era?!*, .... aut non erat res devovenda, aut cum devotum esset ab ea abstinmdum erat.'" 1 Lud. de Dieu ap Kell 
 In loc. — Tr] 
 
 2 [Ver. 20. Lit. : And the people shouted, and they blew with the trumpets. — Te.] 
 
 exegetical and critical. 
 
 With this sixth chapter begins the second sec- 
 tion of the first part of our book, giving us in a 
 continuous narrative the history of the conquest 
 of the land. It offers critical difficulties in only a 
 few passages (ch. viii. 12, 13 compared with viii. 3 
 and viii. 30-35), so that even Rnobel describes it as 
 " an exhibition, in the main regular and consistent, 
 of the wars of Joshua," by the hand of the Jehovist. 
 In so far it is advantageously distinguished from the 
 report of the passage through the Jordan (chaps. 
 iii., iv.) The style is excellent, and rises often (ch. 
 vii. 8 ; x. 1-27) to a strikingly beautiful representa- 
 tion of deeds of war wrought by God through 
 Joshua and the people of Israel ; comp. Introd. § 1, 
 p. 3. Poetical passages are twice (chaps, vi. 26 and 
 x. 12-15) introduced. A certain delicate humor is 
 betrayed in ch. ix. From ch. x. 28 to xi. 23, the 
 traits just noticed are absent, and a sort of monot- 
 ony in the chronological enumeration of con- 
 quests appears. Chapter xii. is a very valuable 
 historical document, from ver. 9 onward in partic- 
 ular, to which Bunsen has rightly called attention. 
 
 So much in general concerning this extremely 
 interesting section, chaps, vi. 1-xi. 23. We pro- 
 ceed now to the explanation of ch. vi., which re- 
 lates the capture of Jericho. 
 
 [On the connection between this and the preced- 
 ing chapter, see the translator's remarks on p. 66.] 
 
 a. Ver. 1-11. Preparation for it. Jericho had, 
 at the approach of the Israelites, closed its doors 
 so that no one went out and no one came in. Je- 
 hovah now commands Joshua to march around 
 the city with the ark preceded by priests giving 
 blasts on alarm trumpets, once each day for six 
 days in succession, but on the seventh day seven 
 times, and promises that then her walls shall fall 
 down. This command Joshua imparts to the 
 riests with the people, for immediate execution, 
 
 K 
 
 ver. 6, 7), which then also follows (vers. 8-11). 
 
 Ver. 2. See, I have given We find a simi 
 lar expression in ch. xi. 6. Here, however, the 
 Israelites themselves were to adopt no warlike 
 measures for the taking of the city. Jericho must 
 fall rather through the immediate help of God, 
 that is, through a miracle. 
 
 Ver. 3-5. Signal trumpets. ntl?itD 
 
 C , b5i > n= 1 75i j n pj?. That these two des- 
 ignations (ver. 4, 5) signify the same musical in- 
 strument is clear, and may be inferred directly 
 from our passage. It may be also further assumed 
 
 as probable that "IQit» and nn^q (Num. x. 
 2, 8) are not identical, but f , rather a crooked in- 
 strument, and hence called 1"^P, and n, the 
 straight trumpet frequently represented on Egyp- 
 tian monuments (Keil, Com. on J., p. 158). The 
 
 interpretation of 72V on the other hand occasions 
 difficulty. According to Fiirst it has two significa- 
 tions : " ( 1 ) Ram, Aries, from the unusual, intrans 
 
 • 3\ to be compressed, hard, strong, according to 
 
 this Vl "lBItt?, 'Tl pp or even ^V alone, 
 Ex. xix. 13, would mean ram's horns as a wind in- 
 strument. This signification appears already in 
 
 the Targum (S^O'H) and the Jewish expositors, 
 who follow indeed the tradition (Rosh-ha-Shana 3) , 
 and from the latter we learn that in old Arabic 
 
 the word had the same sense; Phcenic. 75" 1 the 
 
 same (Mass. 7) ; (2) (from *??^ H) Sound of Jubi 
 
 lee, sound of joy (related to the pr. nom. vSV) 
 as a designation of the great feast of Jubilee on 
 the tenth of the seventh month in each fiftieth 
 year, which was proclaimed with trumpets through 
 the whr'e land. Lev. xxv. 8." That the same 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 71 
 
 word should have these two radically different sig- 
 nifications is, if not exactly impossible, vet in this 
 
 ease improbable, since the year of jubilee (HDti? 
 
 •^1 n) was announced, as Fiirst himself says, ")y 
 
 the ^l?"'*'!' "19*07, and from this evidently had its 
 name, as Winer (Realw. s. v. " Juheljahr "). Oehler 
 (Realtncyk. x. p. 131) take for granted, after the 
 example of older interpreters, especially Groddeck, 
 
 De verisim. roc. V2V signif., Danz. 1758. On this 
 supposition the question arises, whence the deriva- 
 tion of '2V, and how it is to be explained. 
 
 Either it is from a root sD? not in use, which, as 
 Fiirst assumes, should mean to be compressed, 
 
 hard, strong, the same as the Pheen. '?*> from 
 
 which then '^ or '?V = the strong, the ram 
 
 (as also 7*S means properly strength): this is 
 supported by reference to the inscription of Mar- 
 seilles, 1. 7. In this view, -?1 > L'"1^i/. would be 
 rams-horn, ^ril^riT - ~ ^?^^ raras-horn-trumpet, and 
 V^'H-nili'' the year at the beginning of which 
 thej T blew- the rams-horn, and which received it- 
 name from this. Or, as Gesenius (T/ies. ii. 361 J 
 
 teaches, from an onomatop. ^5', to sound out, to 
 
 shout, Lat. jubilare, as the related 3? , _, Judg. v. 
 28, signifies to call, to call aloud, and in Aram, is 
 employed expressly of the call of jubilee. Thus 
 
 ^P would be = TT2n&, and baVrTnEiC? 
 .^nyVljjnC'itr (Lev. xxv. 8) = alarm-signal or 
 jnbilee-trumpet. The 'rP^'l -1 !?. would mean 
 the same, and ^Si*""^??? would be the year at 
 whose commencement the alarm-horn or trump of 
 jubilee was sounded, and which hence derived its 
 name. This t'ymology is decisively favored by 
 
 the name, '2V, of the son of Lantech, Gen. iv. 21 , 
 who was the inventor of the harp and syrinx. 
 We must therefore adopt this explanation. The 
 
 double plural n^Vrrrrhsitr, as in Num. xiii. 
 
 32, nvrcntt^H, Deut. i. as, Dpaygja. 
 
 Ewald, § 270. [See Gesen. Lex. s. v. b^V 1 .] 
 
 The number seven of the trumpets, priests, 
 days, is significant, for which compare Gen. xxi. 
 30, and a multitude of Old and New Test, pas- 
 sages in Winer, art. " Zahlen." [Smith's Diet. art. 
 " Seven."] The circuit marches were thirteen in ali, 
 six during the first six days, and seven on the last, 
 which was probably, as the Rabbins have assumed, 
 a Sabbath. It might be objected that, according 
 to Ex. xx. 9-11, no work was to be done on the 
 Sabbath ; but this circuit was no work, but rather 
 a religious transaction of the nature of worship, 
 performed in obedience to a special command of 
 God, to whose glory the walls of Jericho fell pre- 
 cisely on the Sabbath. The object of these encom- 
 passing marches, about which much has been said, 
 has been well indicated by Knobel, who says : 
 "Jericho was to fall as the first-fruits of the 6a- 
 naanitish cities manifestly by Israel's God. The 
 repeated compassing of the city directed attention 
 with the sharpest intensity towards what was fin- 
 ally to come to pass, and when the event came, 
 left no doubt that Jehovah was its cause, while the 
 
 courage of Israel is thereby raised also, and the 
 despondency of the Canaamtes increased." 
 
 In substantial agreement with this Keil remarks, 
 that " The repetition during several days of this 
 procession about the city could only be designed t* 
 exercise Israel in unconditional faith and patier 
 trust in the power and assistance of God, and t< 
 impress deeply upon him that it was the omnipo- 
 tence and fidelity id" Jehovah alone which could 
 give into his hand this fortified city, the bastion of 
 the whole land." 
 
 Ver. 5. Every man straight before hint. 
 Over the prostrate walls should the Israelites 
 enter Jericho, and " each one straight forward,'' 
 so that their order should be preserved as far as 
 possible. In Joel ii. 9, it is said likewise of the 
 locusts : " like men of war they climb a wall, <^d 
 every one marches on his way. 
 
 Vers. 6, 7. Joshua issues the needful commands. 
 
 Vers. 8-11. The first circuit, in which the order 
 of procession was, (1.) the armed men ; (2.) the 
 seven priests with their seven trumpets; (3.) the 
 priests with the ark of the covenant; (4.) the re- 
 maining warriors as a rear-guard. *1?^ = ag- 
 men claudere. This duty on the march through 
 the wilderness devolved, according to Num. x. 25, 
 on the tribe of Dan ; whether on this occasion also 
 cannot 1"- determined. 
 
 Ver. 9. That blew with the trumpets. Not 
 
 according to the KethibWf?^, but the Keri ^i?'"^ 
 which Knobel prefers as unquestionably the true 
 reading. [Keil holds to the Kethib.] 
 
 Ver. 10. Ye shall not shout. That should be 
 done first on the seventh day, at the express com 
 maud of Joshua. Silently and without a voice, foi 
 six long days, under the prolonged clangor of 
 the trumpets, the people marched around and 
 around the City of Palms, whose inhabitants ven- 
 tured no sortie. Perhaps they were imposed upon 
 by the sublime silence which was maintained 
 throughout this delay. 
 
 Ver. 11. At evening of the first day they came 
 into the camp to spend the night. 
 
 Vers. 12-14. So they did for six days, without 
 intermission. 
 
 6. Capture and Destruction of Jericho. Vers. 15- 
 20. The seventh day. Now the Israelites begin 
 their march very early, with the dawn, because 
 they have to make the circuit seven times. If we 
 suppose that Jericho had a compass of an hour's 
 journey, then a formal porcession like this, which 
 moved slowly, would require at least one hour and 
 a half to accomplish it. This would give for the 
 seven circuits ten and a half hours. Rut to this 
 we must add the absolutely necessary rests of at 
 least a quarter of an hour each ; and if we assume 
 one after the first, second, and third circuits, and so 
 on to the end, the six will amount to an hour and 
 a half. This added to the ten and a half makes 
 twelve hours. The fall of the wall, accordingly, 
 must have taken place near evening. The Sabbath 
 would then be about over and the work of destruc- 
 tion might begin. 
 
 Ver. 17. And the city shall be devoted. 
 ^~}U (only once 0~}H, Zech. xii. 11) from O^n 
 = to cut off, in the Hiph. to devote, to withdraw 
 from common use and consecrate to God = sacrare. 
 is, (a.) with active signification, the devotement of 
 anything by Jehovah, his putting under the ban, 
 the result of which is destruction, Mai. iii. 24 ; Zech. 
 xiv. 11 ; 1 K. xx. 42 ; Is. xxxiv. 5; or (b.) with 
 pass, signif. thing devoted, doomed, laid under thi 
 
72 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 ban, that is, devoted to Jehovah without the possi- 
 bility of being redeemed (in distinction from other 
 devoted objects), Lev. xxvii. 21, xxviii. 29. In the 
 latter sense it stands here, vers. 17, 18, and in ch. 
 vii. 1 ff., 1 Sam. xv. 3-9. Quite correctly there- 
 fore, Starke long ago remarked : " A devoted thing 
 (Bann) (LXX. apddeaa, Num. xxi. 2, 3; Dent. vii. 
 2, xx. 17) was that which had been doomed to the 
 Lord, which no man might employ for his own 
 use, but which was either put away and destroyed 
 utterly to the honor of God, as the men and beasts 
 in this passage, a propitiation, as it were, to the 
 divine justice, that this might be glorified ; or it 
 was consecrated to the special service of God, as 
 here all precious and useful metals, Lev. xxvii. 21, 
 28 ; Deut. ii. 34, iii. 6, vii. 2, 26, xiii. 15-17, xx. 26 
 ff." See also the explanation to ch. ii. 11. 
 
 Eahab alone should be spared, because she had 
 concealed the spies. The oath of the latter is men- 
 tioned only to them (ver. 22), but not before the 
 people. 
 
 Ver. 18 contains a warning which Achan, to his 
 own destruction and that of his family, neglected 
 (ch. vii.). 
 
 Vers. 20, 21. Capture of the City- At Joshua's 
 command, the people who have before marched in 
 silence around the city raise a battle shout. The 
 trumpets clang. The walls of Jericho fall flat 
 
 (prop, under themselves, i^'Tin^! the people of 
 Israel pass in and devote everything that is in the 
 city, man and woman, boy and gray-haired sire, 
 cattle, sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword 
 (Gen. xxxiv. 26, and very often in our book). [On 
 
 ? instrument!, see Ges. Lex., p. 501 e. fin.] — The 
 miracle here related has been explained by a sud- 
 den earthquake (J. D. Michaelis ; Bartholm, Jewish 
 History, ii. p. 22 ; Jahn, Bibl. Archmologie, ii. p. 174 
 ff). •' But nothing of that stands written here " 
 (Knobel). Nor is anything said of undermining 
 the walls ; manifestly a miracle was wrought, accord- 
 ing to the entire new of the author, by the God of 
 Israel " present upon the ark of the covenant." 
 See Doctrinal and Ethical 2. 
 
 Vers. 22-25. Rescue of Bahab. This is effected 
 in consistency with the promise, and oath of the 
 spies. 
 
 Ver. 22. Go into the harlot's house. This 
 house appears not to have fallen, although it was 
 built on [or against] the wall. 
 
 Young men. The Heb. "I3?3 has very often 
 this signification, Gen. xxii. 3, xxxiv. 19, xxxvii. 
 2 ; Judg. viii. 20 ; Jer. vi. 6 ; 1 Sam. xxx. 13 ; LXX. 
 Svo vtaviaKot ; Vulg. juvenes. 
 
 Ver. 23. And left them without tue camp. 
 After the analogy of Lev. xxiv. 14, Num. xxxi. 19. 
 They were, as heathen, unclean, and must there- 
 fore remain for a specified time, probably, as in the 
 case of other things unclean, seven days, without 
 the camp. 
 
 Ver. 24 breaks the connection, and would per- 
 haps stand better, as Knobel conjectures, before 
 ver. 21. [That cattle and other property in Jericho 
 were put under the ban, and the whole city reduced 
 to ashes, was "because this was the first city of 
 Canaan which Jehovah had given a prey to his 
 people. It. therefore, should Israel offer as the first- 
 fruits of the land to the Lord, and even consecrate 
 to Him as devoted, for a sign that they received the 
 whole land from his hand, as a loan and as what 
 had fallen to Him, not what they would snatch for 
 themBelv;s." Keil. — Tr.] 
 
 Ver. 25 takes up again the thread of the narra 
 tive concerning Rahab's position. 
 
 She dwelt in Israel. See the Exegetical and 
 Homiletical on chap. ii. 
 
 Ver. 26. Curse upon Jericho. Since a devoted 
 city might not, according to Deut. xiiii. 17, be re- 
 built, Joshua pronounces an imprecation on the 
 foundation and soil of Jericho. Such a curse, as 
 Strabo says, xiii. p. 601, Agamemnon uttered upon 
 Ilium, and Seipio, according to Appian (Punica, § 
 135 f.), upon Carthage (Knobel). In connection 
 with this they used, as Hadrian did at Jerusalem, to 
 plough around the site of the city (Starke). " The 
 Jews also probably scattered salt over the place, 
 Judg. ix. 45, as a curse and sign of barrenness, 
 Deut. xxix. 22, 23 ; Ps. cvii. 33, 34 ; Jer. xvii. 6 ; 
 Zech. ii. 9," Starke. Of ploughing and sowing salt 
 there is no mention here, but so much the more im- 
 pressive sounds the curse which Joshua poetically 
 utters. That this curse was fulfilled is related in 
 1 K. xvi. 34, when Hiel of Bethel ventured in 
 Ahab's time to rebuild Jericho. It is at variance 
 with this late restoration of the city that its name 
 reappears in our book ch. xviii. 21 ; Judg. iii. 13 ; 2 
 Sam. x. 5. The difficult; may be obviated (a) by 
 assuming, with Winer, that in 1 K. xvi. 34 the 
 language relates only to the fortifications of Jericho, 
 
 — which reference of the word ■"'JS is established 
 by 1 K. xv. 17 and 2 Chr. xi. 5 — and that Joshua 
 himself as military leader had respect only to the 
 fortifications; or (h) by availing ourselves of the 
 hypothesis of Knobel, that the Jericho spoken of 
 during the time between Joshua and Ahab was in 
 a different place from that which Hiel first rebuilt. 
 In support of his view Knobel recalls that neither 
 Troy nor Carthage was built up again on the old 
 spot, because the ground of both places had been 
 cursed. For the rest, Knobel conceives the execra- 
 tion in the special form which it had received, as 
 wholly vaticininm ex erentu, and views the mattei 
 thus: (1) Joshua had expressed an imprecation, 
 but a "general imprecation;" (2) This general 
 imprecation was known, and had for its effect that 
 when Jericho was rebuilt in the time between 
 Joshua and David, it was not placed on the old 
 site ; (3) the rebuilding on the old site was effected 
 under Ahab, by Hiel, who lost his oldest son at the 
 time of laying the foundation of the wall, and his 
 youngest at the setting up of the gate; (4) the 
 author of our book knew of these occurrences, anil 
 assumed that Joshua had not only uttered a gen- 
 eral malediction, but had extended this to so min- 
 ute points as were afterwards brought to light. 
 We confess that we here meet too many hypotheses, 
 and therefore stand by the explanation of Winer 
 which is grammatically well established. 
 Ver. 27. Joshua's fame, SOttf, Jos. ix. 9. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 In order to determine the notion of C"^n, we 
 must have regard above all to the passage Lev. xxvii. 
 28, 29 ; " Only no devoted thing (C~in) which » 
 man shall devote (D"]rp to Jehovah of all that 
 he hath, of man and beast, and of the field of his 
 possession, shall be sold or redeemed ( '^|?'^ '1) 
 every devoted thing is most holy to Jehovah. No 
 devoted thing which is devoted" by men shall b« 
 redeemed; it shall surely be put to death." Every 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 73 
 
 Jiing else of man, of beast, of house, of field which 
 Dne only consecrated to Jehovah (tE^Pl) might 
 be redeemed, but what any one had devoted, that 
 is, given over to complete and unconditional sanc- 
 tity, that could not be redeemed. It was, as 
 Riietschi says {Realencyk. i. p. 677), "a doomed 
 gift " (Banngeschenk), an object laid under the ban 
 
 (E~in in its first, active sense), a thing most holy 
 to Jehovah. If it was a living creature, it was. 
 according to this precept of the law, put to death ; 
 if it was a piece of land it was (as we may rightly 
 conclude from Lev. xxvii. 21, comp. also Num. xviii. 
 14; Ezek. xliv. 29) the possession of the priests; 
 if it was any other valuable property it belonged, as 
 our history teaches (cb. vi. 19, 24) and as is shown 
 also by Num. xxxi. 54, to the treasury of Jehovah, 
 If an entire city like Jericho was put under the ban, 
 it was b\imt up (Josh. vi. 24; x. 28, 35, 37, 40; 
 xi. 11; Num. xxi. 1-3; Dent. xiii. 16); yet not 
 always, Josh. xi. 11, as they also sometimes let the 
 cattle live, and divided them as booty (Deut. ii. 34 f, 
 iii. 6 ft", and Josh. viii. 26 ft"). Such a devotement 
 might be, as Riietschi has explained with special 
 clearness, directed inwardly, on the people of Israel 
 themselves, comp. ch. vii., or outwardly against 
 those of other nations. In both cases, however, 
 as a long line of passages (Ex. xxii. 20; Deut. 
 xiii. 16 If., ii. 34, iii. 6; Josh. vi. 17 ft'., etc., see 
 above) will show, the destruction of every unholy, 
 idolatrous creature was the design, since Israel must 
 be a holy people. The latter case, the outward 
 iirection of it, is met with earlier in the history, 
 but with special frequency in our book. " Dread- 
 ful, certainly," says Winer (i. 135, obs. 3), "was 
 such devotement of conquered cities, only there is 
 no good reason for complaining of Hebrew an- 
 tiquity so bitterly as Tindal, Morgan, and others 
 have done. Humanity toward prisoners of war, 
 especially toward the inhabitants of conquered 
 cities, was unknown to the ancient nations gen- 
 erally. Every war was at first a war of annihila- 
 tion, and that treatment of the Canaanitish towns 
 jras, on political, and (in the sense of that age) 
 religious grounds, as truly demanded, as is very 
 much besides which even civilized and Christian 
 nations hold valid, as flowing from the right of 
 conquest." 
 
 The destruction of these Canaanite cities fol- 
 lowed upon an immediate, divine direction (Ex. 
 xvii. 14; Deut. vii. 2; xx. 16; 1 Sam. xv. 3), at 
 another time, the Israelites Wiethe same (Num. 
 xxi. 2). Again in other cases, the devotement, in 
 its inward direction and in its outward, takes place 
 in consequence of appointments of the law (Lev. 
 xx. 2 ; Deut. xiii. 16 rF. ) . By this a limit was set 
 to all caprice, for, the holiness of Israel in rigid 
 separation from everything of a heathen nature, 
 and from every abomination of idolatry (Ex. 
 xxiii. 32 ; Deut. xx. 18), was to be the only "ground 
 of the ban. Otherwise every murderer might with 
 hypocritical mien have appealed to such a devote- 
 ment of his neighbor. He who seized upon any- 
 thing for himself that had been devoted paid the 
 penalty with his life (Josh. vi. 18 ; Deut. xiii. 17 ; 
 Josh. vii. 11 ff.) 
 
 By these views we must interpret the expression 
 >f the high-priest (John xi. 49, 50), and so also St. 
 Paul's designation (Gal. iii. 10) of the crucified 
 Redeemer, as Karapa. 
 
 Finally we may mention that similar statutes 
 were in force among the Gauls and ancient Ger- 
 nans ; and to the Romans and Greeks they were 
 not at all strange. Caesar relates of the Gauls 
 
 (Bell. Gall. vi. 17): " Huic (sc. Marti) auu-m 
 praJio dimicare const ituerunt, ea, quae bello cepe* 
 rinf, plerumque devovent. Qiue superaverint, aw- 
 mtilia capta itumolant ; reliquas res in unum locum 
 confrrunt. Multis in civitatibus harum rerum ex- 
 tructos tiimulos locis consecratis conspicuri Hot ; 
 wque stepe accidit, ut, neglecta quispiam religione, 
 aut capta apitd se occultare, ant posita tollere audi ret ; 
 gravissimumque ei ret supplicium cum cruciatu con- 
 stitutum est." The practice therefore was similar 
 to what happened in the case of Achan, the pen- 
 alty of death for theft of what bad been devotee'., 
 Tacitus (Aiiual. xiii. 57) tells concerning the 
 Hermunduii. that a war in winch they had been 
 engaged with the Catti had turned out fortunately 
 for the former, for the latter ruinously (exitiosius) ; 
 11 quia victores diversam aciem Marti ac Mercuiio 
 sacravere. quo veto, 'qui, viri, cuncta victa ocadioni 
 dantur." Livy (iii. 55) recalls a law passed under 
 the consuls L. Valerius and M. Horatius : " Ut qui 
 tribunis plebis, letlilibus, judicibus, decemviris nocu- 
 isset, ejus caput Jovi sacrum esset; fainilia ad 
 osdeiii Cereris, Liberi, Libeneque venum iret." We 
 may remember further the ver sacrum, so beauti 
 fully described by Uhland in his familiar poem, 
 and the burning up of a part of the spoils, to 
 consecrate them to the gods, as was also done 
 in Roman antiquity (Appian, Pun. ch. exxxiii; 
 Mithr. ch. xlv.). Similar is the taboo of the South 
 Sea islanders, a ban the violation of which was 
 punished with death. See the Ca/wer Missions- 
 Geschichle by Blumhardt, ii. pp. 238, 243. [Mur 
 ray's Encyc. of Geog. iii. p. 156; Cook's Voyaqet 
 (2" vols. Lond.'l842), vol. ii. pp. 112, 11.3, 255, and 
 often.] 
 
 2. The fall of the walls of Jericho is just as 
 much referred to the immediate causality of God, 
 as the miraculous passage of the Israelites through 
 the Jordan. It is a soulless expedient, therefore, 
 to think of an undermining of the walls. Much 
 rather might we approve the resort to an earth- 
 quake, because in such a natural event the divine 
 agency is directly involved. But there is nothing 
 said of that in the text, and it is therefore best sim- 
 ply to recognize the fact. It was for the Canaan- 
 ites a terror, to the Israelites a most cheering sign 
 of the continued presence of God with his people. 
 For us its symbolical significance is not to be 
 lightly estimated, especially for those among us to 
 whom the Bible is indeed" precious but much of 
 what is related in it difficult to receive, — really 
 earnest Christians, whom we should not on this 
 account (as is, alas, so commonly done) immedi- 
 ately characterize as infidels. This name, indeed, 
 it would in general be far better to apply somewhat 
 more sparingly, unless all investigation of Scripture 
 is to be threatened with the ban. 
 
 [" By this " (namely, its occurrence, through the 
 direct efficiency of God), " the fall of Jericho be- 
 came the image and type of the fall of every world- 
 power before the Lord, when He comes to lead his 
 people into Canaan and to establish his kingdom 
 on earth. On the ground of this fact it is, that 
 the blast of the trumpet becomes, in the writings 
 of the prophets, the signal and symbolical prog- 
 nostic of the revelations of the Lord in the great 
 judgments by which He, through the destruction 
 of one world-power after the other, maintains and 
 extends his kingdom on earth, and carries it on- 
 ward toward perfection. This it will reach when 
 He descends from heaven in his glory at the time 
 of the last trumpet, with a shout, with the voice 
 of the archangel and trump of God, to raise the 
 dead and change the living to hold the j idgmenl 
 
74 
 
 THE B()( K OF JOSHUA. 
 
 of the world and cast the devil, and death, and 
 hell into the lake of tire, to create heaven and earth 
 anew, and in the New Jerusalem to set up the tab- 
 ernacle of God with men forever and ever." (1 Cor. 
 xv. 51 tf. ; 1 Thess. iv. 16 f. ; Apoc. xx. and xxi ) 
 Keil. 
 
 " By ordering that the walls of Jericho should 
 fall only after the circuit of the city during seven 
 days, and on the seventh day seven times with the 
 sound of the alarm-trumpets and the war-cry of 
 the warriors of God's people, God would make 
 this city, the key of Canaan, a type of the final de- 
 struction of the powers of this world which stand 
 in hostile opposition to the kingdom of God. By 
 this would He not only intimate to his people that 
 not immediately, but after protracted and patient 
 struggles, finally at the end of the world, will the 
 hostile world-power be subdued, but also hint to 
 the enemies of his kingdom, that their strength, 
 although they may long resist, yet at last will 
 perish in a moment." Keil. — Tr.] 
 
 3. It is worthy of notice how the Redeemer has 
 signalized Jericho. Here he entered into the house 
 of Zacchaeus (Luke xix. 5, 9) ; here he healed Bar- 
 timeus of his blindness (Mar. x. 46, 52 ; Luke xviii. 
 35) ; in the neighborhood of this city he repeated 
 the announcement of his sufferings (Luke xviii. 
 31; Matt. xx. 28). He thinks of Jericho in the 
 parable of the good Samaritan (Luke x. 30). Then 
 Jericho was a prominent city by reason of Herod's 
 magnificent buildings there ; now it is a miserable 
 village. [See the references on ch. ii. 1.] 
 
 4. As the blessing operates in its effects through 
 centuries, so not less does the curse, when a moral 
 justification accompanies it. The curse upon 
 Jericho was the curse upon everything of an idol- 
 atrous nature, upon the Canaanite race with all its 
 heathenish abominations ; it was therefore a theo- 
 cratic curse on sin itself. Such a curse Paul 
 utters, on the principles of the N. T., against all 
 teachers of error and corrupters of the congrega- 
 tion (1 Cor. xvi. 22 ; Gal. i. 8), with the same pro- 
 priety as did Joshua. The more the leaven of 
 Christianity spreads and pervades all things, the 
 less occasion shall we have for cursing ; we shall 
 have occasion rather for praising God and blessing 
 the brethren. But he who sees everywhere only 
 apostasy and error, who will not perceive that even 
 now salvation is nearer to us than before, he will 
 doubtless rather curse than bless, as in fact not 
 only ultramontane Catholics, but also some profes- 
 sing Protestantism abundantly do. But they are 
 no Joshuas, neither of them. Their glance reaches 
 nf ev!i into the near future, to say nothing of dis- 
 t"Jit a£.*8. So their sentences of curse die away in 
 r Jenc< to our great comfort, because they have 
 no moral justification. 
 
 HOMTLETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 The closed and barred Jericho an image (1) of 
 a closed heart; (2) of a closed house; (3) of a 
 closer" congregation. — As the Lord gave Jericho 
 into the hand of Joshua, so He still always gives 
 every closed heart, and every closed house, and 
 every closed congregation (or even city) into the 
 'ianJ of his servants. — The trump of the year of 
 jubilee and the trump of Judgment. — Before the 
 war-shout of the spiritual Israel fall all the walls 
 which the world has reared for its own defense, 
 especially the walls of self-righteousness behind 
 which sin pursues its courses. — The procession 
 iro ind Jericho, (1) silent, (2) but with the accom- 
 
 paniment of trumpet blasts, a procer:icr_ in th« 
 name of the Lord God of IsraeL — The capture of 
 Jericho, (1) well prepared for by Joshua, (2) glori- 
 ously accomplished by God's almighty power. 
 The dawn of the seventh day a dawn of victory. 
 The confidence of Joshua's faith. — Shout, for God 
 has given you the city. — The holy curse. — The 
 holy deliverance (ver. 17.) — Judgment and mercy 
 shown by the devotement of Jericho on the one 
 hand, and on the other by the deliverance of Kahab. 
 — Keep yourselves from that which is devoted. — 
 The treasure of the Lord, consisting (1 ) in Israel, 
 in gold and silver, and brass (2) among us, in the 
 holy gospel of the blessed God in Christ Jesus. — 
 The walls fell down flat! 0, how shall we rejoice 
 when one day all the walls which proud worldli- 
 ness has built tall down, even those which statutes 
 have erected — the walls of cloisters and the walls 
 of Rome ! — The glorious victory of the people, a 
 condemnation at the same time of Jericho. — The 
 rescue of Rahab considered in reference (1) to her 
 person (description of her character according to 
 ch. ii., Heb. xi. 31 ; Ja. ii. 25) ; (2) to the con- 
 scientiousness of Joshua, who would have the word 
 which had been given kept ; (3) to the future of 
 the kingdom of God (Rahab from among the 
 heathen, the mother of a family, and what is con- 
 nected with that : Rahab the heathen woman is 
 received into Israel, that through Israel the heathen 
 also might be saved). — The imprecation upon Jer- 
 icho ; (1) a well deserved sentence ; hence (2) ful- 
 filled as a prophetic word, when Hiel again built 
 the city, 1 K. xvi. 34. — Rather bless than curse, 
 because we are Christians. — Men not to be cursed, 
 but only sin. 
 
 Starke : That is the way of the sons of this 
 world ; seeing need and danger at the door they 
 resort only to human plans and expedients for 
 escape, when they ought to betake themselves to 
 God and seek shelter with him, Jer. xviii. 11 ; Ps. 
 1. 15. — To build fortresses and to fly thither in 
 time of need is not indeed wrong in itself, but let 
 not one trust too much in them, because without 
 God no inclosure can help, Hos. viii. 14; Ps. 
 exxvii. 1. — Those who sit at the helm should not 
 sleep at mid-day, but be up betimes, and attend to 
 their duties, Rom. xii. 7. — A believing and fervent 
 praver is the true war-shout by which we may con- 
 quer our spiritual foes and destroy the devil's king- 
 dom. Christian brother, avail thyself of that there- 
 fore with diligence (Eph. vi. 18). 
 
 Hedixger : Every carnal heart is a closed Jer- 
 icho ; God sits down before it and shoots mercy 
 and grace up against its walls. Well for those 
 who do not harden themselves ! 
 
 Cramer : God's promises are as certain as if 
 they had already been fulfilled and gone into effect, 
 2 Cor. i. 20 ; Ps. xxxiii. 4. — God thinks also of 
 compassion when He is most angry, for in the midst 
 of wrath He is gracious, Gen. vi. 8, 11, 12, 13 f. — 
 What God curses no man must bless, and what 
 God blesses let no man curse, Num. xxiii. 8 ; 1 K. 
 xvi. 34. 
 
 Gerlach : Through the silence of the people it 
 should be more clearly manifest that it was the 
 Lord who fought for Israel. Exercised in faith 
 tinder the scorn of their foes should the strength 
 granted them by God be kept till the moment of 
 action. 
 
 [G. R. B. : In the progress of his spiritual king- 
 dom also God has chosen to employ means fol 
 vanquishing the strongholds of unbelief and 
 worldliness very different from what would sug- 
 gest themselves to human contrivance. But God'i 
 
CHAPTER vn 75 
 
 " foolishness " in this, as we might be sure before- 
 hand, has proved itself wiser than all the wis- 
 dom of men, and alone efficacious in subduing the 
 proud and bolted heart to repentance and the trust- 
 ful acceptance of Christ's gracious rule, 1 Cor. i. 18- 
 
 25. Therefore let Israel only jersevere in sound 
 ing the gospel trumpet, patient under delays bu 
 constant in the wondrous, even though despised, 
 proclamation, and in due time the stoutest walla 
 of opposition shall fall flat. — Tr.] 
 
 2. Achan's Theft. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 a. The Crime. 
 
 1 But the children [sons] of Israel committed a trespass in the acco'sed tiling [in 
 respect to what was devoted] : for [and] Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of 
 Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing [of what 
 was devoted] : and the auger of the Lord [Jehovah] was kindled against the chil- 
 dren [sons] of Israel. 
 
 6. Its evil Effects in the unfortunate Expedition against Ai. 
 Chapter VII. 2-5. 
 
 2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east 
 side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country [spy 
 
 3 out the land]. And the men went up, and viewed [spied out] Ai. And they re- 
 turned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up ; but [omit : but] 
 let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai : and [omit: and] make 
 
 ♦ not all the people to labour thither ; for they are but [omit : but] few. So [And] 
 there went up thither of the people about three thousand men : and they fled before 
 
 5 the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men : for 
 [and] they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them 
 in the going down : wherefore [and] the hearts of the people melted, and became 
 as [omit : as] water. 
 
 c. Joshua's humble Prayer and God's Answer thereto. 
 Chapter VII. 6-15. 
 
 6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of 
 the Lord [Jehovah] until the even-tide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust 
 
 i upon their heads. And Joshua said. Alas ! O Lord God [Jehovah], wherefore 
 hast thou at all brought this people over [the] Jordan, to deliver us into the hand 
 of the Amorites, to destroy us ? would to God [O that] we had been content, and 
 
 5 dwelt on the other side [of the] Jordan. O Lord [Fay: Pray, Lord; Bunsen : 
 Forgive. Lord ; De Wette : Pray, my Lord], what shall I say, when Israel turneth 
 
 9 their backs [has turned the back] before their [his] enemies ? For the Canaanites 
 [Canaanite], and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall enviroff 
 us round, and cut off our name from the earth : and what will thou do t Jito thy 
 great name ? 
 
 10 And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Joshua: Get thee up; wherefore liest thou 
 
 11 thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covu- 
 nant which I commanded them ; for [and] they have even [also x ] taken of the ac- 
 cursed [devoted] thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have 
 
 12 put it even [also put it] among their own stuff. Therefore the children [sons] 
 of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before 
 their enemies, because they were accursed [have become a devoted thing] : neither 
 will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed [devoted] thing from 
 
 13 among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say. Sanctify yourselves against to- 
 morrow : for thus saith the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, There is an accursed 
 [a devoted] tiling in the midst of thee, O Israel : thou canst not stand before 
 thine enemies, until ye have put away the accursed [devoted] thing from among 
 
 i you. In the morning therefore [And in the morning] ye shall be brought accord- 
 
76 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 ing to your tribes : and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord [Jehovah] taketli 
 shall come according to the families thereof ; and the family which the Lord [Je- 
 hovah] shall take [taketli] shall come by [the] households ; and the household 
 
 15 which the Lord [Jehovah] shall take [taketh] shall come man by man. And it 
 shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed [devoted] thing shall be burnt 
 with fire, he and all that he hath : because he hath transgressed the covenant of the 
 Lord [Jehovah], and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver 11. — ^31 repeated to the fifth time very emphatically distinguishes the several motnenta of their crime 
 . . . sinned, aud also taken . . . and also stolen, and also dissembled, and also put it, etc. See Exeg 
 
 Note. — Te.] 
 
 d. Discovery and Punishment of Achan the Transgressor. 
 
 Chapter VIL 16-26. 
 
 16 So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes ; and 
 
 17 the tribe of Judah was taken: And he brought the family [Fay: families"] of 
 Judah ; and he took the family of the Zarhites [of Zarhi] : and he brought the 
 
 18 family of the Zarhites [of Zarhi] man by man ; 6 and Zabdi was taken: And he 
 brought his household man by man ; and Achan the son of Carmi. the son of Zabdi, 
 the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 
 
 19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord 
 [Jehovah] God of Israel, and make confession unto him [Gesen. ; so De Wette and 
 Bunsen ; Fay : give him [the] praise] ; and tell me now what thou hast done, 
 
 20 hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said. Indeed I have 
 sinned against the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. 
 
 21 When [And : ] I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment [mantle of 
 Shinar], and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge [tongue] of gold of fifty she- 
 kels weight, then [and] I coveted them, and took them, and behold they are hid in the 
 
 22 earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So 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 Lord [Jehovah]. 
 
 24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah. and the silver, 
 and the garment [mantle], and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, 
 
 25 and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had : 
 and they brought them unto the valley of Aclior. And Joshua said, Why hast thou 
 troubled us ? [or, What trouble hast thou brought upon us ?] The Lord [Jehovah] 
 shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned 
 
 26 them with fire, after they had stoned [aud pelted] them with stones. And they 
 raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So [And] the Lord [Jehovah] 
 turned from the fierceness of his anger : wherefore the name of that place was 
 called, The valley of Achor, unto this day. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver 21. — nH~!S\ The "1 is as nearly redundant here probably as it ever is (it is treated as if it were entire .y 
 to by lie Wette, Zunz, and Fay), and yet is not redundant. It betrays the confusion of thought in which Achan spoke : 
 Thus and thus have I done : and I saw .... and I coveted them. etc. 
 
 The manner in which our version, and perhaps all others, not unfrequently substitute a conditional sentence (" when 
 I saw ; then I coveted) for two coordinate, copulative sentences of narration ("and I saw — and I coveted ") sometimes 
 gives a welcome variety to the monotonous succession of copulative clauses with which the Hebrew is content ; but by 
 lust so much it misrepresents the child-like artlessness of the Hebrew. It is scarcely ever exactly equivalent to the original 
 expression of the thoughts. It is strictly allowable only when, if ever, the former of two facts may be assum d as Known 
 or obvious, and the latter is to be represented in its dependence upon that. — Tr.] 
 
 a Different Codd., the LXX., the Vulg., instead of 
 
 n t vp nnstra read rri^n* nhstt'a, which 
 
 pointing we follow with Keil and Bunsen. [But it seems 
 sufficient and quite consistent with the principle of the fol- 
 lowing foot-note to understand nnCtFE to be " used 
 •xly for tribe, f 5'*"-" Gesen. — Tb.] 
 
 b Different Codd., some old editions, the Syr., Vulg., havi 
 
 instead of Q ,_ Q2 •, the reading CVjl2_ tc make SE 
 agreement with ver 16. But since the former is the mors 
 difficult reading we hold fast to it with Keil i nd Bunsen 
 See Exegetical Notes. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 77 
 
 EXEQET1CAL AND CRITICAL 
 
 a. Ver. 1. The Crime of Achan. The very first 
 words with which the account of Achan's theft 
 begins show that the sin of the individual is re- 
 garded as compromising all ; for it is said : The 
 children of Israel committed a trespass in that 
 
 which was devoted. ^5?p signifies properly to 
 
 cover, from which V^P a mantle ; hence to act 
 nnderhandedly, treacherously, ProV. xvi. 10 ; 2 
 Chvon. xxvi. 18; xxix. 6, 19; Neh i. 8; specially 
 frequent in the combination which we find here 
 
 7SJD 7 I'M = to sin through falsehood, treachery, 
 
 namely, nirT3, I Chron. v. 25 ; x. 13 ; 2 Chron. 
 
 xii. 2, here 2~N"t3 therefore indirectly !TliTQ 
 ch. xxu. 20; 1 Chron. ii. 7. 
 Achan. In 1 Chron. ii. 7 the man is called 
 
 ^3y = the troubler, with which chaps, vi. 18; vii. 
 26, may be compared- " Josephus also calls him, 
 therefore, "Ax^pos, the LXX. in Cod. Vat. "Ax"p. 
 while Cod. Alex, has "Axav" (Keil). Stier and 
 Theile's polyglott reads with Vat. "Axa-p. Instead 
 of Zabdi we read in 1 Ch. ii. 6 Zimri, arising per- 
 haps, as Keil supposes, from confounding letters. 
 
 Then the anger of Jehovah was kindled 
 against the children of Israel. Luther : " was 
 fierce ;" but " blazed," " was kindled to ablaze," 
 is perhaps more adequately suggestive, since the 
 anger itself is regarded as a flame which blazes up 
 and turns its destructive force in this or that di- 
 rection. It is said concerning men : Gen. iv. 5 ; 
 2 Sam. xii. 5 ; Ex. xxxii. 19, 22 ; 1 Sam. xviii. 8 ; 
 xx. 7 and often ; Acts xvii. 16 ; but by preference 
 concerning God; Num. xi. 1, 10; xxii. 22; Job 
 xix. 11 ; xlii. 7; Zech. x. 3; Hab. hi. 8. In the 
 N. T. also concerning Christ, John xi. 33, 38 ; 
 God himself is a consuming fire; Ex. xxiv. 17; 
 Deut. iv. 24 ; ix. 3 ; Heb. xii. 29. Fire goes be- 
 fore him : Deut. ix. 3 ; Joel ii. 3 ; Ps. xviii. 9, 16. 
 His anger is therefore a destructive anger when it 
 is revealed from heaven against the unrighteous- 
 ness of men, Rom. i. 18. Here it blazes not 
 against Achan only, but against the whole people, 
 because Achan, a member of the people, has 
 through his crime brought the whole people into a 
 partnership of suffering. The consequences of his 
 deed show themselves immediately in the unfor- 
 tunate expedition against Ai. 
 
 b. Vers. 2-5. Its evil Effects in the unfortunate 
 Expedition against Ai. Joshua sends men from 
 Jericho to Ai, to explore the land, pursuing the 
 same course as before (ch. ii.). They bring back a 
 favorable report, advise to let only two or three 
 thousand men go forward, and persuade Joshua 
 so to do. The ill success of the movement shows 
 that they had underrated the strength of Ai. 1 Al- 
 though the loss of thirty-six men is comparatively 
 email, the people are disheartened. Their heart 
 melts and becomes water. 
 
 Ver. 2. Ai, Beth-aven, ch. xviii. 23. — Bethel, 
 xviii. 13 
 
 Ver. 3. They are few. According to ch. viii. 
 25, Ai had 12,000 inhabitants. The scouts had not 
 estimated rightly. 
 
 Ver. 5 . Shebarim. D , "13tt , ) probably " stone 
 ■juarries " which lay in that vicinity but have not 
 
 i [And yet the subsequent statement (viii. 25) that the 
 sotire population of the city amounted to only twelve thou- 
 »nd, would imply on general principles that a tew thousand 
 
 yet been found by travellers, while there are such 
 near Anathoth, according to Robinson (ii. 1 10), and 
 Tobler ( Topojra/ihu of Jerusalem, ii. p. 395, it 
 Knobel). Noticeable is the translation of the LXX 
 eus auVETpi^av aur6vs, which supposes instead of 
 
 the Masoretie E'-QffiTT'lS? the reading "1? 
 
 D , "1 , 2prT. According to that the defeat should 
 have been total, and the discouragement of the peo- 
 ple more intelligible than when only the thirty-six 
 were lost. 
 
 Wherefore the heart of the people melted and 
 became water. Ch. ii. 1 1 ; v. 1 ; Deut. i. 28. A 
 very striking addition : " became water." Is it 
 perhaps, that they wept i 
 
 c. Ver. 6-16. Joshua's humble Prayer and God's 
 Answer thereto. The section falls into two divisions : 
 («.) Ver. 6-9. Filled with deep distress, Joshua, 
 with the elders of Israel, falls down before the ark 
 of God, and continues with them in penitent prayer 
 till evening. (6.) Ver. 10-15. God answers that 
 there is one devoted among the Israelites, who 
 must be destroyed, after he has been discovered by 
 casting lots. 
 
 a. Ver. 6-9, Joshua's Prayer. 
 
 Ver. 6. And Joshua rent his clothes. A 
 sign of mourning and distress. The clothes were 
 torn in front over the breast, yet not for more than 
 a hand-breadth (Othon. Lex. Rabb. p. 360, apud 
 Winer). The custom appears also among Greeks 
 and Komans. Suet. Cces. 33 {veste a pectore dis- 
 cissa). In the O. T. many passages remind us of 
 it, yet in Winer precisely the passage before us is 
 wanting. It is remarkable that in 2 Sam. iii. 31, 
 the rending of the garments is commanded by the 
 king. " but it is no more strange," as Winer well 
 observes, " than if among us, on the death of the 
 ruler of the land, the mode of personal mourning 
 were prescribed by an edict." Tearing the clothes 
 had gradually become among the Jews, as we can 
 not but think, the fashion in mourning, precisely as 
 among us the wearing of black garments and crape 
 badges for a specified time. [See Bibl. Diet. art. 
 " Mourning."] Hence the prophet Joel admonishes 
 the people : " Rend your hearts and not your gar- 
 ments" (ii. 13). But when the high-priest (Matt 
 xxvi. 65), or Paul and Barnabas tear their clothe* 
 (Acts xiv. 14), it was in the deepest displeasure, 
 when the feelings were excited, since such a state 
 is related to mourning. 
 
 Dust. Likewise a sign of mourning 1 Sam. iv. 
 12 ; 2 Sam. i. 2 ; Lam. ii. 10, and often, Iliad xviii. 
 23 ff. ; xxiv. 164- 
 
 Ver. 7. Joshua first asks God why He has 
 brought his people over the Jordan, if He would 
 now destroy them ; for it would have been better 
 if they had been content to stay in the land east of 
 that river. 
 
 Would that we had been content and dwelt 
 on the other side of the Jordan. Luther: O 
 that we had remained on the other side of the Jor- 
 dan as we had commenced, — the ut co?pimus of the 
 
 Vulgate, by which : 13?Sin is translated. Un- 
 questionably /^Sin means to commence, and is 
 eleven times rendered by the LXX., according to 
 Gesenius, &px»n<" '■ here, however, as Jude. xix. 6 
 xvii. 1 1 , it means, to let one's self be pleased, and 
 with the accessory notion, of " to be content." Th« 
 translation of the Vulgate and of Luther is tame, 
 
 chosen warriors would be sufficient to overcome its military 
 force. Something must be allowed for the effect of the dJ 
 vine displeasure. — Ta.] 
 
T* 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 
 
 while the LXX. hits the correct sense : Ei Kore/xtii'o- 
 utv koX KaTuKicS^^ev napa rhv 'loph'avnv. 
 
 Ver. 8. Continuation of the complaint, with the 
 additional element that Israel has fled before his 
 enemies. 
 
 Ver. 9. Portrays the great danger if the Ca- 
 naanites hear of this, and finally, ver. 10 : " What 
 wilt thou do for thy great name ? God himself is, 
 as it were, concerned. 
 
 0. Vers. 10-15. God's Reply. The entire tone 
 of this answer attests that God's anger is indeed 
 kindled against the children of Israel. Israel is 
 himself to blame for the defeat (vers. 10, 11) be- 
 cause he has sinned, nor will he hereafter be able to 
 stand before his enemies on this account ; and God 
 will not be among the children of Israel unless they 
 destroy that which is devoted from among them 
 (ver. 12). Joshua must therefore rise up, sanctify 
 the people against the following day, and discover 
 the guilty man by casting lots (vers. 13, 14). When 
 he is discovered, he and all which he has must be 
 burned up with fire (ver. 15). It is a mighty and 
 deeply impressive word from God which is here 
 imparted to Joshua. 
 
 Ver. 10. Get thee up! "Wherefore, etc. Divine 
 displeasure. " Joshua might well divine that they 
 had merited Jehovah's ill-will. Hence God's some- 
 what impatient question, why he lay there on his 
 face. He should rather be up and trying to detect 
 and put away the sin" (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 11. "The E3 is scarcely more than and," 
 
 Knobel remarks, but we would call attention to 
 the rhetorical climax — suited to express God's 
 vehement displeasure — in the several designations 
 
 of their sin as connected by D3 : transgressed — 
 taken — stolen — dissembled — put among their 
 own stuff. For here was the culmination of the 
 crime, that they had appropriated to themselves what 
 belonged to God. [Cf. ch. vi. 18.] Thus conceived, 
 the language is more dramatic, laden with the 
 most intense emotion. 
 
 Ver. 12. They have become a devoted thing, 
 ch. vi. 18. 
 
 Ver. 13 begins with a repeated admonition to 
 Joshua to arise. God gives him this admonition, 
 as indeed the entire answer, directly, not as Cleri- 
 cus supposes, through the high-priest, of whom the 
 context has not a word. — Sanctify yourselves 
 against to-morrow, ch. iii. 5. 
 
 Ver. 14. The tribe which Jehovah shall 
 
 take. That is through the lot ( '"13) which is 
 here used, as in 1 Sam. xiv. 42 (Jonah i. 7), in a 
 criminal investigation; elsewhere in divisions of 
 land and people, of prisoners, in elections, warlike 
 undertakings. " Commonly dice were thrown, as 
 is probable ("to cast lots," xviii. 8, "to throw," 
 xviii. 6, " the lot falls," Jon. i. 7 ; Ezek. xxiv. 6), 
 or drawn out of a vessel (" the lot came forth ") 
 Num. xxxiii. 54, " came up" Lev. vi. 9." Winer. 
 First the tribe, then the clan, then the household, 
 ("father-house"), finally the particular man was 
 to be discovered. The manner itself in which this 
 was done is not known ; it is natural to suppose 
 that white and black stones were used, especially as 
 
 7"li3 from 7"I3 = "113 to be rough, signifies 
 properly a small stone, if/yipos. Farther particulars 
 mav be found in Mauritius, De Sortitione apud He- 
 brrtos, Basil, 1692. [Diet, of the Bible, art. " Lot."]. 
 Like the Hebrews, the Romans also resorted to the 
 lot in divisions (sortes divisoriie), and elections (" sors 
 ttbcimt " and " peregrina " in the choice of a prastor) 
 
 as also to explore the will of the divinity (staff 
 oracle, rhabdomancy). The Homeric heroes cast loti 
 (xK-npoiv k/1%>os) whenever the accomplishment of 
 any heroic deed was in question, as was done alsc 
 Judg. xxii. 10. They too had rhabdomancy as well 
 as the Romans (see l J ierer s. v. " Loos "). 
 
 Ver. 15. Shall be burnt with fire. "Not 
 alive, but according to ver. 25 he was first stoned 
 to death, and then his corpse burned as an aggra- 
 vation of the death penalty" (Keil). 
 
 Folly, ^7??- The 723 is not so much a fool 
 in an intellectual respect as in a moral ; hence 
 n733 is more the moral than the intellectual 
 folly = to iniquity, comp. Gen. xxxiv. 7 ; Deut. 
 xxii. 21 ; Judg. xix. 23, 24; 2 Sam. xiii. 12. *or 
 
 the idea of /23, Ps. xiv. 1 ; liii. 2, are classical 
 texts. 
 
 d. I'he. Discovery and Punishment of Achan the 
 Euil-dc^r. Ver. 16-20. Conformably to God's com- 
 mand, Joshua the next morning brings the tribes 
 of Israel before Jehovah, when Achan is indicated 
 by the lot as the transgressor (vers. 16-18). Being 
 exhorted to confess his fault Achan owns all (vers. 
 19-21). The stolen property is found in his tent 
 according to his statement (vers. 22-23) ; he him- 
 self with what belonged to him is stoned and burnt 
 (vers. 24-26). 
 
 Vers. 16-18. The difficulty which the text of- 
 fers, ver. 17, has been already intimated above. In 
 
 nnGtffO it requires only a different punctuation 
 to bring it into harmony with ver. 14. We there- 
 tore read the plural without hesitation instead of 
 the singular of the Masoretes. It is different with 
 
 □ ,- Q3v. Here we have a different word before 
 us, and a more difficult one, which we can the less 
 make up our minds to change, since, as Keil, fol- 
 lowing Vatablus, has happily remarked, not the 
 father-houses or family groups, but only the men 
 representing the clan, the heads of the several 
 father-houses, came forward to the lot. So alsc 
 Bunsen : " Man, that is, house, ver. 14." 
 
 We may perhaps best represent the whole pro- 
 cess thus : — 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 First lot .... Tribe of Judah. 
 Second lot .... Clan of Zerah. 
 Third lot ... House of Zabdi. 1 
 
 Fourth lot ... Man Achan. 
 
 Ver. 19-21. My son, give, I pray thee, glory 
 to the Lord God of Israel, and give him (the) 
 praise [or, make confession to him] ; and tell 
 me now what thou hast done ; hide it not from 
 me, ver. 19. The demand of Joshua upon Achan 
 was certainly meant by him honestly and frankly, 
 not craftily, as some' of the Rabbins assume. 
 Achan should confess his sin in order to receive 
 inward forgiveness, although he has outwardly 
 fallen under the irrevocable sentence of God. The 
 form of the demand is the same as in John ix. 24. 
 Reverence for the Omniscient God should move to 
 the confession of the truth. The circumstances, 
 indeed, are here essentially different from those in 
 John ix. Honest and frank Joshua stands before 
 Achan, crafty and treacherous the Pharisees seek, 
 under an appeal for honor to God, to extort from 
 the man born blind a confession injurious to our 
 Lord. 
 
 Ver. 20. Achan humbly confesses his sin as • 
 sin against Jehovah, God of Israel. 
 
 1 [" Father-house,'' represented by Zabdi. — Ta.' 
 
CHAPTER VII. 12-23. 
 
 79 
 
 Ve.-. 21. Babylonish garment, prop, mantle of 
 Shinar = Babylon (Gen. xi. 2, 8, 9 ; x. 10). What 
 it was made of we know not, since particular state- 
 ments are wanting. Starke suspects it was of gold 
 and silken threads, and that it was wrought in man; 
 colors mixed, Jon. iii. 6 ; 2 K. ii. 13. " Concerning 
 the elaborate and beautiful products of the Baby- 
 lonian looms, see Heeren, Asiat. Nations; i. 2, p. 
 422 tf. [Bonn's Eng. ed.]. Movers' Phoenicians, 
 ii. 3, p. 258 tf." (Knobel). [See further particulars 
 in Diet, of the Bibl., art "Babylonish Garment."] 
 
 Two hundred shekels of silver = 201) X 0.60 
 = $120. For details concerning the calculation, 
 vid. in Winer, Realm, s. v. " Sekel," or in Herzog's 
 
 Realeticyk. vol. iv. p. 7C4. [Gesen. s. v. v^tt', 
 Diet, of the Bibl. art. "Money," "Shekel," and 
 " Weiglits and Measures."] 
 
 A wedge (prop, tongue) of gold. Vulg. regula 
 aurea, a golden bar. Rather, " a tongue-shaped 
 article made of gold " (Knobel). The weight is 
 given at fifty shekels, equal in value to dr. thirty 
 dollars. 
 
 I coveted them, Gen. iii. 6; Jas. iv. 13-15. 
 
 '^nSn, the article as Lev. xxvii. 33. 
 
 Under it. The mantle lay probably on the top, 
 and the tongue of gold next below, and the silver 
 lowest. 
 
 Vers. 22, 23 Discovert/ of the stolen Goods in 
 A.chan's Tent. The messengers laid it down, after 
 
 they had found it, before Jehovah. P*^?7 from 
 
 P?^> to ponr out, is equivalent to ^SH, to set, to 
 place, 2 Sam. xv. 24. 
 
 Before Jehovah = before the ark of Jehovah, 
 where He was enthroned, vi. 8. 
 
 Ver. 24-26. Aehan, son of Zerah; in a wide 
 sense son of Zerah ; strictly he was his great 
 grandson. He is now, together with the articles 
 appropriated by him, as well as his whole property, 
 and also all his sons and daughters, given up to de- 
 struction. How does this sentence passed on Aehan, 
 under which his innocent sons and daughters also 
 fell, agree with the decision of the law, Dent. xxiv. 
 16, according to which the fathers should not die 
 for the children, nor the children for the fathers, 
 but every one for his own sin i This difficulty 
 has been met in various ways : (1 ) Some Rabbins, 
 Schulz, Hess, and others suppose that Achan's 
 family were brought into the valley of Achor 
 merely as spectators, to take a terrifying example, 
 contrary to what is written, ver. 25. (2) C. a 
 Lapide, Cler., Mich., Rosenmiiller, think they had 
 had a share in their father's crime. For this an 
 analogous case might be cited in Acts v. 1 ff., but 
 while there it is made conspicuous that Sapphira 
 was privy to the sin of Ananias ; here every inti- 
 mation of that kind is wanting. Hence (3) Calvin, 
 Masins, Seb. Schmidt, leave the matter undecided, 
 appealing to the unfathomableness of God's coun- 
 sels ; while others again, like Knobel, and Starke 
 also, at least by intimations, remark that we have 
 here to do with a judgment executed by the im- 
 mediate direction of God, and therefore a divine 
 judgment, similar to the case. Num. xvi. 32, 
 whereas the ordinance in Dent. xxiv. 16, holds good 
 only for the usual every-day administration of jus- 
 tice. Before God, the searcher of hearts, the sons 
 ind daughters of Aehan were guilty of participa- 
 tion in their father's sin, because in them the same 
 "corrupted nature and disposition," which Keil 
 rightly notices, was present, which in the father 
 produced the evil deed [?]. God visits the sins of 
 
 the fathers on the children, Ex. xx. 5 ; Num. xiv. 
 33. Accurately considered, the decision p&iaining it 
 private rights, in Dvut. xxiv. 16,A«s no application to 
 this higher pnliiic right of God. 
 
 Ver. 24. Valley of Achor. Ch. xv. 7 ; Hos. ii. 
 15; Is. lxv. 10. The origin of the name is given, 
 ver. 25. It lay north of Jericho on the northern 
 border of the tribe of Judah. In Jerome's time 
 the name was still in use. 
 
 Ver. 25. And all Israel stoned him. Here 
 
 E5""l is used, afterwards at the close of the verse, 
 in an addition which the LXX omit, 77*3. Both 
 words are used in the Bible of stoning, but "27,"! 
 has the more general signification, and is found 
 only once. Lev. xxiv. 14, without "13 7~. Aehan is 
 condemned to be stoned because he had by his 
 robbery violated the honor of God, as did "blas- 
 phemers, Sabbath breakers, idolaters, sorcerers, 
 
 wizards, etc. The addition 3^3S3 C,~1S "ibfTO 
 is superfluous, and may perhaps be intended, as 
 Knobel conjectures, to obviate a misunderstanding 
 
 nt 1,~lS in the former half of the verse. Not only 
 the LXX. but the Vulg. omits it. Luther has 
 aimed to avoid the difficulty by attaching the words 
 to the following verse, and translating : " And 
 when they had stoned them they raised," etc 
 [Nearly so the Eng. vers.] 
 
 Ver. 26. Over Aehan they raised a great heap 
 of stones which served to commemorate his dis- 
 grace (ch. viii. 29 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 17) ; and that even 
 to the writer's time. The casting of stones on cer- 
 tain graves was customary in other nations also, 
 i . g. among the Arabs (Schulte's Hist. Joctanida- 
 nun. pp. 118, 144), and the Romans (Propert. 4, 5, 
 74 ft'. Serv. ed. Lion, i. p. 1), but had not always 
 that dishonorable import. It had not, e. g. among 
 the Bedouins who often heap up stones over one 
 buried (Burkhardt, Beduinen, p. 81), Knobel. 
 
 And Jehovah turned from the fierceness of 
 his anger, Ex. xxxii. 12. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. God's anger is not an ebullition of blind pas- 
 sion, but a holy displeasure against the unright- 
 eousness of men. When this unrighteousness is 
 removed God's anger ceases, as the close of our 
 chapter, ver. 26, shows. All which has been in- 
 juriously said concerning the blood-thirsty and 
 wrathful God of the 0. T. rests on a failure to ap- 
 prehend this holy displeasure of God against the 
 unrighteousness of men. That brings upon them 
 indeed judgment and penalty, but never goes so 
 far as to shut up his compassion, although men 
 may think so and with Asaph sigh : Hath God fot 
 gotten to be gracious, hath He in anger shut up his 
 tender mercies ? (Ps. lxxvii. 10.) Eternal justice 
 which belongs as a constitutive element to the na- 
 ture of God, without which we cannot conceive of 
 any government at all of the world, is constantly 
 limited by his love. But conversely his love to- 
 wards men is not a blind love, but rather a truly 
 paternal affection which leaves no fault, no trans- 
 gression of his commands, unreproved. Both jus- 
 tice and love coexist in God, and are mutually 
 blended in him with an interpenetration of the most 
 intimate, highest, absolute kind. Hence the jurists 
 may say : Fiat justitia pereat mundus ! God never 
 has and never can. 
 
 2. Properly Aehan alone is the transgressor, but 
 
80 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 of the body politic his act | hovah win strik take (7pb. properly, " select,'" 
 ildren of Israel, and hence Ag ^.^ (he ^ ^ ^^ ^ particu]ar maD| 
 
 since he is a member 
 compromises all the children 
 
 draws after it injurious consequences upon all, so 
 that the anger of God is kindled against all. In 
 the eyes of God the whole community appears in- 
 fected by the sin of the one, so that they stand be- 
 fore him, not as a pure and holy congregation, as 
 thev should be according to their high vocation, 
 (Ex. xix. 6; Dent. vii. 6; 1 Pet. ii. 9). If we 
 keep firmly to this point of view, we shall cease 
 from complaining of God as being in any way un- 
 righteous, as if He recklessly punished the innocent 
 with the guilty. We shall" rather, in this matter, 
 agree with Keil when he says : " As member of a 
 community established by God, the good or evil 
 action of the individual involves the whole congre- 
 gation in blessing or destruction." As Paul 
 writes: "if one member suffer, all the members 
 suffer with it ; and if one member be honored all 
 the members rejoice with it " (1 Cor. xii. 26). So 
 niav we also say, that if one member becomes 
 guilty, all the members share the guilt, and if one 
 of the members does well, all the members share 
 the blessing of this good deed. It is important in 
 these matters to look not only at the individual but 
 also at the community, that we may comprehend 
 at least in some measure the procedure of the divine 
 justice over against the guilt of mankind. We 
 emphasize " in some measure," because we need 
 yet to lav to heart the advice which Calvin here 
 o-ives : " Suspensas tenere nostras mentes, donee Ubri 
 aperiuntur, ubi clan- patebuntquos nunc nostra ealigme 
 obtmebruntur Dei judicia." 
 
 [As clearly as the whole Scripture makes the in- 
 dividual an object of the divine mercy and justice, 
 so clearly does it teach us also to regard the total- 
 ity of a people as an organic unity, in which the 
 individuals are only members of the body, and not 
 capable of being separated, as so many atoms, from 
 the whole. The state as a divine institution is 
 built on the family, to promote the mutual love of 
 the members, and the common love of all to the 
 
 one invisible head of all But if the state is 
 
 of divine appointment, not a mere civil establish- 
 ment, not a human institution, conventionally 
 agreed upon by men, the fact following as a neces- 
 sary consequence from the moral unity of the or- 
 ganism, that the good or evil deed of the one mem- 
 ber is reckoned to the whole body, loses the appear- 
 ance of caprice and unrighteousness which it has 
 while one, without perceiving their fundamental 
 connection, has only a one sided regard to the in- 
 fliction of the consequences of the sin. Keil — 
 Te.1 
 
 3. The deep humility of Joshua before the Lord 
 reminds us of Moses, Ex. xxxii. 32, of Ezra (ix. 3), 
 of his own and Caleb's course when the people 
 murmured (Num. xiv. 6). How mighty appear 
 these O. T. saints in their grief because of the sins 
 of their people, how independently they stand up 
 against God, in behalf of God's honor, and yet how 
 humbly ! Their sorrow is truly a Avttti Kara 6ebv 
 (2 Cor. vii. 10), from which proceeds the ^erdvoia 
 *ptra)ji4\i\Tos. Hence God raises them up again, 
 oud gives them again fresh courage for his work, 
 for He knows that their grief, in its deepest root, is 
 a grief for him, for his name's glory and honor. 
 Themselves pure and clean, they mourn over the 
 misdeeds of the people, while an Ahab (1 K. xxi. 
 27) if he does this has to exercise penitence for his 
 own sin. Si duo faciunt idem, non est idem. Com- 
 oare still Ps. lxxxv; cii. 14-19; exxx. 7, 8. 
 
 4. It is to be observed that God (ver. 14 ff.) re- 
 jerveB to himself the discovery of the crime. Je- 
 
 by the lot, the disposing of which is ascribed (Prov 
 xvi. 33) to the Lord. Such an employment of the 
 lot as is here presented, could only be brought in at 
 the immediate direction of God, or with special ap- 
 peal to him (1 Sam. xiv. 41), and belonged to the 
 extraordinary measures which He prescribed for his 
 people. The certainty with which the whole pro- 
 cess goes forward, the quiet which accompanies it, 
 makes a very solemn impression. The control of 
 the divine justice 'is most directly brought to our 
 thought when we read the narrative of the trans- 
 action, distinguished as it is by an unadorned sim- 
 plicity ; how much more powerful must have been 
 the original impression which this judgment of 
 God made on the assembled people at its actual 
 occurrence ! An analogous example is presented 
 in the N. T., Acts v. 1 ff. 
 
 5. That all wickedness is folly (<T???)i thai 
 
 every sinner is a fool P-3), not indeed so much 
 in an intellectual but above all things in a moral 
 spect, this cutting truth is proclaimed by the O. 
 T. loudly and impressively. A very significant 
 hint for" hamartiology ; the nature of sin is so 
 difficult to explain because it is merely absolute 
 irrationality, because it is foolishness ! 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 How human iniquity provokes divine anger.— 
 The sin of an individual in its destructive effects 
 on an entire people shown in the case of Achan. — 
 Of God's anger. (1) What are we to understand 
 thereby • (2) How can we guard against it so 
 that it may not be kindled against us? — The un- 
 fortunate expedition of Joshua against Ai. — Hu- 
 man sagacity alone helps not if God be not with 
 us . — Despise no enemy; for you may in meeting 
 him be irreatly deceived" concerning his strength. — 
 How soon, alas, is the heart of man discouraged ! 
 — Against despondency of the heart helps God's 
 grace alone, Heb. xiii. 9. 
 
 Joshua's humble prayer before God. — God with- 
 stands the proud but giveth grace unto the humble. 
 Joshua's grief for his people compared with the 
 lamentation of Moses and Ezra. — Joshua as an 
 example of mounting before God. — Parallel be- 
 tween Joshua's penitence and that of Ahab. — 
 Rending of the garments a significant symbol of the 
 rending of the heart, Joel ii. 13. — How God hears 
 prayer. 
 
 The discovery and punishment of Achan the 
 transgressor, a case of the divine administration of 
 justice. — (1) How Achan was hit upon; (2) how 
 he confessed his sin; (3) what punishment he re- 
 ceived ; or (1) the discovery of the criminal; (2) 
 his confession ; (3) his punishment. — Joshua and 
 Achan ; ( 1 ) How Joshua seeks to bring Achan to 
 a confession of his guilt ; (2) how the latter actu- 
 ally confesses it. — We give honor to God when we 
 say the truth. — Achan's lowly confession of sin. — 
 Every sin a sin against the Lord. — Covetousness, 
 unlawful desire, a source of every sin. — The ston- 
 ing of Achan. — The judgment in the valley of 
 Achor. — The monument of the crime a warning 
 to Israel. — The stoning of Achan, and that of 
 Stephen — what a contrast 1 
 
 Starke : He who has done iniquity should own 
 the truth to the honor of God. But woe to those 
 who denv their misdeeds, Ps. xxxii. 1. Si fecistt 
 
CHAPTER VIII. l-£9. 
 
 81 
 
 nega, is not a divine but a devilish rule. Ye advo- 
 cates, put nothing of such into any man's head. 
 
 Cramer : However shrewdly men begin a thing 
 it does no good except in so far as dud gives it 
 success. For if God is not with us all is lost. — 
 The heart of man can nowhere observe a just pro- 
 portion. In prosperity it is too proud, in adversity 
 too pusillanimous. 
 
 Bibl. Tun. : When God goes with us into the 
 field the mightiest foe cannot hurt us, but where 
 God is not we cannot resist the weakest enemy. — 
 God lets us not sink away in our mourning, but 
 when He has sufficiently humbled us and laid us in 
 the dnst, and sees in us a true repentance for our sins, 
 He himself also raises us up again and exalts the 
 miserable from the dust, Ps. cxiii. 7 ; 1 Cor. x. 13. 
 
 Hedinger : If, in the spiritual conflict also we 
 are left to come off worsted, there is often nothing 
 to blame but some, perhaps hidden, sin which yet 
 lurks in us and of which we have not yet repented 
 
 Gerlach, Calvin : That they in this prayer 
 turn straight to God, and recognize that He who 
 has wounded can heal them, springs from their 
 faith ; but carried away by excess of grief they 
 transgress all limits. Hence the boldness of their 
 controversy with God ; hence the perverse wish : 
 that we had remained in the wilderness ! But 
 it is nothing new that when men with holy zeal 
 seek God, the light of their faith is dimmed by the 
 
 intensity, the tempest of their emotions 
 
 And yet when they thus strive with God and pour 
 out before Him all which weighs them down, though 
 this their simplicity needs forgiveness, it is still tar 
 more agreeable to God than the mock-humility of 
 hypocrites, who take great care that no word of as- 
 surance may cross their lips, while they are inwardly 
 filled with pride. — It is a fine trait in this narrative 
 that the criminal, detected by the lot, should be con- 
 demned only on his own confession. Joshua does 
 not promise him exemption from punishment, but 
 by his confession God was honored before all the 
 people, since the accuracy of the lot was con- 
 firmed. At the same time there lies in these words 
 a hint of a divine judgment hereafter, before which 
 guilt and penalty will be abated when one has 
 given himself up to suffer the earthly penalty or- 
 dained by God, confessing that he has deserved it. 
 There is manifested here a truly holy, paternal 
 disposition in Joshua, as a judge who relaxes noth- 
 ing of the rigor of the divine command, but, so far 
 as is possible in consistency with that, deals merci- 
 
 fully with the transgressor. — By his robbery of tht 
 sanctuary Achan had entirely broken the covenan 
 with God, and he and his had become the *ame ai 
 the Canaanites; as they had snatched tor them- 
 selves what had been devoted to destruction, they 
 must themselves now be destroyed. Similar in 
 this respect was the punishment, which in ancient 
 times was inflicted on the families of those guilty 
 of high treason, and in some degree is still inflicted 
 among us. 
 
 [Scott : Every failure in such undertakings 
 as evidently accord to the will of God, and the duty 
 of our place and station, should cause us to hum- 
 "ble ourselves before him, to flee to his mercy scat, 
 to pour out our hearts in prayer, and inquire 
 " wherefore he contendeth with us ; " and to plead 
 his promises and the glory of his great name, as 
 engaged to support that cause which we are en- 
 deavoring to promote whatever becomes of us and 
 our worthless names. — Would we avoid the com- 
 mission of gross iniquity, we must " make a cove- 
 nant with our eyes and all our senses; we must 
 repress the first movements of concupiscence, and 
 pray earnestly not to be led into temptation, we 
 must habituate ourselves to meditate on the fu- 
 ture consequences of sinful gratification ; and to 
 place ourselves, by an effort of the imagination, in 
 those very circumstances in which we should be 
 were the sin committed, and the infatuation van- 
 ished; and to consider what our judgment and feel- 
 ings in that case would be. — Finally, though 
 atrocious criminals, should be punished with un- 
 relenting firmness, and all should unite in pro- 
 testing against their crimes ; yet their misery 
 should not be insulted, nor their immortal sours 
 forgotten ; but calm expostulations, serious instruc- 
 tions, and compassionate exhortations, should be 
 used to bring them to repentance, that they may 
 obtain mercy from God in a future world. 
 
 G. R. B : Jehovah is a prayer-hearing God — 
 blessed be His name ! — but with what impatience 
 He listens to the cries of those, however proper the 
 matter of their petitions, who have need themselves 
 to act in order that their wishes may be granted ! 
 " Up! sanctify thyself," we may hear Him saying 
 to many an earnest suppliant ; " put away thy sins, 
 supply thy own deficiencies, and do thy part to 
 remove the stumbling-blocks from among thy 
 brethren ; then expect my help towards what thou 
 desirest further." Happy for us if we get even thii 
 answer to our mistaken prayer 1 — Tr.] 
 
 3. Capture and Destruction of Ai. 
 Chapter VIII. 1-29. 
 
 a. Joshua's Stratagem against Ai. 
 Chapter VIII. 1-13. 
 
 And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Joshua: Fear not, neither be thou dismayed, 
 [i. 9] : 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 : And 
 thou shalt do unto Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only 
 the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: 
 lay thee an ambush for the city behind it. 
 
82 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 3 So [And] Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai : and Joshua 
 chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour [strong heroes] and sent them away 
 
 4 by night. And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against 
 the city, even [omit : even] behind the city ; go not very far from the city, but be 
 
 5 ye all ready : And 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 
 
 6 we will ilee before them, (for [and *] 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 : there- 
 
 7 fore [and] we will flee before them. Then ye shall rise up from the ambush 
 and seize upon the city : for the Lord [Jehovah] your God will deliver it into your 
 
 8 hand. And it shall be when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on 
 fire ; according to the commandment [word] of the Lord [Jehovah] shall ye do. 
 See, I have commanded you. 
 
 9 Joshua therefore [And Joshua] 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 
 
 1C night among the people. And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered 
 [mustered] the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people 
 
 11 to Ai. And all the people, even the people [omit : 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 [and the valley was] between them 
 
 12 [him] and Ai. And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush 
 
 13 [as an ambush], between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city. And when 
 they had set the people, even all the host [camp] that was on the north of the city, 
 and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went l that night into the. 
 midst of the valley.* 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 6. — ^Ml^l. The train of thought will probably be better represented by beginning the sentence anew and 
 iroisping the parenthesis, so as to connect this clause with the following. Bo Fay and De Wette : And they will come out 
 titer ua till, etc. Zunz, howeTer, continues from the preceding : " that they may come out," etc. — Ta.] 
 
 6. Sham Flight of the Israelites. Their Victory. Capture and Destruction of the City. 
 Chapter VIH. 14-29. 
 
 14 And it came to pass when the king of Ai saw it, 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 [the] time appointed [or, to the appointed place l ], before the plain [Jordan- 
 valley] : but he wist not that there were liers in ambush [was an ambush] against 
 
 15 him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before 
 
 16 them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. And all the people that were in Ai 
 were called together to pursue after them ; and they pursued after Joshua, and 
 
 17 were drawn away 2 from the city. 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. 
 
 18 And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in 
 thine hand toward Ai ; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched 
 
 19 out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city. And the ambush arose 
 quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand ; 
 
 20 and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted, and set the city on fire. 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 [and] that 
 way : and the people that fled to [had fled towards] the wilderness turned back 
 
 21 upon the pursuers. And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had 
 taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and 
 
 22 slew [smote] 3 the men of Ai. And the other issued out of the city against them : 
 so that they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side : 
 
 23 and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape. And the king 
 of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. 
 
 * Some Codd. read "\ 7 s ! (lodged) instead of 7J^*\ 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 1-29. 
 
 8£ 
 
 24 And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants 
 of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they [had] chased them, 4 and when 
 they wen; all fallen on [by] the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that 
 all the Israelites [prop. : all Israel] returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge 
 
 25 of the sword. And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, 
 
 26 ivere twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. For Joshua drew not his hand back 
 wherewith he stretched out the speai [which he had stretched out with the spear], 
 
 27 until he had utterly destroyed [devoted] all the inhabitants of Ai. Only the cattle 
 and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the 
 
 28 word of the Lord [Jehovah] which he commanded Joshua. And Joshua burnt Ai, 
 
 29 and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day. And the king of Ai he 
 hanged on a [the] tree until even-tide : and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua 
 commanded that they should take his carcass [corpse] down from the tree, and cast 
 it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap [b2, 
 mound] of stones, that remaineth [omit : that remaineth] unto this day. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 14. — So Fay, De Wette, Keil. Either way "iVllD has the article. Perhaps " to the appointment," meaning 
 m respect either to time or to place, would represent the Hebrew with sufficient detiniteness. — Tr.] 
 [2 Ver. 16. — ^pj^lS* here, ft were torn away," "completely separated." See Esegetical Notes. — Tr.] 
 
 [8 Ver. 21.— -13 * as in the next verse — Tr.] 
 
 [4 Ver. 24. — That is, n wherein (or whither) the men of Ai had chased the Israelites." — Tr.] 
 
 EXEQETTCAL AMD CRITICAL. 
 
 As soon as Aehan's crime is expiated by his 
 death God restores his favor to Joshua and the 
 people, exhorts them to be cheerful and bold, and 
 for the second time to undertake the expedition 
 against Ai. This is done, and now with complete 
 success (ch. viii. 1-29). To the rhetorical beauty 
 of this section we have already referred in the in- 
 troduction (§ 1 ) ; the critical difficulty (vers. 12, 13) 
 will be discussed below. 
 
 a. Joshua's Stratagem against Ai, ch. viii. 1-13. 
 Ver. 1. The same encouraging address as in ch. 
 i. 9 ; now very much needed in reference to ch. 
 vii. 5. 
 
 AH the people of war. Not as in the first at- 
 tempt 3000 men only, ch. vii. 4. 
 
 Ver. 2. Only the spoil thereof .... shall ye 
 take for prey. At the capture of Jericho, the spoil 
 also (the property) was devoted to Jehovah ; but at 
 this time it should belong to the people to whom 
 ample gain had been promised (Deut. vi. 10 ft'.) 
 
 An ambush. Concerning the question so ex- 
 tensively discussed by the old interpreters, Whether 
 the employment of stratagems (wiles in war) was 
 consistent with the dignity of God, Calvin observes 
 briefly and convincingly : " Quod hie quwrunt non- 
 nulli, dolonc et per insidias liceat hostes op/m.mere, ex 
 crassa imperitia nascitur. Cerium est uon feriendo 
 solum qeri bet/a, sed eos censeri opti mos duces, qui arte 
 et consilw pollent rnaqis quam impilu. Ergo si legiti- 
 mist sit betlum, extra controversiam est, consuetis vin- 
 cendi artibus patefactam esse viam: modo ne vel pac- 
 tis iwluciis, vel alio modojidem datam fallamus. 
 
 Ver. 3 does not agree with vers. 13, 14. Here 
 .t is said that 30,0OU men are placed in the ambush ; 
 according to ver. 12 they are only 5,000. Fur- 
 
 1 [Keil supposes that Joshua also, and the main army 
 had gone from Gilgal to the neighborhood of Ai (ver. 3), that 
 from there he sent out the ambush (vers. 3-9), and there 
 (near Ai) he speut that night in the midst of the people 
 (ver. 9l. In ver 12, 13, then he finds only a repetition with 
 loine more particularity of the statement concerning the 
 
 ther, the 30,000 men were, according to this verse, 
 sent out already on the evening before ; in ver. 13, 
 on the contrary, the 5,000 betake themselves to their 
 safe concealment first on the morning of the battle. 
 These contradictory, statements taken from dif- 
 ferent sources cannot be reconciled, as Keil indeed 
 perceives, while yet he strangely attempts to liar- 
 monize them. He takes vers. 12 and 13 to be a 
 "supplementary remark" to vers. 3, and says: 
 
 Before the i" 1 ??- n if *i ver. 3, we must supply 
 from the supplementary remark, that Joshua out 
 of the 30,000 men separated again about 5,000 and 
 -rnt them out by night into the ambush." 1 Against 
 this Maurer correctly says, on vers. 12, 13 : " Hiec 
 repugnant iis qua; vers. 3-8 et 9-11 expositu leguntur. 
 Quam repugnantiam reete plerique repetuut ex anna- 
 libus diversis alio et alio ordine diversisque verbis 
 scriptis, in quibus contrahendi is, qui hunc librum com 
 posm nt, non satis ad dioersitatem attenderit Confer 
 si mil em locum, iv. 9. Alex, ver- 12 prorsus non ex 
 hibet, tertii decimi, maximam partem omittit : habei enini 
 hoc ttintum : Kail t& IVtOpu rijs iro'Xeius txiro OaXainrris 
 (Itala; et insidice erant civitati a man'), nihil am- 
 plius." Such is the judgment of Knobel also. The 
 30,000 might reach the neighborhood of Ai before 
 daybreak, since the distance from Gilgal to Ai 
 was not more than five to six hours. ( Robinson, 
 ii. 307-12.) Joshua still remained that night in 
 Gilgal. 
 
 Vers. 4-8. Clear and exact instructions to the 
 soldiers how they were to proceed. They must 
 put themselves in ambush, not too far from the 
 city, and be in readiness ; he would make an attack 
 in front and pretend to flee. Then they should 
 break forth into the city abandoned by the enemy, 
 and set it on fire. " See," he concludes his address, 
 
 ambush previously mentioned. The only difficulty In the 
 way of regarding both accounts as relating to the same 
 movement is the great difference of the numbers of the men 
 Here he thinks there has been simply an error of transcrip- 
 tion, the letters representing the 5,000 having been by mi*, 
 take replaced in ver. 3 by those denoting 30,000. — Tr.J 
 
84 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 "I have commanded it to you," that is, "Take 
 heed that yon do well your part." 
 
 Ver. 9. Between Beth-el and Ai. " Ai lay 
 forty-five minutes southeast of Beth-el (ch. xii. 9; 
 Gen. xii. 8) ; between the two places rise two rocky 
 heights, behind which the liers in wait appear to 
 have taken their position (Van de Velde : Narra- 
 tive, ii. p. 280)." (Knobel.) 
 
 Ver. 10. In the morning Joshua leads up the 
 rest of the army, comes before the city and encamps 
 to the north of it, so that a valley, probably " the 
 present YVady Mutyah," lay between him and Ai. 
 
 Vers. 12, 13. See above on ver. 3. According 
 
 to Keil, S^rtil n7.v3 menus the same night as 
 ver. 9, But on that night (ver. 9) Joshua was not 
 yet certainly before Ai, for which he started only 
 
 in the morning (ver. 10). The reading 7!?*] 
 
 instead of ^I^*\ originated perhaps in the same 
 effort to harmonize ver. 15 with ver. 9. 
 
 b. Sham-flight of the Israelites. Their Victory, 
 Capture and Destruction of the Citu (vers. 14-29). 
 The plan succeeds admirably. The king of Ai, 
 seeing Joshua's army in front, leads out against 
 him. The latter pretends to run away. The in- 
 habitants of Ai now pursue the Israelites and leave 
 the city standing open. Then Joshua gives the 
 ambush a signal with his spear. They rush forth, 
 seize the city, and set it on fire. Joshua himself 
 with his army turns about at the same moment. 
 The men of Ai find themselves suddenly attacked 
 in front and rear at once, and are annihilated. The 
 other inhabitants of Aialso, about 12,000! in men 
 and women, are slain. The city is razed to the 
 ground, its king hanged on a tree. 
 
 Ver. 14. When the king of Ai saw it, namely, 
 Joshua and his army, — pointing back, therefore, 
 to ver. 11, the continuation of which we have here. 
 It cannot refer to ver. 13 because he could not see 
 the ambush nor have any knowledge of it, as is 
 shown by the close of ver. 11. 
 
 Vers. 16, 17. The men of Ai in their excessive 
 ardor recklessly leave the city, without care about 
 covering their line of return to Ai, and without 
 protection to the city itself which they leave open. 
 
 The expression ^PPS?] is striking : " they were 
 torn away," Van Ess ; " they were cut off." 2 
 
 Ver. 18. A direct command of God renewed, 
 under whose special order the whole affair pro- 
 ceeds. 
 
 Spear. Heb. 11*^3, dart, javelin, a small spear 
 which is hurled (Job xii. 20. Eng. 28), distinct 
 from the H , 3n there mentioned in connection with 
 it. From our passage compared with ver. 26, 
 some would conclude that the 3 must have been 
 furnished with a flag or standard. Possibly, though 
 not necessarily, since the waving motion which 
 Joshua made with his spear might be seen a long 
 distance, especially if we suppose that there was a 
 bright sunshine. As a weapon of the Babylonians 
 and Persians, it is spoken of Jer. vi. 23 ; 1, 42. 
 The rendering of the Vulg. by " clypeus " is er- 
 roneous. 
 
 Ver. 20. C^'TJ had no power, Vulg. non pot 
 
 verunt. Others, e. </. Gesenius, explain □"'"P with 
 reference to Deut. xxiii. 13; Num. ii. 17 ; Is. xvii. 
 
 1 [But it was " all that fell that day " (ver. 25), not " the 
 jther inhabitants » that made up the 12,000. — Tr ) 
 
 2 [It is the same word which, iv. 18, denotes the with- 
 
 8, as meaning place, room ; but whether the dua 
 can mean this appears to us doubtful. We should 
 rather approve the rendering " sides" (Keil). The 
 first signification, however, is to be preferred, be- 
 cause then the thought is this, that being held fast 
 by terror, they had no power to flee this way or 
 that. The whole situation of the men of Ai, who 
 saw before them the enemy, behind them the burn- 
 ing town, is admirably pictured in a few strokes. 
 
 Ver. 26. " Joshua drew not back the hand which 
 he had stretched out with the spear, until all the 
 inhabitants of Ai had been destroyed. The signal 
 for attack on Ai was also a signal for the desttuc- 
 tion of the inhabitants, and remained until its 
 design was fulfilled " (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 28. The city is made even with the ground 
 
 — kot USacpos. 
 
 Ver. 29. Heap of stones, as in ch. vii. 26. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. It should not be overlooked that the spoil to 
 be taken in Ai is given over to the Israelites, which 
 was not the case at Jericho. Jericho was the first 
 of the cities of Canaan captured, and belonged on 
 this account wholly to the Lord, as the first-born 
 of man and beast (Ex. xiii. 2, 12, 15), and as the 
 firstlings of the fruits of the field (Ex. xxiii. 19; 
 xxxiv. 26; Lev. ii. 12; xxiii. 10, 17,20; Num. xv. 
 20, 21 ). This was no longer so at Ai. 
 
 2. If the justice of the war is conceded, it follows 
 that a stratagem such as was here adopted by 
 Joshua against Ai, is likewise morally allowable, 
 since notoriously wars are not carried on exclusively 
 through "hard blows" (feriendo) , as Calvin has 
 well remarked. Yet stratagem, as Calvin also calls 
 us to notice, has its limits. A treacherous termina- 
 tion of a truce, and the like, is morally reprehen- 
 sible. Of such things there is no mention here, 
 but simply an instance of strategy like what is 
 witnessed in almost every great battle. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 God's renewed call to Joshua — the same word 
 indeed as before, but now of quite a different import, 
 since God by it not only assures him of his support, 
 but also gives him to understand that He is again 
 gracious to him. — The capture and destruction of 
 the city of Ai. (1.) Preparation. (2.) Execution. 
 
 — See, I have commanded it to you — a strict mil- 
 itary admonition, which may apply also to the 
 spiritual conflict. — How God gives his enemies 
 into the hands of his servants, while he (1.) blinds 
 and disheartens the former; (2.) enlightens and 
 strengthens the latter. 
 
 Starke : Although every victory comes from 
 God, it is still in the order of our own fidelity and 
 bravery. — From God alone comes the victory and 
 He it is who can subdue and root out the peoples. 
 
 Lange : In so far as a war is justifiable, so far 
 is stratagem therein justifiable also, provided only 
 that it conflict not with the special agreements ex- 
 isting, and lead not to inhuman measures ; for as 
 much as possible, the people must be spared. 
 
 Bib. Tun. : The fortune of war is changeable, 
 but it turns as the Lord will have. 
 
 Cranmer: Just wars are not in themselves 
 against God. But without necessity, recklessly, 
 and from trilling causes to begin war, is iniquitous, 
 2 ( lir. xxxv. 20 ; 1 K. xx. 3. 
 
 dniwnient of the priests feet from the mud of the river-bed 
 to the dry land ; " were lifted," more exactly " plucked 
 up." — Tr.] 
 
CHAPTER VHI. 30-35. 85 
 
 4. The Altar of Blessing and of Cur ting on Ebal. 
 Chapter VIII. 30-35. 
 
 30 Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel in Mount Ebal 
 
 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord [Jehovah had] 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 lifted up any iron : and they offered thereon burnt-offerings unto the 
 
 32 Lord [Jehovah], and sacrificed peace-offerings. And he wrote there upon the 
 stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote [had written] in the presence of 
 
 33 the children [sons] of Israel. And all Israel, and their elders, and officers [over- 
 seers], and their judges, stood on this side the ark, and on that side, before the 
 priests the Levites, which [who] bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah], 
 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 Lord [Jehovah] had commanded before, 1 that they should bless the people of 
 
 34 Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, 
 
 35 according to all that is written in the book of the law. There 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 conversan 
 [the stranger that walked] among them. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 33. — n3trS"]2 qualifies rather the following clause, « to bless the people of Israel in the beginning,'' or, " at 
 first ; " probably with reference to the injunction in Deut. xxvii. 2, taken literally, and so Jar removing the improbability 
 that what is recorded in this paragraph should have occurred before the completion of the conquest. — TE.J 
 
 exeoetical AND CRITICAL. j off (leaves), lignifies the naked (mountain) : com- 
 
 Thia paragraph, which contains the fulfillment of pare also ^2 (Gen. x.28),a region of Joktanite 
 
 the command given by Moses Deut xxvii. Iff, Arabia. Gerizim (D^ro "IP) ver. 33 is = mount 
 
 breaks the connection between chaps, vin. 29 and ix. ' : 
 
 1, and would appear to be in place later, perhaps of the Gerizites. The CM"}? (from >^2 in Arab, 
 
 after ch. xi. 23, since it is not likely that before the to hew, to exterminate, in Heb. onlv in Niphal, Ps. 
 
 complete conquest of the hind, Joshua could have xxxi. 23 ; lxxxvi. 6) are the dwellers in a barren 
 
 undertaken such a celebration : and besides, we find land. Assuming this, then the desolation perceived 
 
 bim stiil, chaps, ix. and x., in the south of Palestine, by travellers on the mountain would be as truly 
 
 Keil,in his prejudiced opposition to all which is countenanced by the name in the case of mount 
 
 called criticism, naturally allows no weight to this, Gerizim, as in that of Ebal. 
 
 and hence seeks, among other things, to show that Ver. 31. Altar of unhewn stones over which 
 when (ch. i\. 6) the camp at Gi gal is spoken of. this no man had lifted up any iron. So the law re- 
 is not Gilgal near Jericho but another place of that quired in general (Ex. xx. 25) ; so it had been spe- 
 name in the region of Shechem. If this were correct dally ordained for this case (Deut. xxvii. 5, 6). 
 the author won. d certainly in some way have given Ver. 32. Stones. Not the stones of the altar 
 an intimation of the fact that in ch. ix. 6 we no (Jos. Syr.) but the great stones whitewashed with 
 longer are to understand the Gilgal near Jericho but lime, spoken of in Deut. xxvii. 2-4,8. For this 
 a Gilgal near Shechem. As he omits this, the whole ., • , , . , Vs-. „,, 
 connection points to the former, and Joshua is in reason the artlcle als0 st!mds here ' S ?' The un " 
 the southern part, not in central Palestine. hewn . rough stones of the altar moreover would 
 
 Ver. 30. Ebal. On the alleged fertility of have been P 001 "'? ada P ted t0 this use ', , , . 
 Gerizim, and barrenness of Ebal, many fables have A copy of the Law of Moses ( ^ j""1 P-?^^?, 
 been told by travellers and interpreters. Accord- properly, doubling of the law of Moses. So Gen. 
 ing to Robinson (Bib!. Res. iii. 96-103. and Later ,••• ,, ., «,»,.,— '•» ,,. , . 
 
 B?bl. Res. 131, 132 [Phys. Geog. of B. L. p. 36 f.l), xlm ' 15 tbe ? sa - r ™*~ ° = doubl > n S ° f '•* 
 both mountains are alike desolate, while the vale mone y- By this doubling of the law is naturally 
 of Shechem lying between them is extremely t0 be understood a copy of the law, in the same 
 pleasant and fertile [Comp. Diet, of the Bible, arti- sense b^ as ln D e«t. xvu. 18, as we also speak of 
 cles, Ebal, Gerizim, Shechem.] According to the . du P hcate of a document. What now was 
 Deut. xxvii. 6, the altar was to be erected on Ebal, wn "? n on the stones? Different answers are given 
 which would thus have the advantage over Gerizim, r T u tnls ' ra V-- cd according to the interpretations of 
 .vliich, however, is distinguished in its turn bv the }.\?. x ?"n' (a -) The whole law ( seTeral Rab " 
 fact that from it the blessing was to be pronounced. bras, Mich.,Baumg.) and, .according to the Talmud- 
 Probablv Ebal had been like Sinai, like Moriah u ; ts 1 "/™ rt - iota, ch. vu., in seventy languages, 
 'Gen. xxii.), an old place of sacrifice, and so ren- 'hat all the peoples of the earth might read it ; there- 
 u s . u tore the whole Ihorah with all its narratives 
 
 '.ered sacred. The name V2 ?, from ~-lV, to strip genealogies, legal prescriptions, etc. Improbable 
 
86 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 [b.) Particular parts of the law ; (a.) the Decalogue 
 (Grofius, Kennicott, Hasse). ($.) Deuteronomy 
 (Gerhardt, Osiander, Geddes, Vater, Hengsten- 
 herg). (>•) The blessings and cursings (Masius, 
 Maurer, Rosenmuller) — against the words of Dcut. 
 xxvii. 3. (c.) Everything in the books of Moses 
 
 which is law, every i"11Vt2 (Deut. xxvii. 1), which 
 is given in them, all the words of the law (Deut. 
 xxvii. 3). So formerly Michaelis (Laws of Moses 
 ii. § 60), rightly, and now Knobel on Deut. xxvii. 
 1 : " The language reaches to the law in general 
 (Mischna Sota 7, 5), to the Mosaic law (Josh. viii. 
 32). The author thinks, however, only of the com- 
 mandments proper, six hundred and thirteen in 
 number, according to the Jewish reckoning, not of 
 all the narratives also and warnings, admonitions, 
 discourses, reasons, and the like. So also ch. vi. 9." 
 The inscription itself may probably have been 
 effected not till after the ceremony was completed, 
 being reported here by anticipation. 
 
 Vers. 33-35. Proclamation of the Blessing and 
 Curse. We must imagine the position of the peo- 
 ple to have been such that the priests with the 
 ark of the covenant stood in the midst of the valley, 
 between Ebal lying on the north and Gerizim lying 
 on the south, but the people, one half over against 
 Gerizim (therefore on Ebal), and the other half 
 over against Ebal (therefore on Gerizim). After 
 this had been arranged Joshua himself read 
 (Luther ; incorrectly : " caused to be read ") all the 
 words of the law, the blessing, and the cursing. A 
 discrepancy which Knobel thinks he finds between 
 this report and the directions Deut. xxvii. 9 ff. we 
 cannot admit, because by the expression " all the 
 words of the law " which is afterwards defined by 
 the addition, " the blessing and the curse," nothing 
 more is probably to be understood than in the for- 
 mulas given Deut. xxvii. 14 ff. The curses are ex- 
 actly twelve, according to the number of the tribes ; 
 the blessings, see Deut. xxviii. 1-14. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. It is consistent with the divine economy of 
 salvation in the time of the old covenant, that on 
 the entrance of the chosen people into the promised 
 land, not merely blessing but also curse was held up 
 before them. A people standing so low in morality 
 as the Israelites then did needed stern discipline, and 
 not only might be allured by promises but must be 
 alarmed by threats. This was a very wholesome 
 pedagogic, which is even yet quite in place in the ed- 
 ucation of particular individuals as well as of whole 
 nationalities, under certain circumstances. Think, 
 for instance, of the neglected children as they are de- 
 livered to our reformatory institutions, or of rough 
 heathen nations among whom the Christian mission- 
 aries labor. Only we must consider one thing, 
 namely this, that the day of salvation, in which we 
 lire, must never be lost sight of, that Moses may not 
 
 be again put in the place of Christ by whom grace 
 and truth have been brought to us (John i. 17). nor 
 the servile spirit in place of the filial (Rom. viii. 15). 
 Unfortunately, a certain legal tendency has shown 
 a great inclination that way. even in the evangeli- 
 cal church, to say nothing of Rome, whose curses, 
 far removed from the royal power of those impre- 
 cations of the O. T. are a kind of invectives about 
 which no one cares. The curse, to have any power, 
 must be uttered in the name of God against un- 
 questionable transgressions of the divine command, 
 as conversely, the blessing only takes effect when it 
 is bestowed upon acts well pleasing to God. Ac- 
 cording to this canonical law the curia has seldom 
 proceeded, but often exactly in the opposite way. 
 
 2. More closely considered, the twelve curses are 
 directed against idolatry (Deut. xxvii. 15), con- 
 tempt of parents (ver. 16), removing a neighbor's 
 land-mark (ver. 17), inhumanity toward the blind, 
 strangers, orphans, widows (vers. 18, 19), incest 
 and sodomy (vers. 20-23), murder (vers. 24,25), 
 and finally in general against the transgression of 
 the law in any manner (ver. 26). Blessings are 
 promised in the city and on the field (ch. xxviii. 3), 
 on all births (xxviii. 4), on the basket and the 
 kneading-trough (xxviii. 5 ; Ex. vii. 28, xi.36),on 
 going out and coming in (Deut. xxviii. 6) ; a bless- 
 ing in particular on their arms in contest with their 
 enemies (xxviii. 7), a blessing on the position of 
 Israel among the nations (xxviii. 9-14). The N. 
 T. recognizes still an entirely different blessing, the 
 fvhoyia TrvtvpaTiK-j) in heavenly goods (eV tois 
 eVovpai'iois) in Christ (Eph. i. 3), the imperishable, 
 and undefiled, and unfading inheritance which is 
 reserved in heaven (1 Pet. i. 3). This blessing 
 makes rich, in the highest sense, without trouble 
 added (Prov. x. 22). 
 
 H0MILET1CAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 The solemn gathering of the people on Eoal, ( 1 ) 
 Sacrifice, (2) inscription of the law, (3) blessing 
 and curse. — The consecrated altar. — Not only on 
 the stones but rather on the hea t should the law 
 of God be written, Jer. xxxi. 31 34. — On the im- 
 port of blessing and cursing. — Rather bless than 
 curse, yet bless not under all circumstances. — Curse 
 may become blessing, blessing curse. — How is it 
 with thee, Christian congregation ? Standest thou 
 under the blessing or deservest thou the curse of 
 thy God ! — Questions to be asked, perhaps, on 
 days of penitence and prayer. — The whole congre- 
 gation should hear the word. 
 
 Starke : A Christian should n.M, after being 
 delivered from need, forget gratitude also. — Not 
 human nonsense but the holy word of God alon< 
 must be taught and preached. — My God, give us 
 also readiness and desire to make known thy com- 
 mandments, to all, friends and foes, old and 
 young. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 1-27. 87 
 
 B. CONTESTS AGAINST THE ALLIED KINGS OF THE CANAANITES. 
 
 Chapters IX.-XI. 
 
 1. The first League of Canaanite Kings against Israel. 
 
 Chapter IX. 1-2. 
 
 And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side [on the other side 
 of the] Jordan, in the hills [on the mountain], and in the valleys [the low land], 
 and in all the coasts [on all the coast] of the great sea over against Lebanon, the 
 Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, 
 heard thereof ; That they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with 
 Israel, with one accord. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 WTiile Joshua had hitherto contended against 
 separate cities, namely, Jericho and Ai, there now 
 follows an account of the struggles with the allied 
 kings of the Canaanites, of whose first league we 
 are informed in ch. ix. 1-2, of their second in ch 
 xi. 1—3. They are defeated in two great battles, 
 at Gibeon (ch. x. 1 ff.), and at the sea of Merom 
 (ch. xi. 4-9). Following upon that first triumph, 
 southern Palestine west of the Jordan is subju- 
 gated (ch. x. 28-13), and upon the second, the 
 northern part (ch. xi. 10-23). Only the Gibeon- 
 ites were shrewd enough, as is related in ix. 3-27, 
 to save themselves by a stratagem from the edge of 
 the sword. 
 
 Ver. 1 . On the other side (Eng. vers, on this 
 tide), as in ch. v. 1, where the country west of the 
 
 Jordan is intended. " This land, Canaan proper, 
 is, from its conspicuously diverse features, divided 
 
 into the mountain, ~ ir^T^T, the plain or lowland, 
 n ^?^ ! T', and the sea coast, D*n F|in, toward 
 Lebanon " (Keil). The mountain, Tin, is the 
 Mount Ephraim and mount (or mountain of) 
 Judah ; the lowland is the region from Akko to 
 Gaza lying west of the mountain ; the sea coast is 
 
 the coast of north Galilee and Phoenicia. — *pn 
 elsewhere in poetical passages as Gen. xlix. 13; 
 Judg. v. 17; Jer. xlvii. 7; Ezek. xxv. 16. — ""151 
 
 ""vS prop, with one mouth, unanimously. Ex. 
 xxiv. 3; IK. xxii. 13. 
 
 2. The Craft of the Gibeonites. 
 Chapter IX. 3-27. 
 
 a. Coming of the Gibeonites to Joshua and his League with them. 
 Chapter IX. 3-15. 
 
 8 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho 
 
 4 and to Ai, they [also] did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been 
 ambassadors [went, and set out, or, went and 1 provided themselves with victuals], 
 and took old [prop, decayed] sacks upon their asses, and wine-bottles [wine-skins], 
 
 5 old [decayed], and rent, and bound up ; And old [decayed] shoes and clouted 
 [patched] upon their feet, and old [decayed] garments upon them ; and all the 
 
 6 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 [are] come from 
 
 7 a far country : now therefore [and now] make ye a league [covenant] with us. 
 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us ; 2 
 
 8 and how shall we make a league [covenant] with you ? And they said unto 
 
 9 Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto* them, Who are ye ? and from 
 whence come ye ? And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants 
 are come, because of the name of the Lord [Jehovah] thy God : for we have heard 
 
 10 the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the 
 two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of 
 
 11 Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which [who] was at Ashtaroth. Where- 
 fore [And] 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 [and] now make ye a league [covenant] wit! us 
 
 12 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we name 
 
88 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 13 forth to go unto you ; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is [has become] mouldy : And 
 these bottles of wine [wine-skins] which we filled were new, and behold they be 
 [are] rent : and these our garments and our shoes are become old [are decayed] by 
 
 14 reason of the very long journey. And the men took of their victuals, and asked not 
 
 15 counsel at [omit : counsel at] the mouth of the Lord [Jehovah]. And Joshua 
 made peace with them, and made a league [covenant] with them, to let them live : 
 and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL,. 
 
 [1 »er. 4. — The verb ?|~l s I0t2 s ~l from *T^, not elsewhere found in Hebrew, should from the signification of its 
 derivatives, aud from the analogy of the Arab., mean to go, to set out on a journey. ff But since no other trace of this 
 form or signification exists in Heb. or in Aramaean, it is better to read with six MSS. •t"7 s T2^£\ they provided them' 
 selves with food for the journey, as in ver. 12 ; which is also expressed by the ancient versions, - ' Gesen. With this agree 
 Knobel and Fay. But De Wette. and Keil adhere to the root-meaning ft set out on a journey," and there is a reasonable 
 probability that the change suggested by a few MSS., and the anc. vers, was owing simply to the strangeness of the word 
 which originally stood here. The meaning t( to act as ambassadors " appears to have been derived from the analogy o/ 
 
 *V*J rt a messenger,' and is retained by Zunz: SteUten sich ais Boten. — Tr.J 
 
 [a Ver. 7 — The Hebrew uses the sing. " in the midst of me, and how shall I." — Te.] 
 
 b. Discovery and Punishment of the Fraud. 
 Chapter IX. 16-27. 
 
 16 And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league witn 
 them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among 
 
 17 them. And the children of Israel journeyed [broke up], and came unto their cities 
 on the third day. Now [And] their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, 
 
 18 and Ivirjathjearim. And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes 
 of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel. 
 
 19 And all the congregation murmured against the princes. But all the princes said 
 unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord [Jehovah] God 
 
 20 of Israel : now therefore we may not touch them. This we will do to them ; we will 
 even let them live, 1 lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto 
 
 21 them. And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be [and they 
 became] hewers of wood [wood-choppers], and drawers of water unto all the con- 
 gregation ; as the princes had promised [spoken to] them. 
 
 22 And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye be- 
 
 23 guiled us, saying. We are very far from you, when ye dwell among us ? Now therefore 
 ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being [there shall not fail to 
 be from among you] bond-men, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the 
 
 24 house of my God. And they answered Joshua, and said, Because 2 it was certainly told 
 thy servants how that the Lord [Jehovah] 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. 
 
 25 And now, behold, we are in thy hand : as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do 
 
 26 unto us, do. And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the 
 
 27 children of Israel, that they slew them not. And Joshua made them that day hewers 
 of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord 
 [Jehovah], even unto this day, in the place which he should choose. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 20. — De Wette, Fay, and others translate this and the following verse accurately : This [sc. what we have 
 iworn] will we do to them, and let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we have sworn to them. 
 And the princes said to them, Let them live. And they became wood-cboppers and water-carriers (or drawers of water) 
 s*s. — Te.1 
 
 p Ver. 24. — ^3 
 iftaid, etc. — Te.] 
 
 better regarded as merely introducing the words quoted : It was told 
 
 and we wert 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 Gihon would appear to have heen a sort of in- 
 dependent republic, since we hear of elders there 
 
 (ix. 11), but not of a king; and of their city it i? 
 said (x. 2) that it was a great city like a royal city. 
 The inhabitants, having heard of the deeds of 
 Joshua, hit ipon a different plan of resistanct 
 
CHAPTER IX. 3-27. 
 
 89 
 
 from that adopted by the kings before named, — 
 the plan of negotiation, but with wiles. They pre- 
 tend to have come from a very far country fix. 9) 
 to form an alliance with Joshua; and to confirm 
 their declaration they point to their mouldy bread, 
 their torn wine-skins, and their worn-out clothing 
 (ix. 12, 13). Joshua surfers himself to be deceived, 
 and makes a treaty with them which is ratified with 
 an oath (ix. 15). 
 
 The deception, however, is discovered. After 
 not more than three days the Israelites hear that 
 the Gibeonites dwell in their very neighborhood 
 (ix. 16). They break up, go thither themselves, 
 and spare them because of the oath which the 
 chiefs had sworn to them (ix. 18). When discon- 
 tent arises in the camp on this account, Joshua 
 consults with the chiefs, but they appeal to their 
 oath, and decide in favor of letting them live. To 
 this resolution they adhere, but the Gibeonites, as 
 a penalty for their falsehood, ate made wood- 
 choppers and water-cairicrs tor the congregation 
 and the altar of Jehovah (ix. 21-27). 
 
 a Arrival of the Gibeonites ami Joshua's league 
 with them, vers. 3-15. Gibeon, ch xviii. 25. They 
 also did work wilily. They had heard what 
 Joshua had done in the case of Jericho anil Ai, 
 
 and they also (23) did something, and that with 
 craft. ntTO, ver. 3, and W3?!!l ver. 4, are rela- 
 tive to each other, so that the C3 refers not to what 
 the Canaanite kings had done, but to Joshua's 
 deeds. These would they emulate, only not by 
 warlike exploits, but by a finely contrived trick. 
 So also the LXX. : kcu i-n6n\aav nai ye avrol uera 
 Travovpyias . Joshua's stratagem against Ai (ch. S) 
 is to be remembered. Maurcr thinks also of Jeri- 
 cho ; but that is less apposite. 
 
 Provided themselves with victuals. The He- 
 brew ^*t?2J3, "is nowhere else met with, and in- 
 stead of it we should read with all the ancient 
 
 translations and many MSS., TTJIS?'!) which 
 also occurs in ver. 12" (Knobel). Keil adheres 
 unqualifiedly to the textus receptus, and, connect- 
 ing ! H*t?^*l with ~l ?j nunciiis, translates : " they 
 went and journeyed as ambassadors," or "set out 
 as ambassadors" [thus bringing out the sense of 
 the English version]. Hut was it necessary to 
 state thi> particularly? Is not that evident of 
 itself, that if the Gibeonites went they went as am- 
 bassadors, since ver. 3 leaves us to suppose a pre- 
 vious consultation 1 
 
 Ver. 6. Gilgal. In the Jordan Valley, as Ewald 
 also assumes, and not, as Keil supposes, the I rilgal 
 on the mountain near Bethel, "often mentioned in 
 the Book of Judges and in First Samuel." But 
 something would surely have been said of it if 
 Joshua had moved the camp from Gilgal in the 
 Jordan Valley to Gilgal near Bethel ; and as this 
 is not the case, we have no ground for thinking 
 here of another Gilgal. Joshua had rather re- 
 turned from his successful expedition against Ai 
 to his well situated headquarters in the Jordan 
 Valley, in order to undertake from thence fresh 
 enterprises. Comp. the preliminary remarks to 
 :h. viii. 30-35. 
 
 Ver. 7, VU^I. This Kethib is to be retained 
 after the analogy of Jndg. viii. 22, xx. 36 ; 1 Sam. 
 liv. 22. The Israelites are not clear in this matter. 
 The thing looks suspicious to them, hence the ques- 
 :tion : " Perhaps thou dwellest in the midst of us 
 ime), how then can I make a covenant with thee?" 
 
 Ver. 8. To this entangling question the Gibeon 
 ites return no answer at all, but say, with true 
 oriental adroitness, apparently submissive and 
 humble: "We are thy servant*." This was no 
 sincere declaration of submission (Serar., C. A. 
 Lap., Rosenm., Knobel), but simply a form of 
 courtesy, as Gen. 1. IS, xxxii. 4, which was, how- 
 ever, very well designed and cunningly addressed. 
 Nevertheless, Joshua shows himself not satisfied 
 with it, and asks again, more definitely than others 
 had done before : "Who are ye and whence come 
 
 ye? The imperfect ^2TI )^SO, is worthy of 
 notice as indicating the still incomplete action, 
 comp. Judg. xvii. 9, xix. 17 ; 2 Sam. i. 3 ; Jonah 
 i. 8; Ewald, Lehrgeb. § 136, 1, a. 
 
 Ver. 9. So pressed, the Gibeonites are compelled 
 to answer Joshua, and first repeat what they have 
 said before (ver. 6), but add that they have come 
 on account of the name of Jehovah, whose fame 
 
 (V12XD) they have heard. In the more detailed 
 specification which follows of what they had heard 
 they say nothing of Jericho and Ai [to have heard 
 of which might indicate that they lived not very 
 far off], but cunningly confine themselves to what 
 God has done to the Amorite kings beyond the 
 Jordan, therefore at a distance, nay even in Egypt 
 (ver. 1U). 
 
 They then recall the commission given them by 
 their elders (ver. 11), and refer in conclusion to 
 their mouldy bread, etc.. as a proof of the truth 
 of their story. The < libeouitcs must have played 
 their part admirably; for all the scruples which 
 had been expressed are now silent. 
 
 Ver. 14. And the men took of their victuals. 
 " The men," as we learn from vers. 18, 21 , are the 
 princes, i e., heads of the tribes. The taking of 
 their food is a sign of friendship, of inclination to 
 make a league with the Gibeonites, Gen. xx.xi. 40 ; 
 Lev. ii. 13; 2 Chron. xiii. 5. Keil will not allow 
 this, but adopts the explanation of Masius, ap- 
 proved also by J. H. Michaelis and Rosenmiiller. 
 He says: "Est enim vcluti oppositio qucedam inter 
 ilia; sumere panem Gibeonitarum in manus, xms- 
 que oculis satis jidere et os s. oraculum Domini in- 
 terrogare." This opposition is not to be denied, 
 but would it not be much stronger, if it related 
 not merely to a testing of the bread whether it was 
 so old, but to an eating of it with a symbolical 
 import, which implied readiness to make a league 
 with the Gibeonites % 
 
 And the mouth of the Lord they asked not. 
 That was a transgression of the explicit command, 
 Num. xxvii. 21, that the priest Eleazer should seek 
 
 counsel for Joshua, and that 2 , ~ r ISn t22K'S5, 
 i. e., through the judgment or right of Urim (and 
 Thummim). 1 The priest by that becomes the 
 mouth of Jehovah, since he announces God's an- 
 swer in His name, just the same as the prophet 
 who (Is. xxx. 2; Jer. xv. 19; Ex. iv. 16) is so 
 called. 
 
 Ver. 15. And. Joshua made peace with them. 
 He assured them of peace and so of preservation 
 from the edge of the sword. 
 
 b. Discovery and Punishment of the Deceit. Vers 
 16-27. Ver. 16. At the end of three days, as in 
 Ich. iii. 2. 
 
 Ver. 17. And came to their cities on tne third 
 day. It took them so long, namely, to come from 
 Gilgal lying in the Jordan valley to Gibeon. They 
 might have accomplished the journey in much lesa 
 
 1 See the Art. rc Urim and Thummim " in the Diet, ofttu 
 Bible.— Te.] 
 
90 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHLA. 
 
 time, as appears from ch. x. 9, but here there was 
 no forced march commanded as in that passage. 
 They could therefore take their time. But it would 
 have been an unreasonably slow march, if, as Keil 
 supposes, Joshua's headquarters had now been at 
 Gilgal near Bethel, and he had taken more than 
 two days for a distance of seven or eitrht hours. 
 Chephirah, ch. xviii. 26. Beeroth, xviii. 25. Kir- 
 iath-jearim, xv. 60. 
 
 Vers. 18, 19. The question whcthei the princes 
 were really bound to keep the oath which they had 
 sworn to the Gibeonites, after it appeared that the 
 condition on which it had been given did not hold 
 good, has been much discussed by the interpreters, 
 and decided rightly by most of them in the nega- 
 tive. The contrary is maintained by Osiander, 
 Ising (p. 208), Corn, a Lapide, and Clericus. The 
 last named expresses that opinion the most de- 
 eidedly : " Non videntur Hebneorum proceres intabu- 
 lis foederis hoc adscripsisse, se ea lege J'cedus cum iis 
 facere, si modo remotam oram habitarent, quod nisi 
 esset, fadus hoc foret irritant. Simpliciter jurarunt, 
 ee Gabahonitis vitam non erepturos idque invocato 
 nomine Dei Israelis. Quam ob rem suum hoc jusju- 
 randutn revocare amplitts non potuerunt." .... 
 Upon this Keil, from whom we borrow this extract, 
 justly remarks: "Although the Israelite princes 
 did not verbally make the truth of the declaration 
 of the Gibeonites a condition of the validity of 
 their oath, and add it to the league, expressis verbis, 
 still it lay at the bottom of their oath, as the Gib- 
 eonites very well knew ; and hence they so care- 
 fully represented themselves as having come from 
 a very far country. The Israelites had not, there- 
 fore, so wholly simpliciter, as Clericus assumes, 
 sworn to preserve their lives, and were not bound 
 to spare them after the discovery of their trick." 
 That the princes nevertheless felt themselves bound 
 in conscience is sufficiently explained, psychologi- 
 cally, by their reverence for the oath in itself, Lev. 
 xix. 12. Although the congregation murmur, the 
 princes abide by their conviction that the Gibeon- 
 ites must be spared on account of the oath. This 
 murmuring was directed once against Moses also, 
 Ex. xv. 24 ; xvi. 2 ; xvii. 3 ; Num. xiv. 2 ; xxvii. 
 36. Murmuring against God is mentioned, Judg. 
 viii. 21. Lam. iii. 39, is a classic passage. In the 
 N. T., yoyyvfew, yoyyvo-/i6s, Mark xiv. 5 ; Luke 
 v. 30 ; John vi. 41, 51. 
 
 Ver. 20. They would therefore let the Gibeonites 
 
 live. On nTliT), comp. Ewald, Lehrg. § 280, a. 
 [Ges. § 131, 2,]. By the inf. abs., much the same 
 as by the Lat. gerund in -ndo, or by our part, 
 pres. act., is more definitely expressed what they 
 would do ; Lev. iii. 5 ; 1 Sam. iii. 12. 
 
 Ver. 21. " The princes repeat with emphasis 
 that they shall live. Hence the Gibeonites then 
 became wood-choppers and drawers of water for 
 the congregation, as the princes had spoken to 
 them. That is, the princes had made this proposi- 
 tion together, with their TTT [ver. 20]. The au- 
 thor had omitted it there because it is manifest 
 from the historical statement in the second mem- 
 ber of this verse. So ch. iii. 8 " (Knobcl). 
 
 Vers. 22, 23. Joshua communicates to the Gib- 
 eonites what has been decided upon. There shall 
 QOt fail from among you servants and wood- 
 choppers and water-carriers, i. e., such slaves [•) 
 explicative] as are wood-choppers and water-car- 
 ■iera, and are, therefore, reckoned among the lowest 
 crass of the people (Deut. xxix. 10, 11). Together 
 with captives taken in war and devoted for like 
 purpo-'es 'o the sanctuary, the - " bore, at a later 
 
 period, the name Q^O? [Diet, of Bible, art 
 Xethinim], Deo dati, donati, 1 Chron. ix. 2 ; Ez 
 ii. 43, 70 ; viii. 20 ; Neh. vii. 43, 46. Saul was dis 
 posed to exterminate them, as is implied in 2 Sam. 
 xxi. 1, 2, and David sought to propitiate them 
 again by granting their blood-thirsty request (2 
 Sam. xxi. 6). 
 
 Vers. 24, 25. The Gibeonites plead as an apology 
 the fear which they felt towards the Israelites, and 
 leave their fate entirely in the hand of Joshua. 
 
 Vers. 26, 27. Joshua does as he had informed 
 them, according to verse 23. And delivered them 
 out of the hand of the sons of Israel. Thes« 
 would certainly, in their wavlike zeal, as we may 
 infer from their murmuring, have been glad to 
 destroy the Gibeonites. Superior to the people 
 stands the leader here, who proceeds in the spunt 
 of humanity, and, in full harmony with the princes, 
 gives no heed to the murmuring of the people. 
 
 Ver. 27. For the congregation and for the al- 
 tar. The worshipping congregation is meant, the 
 
 " rt 7Hp, as appears plain, partly from the word 
 
 HIS ("* flU, Num. xxvii. 17), partly from the 
 additional qualification, " and for the altar." Pot 
 profane service the Gibeonites could not be em- 
 ployed. They were temple slaves. 
 
 In the place which He (Jehovah) should 
 choose. Keil infers from these words that the 
 author of our book wrote before the building of 
 Solomon's temple, because in his time God could 
 not yet have chosen a fixed and permanent place 
 for his sanctuary. Knobel regards them as " an 
 addition by the careless Deuteronomist," who alone 
 in all the Pentateuch had used this expression 
 (Deut. xii. 5). But in Ex. xx. 24, which passage, 
 even according to Knobel, certainly does not belong 
 to the Deuteronomist, we meet with a related ex- 
 pression so that we are not compelled to think of 
 " an addition by the careless Deuteronomist.'' Just 
 as little necessary is it to suppose that the whole 
 arrangement by which the Gibeonites were obliged 
 to serve as wood-choppers and drawers of water 
 for the congregation was first made in later times 
 by Solomon. Reasons : ( 1 ) The Gibeonites are 
 not expressly mentioned, 1 K. ix. 20; (2) 1 K. ix. 
 
 21, has reference to tributary work ("T?* OQ), 
 and that, as the context shows, for architectural 
 purposes, but not to servants for the purposes of 
 worship. To such tributary services did Solomon 
 
 appoint (EyJT) the rest of the population (C3J 
 ~li"Tl2n) of the Amorites, Hittites, Perrizites, 
 Hivites, and Jebusites ; but the Israelites he made 
 soldiers (ver. 22). Our view is, accordingly, that 
 Joshua did certainly appoint the Gibeonites at 
 once to the lowest service at the sanctuary, " for 
 congregation and altar," as the text says, especially 
 as this service might already be performed about 
 the tabernacle, as soon as this had an assigned 
 place. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. The question how far a promissory oath is 
 binding on him who has given it, depends very 
 much on our determination of the conditions under 
 which one is at liberty to swear at all. On this 
 Jer. iv. 2 is rightly regarded as a locus classicus. 
 According to this passage an oath may be given . 
 (1) ng&g, (2) C2tr»3. (3) np^Sa. These 
 three conditions, truth, right, and justice, are that 
 which being presupposed an oath may be taken 
 
CHAPTER IX. 3-27. 
 
 91 
 
 They are, as Jerome long ago called them, and as 
 the canonical law recognizes them, the comites 
 jura nejiti, namely, Veritas in mente, judicium in 
 jurante, justitia in objecto. If then, as in the case 
 with the Gibeonites, the justitia in objecto is absent, 
 the oath need not be observed ; and so in all cases, 
 when " the thorough knowledge of the subject" is 
 wanting to the swearer without his fault. Com- 
 pletely so when this subject matter of the promis- 
 sory oath is something directly unallowable, in 
 clear opposition to the law of God, which, never- 
 theless, one has hastily, without rightly under- 
 standing it, sworn to do, as was true of Jephtha 
 (Judg. x. 30, 31 ) and Herod (Matt. xiv. 9). Only, 
 in that case, some expiation must be made, accord- 
 ing to the principle laid down, Lev. v. 4-6, which, 
 if a man, e. g. has taken an oath of office, and this 
 office he cannot discharge, might consist in his 
 resignation of the office, and in the case of a king, 
 in his abdication. Christian ethics, especially that 
 of the evangelical church, cannot be too earnest on 
 this doctrine of the obligation of an oath, since 
 mental reservations are so easily allowed which 
 threaten truth, right, and justice. Very beauti- 
 fully, on this point, Nitzsch says (System of Chris- 
 tian Doctrine, § 207) : " Better, indeed, if the Chris- 
 tian state had done away with the word oath, opxos, 
 and the like, together with the whole train of heath- 
 enly-religious presuppositions which are connected 
 with them. We might and should speak of God's 
 witness, appeal to God, worship in court, duty to God, 
 etc. The form of the oath of this kind would have 
 far less difficulty. Much more would depend on 
 performing the whole service in a truly religious 
 way, according to place and time, and on limiting, 
 in conformity with this, the requisition and per- 
 mission, and on giving due heed to what Christian 
 morals and policy might have to advise further." 
 
 On the conditions of a right, that is, Christianly- 
 pious offering and performance of an oath, Harless 
 observes ( Christian Ethics, § 39, b) : " The first con- 
 dition is, that the oath should be rendered only by 
 
 virtue of a right demand for it "The 
 
 second condition is, that the swearer be in truth a 
 confessor, i. e. that his oath be the expression of a 
 believing hope truly dwelling in him. The third 
 condition is, that the engagement into which he 
 enters under his professing oath should be such 
 that the God Himself whom the swearer acknowl- 
 edges may acknowledge it. For the oath's sake to 
 fulfill engagements displeasing to God is wickedly 
 to carry to conpletion that which has been wickedly 
 begun, to add a second sin to the first. Not to ful- 
 fill what has been sworn is in such cases, not the 
 violation of an oath pleasing to God, but the peni- 
 tent recall of a God-offending oath." Worthy of 
 consideration further are the richly instructive ar- 
 ticles in Herzog's Realencyk. (iii. 713 ff.) on "the 
 Oath among the Hebrews " by Ruetschi, and on 
 " the Oath " by C. F. Gdschel. 
 
 -'. The sanctity of the oath stood very high with 
 the ancient Israelites, so that, as this narrative 
 shows, they would rather tn dubic, hold fast to 
 their oath even when they might jastly have re- 
 leased themselves from it. As the name of God 
 was to them thrice holy (Is. vi. 3 ; Ps. cxi. 9), so 
 also was the solemn appeal to this name whether in 
 a promise or an assertion With this is connected 
 the fact that the administration of oaths before the 
 ;ourt was restricted to a few cases (Ex. xxii. 6 ff. 
 11 ; Lev. v. 23, 25; Num. v. 19 ff.) For that 
 6tate of things ought modern legislation also to 
 strive, and upon that ought Christian ethics to in- 
 list. Yet in North America, otherwise so puritan- 
 
 ically disposed, what sport is made with the oath, 
 while in the territory of the Zwinglian church in 
 Switzerland, the oath scarcely occurs any more 
 before the courts. 
 
 3. Priests and prophets are called the mouth of 
 Jehovah, and rightly, because he speaks through 
 them when they have been enlightened by Him. 
 This illumination, however, ought not to be 
 thought of as in any way a mechanical process, but 
 is rather to be regarded always as in the closest 
 connection with the entire personal life, and official 
 position of the individual bearer of the divine rev- 
 elation. Even in the handling of the Urini ane" 
 Thummim, this also must be taken into account 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 As once the Canaanites against Israel, so still 
 and ever the foes of God gather themselves together 
 to fight against Him and his church. — The trick 
 of the Gibeonites (1 ) shrewdly thought out, (2) cun- 
 ningly carried out, but (3) detected and punished. 
 
 — There is no thread so finely spun, but comes at 
 last before the sun. — Lying and deceit bring no bles- 
 sing. — Humble words alone do not accomplish it, 
 they must also be true. — The glory of God among 
 the heathen. — Do nothing without asking God. — 
 If we ask the Lord, He gives us also an answer ; if 
 we neglect it we have to bear the hurt ourselves. — 
 How necessary it is for us to ascertain accurately 
 the state of the case before we bind ourselves by an 
 oath, lest we afterwards be troubled in conscience 
 
 — shown in the case of the princes of Israel. — 
 The firmness of the princes against the murmur- 
 ing of the congregation. — The judgment upon the 
 Gibeonites: (1) the hearing; (2) the sentence. — 
 Man fears for nothing more than his life, and yet this 
 life is only a temporal good. — Joshua's beautiful 
 humaneness. — Better to be wood-choppers and 
 water-carriers for the altar of the Lord than to have 
 no part therein, as the Gibeonites had well deserved 
 by their treacherous scheme. 
 
 Starke : It is no new thing for the mighty of 
 the world to bind themselves together against God 
 and his gospel, Ps. ii. 2. But rage ye peoples, and 
 be confounded ; and give ear all ye of far countries ; 
 arm yourselves and be confounded ; take counsel 
 together and it shall come to nought ; speak a 
 word and it shall not stand, for God is with us, Is. 
 vii. 9, 10. — No man should lie; straightforward 
 truth gives the best security, Eph. iv. 25. — God's 
 wonders and works are not hidden even from the 
 heathen ; how then shall they excuse themselves 
 in that day ? Rom. i. 19, 20. — For the preserva- 
 tion of mortal life men may well give themselves a 
 deal of trouble, but where lies the care for the soul's 
 welfare? Matt xvi. 25,26. — He who always takes 
 counsel of God in prayer will not easily be deceived. 
 
 — It is a bad case when one, on account of lying 
 and deceit, must blush and turn pale ; let every 
 man, therefore, strive after uprightness and honesty. 
 
 Cramer : Gad must have wood-choppers also 
 and water-carriers in his congregation, and He gives 
 to everv one gifts according to his portion, 1 ('or. 
 xii. 27." 
 
 Hedinger : It is thoughtless stupidity in a man, 
 if he will not take warning but runs also into the 
 judgment where he sees that others have gone te 
 ruin. — Credulity brings us into trouble. 
 
 Geri.ach : This history warns the congregation 
 of God at all times of the craft and disguises of the 
 world, which often, when it would bean advantage 
 to it, seeks recognition and admission into the king- 
 dom of God 
 
92 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 3. The great Victory at Gibeon over the five allied Canaanite Kings. 
 Chapter X. 1-27. 
 
 a. Investment of Gibeon by the fire allied Kings. 
 Chapter X. 1-5. 
 
 1 Now [And] it came to pass, when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem had [omit : 
 had] heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed [devoted] it ; as he 
 had done to Jericho and her king, so had he done to Ai and her king ; and how the 
 
 2 inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them ; that they 
 feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities [prop, 
 one of the cities of the kingdom], and because it tvas greater than Ai, and all the 
 
 3 men thereof ivere mighty. Wherefore [And] Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent 
 unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia 
 
 4 king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying, Come up unto me, and 
 help me, that we may smite Gibeon : for it hath made peace with Joshua and with 
 
 5 the children of Israel. Therefore, [And] the [omit : the] five kings of the Amo- 
 rites, the king of Jerusalem, the kins of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of 
 Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went up, they and 
 all their hosts [camps], and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it. 
 
 b. Slaughter at Gibeon. 
 Chapter X. 6-15. 
 
 6 And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not 
 thy hand [hands] 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 to- 
 
 7 gether against us. So [And] Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of 
 
 8 war with him, and all the mighty men of valour [strong heroes]. And the Lord [Jeho- 
 vah] said unto Joshua, Fear them not : for I have delivered [given] them into thine 
 
 9 hand ; there shall not a man of them stand before thee. Joshua therefore [And 
 
 10 Joshua] came upon them suddenly, [:] and went [he went up] from Gilgal all night. 
 And the Lord [Jehovah] discomfited [Bunsen : brought into confusion ; Knobel : 
 scattered ; Fay, De Wette, Zunz : confused] them before Israel, and slew them with a 
 great slaughter [De Wette : effected a great overthrow among them ; Fay, literally : 
 smote them with a great stroke] at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that 
 goeth up to [the way of the ascent of] Beth-horon, 1 and smote them to Azekah, and 
 
 11 unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in 
 the going down to [on the descent from] Beth-horon, that the Lord [Jehovah] cast 
 down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died : they were 
 more which died with [the] hail-stones than they whom the children of Israel slew 
 with the sword. 
 
 12 Then spake Joshua to the Lord [Jehovah] in the day when the Lord [Jehovah] 
 delivered up the Amorites before the children [sons] of Israel, and he said in the 
 sight of Israel : 
 
 Sun, stand thou [omit : thou] still on Gibeon, 
 
 And thou [omit : thou], Moon, in the valley of Ajalon ! 
 
 13 And the sun stood still, 
 And the moon stayed, 
 
 Until the people [nation] had avenged themselves upon their enemies. 
 
 Is not this written in the book of Jasher [Fay : the upright (Rechtschaffenen) 
 Luther : pious ; De Wette : just [Redlichen] ? So [And] the sun stood still in the 
 
 14 midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no 
 day like that before it or [and] after it, that the Lord [Jehovah] hearkened unto 
 
 15 the voice of a man ; for the Lord [Jehovah] fought for Israel. And Joshua re- 
 turned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal. 
 
CHAPTER X. 16-27. 
 
 93 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 p Ver. 11. — This sentence is properly parenthetical : As they fled betore Israel (they were on the descent from Belli. 
 no?on) that Jehovah, etc. — Tr.] 
 
 c. Flight and Destruction of the five Kings. 
 Chapter X. 16-27. 
 
 16 But [And] these five kings tied and hid themselves in a [the] cave at Makke- 
 
 17 dah. And it was told Joshua, saying : The five kings are found hid in a [the] cave 
 
 18 at Makkedah. And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, 
 
 19 and set men by it for [omit : for] to keep them : And stay ye not, but [omit : but"^ 
 pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them ; suffer them not to 
 enter into their cities ; for the Lord [Jehovah] your God hath delivered [given] 
 them into your hand. 
 
 20 And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end 
 of slaying [smiting] them with a very great slaughter [stroke], till they were con 
 sumed, that the rest which remained of them entered [Fay : but those that re- 
 
 21 mained of them escaped and came] into [the] fenced [fortified] cities. [,] And [that x ] 
 all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace : none moved 
 
 22 [Fay, properly : pointed] his tongue against any of the children of Israel. Then 
 said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me 
 
 23 out of the cave. 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 
 
 24 king of Lachish, and [omit : and] the king of Eglon. And it came to pass, when 
 they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Is- 
 rael, and said unto the captains [Z^r^r?, leaders] of the men of war which went 
 with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they 
 
 25 came near and put their feet upon the necks of them. And Joshua said to them, 
 Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong, and of good courage [firm, ch. i. G], for thus 
 
 26 shall the Lord [Jehovah] do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. And after- 
 ward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees : and they 
 
 27 were hanging upon the trees until the evening. 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 [omit : which remain] until this very 
 day. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [i Verses 20 and 21 might well be translated and connected thus : And it came to pass when .... till they were 
 sonsumed, and those that had escaped of them had fled, and were come into the fortified cities, that all the people 
 returned, etc. — Tr.] 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 The abandonment by Gibeon of the common cause 
 leads Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, beyond doubt 
 the most powerful of the Canaanite king's in South- 
 ern Palestine, tr call upon the kings of Hebron, La- 
 chish, Jarmuth, and Eglon, to chastise the apostate 
 city. With this demand the princes named yielded 
 compliance (ver. 1—5). But Joshua, being sum- 
 moned by the Gibconites to their assistance, hastens 
 to aid his threatened allies, defeats the Canaanite 
 kings in the famous battle at Gibeon, ever mem- 
 orable on account of the much disputed standing 
 still of the sun (vers. 6-15), and pursues and slays 
 the confederates (vers. 66-27). 
 
 a. Investment of Gibeon by the Jive allied Kings 
 
 (vers. 1-5),— ver. 1. PT2" , 3"'S* = Lord of right- 
 eousness. Better known than this Adoni-zedek is 
 "'T£" > 3 '5? = King of righteousness ( Gen. xiv. 1 8 ; 
 Ps. ex 4; Heb. v. 6-10; vi. 20; vii. 1,10 and 
 )ften). who was likewise king of Salem I Jerusalem). 
 
 I? 1 ???!!"!; also Dlbtt^T (the latter form here 
 and there in Chronicles, e. 7., 1 Chron. iii. 5, also 
 on the coins of the Maccabsean age, while others 
 have also the defective form, Gesen.). abbreviated, 
 
 -!?&' (Gen. xiv. 18; Ps. Lxxvi. 3), from which it 
 
 is evident that the proper pointing is DvtOTI^, .a 
 
 further, the Aram. DbttW""!?, Ezra iv. 20, 24; v. 1, 
 
 and cHpT; Ezra v. 14 ; vi. 9, go to show. The 
 Keri perpetuum — , which is a dual form, is ex- 
 plained (Fiirst) as having arisen with reference to 
 the double city (upper and lower), or, without re- 
 spect to that, from the fact that the later Hebrews 
 
 understood C n to be an old dual form (still ap- 
 pearing in C^E?, E^ti' and the nom. prop 
 C\32, ERt£), and had substituted for it the cu» 
 tomary ~1— 
 
94 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 The etymology is doubtful. Gesenius maintains 
 the interpretation, supported by the translation of 
 
 Saadjas : dwelling of peace. On this view, T>. 
 
 would be from iTV = dwelling or foundation, and 
 
 D7SZ7 = 2V7H7, which is favored by the Greek 
 mode of writing Soav/m (Josephus, Ant. i. 10, 12; 
 Pans. 8. Hi, 3) and the Latin, Solyma (Mart. 10, 
 65, 5). Ewald holds the first part of the word to 
 
 be an abbreviation of HTTP = possession, and ex- 
 plains, possession of Shalem." Hitzig (on Is. p. 1 , ff.) 
 goes back to niJJrP = possession, district, " dis- 
 trict or possession of Salem.'' More recently he 
 holds, on Ps. lxxvi. 3, that a7H$T"T' should properly 
 have been written a?^?^! : H' , . which he translates 
 (History of the People of Israel] i. 140) by : " Fear ye 
 God uiid'ividedly." Here it is to be further ob- 
 served that according to Hitzig's views E?H\ in 
 the southern Arabic = a stone, was, with the Amo- 
 rite D^, the old Canaanite name of the city [Je- 
 busalem]," which David changed into Jerusalem, 
 while Hitzig adds that the city was earlier called 
 Salem (?). 
 
 Fiirst decides for the old etymology, appealing 
 also to Saadjas on Is. xliv. 28 ; li. 17 ; lx. 1 ; lxii. 1, 
 6, taking obtD, however, = DibHJ, as an epithet 
 of the most high God, as in DT^SfcJ. Thus 
 3bH7VP would be equal to bSTP, 2Chr.xx.16, 
 meaning "foundation (or place, dwelling) of El," 
 and that as the Peaceful. It is striking that Furst 
 
 interprets Ebfij, Gen. xiv. 18 ; Ps. lxxvi. 3, where 
 it stands alone, without TP. by " hilly place, sum- 
 mit," from a supposed stem D/H7, to be high. But 
 it would be more obvious to explain it, in accord- 
 ance with the meaning given to EvH? in D/U?V1 , I 
 as " place of the Peaceful," that is, of God. 
 
 " The later Arabic name of Jerusalem, el-Kuds or 
 Beit el-Mukaddas, is only a circumlocution like 
 
 BJ'jpnT'S in the Hebrew (Neh. xi. 18)." Fiirst. 
 On the topography of Jerusalem and its neighbor- 
 hood, comp. Dr. E. G. Schultz, Jerusalem ; W. 
 Krart't, The Topography of Jerusalem : Tobler, Mem- 
 oranda of Jerusalem, and, Topography of Jerusalem 
 and its Vicinity, as also Menke's Bible Atlas, map v., 
 where on very carefully drawn side-maps the views 
 of Tobler, Kiepert, Ferguson, Robinson, Krafl't, and 
 Sepp, concerning the plan of the city, are delin- 
 eated. 1 
 
 Ver. 2. It is emphatically mentioned concern- 
 ing Gibeon that it was a great city, " like one of 
 the cities of the kingdom," that is, perhaps, like a 
 city in which a king dwelt, like a " royal city." 
 
 Ver. 3. Hebron, chaps, x. 36 ; xv. 54, Jarmuth, 
 ch. xv. 35, Lachish and Eglon, ch. xv. 39, lie in 
 southern Canaan. 
 
 Ver. 4. The enterprise is not directly against 
 Joshua, but against Gibeon, because Gibeon has 
 made peon with Joshua and the children of Israel. 
 
 Ver. 5. The four kings hear the summons, and 
 encamn around Gibeon. The names of the kings 
 
 J [A particularly valuable article on Jerusalem will be 
 foun.l in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. On the topography 
 the additions to the Am. ed. are indispensable. The Recoven/ 
 i. .lenualem see Iutr. p 37) is now reprinted in N. Y .— Tr j 
 
 are not given here a second time, but the names of 
 the cities over which they ruled, and in the sam« 
 order as in ver. 3. The former names, however 
 are significant throughout, for Hoham is probablj 
 " whom Jehovah drives," Piram " the wild ass * 
 (similar designations among the aborigines of N 
 A.), Japhia "splendid," Debir "the writer," on 
 which the Lexicons may be consulted. 
 
 b. Battle of Gibeon, vers. 6-15. — Ver. 6. The 
 Gibeonites send to Joshua at Gilgal and implore 
 help, and indeed, as the form of their expres- 
 sion indicates, immediate help. Observe the cli- 
 max ; slacken not thy hands (2 Sam. xxiv. 16) — 
 come up to us quickly — and save us - - and help 
 us. A very similar tone is adopted by the perse- 
 cuted Christian congregation, Acts iv. 24-30, es- 
 pecially vers. 27-29. 
 
 Kings of the Amorites — a common designa- 
 tion of the five princes. 
 
 Ver. 7. Joshua responds to the appeal and 
 hastens marching all night long to reach them 
 (ver. 9), and that with a select portion of the army 
 
 — VjiTJJ ""liaa, ch. i. 14. The } is to be taken 
 as explicative, as Gen. iii. 16; comp. also Josh, 
 xiv. 6. 
 
 Ver. 8. An encouraging address from Jeho- 
 vah. 
 
 Ver. 9. A more particular statement of what 
 has been told (ver. 7). — Suddenly comes he 
 upon them because he has marched the whole night. 
 In the morning he stands before them, when they 
 believe him to be yet at his head-quarters on the 
 Jordan. These rapid marches illustrate the true 
 energy and efficiency of great military commanders. 
 This is perceived also in modern and even the 
 most recent history. 3 
 
 Ver. 10. " Jehovah scattered (DlSTTl) the 
 enemy before Israel. The latter smote them in a 
 great' defeat at Gibeon and pursued them north- 
 westward on the way to the ascent ( T2 nW.D) 
 of Beth-horon. So likewise he followed them in a 
 southwesterly direction and smote them even unto 
 Azekah and Makkedah." So Knobel. According 
 to his view, therefore, the whole pursuit occurred 
 simultaneously, towards the northwest and the 
 southwest. But that is not the sense of vers. 10 
 and 1 1 • Kather all Israel pursued the enemy in a 
 northwesterly direction towards the pass of Beth- 
 horon, and from thence through the pass down 
 into the plain, where probably Azekah and Makke- 
 dah lay. By what means Jehovah discomfited 
 the enemy, or " scattered " them, as Knobel trans- 
 lates, is not told ; for the hail comes later. So Je- 
 hovah once discomfited the Egyptians, also, Ex. 
 xiv. 24 ; and xxiii. 27 the promise is given that 
 God will always do so with the foes of Israel. In 
 1 Sam. vii. 10 we are told of a tempest which Je- 
 hovah brought up when, at Samuel's prayer, he 
 caused it to thunder against the Philistines, and 
 then it is said : CErP] — the same word which is 
 used here. Probably also the storm came on during 
 the battle. It thundered and lightened. Jehovah 
 fought for his people out of the clouds. The enemy 
 trembled and lost heart. They fled. During their 
 Bight the storm broke upon them in full fury ; hail- 
 stones fell on them and of such size that more died 
 from these than were slain by the sword (ver. 11). 
 
 2 [If Sadowa and the other events of the Austrian cam- 
 paign were so commemorated by the author, what would he 
 have said of the progress from Weissenberg to Sedan, and 
 1'aris, and in 1870. — Tr.) 
 
CHAPTER X. 1-27. 
 
 9S 
 
 By a very similar mischance the Austrians were 
 avertaken in 1859 at the battle of Solferino. — We 
 
 hare translated f 5?!2 in ver. 10 " ascent" and 
 in ver. 11, "descent." 1 It means both alike, as 
 in 1 Mace. iii. 16, 24, both stand together in 
 reference to this place : avafia.<ris xal KardPao-is Baifl- 
 ttiputv- If ''pass" were not so modern it would 
 best express the meaning of this word. This Pass 
 of Beth-horon is still very rocky and rough (Rob- 
 inson, iii. 59-63), and leads from the mountain 
 down into the western plain, whither Joshua pur- 
 sued the enemy even to the places lying there, 
 Azekah (ch. xv, 35) and Makkedah (ch. xv. 41). 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . That by the great stones, not stones 
 literally as rained down (Grotius, Calmet, Ilgen), 
 but hail-stones are to be understood, appears from 
 the second half of the verse, "A hail-storm is 
 
 meant, in relation to which T^S 1?^ occurs also 
 Is. xxx. 30; comp. Ez. xiii. 11, 13. Jehovah in 
 contending with his enemies employs the hail also 
 (Job xxxviii. 23; Is. xxxit. 19) as he did e. g. in 
 Egypt, Ex. ix. 19, 25 " (Knobel). 
 
 The verses which now follow, 12-15, deserve a 
 particularly careful examination, and that (1) in 
 reference to the criticism of the text; (2) as regards 
 their contents. As to the former it is obvious that 
 the whole passage, ver. 12-15, might be removed 
 from the context entirely, without in the least 
 mutilating the narrative ; rather, ver. 16 connects 
 itself with ver. 1 1 as its proper continuation. It is 
 further manifest that ver. 13 itself refers to another 
 writing as its source, and that the same author 
 cannot possibly have written ver. 15 and ver. 43. 
 For, according to ver. 15 Joshua had returned im- 
 mediately after the battle at Gibeon into the camp 
 at Gilgal, while in ver. 43 this return takes place 
 only after the completed conquest of southern 
 Canaan. 
 
 We have therefore to consider here an inserted 
 passage. Knobel calls it " a fragment from the 
 first document of the Jehovist." This first docu- 
 ment of the Jehovist is, as may have been already 
 perceived from the Introd. (§ 2), according to 
 
 Knobel's view, the "^J^ ""'?? here cited — the 
 "Law-book" as he calls it, — composed in the 
 Northern kingdom. From this first document the 
 whole episode here is taken, as he supposes, except 
 the words, " is it not written in the Sepher 
 Jaschar ? " which he explains as an addition of the 
 Jehovist, " who in a tiling so unheard of and in- 
 credible thought himself bound to quote his au- 
 thority expressly." As we have not been able to 
 assent to this view, but are rather obliged, with the 
 
 whole body of critics, to regard this ""*tf*i7 "'?'■?> 
 mentioned only here and 2 Sam. i. 18, as a poeti- 
 cal book, we cannot by any means refer the whole 
 passage to the " Book of the Upright," but only a 
 part as is afterwards shown. In this assumption 
 that the whole passage, with the exception of the 
 formula of quotations, is taken from the "Book of 
 
 1 [The remark which follows is true and appropriate con- 
 ferniog n|p3?D, which, however, is not repeated in ver. 
 11. TT10 is used there. — Tb.1 
 
 T J 
 
 2 [Might we not add aisl ^TZ ver. 13, which is unusual 
 for C3? in reference to the Hebrews ? — Tb 1 
 
 T J 
 
 S [The unhesitating soohdence of our author in this con- 
 clusion seems hardly borne out by his reasons. The cautious 
 • jilgment of lileek, above quoted, seems more consistent 
 
 the Upright," there agree with Knobel : Hengsten 
 berg in the Evang. Kirchen-Zeitung, 1832, No. 88, 
 ibid. 1868, No. 48 ; Havernick, Einl. ii. 1, p. 50, Keil, 
 Comm. p. 255 ff. [Bill. Comrn. ii. 1, 76 ff.]. The 
 latter remarks, at the end of his exposition : " The 
 only plausible consideration which can be brought 
 against this view, and which has been adduced 
 with great emphasis, by two anonymous writers in 
 the hcang. Kirchen-Zeitung, 1833, No. 17, p. 135 f., 
 and No. 25 f. p. 197 f. and 211 f., consists in this, 
 that the formula of citation, ' Is not this written 
 in the Book of the Upright ? ' stands in the middle 
 of the passage quoted, while elsewhere this and 
 similar formulas stand either at the beginning of 
 the quotation, as Deut. xxi. 14-27, or at the end of 
 it, as generally in the books of Kings and Chroni- 
 cles. But from both cases it does not follow that 
 this is a rule without exceptions." Keil labors to 
 prove this, quite fruitlessly, in our opinion ; Heng- 
 stenberg also, in his second essay, seeks to obviata 
 the striking fact that the citation occurs in the midst 
 of the passage, by assuming that the author has com- 
 municated, out of the Book of the Upright, two lyr- 
 ical fragments, which he separates from each other 
 by the intervening phrase of quotation {ubi sup. 
 p. 580). But, granting that ver. 13 6-15, together 
 with the very prosaic conclusion, " and Joshua re- 
 turned and all Israel with him, unto the camp to 
 Gilgal," must be a lyrical fragment, would it not 
 then have been more natural for the writer to re- 
 peat the formula somewhat in this manner : Is 
 not this also written in the Book of the Upright ? 
 — -Bleek has left the question unsettled, saying, 
 " How far the quotation here extends, and where 
 the historian resumes, is not quite clear " (Introd. 
 to the 0. T. p. 349). Kamphausen on the con- 
 trary (Stud, und Kritiken, 1863, p. 866), assumes 
 that the author of ver. 12-15 was a historian who 
 names expressly the source from which he draws, 
 and plainly distinguishes, the lines which he e.rtracts 
 therefrom from his own prosaic narrative. Tc 
 the same result must we also come, and for the fol- 
 lowing reasons: ( I. )_ The fact that the formulaof 
 citation here occurs in the midst of the passage, 
 constitutes for us an insuperable objection to refer- 
 ring the whole to the Book of the Upright, since 
 everywhere else, such formula comes in either at 
 the beginning or end of the words cited. (2.) The 
 exclamation which is put in the mouth of Joshua, 
 breathes in every aspect the spiritof Hebrew poetry. 
 It is sublime in its import, rythmical, and strictly 
 observing the parallelism in its form, in its choice 
 
 of words also poetical (notice Di^T, E^l * ) ; whiie 
 
 afterwards the discretion of the historian manifestly 
 comes into play, since he mentions only the sun ; 
 lets it stand in the midst of heaven, then continues 
 with the observation that it hasted not to go down 
 almost a whole day; in ver. 14 expounds verbally the 
 poetical language, and concludes, finally, with a 
 wholly prosaic notice. 
 
 Verses 13 6-15, accordingly, do not belong to the 
 Book of the Upright. 3 But how with verse 12 a 1 
 
 with all the facts. we think the poetic spirit resounds 
 through the whole of vers. 13 aod 14, to say nothing ol the 
 more satisfactory dogmatic bearing of Hengstenberg's view, 
 to be noticed hereafter. 
 
 Stanley, iu his very interesting presentation of the great 
 battle of Gibeon {Jewish Ctiurrh, 1st series, lect. xi.). givef 
 this whole section poetically arranged, as follows. It will 
 be seen that here again he blends the LXX. and the Hebrev 
 text too much as if they were of like authority : — 
 " Then spake Joshua unto Jehovah, 
 In the day ' that God gave up the Ar orite 
 
9ii 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 It is possible that these words may have formed the 
 histo.ical introduction in that Book of Heroes, to 
 Joshua's exclamation, as Ex. xv. 1, "Then sang 
 Moses," etc., but it is also possible that they belong 
 to the same author as vers. 13 fc-15, from whom 
 other sections likewise wrought into the body of 
 the history may have been derived. On this see 
 the Introduction. 
 
 Having dealt with the criticism of the text, we 
 proceed (2) to a consideration of the meaning of 
 the passage, which especially needs to be exeget- 
 
 ically settled. Ver. 12, TS, pointedly " at that 
 time," as Gen.xii. 6, Josh. xiv. 11, in contrast with 
 
 ™?2 ; I.XX. t6t(, Vulg. tunc. This TS is more 
 
 closely defined by "lTI HFI CV?, "in the day 
 when Jehovah delivered up," etc. The battle at 
 Gibeon is intended. The promise, Deut. i. 7, 8, is 
 to be remembered. On this day, Joshua spake to 
 Jehovah, .... and he said in the sight 
 of Israel. We should have expected rather, " in 
 the ears of Israel." The same kind of expression 
 is used in Num. xx. 8, in a passage which prob- 
 ably has the same author as ours, and in Deut. 
 
 xxxi. 7. Quite correctly 2 , 3 > i?7 is used, Gen. 
 xxiii. 11, 18; Ex. iv. 30. Here it is to be taken 
 = coram, as the Vulgate translates, correctly as 
 to the sense. Then follows what Joshua said. 
 
 tPt?tt?, as also n^, is without the article, accord- 
 ing to the usage of poetry, as Job xvi. 18, y"~^ 
 (0 earth), while in prose the article in this case is 
 more common to distinguish the noun in some 
 
 manner (Ewald, Lehrg. § 327). Oi^i Imp. Kal 
 
 from CQTJi prop., to be dumb with astonishment, 
 then to be silent, then to rest, to be quiet, to keep 
 still, as one who is silent does. So Ps. iv. 5 ; 1 
 Sam. xiv. 9; Job xxxi. 34; Lam. ii. 18; Job 
 
 xxx. 27. Knobel remarks also that tP^OUi 
 Gen. xxxiv. 5 ; Ex. xiv. 14, is used in the same 
 way of rest, inactivity. " Sun, stand still on Gib- 
 eon," is accordingly, = keep thyself quiet and inac- 
 tive, stand still. Keil indeed will not grant this, 
 
 but translates E??1 here and 1 Sam. xiv. 9, by 
 " wait." But both here and there "TO3? stands im- 
 mediately parallel to C?|, and 11237 means un- 
 questionably to stand, stand still, remain standing, 
 for which 1 Sam. xx. 38 may be superfluously com- 
 pared. Besides, how can the sun wait, without 
 standing still. It is better, therefore, to translate 
 poetically, with force and boldness, "stand still," 
 than tamely " Sun, wait at Gibeon and moon in 
 the Valley of Ajalon." So also the LXX., 2ttjto> 
 6 tJAios kclto. ra^eou/, Kai 7} fft)\T}vn Kara tpapayya 
 AtAu'i-: and the Vulgate: "Sol contra Gabaon ne 
 movearis et lima contra vallem Ajalon!" Quite 
 erroneous is the attempt of Dr. Barzilai in the bro- 
 chure, Un Errore di Trente Secoli (Trieste, 1868), 
 
 to translate the Cl^T Il'SU? by " Sun, be silent, 
 cease to shine ! " by which an eclipse of the sun 
 
 [nto the hund of Israel,' (LXX.) 
 IVhen he discomfited them in Gibeon, 
 
 And they were discomfited before the face of Israel,' (LXX.)" 
 And Joshua Raid : — 
 
 ' f Be thou still, eun, upon Gibeon, 
 
 And thou moon upon the Valley of Ajalon.' 
 And the sun was still, 
 And the moon stood* 
 
 would be made out of his standing still. Ziickler, 
 in a treatise (Beweis des Glaulens, iv. p. 2501, re 
 marks on this : " The untenableness of this expla- 
 nation appears not only from the tact that ~ -1. 
 
 'to be silent' (as well as its synonym tT*nnn, 
 in Gen. xxxiv. 5 ; Ex. xiv. 14), according to 1 Sam. 
 xiv. 9, may very well signify in general, the hold- 
 ing in, or ceasing from any activity, and partic- 
 ularly resting from any movement, the holding 
 still or standing of a moving body (comp. also Ps. 
 iv. 5; Job xxxi. 34; Lam. ii. IS), while its appli- 
 cation to the self-concealment of a luminous body, 
 can be supported by no example, — but further- 
 more also from the connection with what follows. 
 This, as definitely as is possible, presents the actual 
 standing still of the sun, as the result of the might; 
 injunction of Joshua, the believing warrior." 
 
 The Valley of Ajalon lies to the west of Gibeon. 
 Knobel says on this, at ch. xix. 42 : " Ajalon, in 
 whose vale Joshua bade the moon stand -till (x. 
 12), allotted to the Levites (xxi. 24 : 1 Chron. vi. 
 54), often mentioned in the wars with the Philis- 
 tines (1 Sam. xiv. 31 ; 1 Chron. viii. 13), fortified 
 by Kehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 10), taken from Ahaz 
 by the Philistines (2 Chron. xxviii. 18), lying, ac- 
 cording to the Onom., s. v. " Ajalon," two miles eas: 
 of Nicopolis; at the present day, a village Jalu 
 Jalo, in a fertile region on the north side of £, 
 mountain ridge, from which one overlooks the 
 beautiful and wide basin Merdj Ilm Omeir stretch 
 ing away to the north. Rob. iii. 63, tJ4 ; Later Blbl 
 Res. 145, Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, p. 188 f." To 
 this position of Ajalon, westward frorn Gibeon, 
 where Joshua joined battle with the Amorites, the 
 place of the moon suits well. It stood in the west, 
 near its setting, over Ajalon, and was still visible 
 although the sun was shining. Let the two heav- 
 enly bodies stand where they stood and there 
 would continue to be day ; and if there continued 
 to be day there would still be a possibility of com- 
 pletely destroying the foe. And that was precisely 
 Joshua's wish, that they might stand where they 
 stood in order that he might annihilate the enemy. 
 Hengstenberg (ubi sup. p. 558) will not allow this, 
 but explains that the " simultaneous appearance of 
 the sun and moon " was " something entirely un- 
 usual, which ought not to be so readily taken for 
 natural." This joint apparition, however, is not 
 very unusual ; on the contrary it may be witnessed 
 in a clear sky at any time, during the moon's first 
 quarter, in the afternoon, and during the last quar- 
 ter, in the forenoon : and indeed, from what is 
 kindly communicated to me by the astronomer 
 Mridl'er, it may be seen, in the much clearer south- 
 ern heavens, early in the afternoon, during the 
 moon's first quarter, and until late in the forenoon 
 during her third. 
 
 Knobel, for his part, supposes that " the sepa- 
 rate mention of the sun and moon on Gibeon and 
 Ajalon has, in the poetical parallelism, as e. g. in 
 Hos. v. 8; Am.i. 5 ; Mich, iii- 12 ; Zech. ix. 10, 17, 
 no significance." That, however, is questionable, 
 in view of the fact that the assignment of the two 
 heavenly bodies to their respective positions suit* 
 Until ' the nation ' (or, LXX., until God) had avenged them 
 
 upon their enemies. 
 And the sun stood in f the very midst ' of the beaveni, 
 And hasted not to go down for a whole day. 
 And there was no day like that before it or after it, 
 That Jehovah heard the voice of a man, 
 For Jehovah fought for Israel. 
 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto thi 
 
 camp in Gilgal." — Te.) 
 
CHAPTER X. 1-27. 
 
 so perfectly to the place of Joshua, ami the more 
 so because it is to us very doubtful whether the 
 names in Hos. v. 8, Am. i. 5, Zech. ix. 10, are con- 
 nected merely for the sake of the parallelism, which 
 we admit only as to Mie. iii. 12. But if the sun 
 and moon simultaneously stood still in the heavens, 
 ;md su that the sun rested over Gibeon east of the 
 Held of battle, and the moon over Ajalon in the 
 west, the battle must have heen going on in the 
 morning, and Joshua have uttered his invocation 
 it this time, perhaps toward midday. So it is un- 
 derstood also by Keil, Knobel, and Zockler, who 
 writes (ubi sup.) : " The mention of the moon with 
 the sun in ver. 13 is to be explained simply from 
 the circumstance that it also was yet visible in the 
 sky, and that the prayer, directed toward a prolong- 
 ation of the dag, could only be fully expressed, pos- 
 itively as well as negatively, if it at the same time 
 called for the delay of the night, or, which i- the 
 same thing, a standing still of the planet which 
 governed the night (Gen. i. 16)." 
 
 Gibeon and Ajalon are named as stations of the 
 sun and moon, because Joshua when he engaged 
 in the battle was probably west of Gibeon, in a 
 place from which he saw the sun shining in the 
 east over that city, and the moon in the far west 
 over Ajalon. 
 
 As the probable hour of the conflict we may in- 
 fer, partly from this situation and partly from the 
 sun standing still " in the midst of the heaven " 
 (ver. 13), that it was in the middle part of the day, 
 and probably still in the forenoon, hardly the late 
 afternoon as Corn, a Lapide, Clericus, J. D. Mich. 
 et at. have supposed. Hitzig also decides in favor of 
 the forenoon : " As Saul upon the king of Amnion, 
 Joshua fell on the Amorites early in the morning. 
 When, soon after, the battle took a favorable turn, 
 the sun had already risen and stood over Gibeon 
 behind the combatants, while in the far west, the 
 moon had not yet gone down" (ubi sup. p. 102). 
 Most recently of all A. Hengstenberg in Bochuni 
 has also published a contribution (Beweisdes Glau- 
 bens, vol. v. pp. 287, 288) toward the explanation of 
 our passage, in which he agrees with Zockler in re- 
 gard to the question at what time of day the battle 
 was fought and Joshua uttered his call to the sun. 
 Ewald, on the contrary (Gesch. d. v. Israel, 2, p. 
 325, 326), thinks of the afternoon. In regard, 
 further, to the relation between the hail-storm 
 mentioned ver. 11 and Joshua's exclamation, we 
 must remember that the author of the "Book of 
 the Upright," knew nothing of this hail-storm, 1 but 
 the writer who gave the Book of Joshua its present 
 form, inserted not only the supposed citation (ver. 
 12 and 13 a.) but the whole passage (vers. 12-15) 
 into the midst of the histoiy of the pursuit, so that 
 he appears certainly to have conceived of the hail- 
 storm as a preceding event. 
 
 Ver. 13. And the sun stood still, and the 
 moon stayed until the nation had avenged 
 themselves on their enemies. Joshua's wish is 
 fulfilled. The heavenly bodies pause in their course 
 and stand still. When once we remember that the 
 poet says this, the same poet who has previously 
 put in Joshua's mouth this grand, poetical excla- 
 mation, reminding ns of Agamemnon's wish (//. 2, 
 413 ff.), we have found the key to ver. 13, the most 
 striking parallel to which is Judg. vi. 20. When 
 it is there said that the stars out of their courses 
 
 l.CriwDCO) fought against Sisera, no one, so far 
 is we know, has ever supposed that this poetical 
 
 1 [That is. strictly, gives no indication of such knowledge 
 In this passage. — Tr.] 
 
 I trope was to be literally understood. Rather it is 
 I there, as here, the heavenly powers, nay Jehovah 
 himself (ver. 14) who fights for Israel. It is not 
 "an unheard of, as tronomico-meehanicRl miracle" 
 with which we here have to do. but " the most 
 glorious typical occurrence, which illustrates how 
 all nature, heaven and earth, is in league with the 
 people of God, and helps them to victory in theii 
 battles of the kingdom" (Lange, Com. on (Jen. pp. 
 86, 87). 
 
 The standing still of the sun and moon is no 
 more to be understood literally than that fighting 
 of the stars down out of their courses, or the melt- 
 ing down of the mountains (Is. xxxiv. 3 : Amos 
 ix. 13 ; Mie. i. 3), the rending of the heavens 
 (Ps. xviii. 10), or the skipping of Lebanon (l J s 
 xxix. 6), the clapping of hands by the trees in the 
 field (Is. lv. 12), the leaping of the mountains and 
 hills (Ps. cxiv. 46), the bowing of the heavens 
 (Ps. xviii. 10). It is the language of poetry which 
 we have here to interpret, and poetry, too, of the 
 most figurative, vehement kind, which honors and 
 celebrates Joshua's confidence in God in the midst 
 of the strife; that "unique assurance of victory on 
 the part of Joshua " (Lange, ubi sup.) which the 
 Lord would not suffer to be put to shame. In this 
 the most positive interpreters (Keil, Kurtz, both 
 Hengstenbergs), however they may differ as to the 
 particulars, and to textual criticism, are perfectly 
 at one, against a literal apprehension of the pas- 
 sage. Nor can Hab. iii. 1 1 , be adduced in favor of 
 a literal interpretation of the passage. For if it is 
 
 said, Hab. iii. 11, "Sun, moon, T35 nba?," 
 this is not to be translated as Hengstenberg (ubi 
 sup.) and Keil, on the one side, and Hitzig (Kl. 
 Prophelen), on the other have shown, " The sun, 
 and moon remain in their habitation," but rather : 
 "The sun, the moon enter into a habitation," i.e 
 as we should say: "into the shade," namely, 
 " behind the stratum of clouds " or, " they are 
 darkened." " The friendly lights grow pale, while 
 on the other hand, there shines for the enemies of 
 God and his people, another, an ungenial light, 
 which brings destruction, the lightning, God's 
 spears and arrows " (Hengstenberg). This passage 
 has therefore nothing at all to do with the one be- 
 fore us. And when Jesus Sirach in his enumera- 
 tion of the exploits of Joshua, asks (xlvi. 4),Ouxl 
 eV x €l pi a-vTov avtTroStffev 6 ?J\tos Kal i±ia i/.utpa eyev- 
 ■hB-q wfibs Svo ; he makes out of the standing stilt of 
 the sun, agoing bach, something like Is. xxxviii. 8, 
 and speaks at the same time of lengthening one 
 day into two. He is not therefore correct in his 
 representation of the occurrence. The same is true 
 of Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 17), when he speaks only 
 of an increase, i. e. lengthening in general of the 
 day. 
 
 Is not this written in the Book of the Up- 
 right P ;'. e. " Lo, this stands written in that book 
 
 and may there be read expressly. On S7H for 
 
 n3n comp. Num. xxii. 37; Pent. xi. 30. So 
 very often in citations ; 1 K. xi. 41 ; xiv. 29; xv. 
 7, 23, 31 ; xvi. 3, 20, 27 and often " (Knol tl). 
 
 And the sun stood still in the midst of heaven 
 and hasted not to go down about a whole day. 
 
 "^02 here used of place, in Judg. xvi. .') of time ; 
 in the middle, a more precise designation of the 
 sun's standing, which is omitted in the poetical 
 part of this episode. 
 
 And hastened not to go down. The vert 
 
 V^ is used once besides in our book 'eh. xvii. 15), 
 
98 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 ind in the sense " to be rarrow," and again in 
 Ex. v. 13, where the Egyptian task-masters are 
 spoken uf. in the sense of "to oppress." It is not 
 employed in poetry alone, as Zockler (ubi sup.) 
 maintains, in order to support his view that these 
 verses also, at least to the close of ver. 14, breathe 
 '• a poetically exalted " strain. Or should Ex. v. 
 13 also be regarded as a poetical passage ? A cer- 
 tain elevation is, indeed, not to be denied to the 
 narrative here, but that we find also in places, like 
 ch. viii., which yet is unquestionably prose. 
 
 About a whole day. D^DFI, elsewhere com- 
 monly of moral integrity, is used in the original 
 sense. " complete,'' " entire," in Lev. iii. 9 ; xxv. 30, 
 in the latter passage of time, namely, of the year 
 
 nrrpo mti, as here of the day D'Dn CV 
 Plainly, the author of this verse understands the 
 poetical citation from the Book of the Upright, 
 literally, which does not hinder us from going back 
 to the original- sense, as we have done above. That 
 he, like all the Scripture writers, thought of an 
 " anti-Coperniean " system, as Zockler expresses it, 
 or as we might more correctly say, that he spoke 
 of what was immediately perceptible, is evident 
 without discussion. We think with Zockler (p. 
 250) " it is lost labor to put upon the expressions 
 of holy Scripture concerning the magnitudes and 
 movements of the heavenly bodies, a heliocentric 
 sense, by allegorical artifices, since the childishly 
 simple view of the universe, which perceives in the 
 earth the fixed centre, must necessarily have pos- 
 sessed the Biblical writers also as children of their 
 time." 
 
 Ver. 14. And there was no day like that be- 
 fore it and after it (VjnSI, V3Db) that Jeho- 
 vah hearkened (pOK'v) unto the voice of a 
 man ; for Jehovah fought for Israel. The war 
 was not merely a war of men, Jehovah himself 
 rather was its leader, as was promised the Is- 
 raelites, Ex. xiv. 14, by Moses. Comp. Deut. i. 
 29, 30; iii. 22, xx. 1, 3, 4, xxxi. 6. Hence Jeho- 
 vah is called precisely HDnyO tlTH, " man of 
 war " (Luther : der rechte Kriegsmann), Ex. xv. 3. 
 He has heard the call of Joshua and held the sun 
 still in his course (of the moon nothing more is 
 said), and so, according to the view of the author of 
 13 6-15, has performed an objective astronomical 
 miracle, of which the poet from whom the quotation 
 is made, had no thought, and of which we, following 
 him (the poet) have no thought. 1 
 
 Ver. 15 b. Hengstenberg would refer this prosaic 
 statement still entirely to the poetry (which Zockler 
 does not do), and quotes in support of this (Ex. 
 xv. 19) the close of Moses' song of triumph, which 
 is also found Ex. xiv. 22. It is not found, however, 
 in precisely the same words (in the latter passage 
 
 S2, in the former the more graphic Tf '"Vi nor 
 with the same arrangement of the words, which in 
 Ex. xv. 19 has the rythmical cadence. We cannot, 
 therefore, allow force to this example, but believe, 
 rather, that to this, certainly if to any of the vers. 
 (13H5) the "words of Maurer apply : Qum ante 
 formulam citandi leguntur, sunt poesis ; quce post pura 
 pitta prosa." 
 
 1 [N'ithout dwelling on the palpable difficulty, not t0 6ay 
 Impossibility, of reconciling such a judgment with any satis- 
 factory conception of the inspiration of the writer of our 
 book, is not that judgment inconsistent with the natural 
 probabilities concerning the authorship? That is, would 
 not the reviser or compiler of the Book of Joshua know, 
 as well as we, that he was introducing in verses 12, 13, a 
 
 Keil's View of vers. 12-15, added by thj 
 Translator. 
 
 [As representing a somewhat different theologi- 
 cal position, the following comments of Keil on 
 this passage, may, as well as from their character 
 in other respects, be profitably cited here. 
 
 " This wonderful victory was celebrated by Is- 
 rael in a war-song which was preserved in the 
 Book of the Pious. Out of this book the author 
 of the Book of Joshua inserted here the passage 
 which commemorated the wonderful work of Je- 
 hovah toward Israel and toward his enemies, the 
 Amorites, for the glorification of his own rame. 
 For, that we have in vers. 12-15 a poetical extract 
 
 from the ""^''H "I CD is universally acknowledged. 
 This insertion and the reference to this writing is 
 analogous to the quotation from the Book of the 
 Wars of the Lord (Num. xxi. 14), and the lyrical 
 strophes woven into the historical narrative. The 
 object is not to confirm the historical report by 
 reference to an older authority, but only to render 
 more vivid to future generations the striking im- 
 pression which those wonders of the Lord had 
 made upon the congregation." 
 
 Keil's account of the Book of the Pious is the 
 same as that of Fay and most others. He dis- 
 tinctly assumes, however, what doubtless should be 
 understood by all, that this progressively accumu- 
 lated anthology of pious hymns in praise of the 
 covenant God was interspersed with explanatory 
 historical notices. Thus there is no difficulty in 
 supposing ver. 1 5 also to have been copied from 
 this poetical book. Keil then proceeds : " The 
 citation from it proves itself at once to have been 
 taken from a song, by the poetical form of the 
 language and by the parallelism of the members 
 
 The quotation begins, however, not with -, '5^ s l, 
 
 ver. 12 b, but with i"l^l OV?, ver. 12 a, and to it 
 belong also vers. 13 and 14, so that the reference 
 to the source of the quotation is inserted in the 
 middle of it. Such formulas are generally met 
 with, indeed, elsewhere either at the beginning of 
 the passage adduced, as Num. xxi. 14, 27 ; 2 Sam. 
 i. 18, or at the close of it, as generally in the books 
 of Kings and Chronicles. But it does not follow 
 that such position was a rule without exceptions, 
 especially since the reference to sources in the 
 books of" Kings has a quite different sense, the ci- 
 tations being not documentary proofs of the occur- 
 rences before reported, but references to writings 
 in which more complete accounts might be found 
 concerning fragmentarily communicated facts. 
 In ver. 13 also the poetical form of the discourse 
 leaves no doubt that vers. 13 and 14 still contain 
 words of the ancient poet, not a prosaic comment 
 of the historian on the poetic expressions which 
 he had quoted. Only ver. 15 presents a pure his- 
 torical statement which is repeated (ver. 43) at the 
 end of the narrative of this victory and war. And 
 this literal repetition of ver. 15 in ver. 43, and still 
 more the fact that the statement that Joshua re- 
 turned with all the people into the camp to Gilgal 
 anticipates the historical order of events, and that 
 in a very striking manner, renders it highly prob- 
 
 highly impassioned and hyperbolical passage of poetry ? If 
 so how could he, more than we, go on to interpret It as 
 prosaic history ? We think this indicates at once that the 
 interpretation is not his, is nobody's cool interpretation, but 
 only a continuation of the lyrical strain. Not all ths 
 grammatical objections of our author to this view < eir bined 
 can stind against this ODe consideration. — Ta.l 
 
CHAPTER X. 1-27. 
 
 99 
 
 able, if not altogether certain, that ver. 15 also is 
 taken from the Book of the Pious." .... 
 
 Keil's conception of the circumstances and prog- 
 ress of the battle, and of the position of the parties in 
 reference to the standing still of the sun and moon, 
 agrees in every important point with that of Fay. 
 
 " How then shall we make real to ourselves this 
 wonderful occurrence ? An actual standing still 
 of the sun at some place in the heavens, about the 
 zenith, is not clearly expressed. If one were disposed 
 
 to insist on the T1S3J?*!, " the sun stood (held 
 his position) in the mid>t of the heavens," which is 
 
 added as if in explanation of ^I^H in such away 
 that it must express a miraculous obstruction of 
 the course of the sun, this would hardly be consis- 
 tent with the phrase fc^Q^ ^*S S ., "it hastened 
 not to go down," for this strictly taken, means only, 
 as several of the Rabbins long ago remarked, a 
 more tardy progress of the sun. Plainly intimated 
 in vers. 12 and 13 is so much only, that at Joshua's 
 word the sun remained standing almost a day 
 longer in the heavens. To this is added (ver. 14)", 
 '• That there was no such day before and afterward, 
 that Jehovah hearkened to the voice of a man ; 
 for Jehovah fought for Israel." This expression, 
 again, should not be too hardly pressed, as the an- 
 alogous utterances, " there was none like him," etc. 
 2 K. xviii. 5 ; xxiii. 25, show. They convey only 
 the thought, a day like this which God so marvel- 
 ously lengthened has not been before nor since. 
 So much therefore lies unambiguously in the words, 
 that the singer of the ancient song, and after him 
 also the author of our Book of Joshua, who inserted 
 these words into his narrative, was convinced ' of 
 a wonderful prolongation of that day. Here, how- 
 ever, it is carefully to be observed that it is not 
 said, that God did at Joshua's request increase the 
 length of that day by about a whole day, or cause 
 the sun to stand still for nearly a whole day, but 
 only that God hearkened to the voice of Joshua, i. e. 
 did not let the sun go down until Israel had 
 avenged themselves upon their enemies. The dif- 
 ference is not unimportant. For a marvelous 
 prolongation of that day took place not only if, 
 through the exertion of God's Almighty power, the 
 course of the sun or his going down was delayed 
 for many hours, or the day lengthened from say 
 twelve to eighteen or twenty hours, but also on the 
 supposition that the day appeared to Joshua and 
 to Israel wonderfully lengthened, the work accom- 
 plished on that day being so great that it would 
 without supernatural help have required two days. 
 To decide between these two views is not easy, 
 nay, if we go to the bottom of the matter, is im- 
 possible. [And no more necessary, it might be 
 added, viewing the account as poetry, than to try 
 to discover the exact proportion between David's 
 glorious hyperboles in Psalm xviii. and the actual 
 events of the deliverance which he there celebrates. 
 — Tk.] When we cannot measure the length of the 
 day by the clock, we may, especially in the crowd 
 of business or work, with extraordinary facility 
 
 1 [Considering what is afterward truly said of the fervid 
 poetical character of this whole passage, this statement ap- 
 pears quite unwarranted. Unless David and Deborah and 
 Habakkuk were convinced of the actual reality of what they 
 assert, in the form of fact, there seems no reason at all for 
 assuming that either the original composer of the song or 
 he who inserted it in the Book of the Upright or he who 
 copied it into the Book of Joshua, believed there had been 
 In actual extension of that day. — Te.] 
 
 2 [Compare Matt. Henry's (from this point of view) more 
 tttional representation : — 
 
 he deceived in regard to its length. But the Israel- 
 ites had neither sun-dials nor any clocks, and amic' 
 the tumult of the conflict hardly would Joshua, oi 
 any other one engaged in the strife, have repeatedly 
 noticed the shadow of the sun, and inquired afte: 
 its changes in reference to a tree, for example, ot 
 other such object, so as to perceive from its possibly 
 remaining stationary and unaltered, for some hours, 
 that the sun had actually stood still. Under these 
 circumstances it was quite impossible for the Israel- 
 ites to decide whether that day was really, or only 
 in their conception, longer than other days. 
 
 Besides this we must take into account the 
 poetical character of our passage. When David 
 praises the wondrous deliverance which he had 
 experienced at the hand of the Lord, in the words : 
 " In my distress I called upon the Lord .... 
 and he heard my voice out of his heaven, .... 
 and he bowed the heaven and came down, . . . 
 . . he stretched his hand out of the height, took 
 me and drew me out of many waters " (Ps. xviii. 7- 
 17), who imagines that these words are to be un- 
 derstood literally, of an actual descent of God out 
 of heaven and stretching out of his hand to draw 
 David out of the water < Or who will take the 
 words of Deborah : " Out of heaven was the bat- 
 tle waged, the stars out of their courses fought 
 against Sisera," in a literal sense ! The truth of 
 such expressions lies in the subjective field of the 
 religious intuition, not in the rigorous interpreta- 
 tion of the words. In a similar way may the verses 
 before us be understood without prejudice thereby 
 to their real import, if that day had been merely 
 subjectively prolonged to the religious apprehen- 
 sion of Israel. 
 
 But if the words had expressed even an objec- 
 tively real and miraculous extension of that day, 
 we should still have had no valid ground for doubt- 
 ing the truth of this statement of facts. All objec- 
 tion^ which have been raised against the fact or the 
 possibility of such a miracle, appear, on a closer 
 examination of the matter, nugatory. Thus, that 
 the annals of the other peoples of the earth give no 
 report at all of a miracle which must have extended 
 over the whole earth, loses all importance when we 
 perceive that no annals at all of other nations of that 
 period are extant, and that it is extremely doubtful 
 whether the miracle would have extended far be- 
 yond the bounds of Palestine [!] 2 Again, the appeal 
 to the unchangeableness of the movement of the 
 heavenly bodies fixed by eternally unalterable laws, 
 is not suited to show the impossibility of such a mir 
 acle. The eternal laws of nature are nothing more 
 than modes of manifestation , or phenomena, of God's 
 creative power, the proper nature of which no mor- 
 tal has yet found out. May not then the Almighty 
 Creator and Preserver of nature and all her powers, 
 be able also so to direct and control the powers of 
 nature according to Iris own will that they should 
 contribute to the realization of his ends in salva- 
 tion 2 Finally, the objection also that the sudden 
 arrest of the revolution of the earth upon its axis, 
 must have demolished all the work of human hands 
 
 11 And he (Joshua) believed God's particular favor to Is- 
 rael above all people under the sun ; else he could not have 
 expected, that, to favor chem upon an emergency with a 
 double day, he should (which must follow of course) amusa 
 and terrify so great a part of the terrestrial globe with a 
 doable night at the same time ; it is true he causeth tktt sun 
 to shine upon Ike just and upon the unjust, but this trace tht 
 unjust shall wait for it beyond the usual time, while, hi 
 favor to righteous Israel, it stands still." — Ta.j 
 
10U 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 upon ils surface, and hurled from its orbit the earth 
 itself and her attendant the moon, proves nothing, 
 since it is forgotten in all this, that the almighty 
 hand of God which not only created the stars but 
 also lent to them and to all worlds the power to run 
 their course witli regularity, so long as this world 
 stands, that that hand which bears, upholds, con- 
 trols all things in heaven and on earth, is not too 
 short, to guard against such ruinous consequences. 
 To this may still be added that even the most 
 rigorous apprehension of the words does not com- 
 pel us, with the fathers and older theologians, to 
 suppose a miraculous obstruction of the sun in his 
 course, but only an optical pause of the sun, i, e. 
 a miraculous arrest of the revolution of the earth 
 on its axis, which would have appeared to the ob- 
 server as a standing still of the sun. Knobel is 
 entirely wrong when he pronounces this view of 
 the fact contrary to the text. For the Scriptures 
 speak of things of the visible world according to 
 their appearance, as we also still speak of the ris- 
 ing and setting of the sun, although we have no 
 doubt of the revolution of the earth about the sun. 
 Such an optical stand-still of the sun, however, or 
 rather merely a longer standing and visibility of 
 the sun in the horizon, might be effected through 
 God's omnipotence in an astronomical phenome- 
 non unknown to us and wholly incomprehensible 
 by natural philosophy, without interfering with the 
 general laws of the rotation of the heavenly bodies. 
 Only we must not, surely, reduce this exertion of 
 the divine power to a mere unusual refraction of 
 the light, or a storm of lightning lasting through 
 the whole night, as has been variously attempted." 
 Bibl. Com. ii. 1, p. 76-81.] 
 
 Having thus treated of this difficult passage in 
 reference to the criticism of the text, and also to the 
 purport of it, it remains for us still to glance at the 
 history of its interpretation. 
 
 Although Jesus Sirach and Josephus had, even 
 in their day. betrayed a disposition in the passages 
 above cited, to change the phraseology of our verse, 
 in the sense of a not entirely literal conception of it, 
 still the overwhelming majority of ancient Jewish 
 and Christian interpreters understand here an ob- 
 jective, astronomical miracle, an actual standing 
 still of the sun. So Justin Martyr in Dial, cum 
 Tryph.; Ephraem Syr. ; Tertullian, Dejejimio, i. 10 ; 
 Jerome c. Jovin. i. 11 ; Chrysost. Horn. 27 in Epist. 
 ad Hfhr. ; Augustine, De Civit. Dei, xvi. 8 ; Theodo- 
 ret. the Rabbins, Serarius, Masius, C. a Lapide, Cal- 
 vin, Osiander, et mult. al. Exceptions are (the Ev. 
 Kirchen-Zeitung, ubi sup. p. 555), Maimonides and 
 Rabbi Levi ben Gcrsom, w'ho advocate the non-lit- 
 eral view. " The wish of Joshua," explains the lat- 
 ter, " aims only at this, that that one day and night 
 might be long enough for the overthrow of the so 
 numerous forces of the enemy. It was the same as 
 if he had said : Grant, Almighty Father, that be- 
 fore sun and moon go down, thy people may take 
 vengeance on this multitude of thy foes. The mira- 
 cle of that day was, that at the prayer of a man God 
 effected so gnat a defeat in so short a time." How te- 
 naciously the Roman curia, on the contrary, in their 
 Jcsuitically inspired proceedings against Galileo 
 (163.3), held fast to the opposite view, is well known. 
 
 1 [The note of the learned Whiston, translator of Jose- 
 phus. is curiously accommodating : " Whether this length- 
 ening of the day, by the standing still of the sun and moon, 
 were physical and real, by the miraculous stoppage of the 
 diurnal motion of the earth for about half a revolution, or 
 whether only apparent, by aerial jihos/ihori imitating the sun 
 md moou :is stationary so long, while clouds and the night 
 
 As however the Copcrnican system nevcrthele't 
 found adherents, and indeed, even among orth 
 dox Protestant theologians out of opposition t. 
 Rome, these thought to help themselves by the as- 
 sumption of an optical pause of the sun {static 
 optica), that is, they assumed that the earth was 
 hindered by God in its revolution ou its axis, by 
 which a lengthening of the day was produced. So 
 Lilienthal, Crute Sadie, v. p. 167 ft'. ; Mosheim apud 
 Calmet, p. 45 ft'. ; Bastholm, Judische Geschichte, 
 ii. p. 31 ft'.; Ziinmermann, Scriptwa Copirnizans, i. 
 1, p. 228. In recent times this view is maintained 
 by Baumgarten (Herzog's Realencyk, vii. 40) 
 According to this writer, Joshua, in the full confi- 
 dence of being the dispenser of divine vengeance, 
 against the corrupt Canaanites, called, as nigh- 
 threatened to overtake them, to the heavenly 
 luminaries, and the day was by nearly its full 
 length, " prolonged through the apparent pause of 
 the heavenly bodies which govern day and night, 
 but through the actual pause of the globe in its 
 diurnal revolution." Such an exorbitant miracle 
 came to pass because " the destination of Israel 
 was something infinitely transcending, in its dig- 
 nity and significance, the entire natural order of 
 things." This relation between Israel and the "sys 
 tem of the universe " Joshua apprehended in a " mo 
 ment of daring faith," " assumed the immediate 
 realization of the same," and Jehovah "sealed this 
 venture of faith by his work and word ; " and it is 
 for us " simply to believe, that this was done." 
 
 The editor of the Encyklopddle has made on this 
 representation the very apposite remark, " That, 
 however, theologians of a strictly positive tendency 
 are of a different > iew in this respect is well known." 
 
 Grotius and Clcricus are to be regarded as pre- 
 cursors of the rationalizing interpretation, They 
 imagined extraordinary refractions ot the light of 
 the sun already set ; for, as Grotius supposes, it 
 was not impossible for God soils cursum morari, aid 
 etlaui post solis occasutn ejus specieut in nube supra 
 horlzontem extautt per n pt rcussum ostendere. Spinoza, 
 also ( Tract. Theul. Pulit. ii. pp. 22 and 6, p. 78 ed. 
 Hamb. 1670), adopted substantially this opinion. 
 J. D. Michaelis and Schultz resort to the supposi- 
 tion of lightning that lasted through the whole 
 night ; Hess combined lightning with the light 
 of the sun and moon, so that there was no night, 
 so to speak, between this and the following day 
 (F. F. Hess, Geschichte Josua, i. p. 140 f.J. Oth- 
 ers otherwise ; but truly laughable is the at- 
 tempt of Ritter (in Henke's Magazin, vi. 1). to 
 make the expression " sun " and "moon" repre- 
 sent the signals or standards which Joshua had 
 ordered to remain there where they chanced to 
 stand in Gibeon and Ajalon. This insipidity re- 
 minds one, as Zockler has rightly observed, of the 
 famous Tavern for the Whale, and similar absurdi- 
 ties of a spiritless, jejune exegesis. 1 
 
 In recent times the more advanced study of text- 
 ual criticism has led to the poetical understanding 
 of the passage— in our view the only correct one, 
 which is favored not only in general by Maurer, 
 Ewald ( Gesrh. ii. p. 32ti), Ilitzigand von Lengerke, 
 but also as has been shown above by theologians 
 of quite positive principles, the two Hengstenbergs, 
 Keil, Kurtz, and others. Not less decidedly have 
 
 hid the real ones, and this parhelion, or mock sun, affording 
 sufficient light for Joshua's pursuit and complete victory 
 (which aerial phosphori in other shapes have been unusually 
 common of late years), cannot now be determined ; pljloso* 
 phers and astronomers will naturally incline to thia latto 
 hypothesis,'' etc. Ad- Am. v. 1, 16.] 
 
CHAPTER X. 1- 
 
 Ul 
 
 L*nge and Zockler adopted this view. How far 
 we differ from one and another of these, specially 
 in regard to the criticism of the text, will appear 
 from the foregoing explanation. But that men 
 like Knak. Frantz, and Straube have again brought 
 prominently forward as a " matter of faith," the 
 assumption of an f.ctual standing still of the sun, 
 which, under the universal prevalence of the 
 Ptolemaic astronomy was a quite natural view, 
 although by no means required by the text in vers. 
 12 and 13; that they believe themselves called to 
 defend this against the " pseudodoxy of the natural 
 sciences," we regard as indicating a lamentable con- 
 fusion of ideas, resting on a total want of scientific 
 tense, and under the injurious injiuejice of which the 
 true " matter of faith " is likely to sujfcr much. 
 
 xVs a curiosity we may refer in conclusion to the 
 notion of Jean d' Espagne, a French theologian, 
 mentioned by Starke, who makes out that this 
 miracle took place in the year 2555 from the crea- 
 tion of the world. But that is the year 7X365, 
 " Now a year has 365 davs, and the number seven 
 has in God's Word much mystery. Thus the 
 number of the year 2555 makes 365 week-years, 
 [Wochenjahre, years each of which contains a 
 week of years]. So also year-weeks [Yahnvochen, 
 weeks whose days are years] are to be understood 
 (Dan. i.\. 24). Thus the sun after completing 
 365 year-weeks in his course here kept miracu- 
 lously a day of rest. This time of 365 days when 
 it has passed 365 times gives us a year of years " 
 etc. 
 
 c. Flight and Destruction of the Five Kings. 
 (Vers. 16-27). Vers. 16 ff. contain the continuation 
 of vers. 1-11. The hail-storm had inflicted terrible 
 injury on the Amorites. Many died from the hail, 
 more than were slain by the sword of the Israelites. 
 But the five kings sought to secure their own 
 persons, and hid themselves in the cave at Mak- 
 kedah. When Joshua heard of this, he caused a 
 stone to be rolled before the mouth of the cave and 
 set a guard over it, but he himself drives forward 
 to effect a complete discomfiture of the enemy, and 
 in this succeeds. Not until this is done does he 
 have the five kings brought forward, and, after a 
 ceremony expressive of their total subjection, hung 
 on trees, and their corpses thrown into the cave. 
 
 Ver. 16. Hid themselves in the cave at Mak- 
 kedah. Many such caves were found in the lime 
 and chalk rocks of Palestine. In David's his- 
 tory the cave of Adullam is often mentioned ( 1 Sam. 
 xxii. Iff.; 2 Sam. xxiii. 13 ; 1 Chron. xi. 15). In 
 the history of the crusades also ( W. Ty rius, De Bella 
 Sacro, 15, 6; 18, 19; 11, et seep.), caves are men- 
 tioned. Judg. xx. 47, the cave at Rimmon is spoken 
 of, which could contain 600 men in its spacious re- 
 cess. These caves are large and dry, and branch 
 out also into chambers ( Robinson ii. 175, 352 ft"., 
 395-398. Von Schubert, Hi. 30). They were thus 
 admirably fitted for places of refuge, in times of 
 dinger, as in the case before us. [See Diet, of the 
 Bible, art. Caves]. 
 
 Ver. 17. ^37.5 for ^>r'2 n .? from a sing. 
 
 r*2n3 after the manner of verbs ilv. Gesen. 
 § 75', Rem. 21, (a) (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 19. Smite the hindmost of them (their 
 
 rear). t3^)33T from 2ST (Kal 33p, prop, "to 
 hurt the tail," figuratively, to disturb the rear- 
 guard of the enemy (Deut. xxv. 18). In Greek 
 ilso oopd, ovpayia is = rear-guard. 
 
 Vers. 20, 21. Most of the enemy were left on 
 the field ; only a few escaped into the fortified 
 
 towns, where the) were concealed only for a short 
 time, as we learn from vers. 27-43. Those tha' 
 
 remained ^"p'lti'rT, elsewhere t^V? eh. viii 
 22; Gen. xiv. 13; Jer. xliv. 28; Ezek. vi. 8. Thf 
 apodosis begins not with D^T^THTTTl, but with 
 
 : 1D2. ,! 'T ver. 21, as llaurer correctly shows. Hi w 
 Keil could imagine that it begins not until ver. 2.'>, 
 it is difficult to perceive. For the rest cf. ch. iii. 
 15 and 16, where the construction is altogether the 
 
 same, and ch. ii. 5 where it is similar. — Cl^tl'S, 
 LXX. uyieis, Vulg. : Sani et integronumero, in good 
 condition. 
 
 None pointed against the children of Israel, 
 against one of them his tongue. The whole 
 proverbial expression we read Ex. xi. 7 : " against 
 any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move 
 (point) his tongue, against man or beast," where 
 dog is given as the subject. Here the subject is 
 
 wanting unless we suppose with Maurer that the v 
 in BJ'S? is an error in copying, from the preced- 
 ing 7S~lli , ' , , and to be rejected, which would then 
 
 leave K? , S as the subject. We think it more sim- 
 ple to supply the subject in an indefinite, euphe- 
 mistic sense, and take KTtO as a more precise 
 limitation of s 32 ', which is favored by the speci- 
 fication in Ex. xi. 7, nana 72) nfttob. 
 
 Whollv false is the LXX. Kal ovk e*ypv|e tSiv viun/ 
 
 I. (!) ouScis ri} y\(i)(rar} outou, while the Vulg. 
 rightly hits the sense : nullusque contra ftlios Israel 
 mutire ausus est. The meaning is, no one ventured 
 tu do any harm to any of the children of Israel, 
 conip. Judith xi. 13. 
 
 Vers. 22, 23. At Joshua's command the cave is 
 now opened, and the kings brought before him. 
 
 Ver. 24. Come near, put your feet on the 
 necks of these kings. This demand for a con- 
 temptuous humiliation of the conquered leaders of 
 the enemy is addressed by Joshua to the leaders of 
 the men of war, to his field" officers, who also respond 
 thereto. The ceremony indicates " entire subjuga- 
 tion," and was practiced, according to Knobel, by 
 the Greek emperors also. Constant. Porphyrog. 
 De Ceremoniis Aula! Byzant. 2, 19 ; Bynseus, De Cal- 
 ceis Hebr. p. 318). We may compare Ps. lx. 10. 
 
 s^obnn f or ^n-itrw, CO mp. is. xxviii. 12 
 
 on the form of the verb ; ' Ges. § 109 ; Ewald, § 331 
 b. on the use of the art. for pron. rel. 
 
 Ver. 25. Here Joshua says the same to his war- 
 riors which the Lord had said to him (ch. i. 7, 9). 
 
 Ver. 26. Joshua kills the kings, doubtless with 
 the sword, and then hangs up their bodies in con- 
 tempt on five trees, cf. Deut. xxi. 22 ; Num. xxv. 
 4 ; 2 Sam. iv. 12. The one suspended, was as is 
 known, considered accursed, and might not re 
 main hanging over night, Deut. xxi. 23 ; Gal. iii. 
 13; John xix. 31. In like manner Joshua had 
 done to the king of Ai, ch. viii. 29. " The hang- 
 ing of a living man is a Persian punishment (Ezr. 
 vi. 11). Under the Herods this mode of execution 
 occurs among the Jews also, Josephus, Ant. xvi. 
 
 II, 6 (unless strangling is here intender as well 
 as in Egypt during the Roman age, Philo ii. 529. 
 See Winer, ii. lis. v. Lebensstrafen. 
 
 DOGMATICAL AND ETHICAL. 
 1. The Biblical view of the universe is like tha 
 
102 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 3( all antiquity, the geocentric ; the earth stands 
 still, the sun moves. So it appears according to 
 natural, unaided observation, and we have only 
 come to a different apprehension as the result of 
 modern scientific researches. This result we cheer- 
 fully accept without forfeiture of our faith, for the 
 only dogmatical question is whether God made the 
 world or not (Heb. xi. 3), but not at all whether 
 the earth revolves about the sun or the sun about 
 the earth. In that question, whether God made the 
 world, and in particular, whether He created it out 
 of nothing, a religious interest is involved, that the 
 origin of the cosmos should not be referred to blind 
 chance but to an intelligent Creator of heaven and 
 earth (Gen. i. 1). But how, on the supposition 
 that G'oit has created all things, the universe is 
 constituted, whether so that the earth moves about 
 the sun or the sun about the earth, this question is 
 of no religious moment to us, but is relegated 
 rather to the science of astronomy, which has 
 finally answered it in the sense of Copernicus and ' 
 Galileo. Comp.on this the instructive article of Dr. 
 F. Pfaff on the Copernican system and its oppo- 
 nents. Burets d. Glaube, vol. v. pp. 278-287). 
 [Whewell's History of the Inductive Sciences, book v. 
 ch. 3, sect. 4 : The Copernican Systein opposed on 
 Theological grounds. — Tr. J . 
 
 2. With this foundation principle clear in mind, 
 it is self-evident that those render poor service to 
 the " cause of faith " who feel themselves obliged to 
 uphold as a matter of faith what has nothing to do 
 with faith, but is a matter of science. Conversely, 
 however, it needs to be said also that the Bible as 
 a book of religion, cannot reasonably be thought less 
 of because it favors the geocentric scheme. So 
 does Homer also, e- g. whom, nevertheless, in his 
 ooetic worth no one has ever thought of disparag- 
 ing on that account, while it has always belonged 
 to the tactics of those who opposed the Bible to 
 assail it first on the side of the natural sciences, 
 that they might next impugn its religious authority. 
 
 3. On the very recent strife in the Berlin Church, 
 in the course of which our passage ch. x. 12-15 
 has been much ventilated, it belongs not to our de- 
 sign to speak. 
 
 H0MILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Joshua's fidelity to his covenant with the op- 
 pressed Gibeonites crowned with a glorious vic- 
 tory : (1) Picture of the oppression of Gibeon by 
 the five Canaanite kings. (2) How Joshua goes 
 up at the call of the Gibeonites and smites the 
 enemy. (3) How he pursues them and holds judg- 
 ment upon them. — Gibeon's need, Joshua's faith- 
 fulness, God's help. — If men come to us for help 
 in time of need God gives the courage to render 
 aid. — True courage comes alone from God. — As 
 God once fought for Israel so He still fights for his 
 
 own. " Sun, stand still on Gibeon, and moon ir 
 the valley of Ajalon ! " A believing word of 
 Joshua, God's contending hero: (1) Spoken un 
 der what circumstances 1 (2) How intended 1 (3) 
 How answered j — The Lord hears when we call 
 upon Him in faith. — The great day at Gibeon. — 
 It was great, (1) through the mighty strife of the 
 combatants; (2) through the courageous faith of 
 the general; (3) through the victory which God 
 gave. — How the memory of Joshua lived still in 
 song, and through song was glorified. — The cow- 
 ardice of the Canaanite kings contrasted with the 
 boldness of Joshua. — He that has no good con- 
 science hides himself. — The judgment of Joshua 
 upon the five kings (1) destructive to them; (2) 
 encouraging to Israel. 
 
 Starke : Whoever, in spiritual conflicts, will 
 have the true Joshua for a helper, must not trust 
 to his own powers but to the power of Christ, 
 ami freely come before him, Phil. iv. 13. — He who 
 would do his neighbor a favor, should not delay it 
 long, but act quickly, for the speediness of a gift 
 doubles its value [bis dnt qui cito dat], while a 
 benefit delayed loses its thanks and becomes use- 
 less, 2 Cor. ix. 7. — On the successful progress of a 
 cause, one ought not to give glory to himself but 
 to God, for He is the workman, we only the tools. 
 — From God's power no man can either climb too 
 high or creep too low ; He knows easily how to 
 find us, Amos ix. 2, Ps. exxxix. 7. — Pious Chris- 
 tian, God will one day for thee also lay thy enemies 
 at thy feet ; therefore, up, contend, conquer ! Rev. 
 ii. 26, 27 ; iii. 9, 12 ; Rom. xvi. 20. 
 
 Cramer : It is strange to the world that we 
 will not keep with them : therefore those who turn 
 to God must be attacked and suffer persecution. 
 1 Pet. iv. 4 ; Matt. x. 36 ; 2 Tim. iii. 12. — God has 
 various artillery with which He contends for his 
 people against their enemies, Judg. v. 20. Let no 
 one taint, therefore, with God's help. . . . The 
 tyrants who were so wild, fierce, and unrestraina- 
 ble, God can presently tame. 
 
 Hedinger : The iniquity of the ungodly of it- 
 self hastens to its punishment, and there is no rod 
 so good for a wicked man as his own. — It is well 
 to be concerned lest one make God angry, but 
 when one has made Him angry it is useless care to 
 try to escape his judgment. Even if we should 
 run out of the world we should only find his wrath 
 so much the greater. 
 
 Lange : If a man has once gained a real vic- 
 tory over his spiritual foes he must boldly follow it 
 up without indolent delay, and faithfully reap the 
 fruits of the success given him. 
 
 Gerlach : Holy Scripture speaks, in regard to 
 things of the visible world, and which concern not 
 the affairs of God's kingdom, according to natural 
 appearances, precisely as we speak of the sun ris- 
 ing and setting, although we have no doubt of the 
 revolution of the earth. 
 
 4 The Conquest of Southern Palestine. 
 Chapter X. 28-43. 
 
 28 And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the eword, 
 and the king thereof he utterly destroyed [devoted], them and all the sou'ib that 
 
CHAPTER X. 28-43. 
 
 102 
 
 were therein ; he let none remain [left none remaining, as in vers. 33, 37, 39, ch. xi 
 H, etc.] : and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did [had done] unto the kin£ 
 of Jericho. 
 
 29 Then [And] Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, 
 
 30 and fought against Libnah : and the Lord [Jehovah] delivered it aho, 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 [left] none remain [remaining] in it ; 
 but [and, comp. ver. 2t>] did unto the king thereof as he did [had done] unto the 
 king of Jericho. 
 
 31 And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and en- 
 
 32 camped against it, and fought against it : And the Lord [Jehovah] delivered Lach- 
 ish into the hand of Israel, which [who] took it on the second day, and smote it 
 with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that 
 he had done to Libnah. 
 
 33 Then [At that time] Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish ; and Joshua 
 smote him and his people, until he had [omit : had] left him none remaining. 
 
 34 And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him : and they 
 
 35 encamped against it, and fought against it. 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 
 [devoted] that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish. 
 
 36 And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron ; and 
 
 37 they fought against it : And 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 [and] de- 
 stroyed it utterly [devoted it], and all the souls that were therein. 
 
 38 Ami Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir ; and fought against it: 
 
 39 And he took it and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and they smote them 
 with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed [devoted] 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, [and] as he had done also [omit : also] to Libnah, and to 
 her king. 
 
 40 So [And] Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the 
 vale, and of the springs, 1 and all their kings : he left none remaining, but [and] 
 utterly destroyed [devoted] all that breathed, as the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel 
 
 41 commanded. And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all 
 
 42 the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. And all these kings and their land did 
 
 43 Joshua take at one time ; because the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel fought for Is 
 rael. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 l [Ver. 40. — The geographical definiteness of this statement might be indicated thus : And Joshua smote all the 
 land : the mountain, and the south-country (the Negeb), and the low-land (the Shepkelak), and the foot-hills, etc. See 
 Exegetical oote. — Tr.] 
 
 EXEGET1CAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 After the brilliant victory at Gibeon, Joshua, 
 without special difficulty, conquered the whole of 
 southern Palestine west of the Jordan. Partic- 
 ularly named are the cities Makkedah (ver. 28), 
 Libnah (ver. 29), Lachish (ver. 31), Eglon (ver. 
 34), Hebron (ver. 36), and Debir (vers. 38,39). 
 With ver. 40 the special enumeration of conquered 
 cities ceases. We are then summarily informed 
 that Joshua smote the whole land, the mountains, 
 the south-land, the lowlands, and the foot-hills, 
 from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and the whole land 
 of Goshen unto Gibeon (vers. 40, 41). This suc- 
 cess attended him because God fought for Israel 
 ver. 42). After completing the campaign Joshua 
 returned to the camp at Gilgal on the Jordan 
 i(ver 43). At this point, perhaps, we may most 
 "onveniently remark that when Hitzig (ubi sup. p. 
 
 103) holds all Joshua's professed activity, after 
 Gibeon, to be mere romance and no history, we, 
 for reasons developed in the Introd. § 3, must de- 
 cidedly differ with him. 
 
 Ver. 28. Capture of Makkedah (vers. 10, 16, 
 21 ; ch. xv. 41). Instead of — rHN, according tc 
 many Codd. and various editions, as well as the 
 
 analogy of ver. 37, HHIS should be read. 
 
 He smote them with the edge of the sword, as 
 previously Ai (ch. viii.24), as afterwards the other 
 cities. This phrase occurs in the present section 
 four times (vers. 28, 30, 32, 35). 
 
 He left none remaining, likewise used foui 
 times (vers. 28, 30, 33, 40). A complete destruc- 
 tion was effected, for Joshua devoted all that had 
 breath (ver. 40). 
 
 Vers- 29-32. Joshua turned from Makkeda'u 
 
104 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 (which is possibly to be sought for in the region of I 
 Che present Terkumia (Tricomias)), westward 
 toward Libnah, and then from there southeast- 
 wardly toward Laehish, both which places are 
 found, though with the mark of interrogation, on 
 Kiepert's map, but not on that of Van de Velde. 
 [On Menke's Map (III.) Laehish is placed slightly 
 N. of VV. from Libna. — Tr.] 
 
 Ver. 33. According to the previous agreement 
 (oh. ix. 2) the king of Gezer, later Tufapa (2 Mace. 
 x. 32, Joseph. Ant. viii. 6, I,) and TdSapa (Joseph. 
 Ant. v. 1, 22; xii. 7,4) and Tabapis (Strabo, 
 16, p. 759), now goes up to help Laehish. The 
 city has not yet been discovered. Kiepert suspects 
 that it lay northwest of Beth-horon, and so like- 
 wise Knobel on ch. xvi. 3 ; Van de Velde has no 
 statement. This king too is destroyed. 
 
 Ver. 34. Joshua now marches westward [east- 
 ward i] from Laehish to Eglon ("AyAa), now Adj- 
 lan, on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza ; invests, 
 takes, and destroys Eglon with all its inhabitants, 
 like Laehish, Libnah, and Makkedah. 
 
 Vers. 36-39. Eglon [Laehish <] was the west- 
 ernmost point of which the bold leader of Israel 
 obtained possession. In a tolerably direct line he 
 marched next upon Hebron, the seat of the patri- 
 archs, familiar in the history of Abraham, and 
 which still lies in a charming region. This city 
 also he captures like the rest. The fate of Hebron 
 is the same as that of the other Canaanite cities. 
 
 Ver. 38. 3tB' , 1 Joshua now turned, as Ex. 
 v. 22 ; Num. xviii. 9. He turns towards Debir 
 (ch. xv. 15, 49). This Debir, earlier called 
 Kirjath-sepher (ch. xv. 15; Judg. i. 11) or Kir- 
 jath-sanno (ch. xv. 49), is either, as Rosen sup- 
 poses [Zeitschrifl der D. M. G. xi. p. 50 ff.), fol- 
 lowed by von Raumer (p. 184), the same as Idwir- 
 ban, or Oewirban, three fourths of an hour west of 
 Hebron, or, according to the view of Knobel (p. 435), 
 Thaharijeh, or Dhoherijeh, as Kiepert and Van de 
 Velde write it, an important place, inhabited down 
 even to the present time, the first on the mountain of 
 Judah as one goes toward Hebron from the south, 
 and distant from the latter about live hours, — or, 
 according to Van de Velde (Mem. p. 307), with 
 whom Keil agrees = Dilbeh, on the top of a hill 
 north of the YVady Dilbeh, about two hours south- 
 west of Hebron. It is in favor of one of the two 
 last conjectures that all the cities mentioned ch. 
 xv. 48, 49, among which Debir also stands, lie en- 
 tirely in the south, while Idwirban or Dewirban is 
 west of Hebron and quite too far north for that 
 group of cities to which it belongs. If we follow 
 
 Rosen's opinion as Bunsen has done, 2tP*T. must 
 be translated " returned," as it is by Bunsen. On 
 the position of Thaharijeh. particularly, cf. Rob. i. 
 311, 12 (edh Dhoherijeh), Ritter, Erdkunde, xvi. 
 [Gage's Trans, iii. 193,288, 289, 202, and eh xv. 
 15.] To this we shall recur in connection with the 
 conquests which are referred to Caleb, ch. xiv. 6 ff. ; 
 xv. 14 ff. According to Judg. i. 10 ff. the city of He- 
 bron and even Debir was captured not until a later 
 period. 
 
 Vers. 40-43 No further statement of special con- 
 quests is made ; there follows rather a comprehensive 
 survey of Joshua's successes at that time. Joshua 
 smote the whole land. This is then more definitely 
 
 specialized : (1 ) - '7'7' ^' e mountain, i. e. the moun- 
 tain of Judah, which extends southward from Jeru- 
 salem. It consists of calcareous limestone, and 
 'onus the watershed between the Mediterranean and 
 Dead Seas, rising to the height of three thousand 
 
 feet ; in general an uneven and rocky district, espe 
 cially in the southern portion, yet not without fruit 
 ful and inviting spots. (2.) 32371, the land of tli> 
 
 south, prop., from 2322, which in the Syr., Chald., and 
 Sam. signifies to be dry, the dry, parched land, where 
 the mountain brooks fail in the summer, so that in 
 Ps. cxx\ i. 4, God is invoked to let them return again 
 (vide Hitzig on this passage). It is the steppe which 
 forms the southern portion of Judaea, a land " in- 
 termediate between wilderness and cultivated land," 
 precisely as the steppes of southern Russia, or the 
 heath-land of North Germany. Because this steppe, 
 this parched and sun-burnt land, lay in the south 
 
 of Palestine (cf. ch. xv. 2-4, 21), 2.22 comes 
 
 to mean generally, south, and H222 southward, 
 Num. xxxv. 5; Ex. xl. 24 ; Josh. xvii. 9, 10. (3.) 
 The low-lands il^Wtl (xi. 16 ; xv. 33) from 
 
 /2K7 to be low, the strip of land in southern Pal- 
 estine accurately indicated on Kiepert's map as 
 stretching along the sea from Joppa to Gaza (Jer. 
 xxxii. 44; xxxiii. 13). Much more populous, 
 fertile, and beautiful than the Negeb. (4.) The 
 
 declivities 7" H ItTSn, ut of which the LXX. and 
 Vulg. make a proper name : 'Aa-nScid, Asedoth. 
 Luther translates, "on the brooks," [Eng. vers. 
 " the springs "], in accordance with Num. xxi. 15, 
 
 where he renders ^'Onsn'ttTt^ "source of the 
 
 brooks." The explanation is this: "TE't< like 
 
 i~'7?' , .7? i s to be derived from "IK'S, according to 
 the Syriae, to pour, to rush down, = (I.) out- 
 pouring; (2.) place upon which something pours 
 
 out, e. </. 7120271 rTHtrN (Deut. iii. 17 ; iv.49). 
 the place whither the brooks of Mount Pisgah is- 
 sue, the declivities of Pisgah. 1 In our passage the 
 declivities or " foot-hills " are those of the moun- 
 tain of Judah, which slopes off gradually to the 
 low-land: — the land of Goshen (ver. 41). This 
 is to be carefully distinguished from Goshen in 
 the land of Egypt (Gen. xlv. 10 ; xlvi. 28 and 
 often). Again ch. xi. 16; xv. 51, a city of the 
 same name is mentioned, perhaps the chief city of 
 this region. Knobel derives the name from the 
 Arabic, making it = pectus, torica. Calmet main- 
 tains that the land of Goshen here mentioned is the 
 same as the Egyptian. This needs no refutation. 
 
 Ver. 41. From Kadesh-barnea unto Gaza, i. 
 e. from the wilderness in which Kadesh-barnea lay 
 (Num. xiii. 3, 26, xx. 1, xxvii. 14, and often) to 
 Gaza in the Shephelah, which is only about one 
 hour from the Mediterranean Sea, — and the whole 
 land of Goshen unto Gibeon, i. e. all the country 
 between Gaza and Gibeon which lay on a line di- 
 rectly northeast from Gaza. Thus Joshua had be- 
 come master of all southern Palestine between the 
 Jordan valley and the Mediterranean Sea in one 
 direction, and between the heights of Gibeon and 
 the wilderness in the other. Jericho, Ai, Makkedah, 
 Libnah, Laehish, Eglon, Hebron, Debir, had one 
 after the other fallen and been destroyed, i nd 
 whole districts, like Goshen, had submitted them- 
 selves. With the ruins of broken cities, and the 
 bodies of their inhabitants, the land was covered 
 
 1 [We have proposed in the amended translation of thii 
 verse to render jTnE. , K, by ''foot-hills " which, although 
 not suggested by the etymology of the Hebrew word, se-iinl 
 to convey nearly the intended signification. — Tr.] 
 
CHAPTER XI. 10i 
 
 :>n the mountains, as well as on the slopes, in the 
 lowland, in the desert, on the border of the wilder- 
 ness as well as on the banks of the Jordan. A di- 
 vine judgment had fallen on the Canaanites. Je- 
 hovah, God of Israel, had Himself fought for his 
 chosen people {vers. 42, 14). And Joshua marches 
 back, to find rest after such mighty exploits, in the 
 camp at Gilgal (ver. 43). 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 already treated, and do not, therefore here entei 
 again on the subject. Cf. the Exegetic-vl and Crit 
 ical on ch. ii. 11, and vi. 17 ; also the Doctrinal and 
 Ethical on ch. vi. 15-27 [Introd. § 5, p. 21]. 
 
 H05HLETICAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 The section before us being no more than several 
 
 of the following (chaps, xii., xiii., xv., etc.), suited 
 
 for texts of sermons, while for Bible-classes the 
 
 exegetical notes will furnish the necessary explana- 
 
 ,, tions, we remark here once for all, that on this 
 
 Of the extermination of the Canaanites, as well i description of passages in our Book, the Homiletf- 
 
 as of the idea of the devotement (Din), we have | cal and Practical comments will be omitted 
 
 5. The Victory over the Northern Canaanites. Capture of their Land. General 
 Retrospect of the Conquest of the Country West of the Jordan. 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 a. The Second League of Canaanite Kings. 
 Chapter XI. 1-6. 
 
 1 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had [omit : had] heard those 
 things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and 
 
 2 to the king of Achshapb. And to the kings that xoere on [in] the north of [on] the 
 mountains, and of the plains [and in the Jordan valley] south of Cinneroth, and 
 
 3 in the valley [the low-land], and in the borders [heights] of Dor on the west. 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 
 
 4 the land of Mizpeh. And they went out, they and all their hosts [camps] with them, 
 much people, even [omit : even] as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude, 
 
 5 with [and] horses and chariots very many. And when all these kings were met 
 together, they came and pitched [encamped] together at the waters of Merom, to 
 
 6 fight against Israel. And the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Joshua, Be not afraid be- 
 cause of them : for to-morrow about this time will I deliver them all up [give 
 them all] slain before Israel : thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots 
 with fire. 
 
 6. The great Victory at the Waters of Merom. 
 Chapter XL 7-9. 
 
 7 So |_AndJ Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the 
 
 8 waters of Merom suddenly, and they fell upon them. And the Lord [Jehovah] 
 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 ; 
 
 9 and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. And Joshua did unto 
 them as the Lord [Jehovah] bade [had said unto] him : he houghed their hor?es, 
 and burnt their chariots with fire. 
 
 c. The Capture of the remaining Portions of Northern Palestine. 
 Chapter XI. 10-25. 
 
 10 And 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. 
 
 11 And they smote all the souls that xoere therein with the edge of the sword, utterly 
 destroying [devoting] them : there was not any left to breathe : and he burnt 
 
106 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 12 Hazor with fire. And 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 [omit : and] he 
 utterly destroyed [devoted] them, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded 
 
 13 But as for ' the cities that stood still in their strength [on their hill], Israel burned 
 
 14 none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn. 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, 
 
 15 neither left they any to breathe. As the Lord [Jehovah] commanded Moses his 
 servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua : he left nothing undone 
 of all that the Lord [Jehovah] commanded Moses. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 13. Literally : " Only all the cities which stood on their hill ( V^*l) Israel did not burn them." In Kngusn 
 phrase : " Only [or, yet] Israel burned none of the cities which stood on their hill ; except that Hazor alone Joshua 
 burned. 1 ' \""1 /^T seems quite as truly to stand for " except that 1 ' here as in the one instance mentioned by Gesenius 
 •. T., in 1 K. iii. 18. — Te.] 
 
 d. General Retrospect of the Conquest of West Palestine. 
 Chaptbb XI. 16-23. 
 
 16 So [And] Joshua took all that land, the hills [mountain], and all the south 
 country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley [the low-land], and the plain 
 [the Arabah or Jordan-valley], and the mountain of Israel, and the valley [low- 
 
 17 land] of the same ; Even from the mount Halak [the bald mountain], that goeth up 
 to Seir, even unto Baal-gad, in the valley of Lebanon, under mount Hermon : and 
 
 18 all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them. Joshua made war a 
 
 19 long time [Fay, exactly : many days] with all those kings. There was not a city 
 which made peace with [Fay, De Wette : peacefully submitted to] the children 
 [sons] of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon : all other [omit : 
 
 20 other] they took in battle. For it was of the Lord [Jehovah] to harden [prop, 
 strengthen, LXX. : Karto-^iio-ai] their hearts, that they should come against Israel 
 in battle [LXX. : amavTav eis 7roA£/*oi'], that he might destroy them utterly 
 [devote them], and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, 
 as the Lord [Jehovah] 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 [devoted 
 
 22 them] with their cities. There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the 
 children [sons] of Israel : only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained. 
 
 23 So [And] Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord [Jehovah] 
 said unto Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance [possession] unto Israel, 
 according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war. 
 
 exegetical and critical. 
 
 With this chapter we enter upon a new theatre 
 of the conquests of Joshua, the northern part of 
 West Palestine. Just as before Adoni-Zedek, the 
 king of Jerusalem (ch. x. 1 ff.), had summoned 
 the five kings of the south to resist Joshua, so now 
 Jaliin, the king of Hazor. who occupied a promi- 
 nent position, since his city is designated as the 
 chief city of all the northern kingdoms (ch. xi. 10) 
 
 the more vividly impressive. Next follows a his- 
 tory of the capture of the remaining parts of west- 
 ern Palestine, in the style of the chronicler, as in 
 ch. x. 28-43. To all this is appended, finally, a 
 general review of the conquest of all Palestine, 
 with a special notice of the extirpation of the Ana- 
 kim. 
 
 a. The Second League of Canaanite Kings, vers. 
 1-6. — Jabin king of Hazor. Hazor (ch. xii. 19; 
 xix. 36) was an important royal seat of the Oa- 
 
 collects the military forces of this portion of the naanites, which Joshua destroyed, according to the 
 country against the conqueror at Gibeon. But statement in this chapter (ver. 13), but which was 
 the Lord encourages his servant, and now again, afterwards rebuilt, and became again a kingly cap- 
 
 as before, exhorts him not to fear them, although 
 they had encamped by the water of Merom, like 
 the sand of the sea for multitude (vers. 1-6), Joshua 
 falls upon them suddenly, before they had fully 
 got together, smites them utterly, pursues them to 
 the seacoast, in the region of Sidon, lames their 
 horses, and burns their chariots with fire. The 
 account which we have in vers. 7-9 is brief but a.l 
 
 ital (Judg. iv. 2, 17 ; 1 Sam. xii. 9). Here dwelt, 
 in the time of the Judges, another Jabin whose 
 general was Sisera. Solomon fortified the place 
 (I K. ix. IS), the population of which was carried 
 away by the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser (2 K. 
 xv. 29). According to Josepbus (Antiq. v. 5, 1), 
 uirtpKtirai rrjs Se^ex^fiTiSos \ifxvT)s), Hazor lay on 
 the range of hills which stretches itself on the wesl 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 107 
 
 jf the sea of Merora, now the Jebel Safed. Porter 
 (i. 304) found here a place Hafur; Robinson, on 
 'he same ridge an hour south of Kedesh, with 
 which Hazor is mentioned both iu our Book ch. 
 xix. 36, and in 2 K. xv. 29, found a hill Tel- 
 Khureibeh, which he would identity with Hazor. 
 Knobel seek- for it on a hill north of Ramah, south- 
 wot of Safed, where a collection of ruins, Huzzur 
 or Hazirch, occurs. This suits his view of the 
 " water of Merom ; " see below. But as we can- 
 not share in this, for reasons to be given, we accept 
 the statement of Josephus, which seems to us suffi- 
 ciently supported by the researches of Porter and 
 lioliiiiMin. Such a point was well adapted to the 
 residence of a prominent monarch. 
 
 Madon, eh. xii. 19. A city not yet discovered, 
 perhaps t<> be sought in southern Galilee, more 
 probably, however, like the other cities west of the 
 sea of Merom (Knob.). 
 
 Shimron is called, ch. xii. 20, Shimron-Mcrun. 
 therefore Shjmron iu the vicinity of Meron = Ma- 
 ron, southwest of Kedesh. 
 
 Achshaph (ch. xii. 20) a border city of Asher 
 (ch. xix. 25). According to Robinson (Later Bibl. 
 Res. p. 55), perhaps the present Kesaf. about mid- 
 way between Tyre and Banias ; almost certainly 
 not Akko, as Knobel on ch. xix. 25 conjectures. 
 
 Vcr. 2. On the mountain. The mountain of 
 Naphthali (ch. xix. 32) is meant. 
 
 In the plain, south of Cinneroth, i. e., the 
 Ghor of the Jordan, south of the sea of Gennes- 
 aret. 
 
 In the lowland ; here probably the strip bor- 
 dering the sea between Akko and Sidon, to which 
 the following, Naphoth-Dor on the sea, directs 
 us (ch. xii. 23). This Dor (ch. xvii. 11, Joseph. 
 Ant. v. 1, 22) belonged later to Manasseh (ch. 
 xvii. 11), by which tribe its Canaanite inhabitants 
 were not driven out (Judg. i. 27). Prom 1 Chron. 
 viii. 29, we learn that children of Joseph dwelt in 
 it. The population was accordingly a mixed one. 
 Under Solomon it was the chief place of a revenue 
 district (1 K. iv. U); now called Tortura, also 
 Tantura, with forty or fifty dwellings, rive hundred 
 Mohammedan inhabitants, and ruins of a Frank 
 
 castle (von Raumer). "01 ,1123 or ~m j~IS3 
 (ch. xii. 23 ; 1 K. iv. 1 1 ) = heights of Dor. The 
 place was so called because it lay on an elevation, 
 where Van de Velde found the ruins (Mem. p. 
 307), nine miles north of Csesarea towards Tyre. 
 
 Vcr. 3. Jabin sent, accordingly, to the Canaan- 
 ites in the east and west, and to the other tribes, 
 s. if. to the llivites dwelling in the land of Mizpeh. 
 This region lay, according to the present passage, 
 under Hermon, am. was, from ver. 8, a plain, per- 
 haps the level strip south of Hasbeiya, and to the 
 west of Tel el-Kadi. There, on a hill, from which 
 one has a glorious view of the great basin of Hule, 
 lies the place Mutelleh or Metelleh (Robinson, iii. 
 347, and Later Bibl. Res. 372 f, Van cle Velde, Nar- 
 rative, ii. p. 428). The name signifies " outlook," 
 
 and corresponds to the Heb- !"l2VO (Knobel). 
 The name Mizpeh occurs in two other places, in 
 Judah (von Raumer, p. 213), and probably twice 
 also in Gilead (von Raumer, p. 265), as a designa- 
 tion of localities ; very naturally, since the country 
 abounded in positions affording beautiful and ex- 
 tensive prospects. Compare the similar names to 
 he met with in our mountain regions : Lookout, 
 Fairview, etc. 
 
 Ver. 4. The Canaanite princes and their tribes 
 Doey and march out, much people even as the 
 «nud that is on the sea-shore in multitude. 
 
 with horses and chariots very many. The com 
 parison with the sand by the sea is very often met 
 with in the Book of Genesis, xxx i. 13, 31 ; xii. 
 49, as an emblem of muttitudt ; as an emblem of 
 weight again, Job vi. 3 : 1'rov. xxvii. 3. The 
 horses were particularly formidable to the Israel- 
 ites, who had none. The chariots likewise, of 
 which it is said, ch. xvii. 18, that they were iron 
 chariots, ('. e. had wheels with iron tires. Comp 
 Bertheau [and Cassel] on Judg. i. 19: " Tim 
 scythe-chariots were first introduced by Cyrus," 
 (Xen. Ct/rop. iv. 1, 27, 30), Keil. 
 
 Ver. 5. And when all these kings were met 
 together they came and pitched together at the 
 waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. This 
 
 water of Merom, D1HJ2 ^Q = highest, upper, water 
 is, according to the traditional explanation, the 
 Klfivt] 2e^ex u " / < T1 s of Josephus (Ant. v. 5, 1 ; Bell. 
 ■In, I. iii. 9, 7; iv. 1, 1); now called by the Arabs 
 Bahr el-Huleh, or el-Khait. " The sea is two and 
 a half hours long, one hour wide [about three 
 miles in each direction, Grove, Diet, of Bibl. p, 
 1898], muddy, abounding in fish, its surface forty 
 feet [Van de" Velde: 140] above the level of the 
 sea ; in summer mostly dried up, full of reeds, in 
 which wild boars and serpents dwell, only its east- 
 ern shore is inhabited " (von Raumer). It is men 
 tioned nowhere else in the Bible. The allied kings, 
 judging from ver. 7, had, probably, pitched their 
 camp in a strong position, covered by Hazor and 
 other cities as, e. g. Kedesh, on the Jebel Safed. 
 From thence they might launch forth with their 
 horses and chariots against Joshua, who would be 
 likely to come up through the Jordan valley. But 
 if this were their plan it was frustrated by the truly 
 strategic promptness of the Hebrew commander. 
 Knobel, followed lately by Keil (Bill. Com. ii. 1, 
 in h. 1.) seeks this water of Merom in a little brook 
 flowing in the valley below Safed, and which has 
 its source in the mountain lying two hours north- 
 west of Safed. There lies a place called Meiruni 
 or Merun (Rob. iii. 333 f). A glance at the map 
 shows that this valley was ill suited to be the 
 camp of the multitudinous Canaanites. And when 
 Knobel, to support his peculiar opinion, brings up 
 the circumstance, that " there is no proof that the 
 Bahr el-Huleh was ever called by the ancients the 
 "water of Merom," we reply, that the Bahr el- 
 Huleh is mentioned at all only in this single pas- 
 sage, so that the only question is. How did the an- 
 cients understand this passage ? What did they 
 
 think of the 2"n^3 ""D ? Answer : According to 
 Josephus they thought it to be the Sea Seinechon- 
 itis, or Samochonitis, the present Bahr el-Huleh, 
 near which the battle was fought. To this tra- 
 ditional view, Hitzig also holds. He briefly re- 
 marks (Hist, of People of Isr. i. p. 103): "He 
 (Joshua) conquered, it is said, at the water of 
 Merom (;'. e. El Huleh) King Jabin." 
 
 Ver. 6. Encouraging appeal of God to Joshua, 
 as eh x. 8 and often. We have to conceive of 
 Joshua as already on the march, when this wore 
 was addressed to him, since the distance from Gil- 
 gal to the sea of Merom was too great for him to 
 reach the latter between one day and the next (" to- 
 morrow about this time"). 
 
 Thou shalt hough their horses and burn theil 4 
 chariots with fire. So David does with the horses 
 ■ if lladad-ezer, king of Zoba (2 Sam. viii. 4; 1 
 
 Chron. xviii. 4. "'o.V = veuponoireiv). The tendons 
 of" the hind legs were severed (they were hamstrung), 
 and thus thev were rendered coni[ etely useless. — 
 
108 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 The burning of the chariots is mentioned also, Ps. 
 tlvi. 10 ; they were therefore certainly of wood. 
 
 b. The great Victory at the Sea of Merom, vers. 
 
 7-9. — Ver. 7. Suddenly, EN/^5 from 3H?2, 
 with the adverbial ending 0', as in DIP ;E7, and 
 metathesis of N and 27. They said also CSHQ?, 
 2 Chr. xxix. 36, or CSHp 37HQ?, Num. vi. 9, 
 
 or afena 2ns 1 ?, is. xxix. 5, or inp^ nVvps, 
 
 Is. xxx. 1.3. Joshua proves himself by his rapidity 
 a true general, as ch. x. 9. 
 
 Ver. 8. Pursued them unto great Zidon and 
 unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley 
 of Mizpeh eastward. Joshua followed the enemy 
 partly in a northwestern direction (toward Sidonj, 
 and westward (Misrephoth-m.), partly towards the 
 northeast (valley of Mizpeh). Sidon is here as 
 
 ch. xix. 28, the great (rt3~l), i. e . the populous 
 
 (■"IS"] not i"17"T2) and thus is designated as the 
 capital of the land of the Sidonians (Phoenicians). 
 It was older than Tyre, and allotted to the tribe of 
 Asher (ch. xix. 28), but not conquered by it (Judg. 
 i. 31 ). Sidon is repeatedly mentioned bv Homer 
 (II. vi. 289; xxiii. 743; Od. xv. 425). The city, 
 once so powerful, has now not more than 5,000 in- 
 habitants ( Rob. iii. 41 7 ff.). In his prophecy against 
 Tyrus, Isaiah remembers Sidon also (Is. xxiii. 2,4, 
 12). Jeremiah comprehends Sidon with Tyre 
 (Jer. xlvii. 4, compared with ch. xxvii. 3), which 
 is very often done in the N. T. (Matt. xi. 21, 22 ; 
 Mark vii. 24-31 ; Matt. xv. 21 ; Luke x. 13 ; 
 Mark iii. 8). A charming description of Sidon is 
 given by Fttrrer, Wanderungen d. Palest, p. 351. — 
 Misrephoth-maim. Luther : " warm water " ; 
 Gesen. : " perhaps lime-kilns or smelting-furnaces 
 
 (from Hj^) situated near water;" Knobel, from 
 the Arab.: "water-heights," among which should 
 be understood the promontories Has en-Nakura and 
 Ras el-Aibab (Scala Tyriorum). Not both prom- 
 ontories, however, but only one, and not the sea 
 but a spring, is meant, we believe, namely, the 
 southern Ras en-Nakura, which, from a spring 
 lying at the southern foot of the mountain, and a 
 place called Muschairifeh (plainly, as even Knobel 
 admits, the same name as Misrephoth), is called 
 also Ras el-Muschairifeh (Hitter, xvi. 807). Here 
 once stood perhaps furnaces (glass furnaces >) in 
 the vicinity of the spring, and from these it received 
 its name. This view suits excellently with ch. 
 xiii. 6, where Misrephoth-maim is mentioned as a 
 known boundary point. Joshua, therefore, cast the 
 Canaanites over the mountain, here precipitously 
 steep, down into the plain by the sea, by which, cer- 
 tainly, thousands were destroyed. But while two 
 divisions of the army thus followed the enemy 
 toward the southwest [N. W. ?] and west, another 
 moves at tlie same time toward the northeast, and 
 chases them into the valley of Mizpeh, called above 
 in ver. 3, Mizpah. 
 
 Ver. 9. Finally, Joshua does as Jehovah had 
 bidden, houghs the horses, and burns the chariots. 
 
 c. The Capture of ivhat remained of Northern 
 Palestine (vers. 10-15). Vers. 10, 11 First, 
 Hazor, the chief city of these petty northern king- 
 doms is taken, and, because of its prominence, 
 more hardly dealt with than the rest. For Joshua 
 turned Hazor with tire (vers. 11, 13). — On the inf. 
 
 2^77. comp. Dent. iii. 6, and 17^ ch. iii. 17. 
 Ver*. 12, 13. Fate of the other cities. The 
 
 | sense of the two verses is that the cities in the 
 plain were totally burned and devoted, while those, 
 on the contrary, which stood on their lull, i. e. the 
 fortified mountain cities, with the sole exception of 
 Hazor, were not burned. The Israelites were con- 
 tent to sack them (ver. 12). 
 
 Ver- 14. The spoils were not devoted but di- 
 vided, as at Ai, ch. viii. 2, 27. The men, all that 
 had breath (comp. ver. 11), were destroyed. 
 
 Ver. 15. This command of God to Moses is 
 found before in Ex. xxxiv. 11-16; and again Num. 
 xxxiii. 51-56, strengthened by threatenings ; finally, 
 also, Deut. xx. 16, where it is said, " Thou shalt save 
 alive nothing that breathes," as Joshua here actually 
 does. For the transfer of this command to Joshua, 
 compare in general the often-cited passage, Num. 
 xxvii. 18-23, and particularly Deut. iii. 21. The 
 author states emphatically, to show the conscien- 
 tiousness of Joshua : he left nothing undone of 
 all that Jehovah had commanded Moses, comp. 
 vers. 12. as well as ch. i. 7, 8. 
 
 d. General Retrospect of the Conquest of Western 
 Palestine (ver. 16-23). — "Joshua captured the 
 whole land of Canaan, namely, in the south, the 
 portions mentioned ch. x. 40 if., together with the 
 Arabah (ver. 2), the mountain of Israel, ;'. e. 
 Ephraim (ch xvii. 15), and its lowland on the west 
 (ch. xvi. 1), and so the land from the Bald Moun- 
 tain in the south to Baal-gad in the north ; the 
 kings he took captive, smote and slew" (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 17. From the Mount Halak (smooth, or 
 bald mountain), that goes up to Seir (ch. xii. 7). 
 This smooth mountain can hardly be Mount Mad- 
 urah, as Knobel thinks (he writes Madara), and 
 
 hence translates p 1"! ^n by "smooth moun- 
 tain" (mentioned by Robinson, ii. 589); because 
 this mountain does not go up to Mount Seir, but 
 rather lies on the west side of the Wady el-Fikreh. 
 It is more probably identical with the " ascent of 
 Akrabbim," mentioned ch. xv. 3, and Num. xxxiv. 
 4. which Robinson believes he has discovered in 
 the remarkable line of cliffs that run across the en- 
 tire Ghor, a few miles south of the Dead Sea(ii. 
 489, 490). This divides the great valley into two 
 parts, both physically aud in respect to its names 
 down even to the present day, the northern portion 
 from hence to the sea of Tiberias being called el- 
 Ghor [formerly, the Arabah], the southern, even to 
 Akabah, being called el-Araba (Rob. /. c.) This 
 ridge, consisting of whitish cliffs (Rob./ c. ) goes 
 up in fact to Seir, i. e. towards the mountains of 
 Edom which constitute the eastern boundary of the 
 Arabah, now Jebal (Gebalene), and lies exactly 
 opposite to Baal-gad which is named as the north- 
 ern limit. So Keil in I. accepts it. On the map 
 accompanying the last edition of von Raumers 
 Palastina, from Stieler's Hand Atlas (No. 42 b), 
 the points in question are very clearly marked. 
 
 Even unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon 
 under Mount Hermon. Not Baalbec (Knobel), 
 which lies much too far north, but the later Cffisarea- 
 Philippi, earlier Panias, nowBaneas, comp. ch. xii. 
 7, xiii. 5 ; Judg. iii. 3 ; von Raumer, Palast. p. 245, 
 Gesen. Lexicon. Thecity was called Baal-gad, be- 
 cause Baal, according to Is. lxv. 1 1 , was worshipped 
 
 as Baal-Gad ("12, fortune) = the God of fortune 
 In Judg. iii. 3 it is called Baal-hermon. Accord- 
 ing to Jerome (Onom. s. v. Aermon), a temple of 
 Baal must have stood on Mount Hermon. 
 
 Ver. 18. Joshua made war with those kings 
 along time. From ch. xiv. 7, 10, at least five 
 years. For Caleb wa« forty years old when Mose» 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 109 
 
 sent him out of Kadesh-barnea as a spy ; eighty- 
 five years old was lie when, immediately after the 
 conquest of the land, he received his possession from 
 Joshua. Since the former date, accordingly, forty- 
 five years have past, as Caleb also himself says, 
 forty of which belong to the pilgrimage in the 
 Arabah, leaving live for the subjugation of the 
 land ; not too long certainly, and yet long enough 
 to be called a long time. Heb. : " many d:ty» ." 
 So also Joseph. Ant, v. 1, 19. Comp. Introd. § 4. 
 
 Ver. 19. Gibeon's peaceful surrender is men- 
 tioned again, ch. ix. 7, 15; x. 1, 6. The others 
 had all to be taken in battle. 
 
 Ver. 20. For it was of Jehovah to harden their 
 hearts, that they should come against Israel 
 in battle, that he might devote them, and that 
 they might have no favor, but that he might 
 destroy them, as Jehovah had commanded Mo- 
 ses. God dealt with them as He had done with 
 Pharaoh, Ex. iv. 21 ; vii. 3 j xiv. 4; Rom. ix. 17; 
 Calvin : In hunc jinem illos Deus obdurat, ut a se 
 misericordiam avertant ; wide etdurities ista vocatur 
 ejus opus, quia effectum consilii ejus stabilit." See 
 Doctrinal and Ethical below. 
 
 Verses 21-23 contain in part a supplementary 
 notice of the extirpation of the Anakim, in the 
 cities of Hebron and Debir, the destruction of which 
 has already (ch. x. 36 ff.) been reported, and in 
 part a general conclusion substantially as given 
 before in ver. 16. We may observe, however, that 
 here, (1) the division of the land is expressly men- 
 tioned, and (2) it is added that the land had rest 
 from war. 
 
 Ver. 21. Cut off the Anakim. See the Introd. 
 p. 30. Hebron and Debir were mentioned in ch. 
 x. 36 ff. but not Anab which, and also Eshtemo, 
 is joined with Debir inch. xv. 50. Robinson found 
 both as neighboring places south of Hebron (ii. 
 94, 195). Anab wears its ancient name even to 
 the present day ; Eshtemo is now called Semua. 
 
 Ver. 22. Gaza, ch. x 41 ; xiii. 3 ; xv. 47, the well- 
 known city of the Philistines, first mentioned Gen. 
 x. 19, familiar from the history of Samson, Judg. 
 xvi., the utterances of the prophets ( Jer. xxv. 20 ; 
 xlvii. 5; Amos i. 6, 7 ; Zeph. ii. 4; Zech. ix. 5), 
 the eunuch from Ethiopia (Acts viii. 26). It Btands 
 in a fertile region, and is even now an important 
 town with fifteen thousand inhabitants. These 
 derive great profit from the caravans. 
 
 Gath, now lost without a trace discoverable, 
 another city of the Philistines, the home of Goliath 
 and other giants ( 1 Sum. xvii. 4 ; 1 Chr. xxi. 5-8 ; 
 2 Sam. xxi. 19-22) who were not exterminated 
 here ; familiar from the history of David (1 Sam. 
 xxi. 10; xxvii. 2-4; Ps. lvi. ; 2 Sam. i. 20, and 
 often). Already in the time of the prophet Amos, 
 the greatness of Gath had shrunk (Amos vi. 2). 
 Robinson (ii. 420 ff.) sought in vain for its site. 
 
 Ashdod, now Esdud, between two and three 
 hours from Ashkelon, with 100 or 150 miserable 
 hovels, mentioned in our book ch. xiii. 3 ; xv. 46, 
 47 ; the city of Dagon, 1 Sam. v. 1-7, against 
 which, as against Gaza, the prophets often direct 
 their denunciations (Jer. xxv. 20 ; Amos i. 8 ; 
 iii. 9 ; Zeph. ii. 4 ; Zech. ix. 6). To this place was 
 Philip the Evangelist snatched away. Acts viii. 40. 
 The city is said to have been very "strong ( Herod. 
 ii. 157). 
 
 Ver. 23. According to their divisions, 
 
 Q\'P7T'^?' elsewhere used principally of the di- 
 risions of the priests and Levites into twenty-four 
 classes (cf^juifp/ai, K\i)poi) 1 Chr. xxvii. 1 ff. ; 2 
 Chr. t iii . 14; xxxi. 2 ; xxxv. 4; here, as in ch. 
 
 xii. 7 ; xviii. 10, of the division of the people into 
 tribes. 
 
 And the land had rest from war, i. e. " there 
 were no more warlike disturbances in it (ch. xiv. 
 15; Judg. iii. 11, 30 ; v. 31 ; viii. 28)," Knobel. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. Conscientiousness in carrying out the di- 
 vine commands and in fulfilling God's will, is a 
 prominent characteristic of the holy men in both 
 the old and the new Testaments. Thus Moses is 
 praised because he in all his house was faithful to 
 him that made him (Heb. iii. 2, 5). Faithfulness, 
 however, exists only where conscientiousness ex- 
 i-r.-. for the faithless man is always void of con- 
 science also. And so Joshua was faithful, as is in- 
 timated in ver. 15 of the chapter before us, since 
 he left nothing undone of all which God had com- 
 manded Moses. The highest conscientiousness, 
 which is at the same time perfect fidelity, is found 
 in Jesus Christ, whose meat and drink "it is to do 
 the will of Him that sent him, and to finish his 
 work (John iv. 34) ; who seeks to do not his own 
 will but the Father's will (John v. 30) ; who there- 
 fore loses nothing of all which the father has given 
 him (John vi. 387 39) ; and who could, on the cross, 
 exclaim with satisfaction, " It is finished " (John 
 xix. 30). 
 
 2. When the hostility of the Canaanites is as- 
 cribed to the hardening of their hearts by God 
 (ver. 20), here, as everywhere in Scripture," when 
 such hardening is spoken of, it is carefully to be 
 borne in mind, that this is always inflicted as a 
 judgment on those who have previously, somehow, 
 acted contrary to his will. This i- true of Pharaoh 
 (Ex. iv. 21 : vii. 13 ; x. 20; xi. 10; xiv. 4 ; Rom. 
 ix. 17), of the people of Israel (Is. vi. 10; Matt, 
 xiii. 12-14), and here of the Canaanites. They 
 have all transgressed grievously in some way 
 against God : Pharaoh through the oppression of 
 Israel: Israel through impiety; the Canaanites, 
 through idolatry : and are therefore now hardened 
 by God, i. e. their understanding is infatuated, 
 their will audacious, so that they blindly run into 
 destruction. That this ruin on their part, again, 
 serves to glorify God's power (Rom. ix. 17), is self- 
 evident; only the matter should not be so under 
 stood as it is by Calvin, who, while not denying 
 
 ind 1 the guilt of the Canaanites, still leaves in 
 
 the background the judicial providence of God re- 
 vealing itself in their hardness of heart, and speaks 
 only of God's having made a way for his decree by 
 hardening the ungodly (ubi r'eprobos obduravit). 
 The absolute divine decree stands here also, with 
 Calvin, high above all else. He does not indeed, 
 here or ever, deny the guilt of men, but this guilt 
 itself is not a free act of men, but is rather jointly 
 included in the decree of God, as follows from the 
 close of his explanation of vers. 19, 20 : "Nunc si 
 rem adeo dilucidam suis nebulis obscurare conentur, 
 qui Deum e ccelo speculari Jingunt, quid hominibus 
 libeat, nee hominum corda arcano ejus inslinctu fre- 
 nari sustinent: quid aiiud quant snam impudent/am 
 prodent ? Deo tantum concedunt ut permittat : hoc au- 
 tein modo suspendunt ejus consilium ah hominum placito. 
 Quid autem Spiritut ? a Deo esse obdurationem 
 ut prcecipitet quos vult perdere." The final words 
 in particular are intelligible enough, and remind 
 of the verses of an anonymous Greek Tragic Poet, 
 quoted in a scholium on Sophocles' "Antigone" 
 ver. 6, 20 : — 
 
110 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 "Otolv 5' b Satfiiwi/ avSpl iropffvvr} Katia 
 Thy vovv tfflaipe wpwrof, (5 j8ou\tu€Ta( ; 
 or of the Latin maxim, probably originating in what 
 has just been quoted, Quos Dens perderc vult de- 
 meniat prius (eomp. Biichmann, p. 117, Geffugelce 
 Worte). 
 
 HOMILET1CAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 Although the Lord's enemies may be like sand 
 by the sea, yet we need not be disheartened, for He 
 gives us confidence, courage, and victory, as He 
 did once to Joshua. As Joshua always followed 
 up his victory, so must we follow up every suc- 
 cess on the Held of our inner life, to its full re- 
 sults, that we be not cheated of the fruits. — The 
 extirpation of the Canaanites, (1) due to their idol- 
 atry and immorality; (2) executed through a di- 
 vine command ; (3) set as a warning example for 
 all times. — They left nothing remaining which 
 had breath ! So when a whole people have sinned, 
 the less guilty and the guilty fall together. — 
 Joshua's conscientiousness. — Moses and Joshua, 
 God's faithful servants. — Men of God act not ac- 
 cording to their own pleasure, but to the command 
 of God. — A glance at Canaan. — A long time 
 fought Joshua with the kings of the Canaanites, 
 ever must we fight with sin, the flesh, the world. — 
 The obduracy of the Canaanites regarded as a di- 
 Tine judgment upon them. — All obduracy is God's 
 judgment on men, who are sunk in sin and have 
 forfeited their freedom. — Ah, if grace no more 
 " prevented " men, how terrible ! — The land ceased 
 from war (sermon on the celebration of peace). 
 
 Starke : When it goes against the children of 
 God, the ungodly blow the horn, join forces, and 
 use all their might, Ps. ii. 2 ; iii. 1. — Whom God 
 deserts with his grace that man runs into his own 
 misfortune and destruction, Rom. ii. 5 ; Ex. xiv. 
 27; Is. vi. 11. 
 
 Cramer : The perverseness of the ungodly ! 
 when they hear of God's wonderful deeds, and 
 should justly be led to repentance thereby, they 
 take the course of crabs, and become only the more 
 obdurate and wicked, until they bring upon them- 
 selves utter ruin, Ps. lxxviii. 31, 32. — If not to- 
 day, it may be better to-morrow, only wait the lit- 
 tle while (ver. 6). — When enemies study and con- 
 trive how they may destroy the people of God, then 
 God studies and contrives how they may be re- 
 strained and even entirely rooted out. — God's 
 
 word and promise cannot delay, and they remain 
 unbound. — God's hand has a twofold operative, 
 by one He strikes his foes, and by the other He gives 
 his people victory, power, and strength ; and this 
 hand is not yet shortened. Is. lix. 1. — When men 
 become hardened through the instigation of the 
 devil, God draws back his hand and smites them 
 with the most serious penalty of obduracy, appoints 
 this as a punishment of sin and a warning to his 
 elect, and yet becomes not a cause of sin, Ps. v. 5. 
 — Against God no giant even has any strength ; 
 Ps. xxxiii. 16; Is. xlix. 25. 
 
 Bibl. Tub. : In war all depends not on the 
 strength and multitude of the people, but on God, 
 who gives the victory, Ps. xlvi. 10. 
 
 Osiander : Those who continue ever in their 
 ungodly life, and think not at all with earnestness 
 of true heart-conversion, those become finally so 
 blinded by God, and are so entirely given up to a 
 perverse heart that, like madmen, they run to 
 meet their own destruction, until they are plunged 
 at length into everlasting hell-fire. — God gives 
 sometimes even to his Church on earth temporal 
 peace, but they must not abuse this to temporal 
 security. 
 
 Gerlach : Obduracy of the heart happens here 
 also as a punishment, after grace has been pre- 
 viously offered, Ex. iv. 21. This offer of grace lay 
 in the Lord's great miracles in Egypt, which these 
 people had heard of with astonishment before the 
 coming of the Israelites. 
 
 [Matt. Henry : Several nations joined in this 
 confederacy .... of different constitutions, 
 and divided interests among themselves, and yet 
 they here unite against Israel as against a com- 
 mon enemy. Thus are the children of this world 
 more unanimous, and therein wiser than the children 
 of light. The oneness of the Church's enemies 
 should shame the Church's friends out of their dis- 
 cords and divisions, and engage them to be one- — 
 Never let the sons of Anak be a terror to the Israel 
 of God, for even their day will come, to fall. — 
 Note : God sometimes reserves the sharpest trials 
 of his people by affliction and temptation for the 
 latter end of their days. Therefore U-t not him thai 
 qirds on the harness boast, as he that puts it off. 
 Death, that tremendous son of Anak, is the last 
 enemy that is to be encountered, but it is to be de- 
 stroyed, 1 Cor. xv. 28. Thanks be to God whe 
 will give us the victory. — Tr.] 
 
 SECTION THIRD. 
 
 catalogue op all the klngs conquered under the command op moses and joshua. ib 
 
 East and West Palestine. 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 1. Catalogue of the Kings Conquered in East Palestine. 
 Chapter XII. 1-6. 
 
 1 Now ' these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and pos- 
 sessed their land on the other side [of the] Jordan toward the rising of the sun.from 
 
 2 the river 2 Anion, unto Mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east: Sihon, king 
 of the Amorites, who dwelt !n Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which it upon the 
 
CHAPTER 5H. 1 1 1 
 
 bank of the river Arnon and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead. 
 
 3 even unto the river Jabbok which is the border of the children of Ammon, and 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 [LXX : dSiv tV Kara 'Ao-fi/xole ; Vulg. : 
 per viam qua ducit Bethsimoth~\ ; and from the south, under Ashdoth-pisgah. 
 
 4 And the coast [border] of Og, king of Bashan, which [who] ivas of the remnant of 
 
 5 the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, And reigned in Mount Hermon, 
 and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites, and the Maacha- 
 thites, and half Gilead, [where] the border [was] of Sihon king of Heshbon. 
 
 6 Them did [omit : them did] Moses the servant of the Lord [Jehovah], and the 
 children [sons] of Israel smite [smote them] : and Moses the servant of the Lord 
 [Jehovah] gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and [to] the Gadites, am 1 
 Tto] the half tribe of Manasseh. 
 
 2. Catalogue of the Kings Conquered in West Palestine. 
 
 Chapter XII. 7-24. 
 
 7 And these are the kings of the country [land] which [whom] Joshua and the 
 children of Israel smote on this [the other] side of [the] Jordan on the west, from 
 Baal-Gad in the valley of Lebanon, even unto the Mount Halak [Bald-mountain] 
 that goeth up to Seir ; which Joshua gave [Fay, correctly : and Joshua gave it] 
 
 I unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions : In the moun- 
 tains [on the mountain], and in the valleys, and in the plains [the lowland], and uj 
 the springs [on the foot-hills], and in the wilderness, and in the south-country ; 
 the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the 
 Jebusites : 
 
 9 The king of Jericho, one ; 
 
 The king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one ; 
 
 10 The king of Jerusalem, one ; 
 The king of Hebron, one ; 
 
 II The king of Jarmuth, one ; 
 The king of Lachish, one ; 
 
 12 The king of Eglon, one ; 
 The king of Gezer, one ; 
 
 13 The king of Debir, one ; 
 The king of Geder, one ; 
 
 14 The king of Hormah, one ; 
 The king of Arad, one ; 
 
 15 The king of Libnah, one ; 
 The king of Adullam, one ; 
 
 16 The king of Makkedah, onej 
 The king of Beth-el, one ; 
 
 17 The king of Tappuah, one ; 
 The king of Hepher, one ; 
 
 18 The king of Aphek, one ; 
 The king of Lasharon, one ; 
 
 19 The king of Madon, one ; 
 The king of Hazor, one ; 
 
 20 The king of Shimron-meron, one ; 
 The king of Achshaph, one ; 
 
 21 The king of Taanach, one ; 
 The king of Megiddo, one ; 
 
 22 The king of Kedesh, one ; 
 
 The king of Jokneam of Carmel, one ; 
 
 23 The king of Dor in the coasts of [Naphoth] Dor, one -. 
 The king of the nations of Gilgal, one ; 
 
 21 The king of Tirzah. one ; 
 
 All the kings thirty and one. 
 
112 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 [1 Ver. 1 — Instead of interpolating the numerous corrections required in the common version in the first thna 
 verses here, we recast separately, in much the same way as De Wette and Fay : And these are the kings of th« 
 land, whom the sous of Israel smote, and possessed their land, on the other side of the Jordan, toward the rising of 
 
 2 the sun, from ihe water-course of Aroon unto Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah on the east: Sihon king of the 
 Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, ruling from Aroer which is on the bank of the water-course of Arnon and in the 
 middle of the water-course, and [over] half of Gilead even to Jabbok the water-course [which is] the border of the sons 
 
 3 of Amnion, and [over] the Arabah unto the sea of Cinnerotu, on the east, and unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt- 
 Sea, on the east, the way to Beth-jeshimoth ; and in the south under the foot-hills of Pisgah. 
 
 [2 Ver. 1. A word that should denote indifferently our conception of a rapid brook and of the bed in which it flow*, 
 with the whole inclusive valley, and of the latter equally when the water is absent, is wanting in English to represent 
 
 adequately the lieb. vHj. Stanley's account of this word well presents the case (5m. and Pat. App. p. 496): "Nachal, 
 
 VP13 a ' torrent-bed," or water-course : from 7 /PT, to perforate [so Fiirst, cf. Gesen.].The word corresponds with the 
 Arabic Wady, the Greek ^eijiippous, the Indian Nullah, the Italian ' fiumara ' [in some of its applications approaching 
 the Spanish-American canon) and signifies the hollow, or valley, of a mountain torrent, which, while in rainy seasons 
 it may fill the whole width of the depression, in summer is reduced to a mere brook, or thread of water, and is often en- 
 tirely dry. [In the greater number, perhaps, of the Wadies, the running water is quite au exceptional phenomenon.) 
 Such streams are graphically described in Job xi. 16, 17. Nachal, therefore, is sometimes used for the valley (Num. 
 xxi. 12; Judg. xvi. 4 [and in the second instance in ver. 2 of our passage]), and sometimes for the torrent which flows 
 through the valley. The double application of the word is well seen in 1 K. xvii. 3, where Elijah is commanded to 
 hide himself Mq' not : by ' the e Wady Uherith,' and to ' drink of the brook' — Nachal being used in both cases. No 
 English word is exactly equivalent, but perhaps ' torrent-bed ' most nearly expresses it.'' — This last opinion is probably 
 coirect in refereuce to many readers, but for the purposes of a translation we have ventured to adopt the other term 
 proposed by him, "water-course." — Tr.) 
 
 EXEGET1CAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 This twelfth chapter forms a separate section, 
 the third of the first part of our book, and contains 
 a list of all the kings conquered by Moses and 
 joshua in East and West Palestine. It falls into 
 two subdivisions : ( 1 ) a catalogue of the kings con- 
 quered east of the Jordan (vers. 1-6); (2) a cata- 
 logue of the kings conquered in Palestine proper 
 (vers. 7-24). 
 
 1. Catalogue of those Conquered East of the Jordan 
 (vers. 1-6). From the water-course of Arnon 
 unto Mount Hermon, and all the plain [Arabah 
 or Jordan valley] on the East. The Arnon 
 (1'13'IK for XO~i the rushing), Num. ii. 13; 
 Deut'. iii. 8. 12, 16 ;' iv. 48 ; Is. xvi. 2 ; Jer. xlviii. 
 20, now the Wady Modscheh, formed the southern 
 boundary of the territory governed by Sihon the 
 king of the Amorites, "afterwards the southern 
 boundary of Reuben, as of all Eastern Palestine, 
 against Moab. It flows, in part, through a deep 
 rocky bed, into the Dead Sea. Its source, at least 
 that of the main branch of the Arnon, the Wady 
 el-Safijeh, lies near Kutraneh (Katrane) on the 
 route of the pilgrims from Mecca to Damascus. 
 
 To Mount Hermon. According to the Arab. 
 
 flT2~in means a prominent mountain ridge, "per- 
 haps' prop, nose" (Gesen.). According to Deut. 
 iii. 9, it was called by the Amorites ""MtPi by the 
 Sidonians, ]^~^ (butcomp. 1 Chron. v. 23), and 
 according to Deut. iv. 48, it was also the same as 
 ■j'S^tr. Plur. D^IP. Ps. xlii. 7, because it con- 
 sists of several mountains. In the Psalm referred 
 to, we have a vivid description of the mountain 
 landscape on Hermon ; but " the land of splendor, 
 of heaven-towering mountains, and of glorious 
 streams, offers no compensation to the heart of the 
 Psalmist, for the humbler hills of Zion where his 
 God abides (Hitzig, Ps. lxviii. 17). At the present 
 time the mountain is called Jebel es-Scheikh. Its 
 height readies over 9,000 feet. The summit is 
 1 [Tristram's account of Hermon, its scenery, its natural 
 history, and the magnificent view which it offers of all Pal- 
 estine, is particularly interesting, p. 607 ff. — Ta.l 
 
 covered with eternal snow (von Raumer p. 33 ; 
 Robinson, iii. 344, 357), 1 carefully to be distin- 
 guished from this Hermon proper, is the " little 
 Hermon," so called, which is not mentioned in the 
 Bible. The name originated with Jerome, who 
 
 misunderstood the plural O^D" 1 !"!, in Ps. xlii. 7. 
 He gave that name to the Jebel ed-Duhy (Rob 
 inson u. s. 171, 172). 
 
 All the plain (n3~l5Jn) on the East. By the 
 Arabah (Deut. i. 1 ; ii. 8 ; 2 Sam. iv. 7 ; 2 K. xxv. 
 4,) where it has the article, as in these passages, is 
 meant not, in general, a dry steppe, a wilderness, 
 as in Is. xxxiii. 9 ; Jer. 1. 12 ; li. 43, but, as Robin- 
 son (ii. 599, 600) has shown, the whole of the great 
 valley from the sea of Galilee to the iElanitic Gulf. 
 It is now (see above on ch. xi. 17) called the Ghor, 
 northward from the " bald mountain," and el- 
 Arabah only from that mountain to its southern 
 extremity. This great valley has again different 
 
 parts which are designated as ni3"^5> e.g. in our 
 
 book, ch. v. 10 the niS"]? of Jericho ; 2 K. xxv. 
 
 5, the ni2"!3? of Moab. Here also we have to 
 do with a portion of the Arabah, the portion 
 namely " on the east," that is on the eastern bank 
 of the Jordan. In general, this valley is a " soli- 
 tary desert " (Rob. ii. 265), particularly horrid, 
 south of the Dead Sea. The only exceptions are 
 the small places in the northern part, " over which 
 the Jordan and occasional springs spread an ex- 
 traordinary fertility" (Rob. ii. 265, 266). 
 
 Ver. 2. Sihon, king of the Amorites, stands first 
 on the list of Canaanite princes subjugated by Moses 
 and Joshua (see above ch. ii. 10). He dwelt at 
 Heshbon, ch. xiii. 26 ; xxi. 39 ; Num. xxi. 26 ff., 
 which name properly signifies prudence (Eecl. xii. 
 25, 27 ; ix. 10) ; now Hesban or Hiisban. The 
 ruins of the old city lie on a hill having a magnifi- 
 cent prospect, towards the Dead Sea, and over 
 toward Bethlehem ; a toward the south and east 
 with no limit but the horizon. Heshbon belonged 
 originally to the Moabites (Num. xxi. 26), then to 
 
 2 [Tristram visited the spot. 
 543. — Ta.J 
 
 See his iescription ft 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 US 
 
 the Amorites, as is evident from our book, and 
 other places, and was allotted to the trans-Jor- 
 danic tribes (see below on ch. xiii. 1 7 ; xxi. 39 
 comp. w. 1 Chr. vii. 81). In the days of Isaiah and 
 Jeremiah, Heshbon belonged again to the Moabites 
 (Is. xv. 4 ; xvi. 9 ; Jer. xlviii. 2, 45-49). At a later 
 period, according to Josephus (Ant. xiii. 1 3, 4), the 
 Jews oace more possessed it. Heshbon appears 
 to have had a very strong position, to which the 
 expressions Jer. xlviii. 45-49 refer. The ruins 
 have a compass, according to von Raumer's au- 
 thority, of more than a mile. 
 
 Ver. 2. The territory of Sihon is now de- 
 scribed in full accordance with Num. xxi. 24, as 
 extending from the Arnon to the Jabbok. Here 
 again Aroer is particularly mentioned, which 
 [lies] upon the bank of the brook Arnon, and 
 
 in the middle of the brook, "137 4 1? and "I37V"I57> 
 
 from ~l~^y (to be bare, naked), lies on the north side 
 of the Arnon, and like Heshbon is indicated by Jere- 
 miah (xlviii. 19) as a Moahite city. It was allotted to 
 Reuben, ch. xiii. 9,16. The city lay, as our passage 
 shows, partly on and partly in the Arnon, i. e. on an 
 island, now Araayr. Carefully to be distinguished 
 from another city Aroer, ch. xiii. 25, and from a 
 third city Aroer (1 Sam, xxx. 26, 28), in the tribe of 
 JudahfRob. ii. 618), to which David sent presents 
 after the recovery of the booty taken at Ziklag. 
 
 Half Gilead. "T3? V? according to Gen. xxxi. 
 
 48 = "t?72, hill of testimony, perhaps rather an 
 appellative for hard, rough region, as Gesenius 
 thinks, which however does not suit with Num. 
 xxxii. 1 ; Jer. viii. 22 ; xlvi. 11 ; 1. 19 ; Cant. iv. 
 1 ; vi. 4. Properly the word denotes a mountain 
 on the south bank of the Jabbok (Gen. xxxi. 21- 
 48; Cant. iv. 1), with a city of the same name, 
 now Jebel Dschelaad, then the immediate vicinity 
 of this mountain (Num. xxxii. 1 ; Dent. ii. 37), 
 and finally, the whole mountain region between 
 the Arnon and the Jabbok, now called Belka. It 
 was bounded on the north by Bashan, on the south 
 by Moab. The designation " land of Gilead " is 
 used inexactly, Deut. xxxiv. 1, where it includes 
 also Bashan, likewise in 2 K. x. 33 ; 1 K. iv. 1 9, 
 and often. In such cases, by Gilead is meant the 
 whole land east of the Jordan, so far as it was pos- 
 sessed by the Israelites, ch. xxii. 9, 13, 15;Judg. 
 v. 17 (von Raumer, p. 229 ft".). See Inlrod. p. 25. 
 Even unto the brook Jabbok, now Wady Lerka, 
 
 then p2 1, from P71^, to pour out, gush forth, = 
 gushing-brook. The word is, according to Si- 
 monis, to whom Geseniug assents, the Chald. form 
 
 for P^t" ^ n Gen. xxxii. 2 there is a play upon 
 
 the word P?^> to wrestle. The Jabbok is here to 
 be viewed as a twofold boundary, (1) in its lower 
 course, a boundary toward the north, (2| in its up- 
 per course (Nahr Amnion) as a boundary toward 
 the east against the children of Amnion. A glance 
 at the map will at once show the actual relations. 
 
 Ver. 3. Over the plain (the Arabah) to the 
 sea of Cinneroth on the east, i. e. over the east- 
 ern part of the Jordan valley, as far as the sea of 
 
 Cinneroth. Here fTPSB, elsewhere also rfPJQ, 
 
 or n"?23 (perhaps equivalent to ^123, cithera), 
 eo called after the city of this name (ch. xi. 2 ; xix. 
 35) ; in theN.T., the sea of Galilee (Matt. iv. 18; xv. 
 29; Mark i. 16; vii. 31), sea of Gennesareth (Lu. 
 t. 1, derived from Kinnereth or Kinnaroth) ; in 
 John, sea of Tiberias (vi. 1 , xxi. 1 ), from the city of 
 8 
 
 Tiberias ; now Bahr Taberieh. The sea is " about 
 thirteen geographical miles long and six broad." 
 The climate is tropical, since the level is from six 
 hundred and twenty-five to seven hundred [Robin- 
 son, seven hundred] feet below that of the Mediter- 
 ranean (Rusegger. iii. 213 ; Robinson, iii. 264, 313 
 If). Its beauty is well known ( Seetzen, p. 348), and 
 has been described by Renan, in his " Life of Jesus," 
 in the most glowing colors. Robinson expresses 
 himself more moderately (iii. 255): "The lake 
 presents, indeed, a beautiful sheet of limpid water, 
 
 in a deep, depressed basin The hills are 
 
 rounded and tame, with little of the picturesque in 
 
 their form Whoever looks here for the 
 
 magnificence of the Swiss lakes, or the softer 
 beauty of those of England and the United States 
 will be disappointed." In the 0. T. it is men 
 tioned, besides this passage, only Num. xxxiv. 11 ; 
 Deut. iii. 17. [Add Smith's Bible Diet., art. " Gen- 
 nesaret, Lake of."] 
 
 And unto the sea of the plain (Arabah), the 
 salt sea on the east, the way to Beth-jeshi- 
 moth. While this eastern part of the Jordan val- 
 ley is bounded on the north by the lake of Gennes- 
 aret, it is in like manner bounded on the south by 
 the Salt Sea, i. e. the Dead Sea, near which (Num 
 xxxiii. 48) Beth - jeshimoth lay. To that poin 
 the Israelite camp reached from Shittim. It bt 
 longed to Reuben (eh. xiii. 20), later to Moal 
 again, Ezek. xxv. 9. 
 
 And in the south under the foot - hills of 
 
 Pisgah. On Q HntjJS comp. ch. x. 40. Mount 
 Pisgah, " a part of the mountain of Abarim," lies 
 to one looking from Jericho, beyond Beth-jeshi- 
 moth, in a southeasterly direction, at the northern 
 end of the Dead Sea, Its highest point is Nebo, 
 which is sometimes called " Mount Abarim " 
 (Deut. xxxii. 49), as though its summit, and 
 again, "the top of Pisgah" (Deut. iii. 27, 34), 
 comp. Knobel on Num. xxi. 11. The relation be- 
 tween Abarim, Pisgah, and Nebo is, with Knobel, 
 to be conceived of as if Abarim were the whole 
 mountain range lying east of the Dead Sea, Pis- 
 gah a part of it, namely, the northeastern, and 
 Nebo the highest point of Pisgah. This seems to 
 me more simple than with von Raumer (p. 72), to 
 separate Abarim and Pisgah, and then assume that 
 Nebo belonged to Abarim as its (north) western 
 portion, and to Mount Pisgah as its eastern high- 
 est extremity. 1 The region which sloped along 
 the foot of Mount Pisgah formed the southern 
 boundary of the kingdom of Sihon. 
 
 Vers. 4-6, follow the borders of the kingdom of 
 Og, king of Bashan. Ashtaroth, and Ashtaroth 
 
 karnaim (D^3"?p.)i Gen. xiv. 5, where were giants ; 
 according to ch. be. 10, the residence of Og ; now 
 Tel Ashtareh. The hill (Tel) rises, according to 
 von Raumer (p. 24.3), to a height of from fifty to a 
 hundred feet above the plain, in which ruins lie 
 scattered. At the foot of the hill are ancient wall- 
 foundations and copious springs. 
 
 Eclrei. Here Og was slain, Num. xxi. 33-35; 
 Deut. iii. 1-3- By the Greeks it was called Adraa ; 
 by the Crusaders, Adratum, also Civitas Bernard] 
 de Stampis; by Abulfeda, Adsraat; now Draa, a 
 desert basalt city without inhabitants, on a height 
 (von Raumer, p. 247). 
 
 Ver. 5. Salcah, conquered by the Israelites, 
 Deut. iii. 10. Now Szalthat, with eight hundred 
 
 1 [Tristram's glowing account of the magnificent, almost 
 boundless view from one of the heights of Abarim, whict 
 may have been the ancient Nebo, is excellent, p. 640 ff.] 
 
\L4 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 houses and a castle on basalt rocks, on the south- 
 am border of Hauran ; uninhabited, like Edrei. 
 ?orter saw from the castle of Salcha fourteen 
 [" upwards of thirty," Ginnt Cit. of Bask. p. 76] 
 villages, in part appearing to be newly built, but 
 entirely deserted (ii. 183, ap. von Raumer). 
 
 Over all Bashan unto the border of the Gesh- 
 urites and the Maaohathites. The Maacha- 
 thites dwelt on the southwest slope of Hermon, at 
 the sources of the Jordan. " Maachati urbs Amor- 
 ,'haunrum super Jordanem [irepl rbvlopdavrnv, Euseb. ) 
 juxla montem Hermon." The Geshurites also are 
 to be sought on Mount Hermon, near the present 
 Jedur, on the eastern fall of the mountain. See 
 von Raumer, p. 227, and Menke's Bibelatlas, 
 plate 3. Here was the north boundary of Bashan. 
 The east border is denoted (see above) by Salcah, 
 the south by the half Gilead, where) the border 
 (was) of Sihon king of Heshbon, i. e. by the 
 Jabbok (ver. 2). Toward the west it extended to 
 the sea of Tiberias ; see von Raumer, p. 226 ft'. 
 Bashan and Batansea are by no means identical, as 
 ron Raumer has shown (ubi sup.). Bashan was 
 famous for its oak forests (Is. ii. 13 ; Ezek. xxvii. 
 6), and fat cattle ; hence the bullocks, the rams of 
 Bashan (Deut. xxxii. 14; Am. iv. 1; Ps. xxii. 
 13). The waters descending from the Hauran 
 fertilize the level land in its northeastern part, 
 which was afterwards inhabited by the tribe of 
 Manasseh. 
 
 Ver. 6. Comp. Num. xxxii. 
 
 2. Catalogue of the Kings vanquished in the Country 
 West of the Jordan (vers. 7-24). Verses 7 and 8, 
 coinciding with ch. xi. 16 and x. 40-42, introduce 
 
 the narrative. The Plain (H2137) is the western 
 part of the Ghor (Gen. xiii. 10) ; the wilderness 
 ("I2TJD) lies in the province of Judah, and Benja- 
 min (ch. xv. 61 ; xviii. 11 ; Matt. iii. 3 ; iv. 1 ; xi. 
 7; Mark i. 3; Lu. iii. 4.) 
 
 Ver. 9. The kings are enumerated generally in 
 the order in which they were conquered. First, 
 accordingly, the kings of Jericho, Ai, Jerusalem, 
 Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, and Gezer, in 
 regard to which ch. vi. 2 ff. ; viii. 29; x. 1-5, 
 33 may be compared. Then follows ver. 13, the 
 king of Debir, ch. x. 39, after him still in the same 
 
 verse the king of Geder. ^? is called also 
 n"112, and belonged to the lowland of Judah. 
 Not hitherto recognized. 
 
 Ver. 14. Hormah, earlier Zephat (Judg. i. 17). 
 Robinson (ii. 616, N.) seeks the city near the pass 
 es-Sufeh, W. S. W. of the Dead Sea, where the 
 Israelites were defeated by the Canaanites (Num. 
 xiv. 44, 45 ; Deut. i. 44)", and subsequently the 
 Canaanites bv the Israelites (Num. xxi. 1-3 ; Judg. 
 i. 17). Perhaps it stood, as von Raumer suspects, 
 on the adjacent Mount Madurah, of which the say- 
 ing goes, that a city stood upon it at which God 
 became angrv so that He destroyed it. To this it 
 suits that the city of Zephath" was later called 
 Hormah (n^2~in, ;'. e. devoted to destruction, cog- 
 nate with E"!?n). 
 
 Arad, ni.med also Num. xxi. 1-3, and Judg. i. 
 16, 17, near the wilderness of Kadesh, twenty Ro- 
 man miles south of Hebron. Robinson (ii. 473) 
 saw from a distance the hill Arad. He also rightly 
 refers ch. x. 41 to the subjugation of Arad, whose 
 inhabitants had previously (Num. xxi. 1-3), like 
 those of Hormah. driven back the Israelites. 
 
 Ver. 1 5. Libnah. ch. x. 29, 30 ; xv. 42. Adullam, 
 
 ch. xv. 35, fortified by Rehoboam (2 Ch. xi. 7) ; fa 
 mous for its cave, David's refuge (1 Sam. xxii. 1 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 13; 1 Chr. xii. 15). In a.d. 1138, the 
 inhabitants of Tekoah took refuge there from the 
 Saracens, Will. Tyr. xv 6 (vou Raumer n. ' 6Q J 
 
 Ver. 16. Makkedah, ch. x. 10, 16, 17, 21. Bethei, 
 earlier Luz (W7), sufficiently known ; to the right 
 of the road from Jerusalem to Shechem ; the place 
 where Jacob saw in his dream the ladder from 
 earth to heaven (Gen. xxviii. 11-19; xxxi. 13; 
 Hos. xii. 5) ; rendered infamous subsequently bj 
 the worship of the calves (1 K. xii. 28, 33 ; xiii. 1), 
 hence called Beth-aven (different from Beth-aven 
 in ch. vii. 2; xviii. 12), by the prophets (Am. v. 
 5; Hos. iv. 15, and often). The missionary Nico 
 layson discovered Bethel, 1836. According to Rob- 
 inson (ii. 127) it is now called Beitin, three and 
 three-quarter hours from Jerusalem. See more in 
 Robinson ubi sup., von Kauiner, pp. 178, 179 [Tris- 
 tram, Stanley]. 
 
 Ver. 17. Tappuah, comp. ch. xv. 34, 53 ; xvii. 7 
 Hepher, in the plain of Jezrcel in Issachar, xix. 
 19 (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 18. Aphek, ch. xiii. 4. Lassaron, men- 
 tioned only in this place. The site has not been 
 discovered. 
 
 Ver. 19. Madon, ch. xi. 1. Hazor, ch. xi. 1-10; 
 xix. 37. 
 
 Ver. 20. Shimron-meron, ch. xi. 1 ; xix. 37. 
 Achshaph, ch. xi. 1 ; xix. 25. 
 
 Ver. 21. Taanach in Samaria, within the circuit 
 of Issachar, but belonging to Manasseh (ch. xvii. 
 11), although not conquered by him (Judg. i. 27). 
 A city of the Levites, eh. xxi. 25. Here Barak con 
 quered (Judg. v. 19). Robinson (ii. 156. 157), and 
 Schubert (iii. 164), saw Taanach (now Ta'annuk) 
 from the neighborhood of Jennin (Ginnaa), von 
 Raumer, p. 165. 
 
 Megiddo, likewise in Samaria, belonging to 
 Manasseh but beyond his border (ch. xvii. 11), 
 and likewise unconquered by that tribe (Judg. i. 
 27). Here Ahaziah died in "his flight from Jehu 
 (2 K. ix. 27), and here Josiah was fatally wounded 
 in the battle against Xecho king of Egypt (2 
 Chron. xxxv. 20, 25 ; xxiii. 29, 30). 
 
 Ver. 22. Kedesh on the mountain of Naphtali 
 (Jebel el-Safed), ch. xix. 37, in Galilee. A city of 
 refuge, ch. xx. 7, of the Levites, ch. xxi. 32. Birth- 
 place of Barak (Judg. iv. 6), discovered by Smith 
 on a hill, in a well-watered region (Xotes on Bibl. 
 Geog. in Biblioth. Sac. May, 1849, p. 374, ap. von. 
 Raum. p. 132) ; by Robinson on his second journey, 
 not " visited " indeed, as von Kaumer states, but 
 vet seen from a short distance and described (Later 
 Bibl. Res. p. 366 ff.). 
 
 Jokneam on Carmel. Belonging to Zebu- 
 lun, ch. xix. 11. A city of the Levites, ch xxi. 
 34. Perhaps, Tel Kaimon (Robinson, Later Bibl 
 Res.\>. 115). The place is called, in 1 K. iv. 12, 
 
 □SOP' 1 , out of which Kaimon appears to have 
 sprang (comp. Robinson, ubi sap.] Carmel ap- 
 pears elsewhere in our book only ch. xix. 26, to 
 mark the south border of the tribe of Asher. 
 Rightly does the mountain bear its name " orchard " 
 (comp" Is. x. 8; xvi. 10 and often), being covered 
 below with laurels and olive-trees, above with pines 
 and oaks (hence the comparison Cant. vii. 6), and 
 full of the most beautiful flowers. These are the 
 glory of Carmel which shall be given to the wilder- 
 ness (Is. xxxv. 2). The view over the sea as well 
 as of the coast is magnificent. Compare the dif- 
 ferent descriptions of travellers, von Rturoer, p 
 
CHAPTER Xm. Hi 
 
 *3 ff. 1 Since 1180 there has stood on Carmel, al- 
 though only at a height of 578 feet, and therefore 
 far below the summit, a cloister to commemorate 
 Elijah (1 Iv. xviii. 17-39 ; 42-45) and bearing his 
 name; rebuilt in 1833. The mountain reaches an 
 altitude of 1700 feet. 
 
 Vers. 23. Naphoth-dor, ch. xi. 2 ; xvii 11. The 
 king of the nations of Gilgal, as Gen. xiv. 1, Tidal 
 
 king of the nations. Similarly, Gen. x. 5, V s ?3 
 
 C '."13n. Gilgal, not on the Jordan, but, according 
 to Robinson hi. 47, in the plain along the Mediter- 
 ranean sea, now Jiljuleh, corresponding to the old 
 
 1 [In particular also, Stanley, S. tf P. p. 344 ff., Tristram, 
 p 99 ff.] 
 
 Galgala, which Eusebius and Jerome place six 
 Roman miles north of Antipatris. Probably the 
 Gilgal of Neh. xii. 29 and 1 Mace. ix. 2 was, as he 
 supposes, the same. With this tails in the prox 
 imity of Naphoth-dor. 
 
 Ver, 24. Tirzah in Samaria, three miles from 
 the city of Samaria, on the east. Here at a latei 
 period the kings of Israel dwelt ; Jeroboam I., 
 Baasha, Elah, and Shimri, and here the last-named 
 burned himself in his palace, 1 K. xiv. 17; xv 
 33; xvi. 8-18. Robinson (Later Bibl. Res. p. 302 
 ff.) takes Tulluzah for Tirzah, being beautifully sit 
 uated like the ancient city (Cant. vi. 4). The nam? 
 
 signifies delight, from <"I^T. 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 The Division of the Land of Canaan. 
 Chapters XIII.-XXIV. 
 
 SECTION FIRST. 
 
 Qod » Command to Joshua to distribute the Land in West Palestine. Retrospectiti 
 
 Glance at the Territory already assigned to the Two and a Half Tribes 
 
 East op the Jordan. Beginning op the Division. Caleb's Portion. 
 
 Chapters XIII, XIV. 
 
 1. God's Command to Joshua to distribute the Land. 
 Chapter XIII. 1-7. 
 
 1 Now [And] Joshua was old and stricken in years [far gone in years ; Fay • 
 come into the days ; De Wette : come into the years] ; and the Lord [Jehovah] 
 said unto him, Thou art old and stricken [far-gone] in years, and there remaineth 
 
 2 yet very much land to he possessed. This is the land that yet remaineth : all the 
 
 3 borders [circles] of the Pliilistines, and all Geshuri, From Sihor, which is before 
 Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron. northward, which is [shall it be] counted to 
 the Canaanite : five lords of the Philistines, the Gazathites, 1 and the Ashdothites, the 
 Eshkalonites, the Gittites [Gathite], and the Ekronites ; [,] also [and] the Avites ; 
 
 4 [,] From [in] the south [:] all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside 
 
 which belongs to] the Sidonians. unto Aphek, to the borders [border] of the Anio- 
 
 5 rites ; And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from 
 
 6 Baal-gad under mount Herrnon unto the entering into Hamath. All the inhabitants 
 of the hill country [the mountain] from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim. and all the 
 Sidonians. them will I drive out from before the children [sons] of Israel : only di- 
 vide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance [for a possession], as I have 
 
 7 commanded thee. Now therefore [And now] divide this land for an inheritance 
 [a possession] unto the nine tribes, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 
 
 textual and grammatical. 
 
 [ 1 Ver. 3. This and the following Gentile nouns in the verse are all singular in the Hebrew and might better be n 
 inderstood for the English. — Tb.1 
 
116 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 2. The Territory of the Two and a Half Tribes East of the Jordan, at already 
 
 granted to them by Moses. 
 
 Chapter XIII. 8-33. 
 
 (i. Its Boundaries. The Tribe of Levi. 
 Chapter XIII. 8-14. 
 
 S "With whom [him] the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their inheri- 
 tance [possession], which Moses gave them, beyond [the] Jordan eastward, even 
 
 '•* as Moses the servant of the Lord [Jehovah] gave them ; From Aroer that is upon the 
 bank of the river [water-course] Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river 
 
 10 [water-course], and all the plain [table-land] of Medeba unto Dibon ; And all the 
 cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, which [who] reigned in Heshbon, unto the 
 
 11 border of the children of Amnion ; and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites 
 
 12 and Maachathites, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan unto Salcah ; All l the 
 kingdom of Og in Bashan, which [who] reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei, which 
 remained of the remnant of the giants. For these did Moses smite and cast them 
 
 13 out. Nevertheless the children [sons] of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor 
 the Maachathites; but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the 
 Israelites until this day. 
 
 14 Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance [no possession] ; the sacri- 
 fices of the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel made by fire [Fay and De Wette : offer- 
 ing of Jehovah ; Bunsen, after the Berleburg Bibel : fire-offerings] are their 
 inheritance, as he said unto them. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [ 1 In vers. 12, 13, read : All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth, and in Edrei : he was left of th» 
 11 mnnant of the giants, and Moses smote them, and drove them out. And the sons of Israel drove not out the Gesh- 
 nrite, and the Maachathite ; and Geshur and Maachath dwelt in the midst of Israel to this day.] 
 
 b. The Possession of the Tribe of Reuben. 
 Chapter XIII. 15-23. 
 
 15 And Moses gave unto the tribe of the children [sons] of Reuben inheritance 
 
 16 [omit: inheritance] according to their families. And their coast [border] was from 
 Aroer that is on the bank of the river [water-course of] Arnon, and the city that 
 is in the midst of the river [water-course] and all the plain [table-land] by Medeba ; 
 
 17 [:] Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain [table-land], Dibon, and Bamoth- 
 
 18 19 baal, and Beth-baal-meou, And Jahaza, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, And 
 
 20 Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zareth-shahar in the mount of the valley, And Beth- 
 
 21 peor, and Ashdoth-pisgah [the foot-hills of Pisgah], and Beth-jeshimoth, And all the 
 cities of the plain [table-land], and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites 
 which [who] reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, 
 Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes [Fay : the anointed"! 
 
 22 of Sihon, dwelling in the country. Balaam also [and Balaam] the son of Beor, the 
 soothsayer, did the children [sons] of Israel slay with the sword, amon fe them that 
 
 23 were slain by them [in addition to their slain]. And the border of the children 
 [sons] of Reuben was [the] Jordan, and the border thereof [De Wette, Fay : and 
 that which bordered it ; Bunsen : that is, its margin]. This was the inheritance 
 [possession] of the children [sons] of Reuben, after their families, the cities and 
 the villages ' thereof. 
 
 I Some Co.lrt. read here ar in ver. 20, Drp"^?!, doubtless to make ver. 28 conformable with ver. 28. We abldi 
 »T the reading ]lT , !??U' 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 in 
 
 c. The Possession of the Tribe of Gad. 
 Chapter XIII. 24-2S. 
 
 24 And Moses gave inheritance [omit : inheritance] unto the tribe of Gail, even 
 
 25 [omit : even] unto the children [sons] of Gad according to their families. And 
 their coast [border] was Jazer. and all the cities of Gilead. and half the land of the 
 
 26 children of Amnion, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah ; and from Heshbon unto 
 Ramath-Mizpeh, and Betonim ; and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir ; 
 
 27 And in the valley, Beth-aram, ami Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest 
 of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, [the] Jordan and his [its] border, even 
 unto the edge of the sea of Cinnereth, on the other side [of the] Jordan eastward. 
 
 28 This is the inheritance [possession] of the children [sons] of Gad after their fami- 
 lies, the cities, and their villages. 
 
 d The Possession of the Half Tribe of Manasseh. A Word concerning the Tribe of Levi. 
 
 Chapter XIII. 29-33. 
 
 2'.l And Moses gave inheritance [omit : inheritance] unto the half-tribe of Manasseh : 
 and this was the possession of the half-tribe [properly : and it was for the half- 
 
 30 tribe] of the children [sons] of Manasseh by their families. And their coast 
 [border] was from Mahanaim. all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, 
 
 31 and all the towns [villages] of Jair. which are in Bashan. threescore cities. And 
 half Gilead. and Ashtaroth, and Edrei. cities [De Wette, Fay: the cities] of the 
 kingdom of Og in Bashan, were pertaining unto the children of Machir the son of 
 
 32 Manasseh, even to the one half of the children of Machir by their families. These 
 are the countries which [are what] Moses did distribute for inheritance [possession] 
 in the plains of Moab, on the other side [of the] Jordan by Jericho eastward. 
 
 33 But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance [possession] : the 
 Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel was [is] their inheritance, as he said unto them. 
 
 EXEUET1CAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 With the thirteenth chapter begins Part Second 
 of the book. This describes the division of the 
 land, and rests no doubt on definite records which 
 lay before the author. Such records must have 
 been prepared on taking possession of the land, 
 and such are in fact referred to, eh. xviii. 8, 9. 
 " Without them a single Hebrew writer would 
 hardly have had so accurate a knowledge of the 
 land as this author displays, especially in regard 
 to the boundaries" (Knobel). When these regis- 
 ters were established, whether already in Joshua's 
 time, 1 or, as Knobel, from certain circumstances 
 feels obliged to infer- " at a somewhat later period." 
 cannot be made out with certainty. We have, at 
 all events, to deal here, for the most part, with 
 very ancient writings, reminding us of Ex. xx., 
 Num. xxxiii. 
 
 1. Jehovah's Command to Joshua to divide the Land, 
 ch. xiii. 1-7. Joshua has become old, much land 
 is yet to be conquered, and no prospect of his com- 
 pleting the conquest of it; therefore God gives 
 him tiie command to wait no longer, but to under- 
 take the division. What yet remains is accurately 
 mentioned, vers. 2-6, and in ver. 7 it is said, that it 
 shi'l I be given to the nine and a half tribes. 
 
 Ver. 1. Well-stricken [far gone] in years, as 
 •h. xxiii. 1, 2; Lien. xxiv. 1 ; xviii. 11. 
 
 Ver. 2-6. The land that remains to be occupied. 
 
 1 [The clear and positive statements made in ch. xviii. 4- 
 a wou'd seem to leave little room for doubt on this point, 
 
 It lies part in the south (ver. 3, 4), and part in 
 the north (ver. 5, 6). 
 
 Ver. 2. All the circles of the Philistines, and 
 all Geshuri. niVbjrVs, LXX. rightly : Spia, 
 Vulg. : Galilsa, and hence Luther : Galilee of the 
 Philistines. Geshuri is not to be confounded with 
 the country of the Geshurites on Lebanon, men- 
 tioned ch. xii. 5 ; xiii. 13, but is to be looked for 
 in the south of Palestine near Philistia. 
 
 Ver. 3. From Sihor. TirTt£? from "^Hti', to 
 be black, properly, black stream ; but not here, as 
 in Is. xxiii. 3 ; Jer. ii. 18, the Nile, which De 
 Wette judges it to be, but, according to the con- 
 vincing analogy of 1 Cbron. xiii. 5, the '112 
 D , '1?D, the brook of Egypt, Rhinokolura, or 
 
 Rhinokorura, which actually flows before, i. e. 
 eastwardly (more accurately northeastwardly) from 
 Egypt, while the Nile takes its course through the 
 middle of that country. Von Raumer well re- 
 marks in his excursus on this Dassage (p. 53): 
 " That under the name Shihor Iwe Nile was by no 
 means alone intended, is evident from the single 
 fact that Josh, xix. 26 refers to a border stream of 
 Asher of the same name. If the Nile was called' 
 Shihor, niger, quia nit/rum lutnm devehit, why should 
 not other streams receive the same name for the 
 same reason. Have we not in Germany and 
 
 to one who admits the histories credibility of the book 
 Te.] 
 
118 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 America streams which are called Sehwartzbaeh, 
 Black Creek, Black River, Green River, etc.?" It 
 may be added that many names of streams and 
 streamlets may be met with bearing the same or 
 dosely related names, from the repetition of the 
 same features in different places. 
 
 Even unto the border of Ekron. Ekron, 'Axa- 
 oaif, 'AKKafitcy in the LXX., between Ashdod and 
 Janmia, one of the five cities of the Philistines, 
 mentioned elsewhere in the Book of Joshua sev- 
 eral times, ch. xv. 11, 45, 46; xix. 43; accord- 
 ing to Judg. i. 18 conquered by Judah, afterward 
 lost again, then again conquered, under Samuel 
 (1 Sam. vii. 14). It was the city of the fly- 
 Baal, Baal-zebub, whose proteges are still to be 
 found there in great numbers. At least Van de 
 Velde complains (ii. 173 apud von Raumer, p. 
 185) very bitterly of them. Jeremiah (xxv. 20) ; 
 Amos (i. 8) ; Zephaniah (ii. 4) ; Zecharia (ix. 5, 7) 
 prophesied against Ekron. Robinson (iii. 23-25) 
 thinks he discovered it in Ahir, pronounced Agh- 
 rum, according to Furrer, p. 135, a small village 
 built of unburnt bricks or clay. " The radical 
 letters of the. Arabic name are the same as those 
 of the Hebrew, and the position too corresponds 
 with all we know of Ekron," that is, with the state- 
 ment of Eusebius aud Jerome, that it should be 
 between Ashdod and Jamnia ; for " such is the 
 actual position of Akir relative to Esdud and 
 Gebna at the present day." 
 
 Shall it be counted to the Canaanites. This 
 land shall be regarded as Canaanitish, and so sub- 
 ject to conquest, although the Philistines were not 
 Canaanites, but according to Gen. x. 13 sprang 
 from Mizraim. So also Knobel : " The country 
 from the brook of Egypt, northward, is reckoned 
 to the Canaanite, i. e. to Canaan, and was there- 
 fore to be taken into account also, since Israel was 
 to receive the whole of Canaan." 
 
 Five lords of the Philistines : the Gazathite 
 (Gazite), the Ashdothite, the Ashkelonite, the 
 Gittite (Gathite) and the Ekronite. The lords 
 or chiefs are named instead of the cities. The 
 
 Gazite, ruler of Gaza, i"f-T3?, rata, first mentioned, 
 Gen. x. 19, as a border town of the Canaanite 
 peoples; in our book, x. 41 ; xi. 22; xv. 47, con- 
 [uered by Judah, Judg. i. 18, afterward lost again, 
 Judg. iii. 3. Samson carried the gates of Gaza 
 to a hill (Judg. xvi. 21-30) which is now shown 
 one half hour from the city. As against Ekron, 
 the prophets prophesied also against Gaza , Jere- 
 miah (xxv. 20; xlvii. 5), Amos (i. 6, 7) Zeph- 
 aniah (ii. 4). Zechariah (ix. 5). On the road from 
 Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip baptized the eunuch 
 (Acts viii. 30). It lies in a fruitful region, rich in 
 palms and olive-trees, on a small hill about an 
 hour from the sea; is at present larger than Jeru- 
 salem (Robinson, ii. 372), a chief emporium be- 
 tween Egypt and Syria, lying on the great cara- 
 van route, and distinguished by good springs. 
 The population may lie about fifteen or sixteen 
 thousand. Robinson [uhi sup.) gives a very in- 
 structive sketch of the history of the city, which 
 Ii i- suffered much in the military campaigns of 
 th msands of years. A very pleasant description 
 is found in Furrer (p. 119-122). The Ashdothite. 
 
 Ashdod, THtTN. "A<>ror, ch. xi. 22; xv. 46,47. 
 Here Dagon fell before the ark of God (1 Sam. v. 
 1-7 ; vi. 17) ; and this city also shared in the male- 
 dictions of the prophets mentioned above, in the 
 same passages which were there quoted. It like- 
 wise is nuned in the account of the eunuch from 
 Ethiopia (Acts viii. 40). It is now called Esdud, 
 
 a village of a hundred or a hundred and fifty mis 
 erable hovels, lying on a " low round eminence, 
 and surrounded by an extensive grove of olive 
 trees (Furrer, p. 133, Robinson, ii. 368). Of an 
 tiquities Furrer found in the village, not a single 
 one. " Of the ancient city of the Philistines which 
 once stood here," he says, " that Ashdod about 
 which the Assyrian (Is. xx. 1) and Egyptian 
 armies often encamped, everything but the name 
 has utterly vanished." The Ashkelonite. Ashkelon 
 
 (and Askelon), Ti^ptTS, mentioned nowhere else 
 in our book, conquered by Judah (Judg. i. 18), but 
 not named among the cities of Judah (Josh. xv. 
 45-47). — a circumstance which favors the opinion 
 that the list was composed in the time of Joshua, 
 and not later — was, next to Gaza, probably the 
 most important city of the Philistines, at whose 
 gates David would not have the tidings of the 
 death of Saul and Jonathan proclaimed (2 Sam. i 
 20), lest the daughters of the Philistines should 
 rejoice. Like the other Philistine cities, Ashkelon 
 was threatened by the prophets with divine punish- 
 ment. Samson slew here thirty Philistines. Jona- 
 than the Maccabajan conquered the city twice ( 1 
 Mac. x. 86 ; xi. 60). Herod the Great was born 
 here, according to Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. i. 6), was 
 called Ascalonita, and adorned the place with 
 baths and fountains. It was distinguished origin 
 ally for hatred against the Jews, later for enmity 
 toward the Christians. During the Crusades many 
 conflicts took place here. Its destruction by Sala- 
 din (1191) terminated its splendor forever; and 
 Lady Hester Stanhope, as Ritter relates at large, 
 (xvi. 70 ff. [Gage's Transl. iii. 213 ff.]), caused its 
 ruins to be explored without finding silver or gold. 
 The ruins are of vast proportions The village of 
 New Ashkelon lying near the sea is surrounded 
 with green. " Thus Ashkelon, with the adjacent 
 village, formed an extremely fertile oasis in the 
 midst of a perfectly desert region ; although, 
 through the numerous gaps and rents in the gi- 
 gantic stone wall, the wind has at certain points 
 swept the sand of the desert into the veri site of 
 the city" (Furrer, p. 128). F/ie Gittite (Gathite) 
 
 Gath, mentioned already, ch. xi. 22 ; iT3, Titto, 
 
 (Joseph.), Tefl (LXX.), was the home of Goliath 
 (1 Sam. xvii. 4); connected with Ashkelon in 
 David's lamentation (2 Sam. i. 20), conquered by 
 David (1 Chron. xix. 1). Michafi. 10) and Amos 
 ('-i. 2) make mention of this city, whose ruins 
 Robinson (ii. 220) sought for in vain. On Menke's 
 atlas, map iii., its name is brought in without the 
 sign of a town, on the border of the second group 
 of low land cities belonging to the tribe of Judah. 
 Knobel (p 433), after the example of Hitzig ( Urge- 
 schichte der Phi/ister, p. 154), conjectures that Bair- 
 oya$pa in Ptolem. 5, 16, 6, Betogabri in Tab. 
 Peuting. ix. 6, Eleutheropolis of the Fathers, the 
 present Beit Jibrin, is the same as Gath. — The 
 Ekronite, see above ver. 3. — The Aviles, " south of 
 Gaza," Deut. ii. 23. 
 
 Ver. 4. In the South. The Maso etic division 
 of the verse we must here give up, as Haverniek. 
 Keil, and Knobel have done, since the specilicaiiou 
 
 — ]!3TI!3, standing unquestionably in contrast 
 
 with ^ V 1 ^? (ver. 3), suits very well with the 
 preceding, but not at all with what follows. Rather 
 the author turns here, ver. 4, to an enumeration 
 of the portions of the country lying in the north 
 which require yet to be fully subjugated. 
 
 All the land of the Canaanites. Phcer cia is 
 
CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 119 
 
 Intended, and in particular, the low-land there as 
 well as the "mountain country from Mearah even 
 to the border of the A mo rites ' (Knobel). 
 
 Mearah. Since iTISJO properly signified a 
 cave, the conjecture proposed by Rosenmuller ( Bill. 
 Geog. ii. 1, pp. 39, 40), although Robinson (iii. 412) 
 regards it " as of very questionable value," may 
 safely be approved, with Ritter (xvii. 99) and Kno- 
 bel, namely, that we here have a reference to the 
 caoea de Tyro mentioned by Will. Tyr. (xix. 11), 
 which he describes as a spelunca inexputpiabilis, an 
 old burial-place of the Sidonians ; at present, Mnghr 
 Jezzin, i. e. Cave of Jezzin, on Lebanon, east of Si- 
 don. Ritter, ubi sup. 
 
 Aphek. now Afka (Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. p. 
 603 ft'.), northeast of Beirut; not to be confounded 
 with the better known Aphek, in the tribe of 
 Issachar, where the camp of the Philistines was 
 pitched before their victory over Saul (1 Sam. 
 xxix. 1— 31 ), and where Benhadad was subsequently 
 captured ( 1 K. xx. 26-30). The Aphek before us, 
 called by the Greeks "h<paxa, noted for the temple 
 of Venus, destroyed by Constantine the Great, be- 
 longed, as we see "from ch. xix. 30, to Asher. A third 
 Aphek (von Raum. p. 242), now Feik, a village of 
 200 families, lies on the east side of the sea of Ti- 
 berias, on the road from Hauran to the Jordan. 
 This place is indicated in the Onom. as a castettum 
 grande. There was also a fourth place of the name 
 (ch. xv. 53) on the mountain of Judah. 
 
 To the borders of the Amorites, i. e. to the 
 land once inhabited by the Amorites, which be- 
 longed to Og, king of Bashan (Mich., Dereser, 
 Rosenmiiller, Keil). 
 
 Ver. 5. The land of the Giblites. The land 
 of Gibli, i. e. of the race of Gebal ( 1 K. v. 32 (18) ; 
 Ez. xxvii. 9), a district north of Berytus, on the 
 sea, still called Jobail, by the Arabs, but in the 
 classics " Byblus " (Knobel). Byblus itself lay on the 
 sea (Ez. xxvii. 9), was a seat of the Adonis-wor- 
 ship (Winer, i. 206), " home of the Phoenician arti- 
 sans called by Solomon to the building of the tem- 
 ple (1 K. v. 32 (18). The country belonging to it 
 probably lay eastof the city " (von Raum. p. 26, 28). 
 
 All Lebanon towards the sun-rising, i. e. the 
 Anti-Lebanon. 
 
 Baal-Gad, not Baalbec, as Knobel here again 
 maintains, hut, as was shown on ch. xi. 17, Cses- 
 araea Philippi. So also Menke on Map iii., who 
 strangely writes Baal-Gath instead of Baal-Gad — 
 perhaps a mere oversight. 
 
 Hamath. A northern boundary point of Pales- 
 tine, ii entioned Num. xxxiv. 8, in our book here 
 and in ch. xix. 33, and many times throughout the 
 O. T., particularly during the period of greatest 
 renown of the Jewish dominion under David and 
 Solomon. Then the kingdom actually extended 
 to that point (see the side-map to Map iii. in 
 Menke's Atlas), 2 Sam. viii. 3-12 ; 1 Chron. xviii. 
 3-11 ; 1 Chron. xiii. 5 ; 1 K. viii. 65 ; 2 Chron. 
 vii. 8 ; '& K. xiv. 25-28. So far had the spies 
 originally penetrated (Num. xiii, 21). According 
 to the Onom. Hamath = Epiphania on the Orontes, 
 at the present time, Hamah, seat of a Greek bishop 
 (Robinson, iii. 456 [see also Later Bibl. Re*, p. 
 568] ). Yet Jacobites also dwell there subject to the 
 Jacobite patriarch who resides in Mesopotamia 
 (Robinson, iii. 461). The city is very large, 
 and numbers 100,000 inhabitants (Winer, i. 
 158). 
 
 Ver. 6. There remain besides, and are to be con- 
 quered, all the inhabitants of the mountains 
 from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim, all the 
 
 Sidonians, i. e. all the heathen tribes dwelling 
 south of the Lebanon as far as to the present prom- 
 ontory Ras en-Nakura (see on ch. xi. 8). Knobel 
 here explains Misrephoth-maim simply as " prom 
 ontory of Nakura," while, according to the com- 
 ments on ch. xi. 8, his opinion, there controverted by 
 us, appears to include under the name the othci 
 promontory also, Ras el-Abiad. 
 
 Only divide thou it by lot unto Israel for a pos- 
 session. These words connect themselves with 
 ver. 1, and particularly the conclusion of tha* 
 verse, as Keil has well observed. As I have com- 
 manded thee, comp. ch. i. 6. 
 
 Ver. 7. More definite statement as to whom 
 the land should be divided among. According to 
 ch. xiv. 1 , Joshua did not perform this service alone, 
 but in connection with the high-priest Eleazer, and 
 the elders of the people. 
 
 2. The Territory of the Two and a Half Tribes 
 East of the Jordan, as Moses had already bestowed 
 it upon them, vers. 8-33. — a. Its Borders, vers. 
 8-1.3. To that is added a notice of the failure of 
 the tribe of Levi to receive a possession, vers. 14. 
 
 Ver. 8. With him, i. e. Manasseh, but the 
 other half of Manasseh. 
 
 Vers. 9-12. These statements are, with slight 
 variation, the same as ch. xii. 1-6. Thus instead 
 of the half Gilead in xii. 2, we have here All the 
 table-land of Medeba unto Dibon. Of Medeba 
 we shall speak on ver. 16, of Dibon, on ver. 17. 
 
 In ver. 13 it is significantly stated that the Gesh- 
 urites and Maachathites were not driven out. 
 Similar remarks occur ch. xv. 63 ; xvi. 10; xvii. 
 12 ff. 
 
 Ver. 14 is repeated in ver. 33, yet not in pre- 
 cisely the same expression. Thus, while it is said 
 
 here that Vl "'^■"'i «. c. the offerings of Jehovah, 
 should be the portion of the tribe of Levi, Jeho- 
 vah Himself is there called their possession. It is 
 the same in sense; without earthly inheritance 
 Jehovah and his worship should be the only pos- 
 session of the tribe of Levi. The directions of the 
 law Num. xviii., may be compared with this, from 
 which it appears in what manner, through the di- 
 vine worship itself, the bodily subsistence of the 
 priests and their attendants was provided for. 
 
 b. The Possession of the Tribe of Reuben, vers. 
 15-23. There follow, now evidently on the ground 
 of old registers, the several boundaries of the tribes 
 east of the Jordan ; of which Reuben comes first. 
 They are found in shorter compass, Num. xxxii. 
 34-42. 
 
 Ver. 16. Medeba, now Medaba, mentioned in 
 a song of triumph, Num. xxi. 30 ; according to ver. 
 9, and this passage, belonging to Reuben ; later to 
 Moab, Is. xv. 2. The ruins, on a hill, have a compass 
 of half an hour, about two hours from Heshbon. 
 
 The plain (~iW s 12r}) by Medeba. The plateau 
 east of Abarim or mount Pisgah is meant (comp. 
 ch. xii. 3), comp. also Knobel on Num. xxi. 10, ll. 1 
 Ver. 17. Heshbon, also, lies, like Medeba, on 
 this table-land, comp. xii. 2. — Dibon, mentioned 
 Num. xxi. 30, like Medeba ; now Diban [the site 
 of the recently discovered monumental stone 
 (Moabite stone) containing a valuable inscription 
 of great antiquity. — Tr.], an hour north of tha 
 Arnon. There were not two Dibons, as the Onom. 
 assumes, but the one Dibon is ascribed, Num. xxxii. 
 3, 34, to Gad, here to Reuben, comp. also, ver. 9. 
 
 1 [Among recent travellers, the account given by Tris- 
 tram in his Lawl of Israel, will be found graphic and in- 
 structive. — Tr.1 
 
!20 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Bamoth-Baal, Num. xxiv. 20, a stopping-place 
 Df the Israelites. 
 
 Beth-baal-meon, call .'d also, briefly Baal-meon 
 (Num. xxxii. 38), now Maein, at the foot of the 
 Attains, which raises itself " to the east of the 
 northern end of the Dead Sea " (von Haum. p. 71, 
 72). 
 
 Ver. 18. Jahaza. Here Sihon was slain, Num. 
 xxi. 23 ; Dent. ii. 32 ; Judg. xi. 20. According to 
 ch. xxi. 36, a Levitieal city, cf. also 1 Chron. vii. 28. 
 It was later retaken by Moab, Is. xv. 4 ; Jer. xlviii. 
 21. Not given on Menke's map, on von Rau- 
 mer's accompanied with an interrogation point. 
 
 Kedemoth. another city of the Levites, ch. xxi. 
 37 ; 1 Chron. vi. 79. 
 
 Mephaath, also a Levite city, ch. xxi. 37 ; 1 
 Chron. vi. 79, later of the Moabites. In Jerome's 
 time here was a Roman garrison for a protection 
 against the dwellers in the wilderness (von Raum. 
 p. 265). 
 
 Ver. 19. Kirjathaim. It is related, Gen. xiv. 5, 
 that Chedorlaomer here smote the Emim. From 
 the present passage, and Num. xxxii. 37, it be- 
 longed to Reuben ; later to Moab, Jer. xlviii. 1, 
 23 ; Ez. xxv. 9. In the time of Jerome very many 
 Christians lived here (von Raumer, p. 263). 
 
 Sibmah, very near Heshbon. 
 
 Zareth-shahar on the mount of the valley. 
 The name signifies " splendor of the dawn," 
 
 (il^S according to Gesenius perhaps = J~CIO?> 
 I Chron. iv. 7). Von Raumer makes no mention 
 of it. Winer and Keil conjecture that Zereth- 
 shahar, which is nowhere else named (nomenloci 
 forsan in aprico colle siti, eujits nusquam alias Jit 
 mentio, Rosenm. on this place), may have lain near 
 Nebo or Pisgah, " not far from Heshbon on the 
 west," (Keil). Menke has introduced the name 
 west of Mount Pisgah, toward the Dead Sea, and 
 somewhat south of Zerka-maim, perhaps because 
 Zereth-shahar is indicated as situated on a moun- 
 tain of the valley. 
 
 Ver. 20. Beth-peor, probably not far from the 
 mountain of Peor ; opposite Jericho, according to 
 the Onoin. 
 
 The foot-hills of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, 
 ch. xii. 3. 
 
 Ver. 2 1 . All the cities of the table-land and 
 all the kingdom of Sihon king, etc. Meaning : 
 "all the other cities of the level (the plain) and 
 the whole kingdom of Sihon, as far as it extended 
 on the plain. So Keil, rightly taking into ac- 
 count the statement of ver. 27. The victory of 
 Moses over Sihon is here related more fully than 
 in ver. 12. There are beside himself five Midian- 
 ite princes named, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and 
 Reba, and in the same order as Num. xxxi. 8, 
 
 where, however, they are called S3 ^f^' wn i' e 
 
 here they are styled K> ""Stt??, just as in Gen. xvii. 
 20 the princes of the Ishmaelites, and in Num. iv. 
 34 as well as eh. ix. 18 of our book, the princes of 
 
 the congregation of Israel, '"'7^'7 ^®h tQe 
 princes of their tribes are mentioned (Num. vii. 11 
 ft". ; xxxiv. 18, and often). They are at the same 
 
 time d' signated as the anointed of Sihon ( > 5 > 'P? 
 
 C), i. e. his vassals. In this sense of anointed, 
 
 prince = rPtTtp, " the word stands only in the 
 plural, and always, as would seem, of native, al- 
 though dependent and, as in Josh. xiii. 21, sub- 
 jugaled, princes, and not of installed, ordinary of- 
 Rraale " (Gesen.). Keil would, with Hengstenberg 
 
 (on Ps. ii. 6), translate D , 3' , P3 by " poured out 
 
 [founded or cast], because he thinks T[3- cannot 
 be proved to have been used in the sense of " to 
 anoint." Hitzig likewise contends that ^Tr^ can " 
 not mean " anoint." for which rather nWO stands, 
 Ps. ii. 6, but will hear nothing of " poured out." 
 He reaches back after an Arabic root which should 
 signify purify, refine, consecrate to God, so that 
 
 in the passage above ^^PJ wou ^ be about the 
 same as > Wtt 1 3 r |7. \ n this view D^DD would 
 properly mean "consecrated" (to God); comp. 
 Hitzig, Psalms i. p. 9. 
 
 Ver. 22. Balaam, Num. xxii. 5 ff., is here char- 
 acterized as 3Dp, soothsayer, like the prophets of 
 the Philistines, 1 Sam. vi. 2, and the necromancers 
 1 Sam. xxviii. 8, different from the S*2*, the true 
 prophet, who is also called H^l (1 Sam. ix. 9), or 
 njjl (l Chron. xxi. 9; xxv. 5; xxix. 29). The 
 □5P divines properly through inscribed lots (J3e\ 
 opdvria)* 
 
 Ver. 23. And the border .... was the Jor- 
 dan and the border. Houbigant and Clericus, be- 
 cause the passage is obscure, would mend the text 
 here and Num. xxxiv. 6; Deut. iii. 16, also Josh. 
 xiii. 27 ; xv. 12, 47. Gesenius (Thes. i. 394 ff.) 
 
 takes 1 = simid, etiam, thus : Jordanes qui sitmd ter- 
 minus erat. Knobel (on Num. xxxiv. 6) and Keil 
 (at this place) explain : " The sea (Num. xxxiv. 
 6), the Jordan, with its territory, with its banks, 
 shall be the boundary." This sense is indicated 
 by De Wette also in his translation, which we have 
 adopted [der Jordan und das Angrenzende, the Jor- 
 dan and what borders it]. Bunsen appears to take 
 
 } as epexegetical, translating: "that is, its mar- 
 gin," coming close therefore to Gesenius. 
 
 Their villages, comp. ver. 28, xv. 32, 36, 41,47, 
 
 48, and often, ~ 1 ?'^, a farm, village, firauht 
 (LXX Kii/iri), which was not inclosed, like a citv, 
 with walls," (Keil.) By the Caucasians such a vil- 
 lage is called an Aul, reminding us of firav\is [and 
 atiA-fi]. 
 
 c. Ver. 24-28. The Possession of the Tribe of Gad. 
 
 Ver. 25. Jazer, snatched from the Amorites, 
 Num. xxi. 32, belonging to Gad, Num. xxxii. 35, 
 as here, a Levite city, ch. xxi. 39 ; 1 Chron. vii. 
 81. Later, like many other of the cities already 
 mentioned, it belonged again to the Moabites (Is. 
 xvi. 8, 9 ; Jer. xlviii. 32) ; conquered by Judas 
 Maccabasus, 1 Mac. v. 8. Burckhardt (p. 609) held 
 the present Ain Hazir to be Jazer (apnd von Rau- 
 mer, p. 262), and with this von Raumer agrees. 
 Seetzen conjectured that Szyr or Seirwas to be re- 
 garded as this place, with whom, beside Keil, Van 
 de Velde, and Menke (Map iii. . unpared with Map 
 viii.) coincide. 
 
 All the cities of Gilead, ■'. e. of the southern 
 part of Gilead, to the Jabbok, for the other half 
 which belonged not to the kingdom of Sihon, but 
 to that of Og king of Bashan, fell, as we learn 
 from ver. 31, to the half tribe of Manasseh. Foi 
 the rest comp. on ch. xii. 2. 
 
 The half of the land of the sons of A mm on 
 unto Aroer that is before Rabbah. This Aroei 
 is not to be confounded with Aroer of Reuben on 
 the northern bank of the Arnon, ch. xii. 2 ; xiii 
 9, 16. It is Aroer of Gad, which is before Rabba 
 
CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 121 
 
 that i< Rabba or Rabbath of the Ammonites ( Dent 
 iii. 1 1 ), which, again, is different from Rabba of 
 tlie Moabites (von Kaumer, p. 271). Aroer of 
 GuJ, from Xnm. xxxii. 34, was built by the Gad- 
 ites. From hence to Abel - keramim, Jephtlia 
 smote the Ammonites (Judg. xi. 33) in that vic- 
 tory so portentous to the life of his daughter. 
 There Joab encamped on the occasion of that cen- 
 sus of tiie people so portentous to David (2 Sam. 
 xxiv. 5). "Probably Ayra, southwest of es-Salt" 
 (ron Raumer, p. 259). "For 'before,' cannot 
 here," as von Raumer correctly says, " possibly 
 signify 'to the east of Rabbah, since Aroer, as a 
 city of the tribe of Gad, must have lain west of 
 Rabbah. ' Before ' signifies, probably, that if one 
 goes from the Jordan toward Rabbah, Aroer lies 
 before Rabbah." So likewise Burekhardt (p. 609). 
 Ver. 26. From Heshbon to Ramothmizpeh 
 and Betonim. Thus the extension northward of 
 the territory of the tribe is expressed. From Hesh- 
 bon. We need not suppose with Keil that Hesh- 
 bon, belonging to Reuben (ver. 17), lay exactly on 
 the border between Reuben and Gad, but "from 
 Heshbon " = "from the region of Heshbon." To 
 Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim. Again, aUo, 'into 
 the region of these cities. Ramath-mizpeh, ('. e. 
 Height of the Watch, as von Raumer translates. 
 We hare already, eli. xi. s. met with a valley of 
 Mizpeh, concerning which see the explanation 
 
 there. This Ramath-mizpeh is called also fVl!2^l 
 
 "'>/??» ch. xx. 8 ; a city of the Levites, ch. xxi. 
 38 ; 1 Chron. vi. 80 ; a city of refuge, according 
 to ch. xx. 8. and Dent. iv. 43 ; in Solomon's time 
 the residence of one of his prefects (1 K. iv. 13 
 (see the side map of Menkes' Map iii .)). Here 
 Ahab was mortally wounded, as Mieha had proph- 
 esied to him (1 K. xxii. 1-37; 2 Chron. xviii.), 
 his son Joram slain by Hazael king of the Syrians, 
 (2 K. viii. 28), and Jehu anointed (2 K. ix. 1-6). 
 Probably it was the present Salt on the road from 
 Jericho to Damascus. The road from Nablus 
 (Shechem) also here joins the former, as Van de 
 Velde's map distinctly shows. Without doubt 
 this has been so for thousands of years, and hence 
 the repeated collision of Israelitish and Syrian 
 armies at this point was very natural. — Betonim. 
 It still existed in Jerome's time (Chum. s. v. " Both- 
 nia"), yet he can say nothing of its site. 
 
 From Mahanaim unto the border of Debir. 
 In this language the extension of the country of 
 Gad from east to west is indicated. Mahanaim, i. e. 
 double camp, or double army (of the angels), most 
 familiar both from the narrative of Jacob's return 
 homeward (Gen. xxxii. 2), and from the history 
 of David who fled thither from Absalom (2 Sam. 
 xvii. 24, 27 ; I K. ii. 8). Here also Ishbosheth was 
 summoned by Abner to be king. A Levitical city, 
 ch. xxi. 39 ; 1 Chron. vii. 80 ; the residence of a pre- 
 fect in Solomon's time (1 K. iv. 16). The site can- 
 not be accurately given. Von Raumer looks for it in 
 the Jordan meadow (p. 253), because it lay north 
 of the Jabbok, and yet belonged to Gad. But 
 north of the Jabbok Gad's border (p. 231) only 
 took in the Jordan meadow, as he thinks. To this 
 .assumption Keil rightly replies: "But, since Ma- 
 hanaim, according to ver. 30, lay on the border of 
 Manasseh, and already belonged to Bashan, it may 
 .also have lain on the plateau north of the Jabbok, 
 perhaps near a ford of that stream (Gen. xxxii. 
 !2), since nowhere in the 0. T. is the Jabbok spoken 
 ,»f as the northern border of the territory of Gad." 
 'This view is adopted also by Menke in his Atlas. 
 
 Unto the border of Debir (~Q"lb). since ■ 
 as a sign of the Stat, constr. occurs now here else in 
 our book, J. D. Michaelis, appealing to 2 Sam. ix. 
 
 4 and xvii. 27, proposed to read "^^ ^ 'i which is 
 favored by the circumstance that in 2 Sam. xvii. 
 27,~13"7 Sv occurs in connection with Mahanaim, 
 Hitzig {Begr. d. Krit. p. 137, apud Keil, p. 341) eon 
 
 jectures that the V was only an error in copying, 
 
 from the repetition of the 7 in >"Q3. Keil thinks 
 
 it possible that the ? may have belonged to the 
 name, which would then be sounded Lidhbir. 
 Since the LXX. read Ae$ip, we decide for tin- view 
 of Hitzig, rejecting the suppositions of Michaelis 
 and Keil. Where this Debir lay (the third, for 
 there were two in Judsea, von Raumer, p. 184 is 
 not made out. Even Eusebius could sav nothing 
 of it except that it was wo\h twv 'Ajuo/j/Waip. Per- 
 haps, on the heights which border the Jordan, and 
 hence named as their western boundary point '' 
 
 Ver. 27. In the valley. The Jordan valley 
 is meant, as in ch. xvii. 16, elsewhere called 
 
 T t -: T 
 
 Betharam, already Num. xxxii. 36 belong- 
 ing to Gad, at the foot of Mount Peor, afterward 
 called Julius or Livias, but not to be identified 
 with the Gaulanitic Julias (von Raumer, p. 260). 
 Beth - nimra, also Num. xxxii. 36, referred to 
 Gad ; now the ruins of Remrim. 
 
 Succoth and Zaphon, likewise in the Jordan 
 valley. In regard to Succoth, cf. especially Robin- 
 son (Later Bibl, Res., pp. 311, 312) and von Raum. 
 (p. 256, Remark 347). Even unto the end of the 
 sea of Cinnereth, ef. ch. xii. 3. 
 
 Ver. 28. Thus the country of the sons of Reu- 
 ben and Gad together covers the kingdom of Sihon. 
 Cf. ch. xii. 2, 3. 
 
 d. The Possession of the Half Tribe of Manasseh, 
 ver. 29-32. This embraces the kingdom of Og, 
 ch. xii. 4, 5. From Mahanaim. To be under- 
 stood as was " from Heshbon," ver. 26. 
 
 Villages of Jair. Hjn = fPPl life, the name of 
 the first woman as the mother of all living, Gen. 
 iii. 20; iv. 1; here as Num. xxxii. 41 ; Deut. 
 
 iii. 14 = camp, tent-village. "The name Tin 
 occurs onlyof the villages of Jair, and probably de 
 notes a particular kind of towns; but it is yet ob 
 scure " (Knobel). Keil translates the name Jair 
 life [Jairleben], thinking probably of names of 
 towns among us, like Eisleben, Aschersleben. Kno- 
 bel says further, on Num. xxxii. 41, concerning 
 these villages of Jair: "The division of Jair con- 
 quered the cities of the Amorites and named them 
 after themselves. These Jair-towns, sometimes 
 given as 23, sometimes 30, and again as 60 in 
 number, as the Manassite occupation of the coun- 
 try changed in the course of time, were given up, 
 together with Kenath and " her daughters," to the 
 Aramaeans and Geshurites (1 Chron ii. 2.3). They 
 lay in Bashan (Josh. xiii. 30) or in Argob, reach- 
 ing as far as the border of Maaeha and Geshur 
 (Deut. iii. 14) ; hence in the plain of Jaulan and 
 Hauran, but are also placed in the land of Gilead 
 (Judg. x. 4 ; 1 Chron. ii. 22), and are mentioned 
 with Argob in Bashan (1 K. iv. 13). This may 
 be explained in this way. The southern part of 
 Hauran lies east of northern Gilead. then follows, 
 from about Remtha, the district ez-Zueiton as far 
 as the Zerka (Jabbok, which goes up far to the east 
 of Gilead), and is for the most part, a flat couutrj 
 
122 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 with many uninhabited places (Rurck. Syria, 
 pp. 395, 397, 453 ft'., Seetzen, i. p. 383). It belonged 
 jointly to Manasseh. According to Arabian au- 
 thorities there must lie in each of the three districts 
 Zneit, Jaulan, and Ledja, 366 ruined towns and vil- 
 lages (Buckingham, Syria, ii. pp. 118, 142,434); 
 and Dhaberi speaks of it as a common opinion 
 that in Hauran there are more than a thousand 
 places (Rosenmuller, Analecta Arabica, iii. 22)." 
 
 Ver. 31, comp. ch. xii.4. " This northern Gilead 
 Belonged to halt' of the children of Machir ( 1 Chr. 
 v. 24). The others received their portion west of 
 the Jordan, ch. xvii. 2 tf. 
 
 Ver. 32. A repetition of the statement that 
 Moses had already ordered this division of the 
 trans-Jordanic country. 
 
 Ver. 33, comp. v. 14. — On von Raumer's hy- 
 pothesis concerning the Jair-towns, see the expla- 
 nation of ch. xix. 34, [comp. also, Stanley, Sin. Sr 
 Pal. App. § 86 ; Grove, in Did. of the Bibl., art. 
 "Jair." — Tb.] 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 [Matt. Henkt : Note, it is good for those 
 
 who are old and stricken in years, to be put in re 
 membrance of their being so. Some have graj 
 hairs here and there upon them and perreice it not. 
 Hos. vii. 9; they do not care to think of it. and 
 therefore need to be told of it, that they may be 
 quickened to do the work of life, and make prepara 
 tion for death which is coming on them apace. — 
 All people, but especially old people, should set 
 themselves to do quickly that which must be done 
 before they die, lest death prevent them. 
 
 The same, on Deut. xviii. 2 : Care is taken 
 that the priests entangle not themselves with the 
 affairs of this life, nor enrich themselves with the 
 wealth of this world ; they have better things to 
 mind, — Note, those that have God for their inheri- 
 tance, according to the new covenant, should not 
 be greedy of great things in the world, neither 
 gripe what they have, nor grasp at more, but look 
 upon all things present with the indifference which 
 becomes those that believe God to be all-sufficient. 
 — Care is likewise taken that they want not any 
 of the comforts and conveniences of this life. 
 Though God, who is a Spirit, is their inheritance 
 it does not therefore follow that they must live on 
 the air. — Tb.] 
 
 3. Beginning of the Distribution. 
 Chapter XIV. 1-5. 
 
 1 And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the laud of 
 Canaan, 1 which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the 
 fathers of the tribes of the children [sons] of Israel distributed for inheritance [a 
 
 2 possession] to them. [,] By lot was their inheritance [by the lot of their posses- 
 sion], as the Lord [Jehovah] commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, 
 
 3 and for the half-tribe. For Moses had given the inheritance [possession] of [the] 
 two tribes and an half-tribe on the other side [of the] Jordan : but unto the Levites 
 
 4 he gave none [no] inheritance among them. For the children [sons] of Joseph were 
 two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim : therefore [and] they gave no part unto the 
 Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with [and] their suburbs [pasture- 
 
 5 grounds] for their cattle, and for their substance. As the Lord [Jehovah] commanded 
 Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 1. — And these are what the sons of Israel received as a possession in the land of fin "* ft n, what Eleazar the 
 
 •ri??t, etc. — Tb.] 
 
 4. The Possession of Qaleb. 
 Chapter XIV. 6-15. 
 
 Then [And] the children [sons] of Judah came unto Joshua in Grilgal : and Ca- 
 leb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, said unto him, Thou knowest the thing 
 [word] that the Lord [Jehovah] said unto Moses the man of God concerning me 
 and thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the 
 Lord [Jehovah] sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land ; and I brought 
 him word again as it was in my heart. Nevertheless [And] my brethren that went 
 up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed the Lord 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 12? 
 
 d fjehovah] m y God. And Moses sware on that day, saying : Surely the laud 
 whereon thy feet have [thy foot hath] trodden shall be thine inheritance [thy pos- 
 session], and thy children's for ever ; because thou hast wholly followed the Lord 
 
 10 [Jehovah] my God. And now, behold, the Lord [Jehovah] hath kept me alive, 
 as he said, these forty and five years, even [omit : even] since the Lord [Jehovah] 
 spake this word unto Moses, while the children of [omit : the children of ] Israel 
 wandered [walked] in the wilderness ; and now, lo [behold], I am this day fourscore 
 
 1 1 and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day, as I ivas in the day that Moses 
 sent me ; as my strength was then, even [omit : even] so is my strength now, for 
 
 12 war, both [and] to go out, and to come in. Now therefore [and now] give me 
 this mountain, whereof the Lord [Jehovah] spake in that day ; for thou heardest 
 in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and 
 fenced [and great and fortified cities] : if so be [perhaps] the Lord [Jehovah] will 
 be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord [Jehovah] said. 
 
 13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh, HebroL. 
 
 14 for an inheritance [a possession]. Hebron therefore became the inheritance [pos- 
 session] of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day ; because that 
 
 15 he wholly followed the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel. And the name of Hebron 
 before ivas Kirjath-arba : which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And 
 the land had rest from war. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 The chapter contains, partly, vers. 1-5, the in- 
 troduction to the division of the country west of 
 the Jordan among the nine and a half remaining 
 tribes, and partly an episode breaking the connec- 
 tion between ch. xiv. 1-5 and xv. 1 ff., concern- 
 ing the possession of Caleb. With this, ch. xv. 
 13-19 and Judg. i. 10-15, which agree with each 
 other, are to be compared. 
 
 u. (3) Ver. 1-5. Introduction to the Division of 
 the Land West of the Jordan. Ver. 1. As distribu- 
 tors Eleazar and Joshua are named here, as in 
 Num. xxxiv. 17, while inch. xiii. 6, 7 ; xviii. 6, 8, 10, 
 Joshua alone casts the lot or grants the land as in 
 
 vers. 13; xvii. 15, 18. Eleazar, "N? ?S (whom God 
 helps, Gotthilf), "was Aaron's third son and suc- 
 cessor in the high-priesthood, Ex. vi. 23, 25 ; Num. 
 iii. 2. After the death of his father he followed 
 him in the dignity of the high-priesthood ; Num. 
 xx. 25 if; Dent. x. 6, and was associated thus for 
 a time with Moses, then with Joshua, ch. xiv. 1 ; 
 xvii. 4 ff. His death is related ch. xxiv. 33 " 
 (Winer, i. 314). 
 
 Ver. 2. Eleazar and Joshua distributed the 
 land through, the lot of their possession ; i. e. 
 through the lot by which the part of the land was 
 to be determined according to Num. xxvi. 55, 
 whether in the north or in the south, whether in 
 the east or in the west, whereas the magnitude of the 
 portion was to be fixed (Num. xxvi. 56) according 
 to the population of the tribe, by Moses or his suc- 
 cessor. " Whether also the provinces of the sev- 
 eral families of the tribes were assigned by lot, or 
 whether this was left to the heads of the tribes, 
 respectively, is not to be discovered " (Knobel). 
 
 The distribution by lot of conquered countries ap- 
 pears also in other histories. Thus it was " a 
 standing custom with the Athenians, to divide the 
 land of conquered enemies to colonists by lot, 
 (Diod. xv. 23, 29). They proceeded in this manner 
 ti Enbcea (Herod, v. 77; 6, 100), and in Lesbos 
 Thuc. iii. 50). Among the Romans, also we read of 
 sorte agros leqionibus assignare (Cic. Epp. add.Divv., 
 vi. 20, comp. Appian, Bell. Civ., v. 74)" (Knobel). 
 
 How the lot was taken we are not informed. 
 Most probably, as the Rabbins have conjectured. 
 
 there were two urns. In one had been placed lit- 
 tle tablets ( Keil : tickets) with the names of the tribe, 
 and in the other similar tablets with the names 
 of the districts ; and one of each was drawn at 
 the same time. If we reject the supposition of two 
 urns, we may think of one containing the tablets 
 designating the portions of country, which the heads 
 of the several tribes may have drawn, As Jehovah 
 had commanded by Moses, Num. xxvi. 52 ff. 
 
 Ver. 4. The appointment concerning the Le- 
 vitical cities is found Num. xxxv. 1 ff. where it 
 is stated also how large their pasture-grouuda 
 
 should be. K7^D from 2^2 to drive, drive forth 
 signifies a place whither cattle are driven (Germ. 
 Trieb, Trift, [comp. Eng. : drove, " a road for 
 driving cattle," Webster]), and denotes here the 
 space around the city which should serve for the 
 driving of herds" (Knobel on Num. xxxv. 2). 
 A diagram by which the dimensions in Num. 
 xxxv. 5 may be clearly apprehended is given in 
 Keil on this passage. 1 These pasture-grounds 
 (Bunsen: Commons); in Switzerland called All- 
 menden), are repeatedly mentioned ch. xx. 
 Luther [the Eng. version also] translates, incor- 
 rectly : suburbs, led evidently by the Vulg., which 
 
 renders Q suburbana. 
 
 b. (4) Vers. 6-15. Caleb's Possession. Caleb, 
 the patriarch of the sons of Judah (Num. xxxiv 
 19), accompanied by the men of his tribe (ver. 6), 
 approaches Joshua, and desires, with an appeal to 
 the promise of Moses (ver. 9), and with a declara- 
 tion of his still unbroken capacity for war (ver 
 11), that the mountain of Hebron may be given tc 
 him, out of which he purposes to extirpate the 
 
 1 [Thli is Keil's figure : — Ta.] 
 
 
 1000 1000 | 
 cub. cub. i 
 
 
 N 
 
 city 
 8 
 
 
 
 
124 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Anakites (ver. 12). Joshua promptly and gladly 
 grants the request of the respected, proved, and 
 brave old man, who had once with himself spied 
 out the land from Kadesh-barnea (Num. xiii. 7 y : 
 xiv. 6). The place of the transaction is Gilgal, 
 and that, as has before been shown, in the Jordan- 
 valley. Later, eh. xviii. 1, we find the camp 
 moved to Shiloh. 
 
 Ver. 6. Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the 
 
 Kenezite. Caleb, ^7? (perhaps, seizing vehe- 
 mently, from — ■'2, Gesen. ] ),son of one Jephunneh, 
 of the tribe of Judah (Num. xiii. 6), one of the 
 spies (Num. xiii. 7), had in vain encouraged the 
 Israelites to venture an attack and take possession 
 of the promised land (Num xiii. 31). Pained at the 
 cowardice of the people, he and Joshua rent their 
 garments and still urged the people to a bold and 
 resolute deed, which so enraged the latter that they 
 were ready to stone them both (Xum. xiv. 10). On 
 account of their fidelity, Caleb and Joshua alone 
 were deemed worthy to enter into the land of Ca- 
 naan (xiv. 24, 30, "38; xxvi. 65; 1 Mace, ii. 56: 
 Sirach xlvi. 11, 12). He is here, as in ver. 14 and 
 
 also in Num. xxxii. 12, called > "??r?> I. e. a descend- 
 ant of Kenaz, which name occurs yet again, as 
 Judg. i. 12, in the family of Caleb. We agree with 
 Winer (i. 654) in thinking it quite unlikely that 
 there is here any connection with the Kenizzites 
 mentioned Gen. xv. 19, as Bertheau and Ewald 
 suppose. [But see Smith's Diet, of the Bible, arti- 
 cles " Caleb " and " Kenezites"]. 
 
 We next have the speech of Caleb, whose main 
 thought has been already given above. He first 
 calls to mind the word which Jehovah in Kadesh- 
 barnea spoke to Moses, the man of God, concern- 
 ing him and Joshua. It is found in Num. xiv. 24, 
 30, but purports only, as Keil aptly remark-, that 
 the Lord will bring Caleb into the laud whither he 
 had gone, and give it to his seed for a possession. 
 Kadesh-barnea we have already found mentioned 
 in eh. x. 41, and shall find it again eh. xv. 3, 23. 
 
 The name sounds either as here, or merely tt?.7i!f 
 
 (Gen. xiv. 7; xvi. 14; Num. xx. 16), or tE^i" 
 (ch. xv. 23). It lay at the foot of the mountain of 
 the Amorites (Dent. i. 19-21), was reached by the 
 Israelites in eleven days from Horeb, and was the 
 principal scene of their stubbornness and insubor- 
 dination (Num. xiv.; xx. 1-13). and where they 
 decided their fate for the long period of forty years. 
 Robinson, whom Hitzig (Gesch. d. v. Israels, 
 89) unhesitatingly follows, regards as Kadesh, Ain 
 el-Weibeh, which lies northwest of Petra, and al- 
 most south of the Dead Sea. Von Raumer fixes 
 upon the more northerly Ain Hash (p. 209, as 
 with special particularity, p. 483 ff.), lying, as well 
 as the former /-/'"'-:, in the Arahah. Menke has fol- 
 lowed on bis map the opinion of Rowland, contro- 
 verted by both Robinson and Raumer, according 
 to which Kadesh must be sought far west of the 
 Arahah. Thither Menke transfers Mount Seir, 
 also, and the wilderness of Zin. But how then 
 should Xum. xxi. 4 be understood in comparison 
 with Deut. ii. 12?- 
 
 Ver. 7. At the time when he was sent forth from 
 Kadesh-barnea Caleb was forty years old. He 
 brought back a report, and as he expresses it, so 
 
 1 [Qesenius: " perhaps, dog, for D.^3 from 3^3 "to 
 hert, to yelp." But Fiirst and Dietrich (in bis edition of 
 
 as it was in [lit. with] my heart. Hebr. "^t?^? 
 
 s 23,yVS. Luther translates ™; here as in 
 •bjli xxvii. 6, by "conscience." We are not to 
 think of conscience, however, but rather of the 
 bold confident spirit of Caleb, which he spoke out 
 just as he felt it. He was a spirited man and not 
 discouraged like the rest. On the variant reading 
 
 of the LXX. (ai/TOu) which presupposes 1.22 ?, 
 as one codex of Kennicott has it, see Keil, in loc. 
 Ver. 8. Not so were his brethren who went up 
 
 with him ; they rather discouraged (l^-CH for 
 
 TOipn, Ewald, Lehrg. §142, a; Gesen. §75. Rem. 
 17) the heart of the people; prop, they made the 
 heart of the people to melt, as in Eng. vers. 
 Comp. ch. ii. 11 ; v. 1, but especially vii. 5. By 
 that Caleb was not troubled, but wholly followed 
 (comp. Num. xiv. 24) Jehovah, i. e. completely 
 
 fulfilled 0-O^.V' r) what Jehovah required, — ren- 
 dered him unconditional, cheerful obedience. 
 
 Ver. 9. In consequence of this Moses swore, tc 
 give him the land on which his foot had trod. We 
 find no difficulty in meeting with this oath in Deut. 
 i. 34 ff. where ver. 36 agrees, in part literally, with 
 the verse before us. And although it is there said 
 that God swore, here that Moses did, we see, ceteris 
 paribus, no irreconcilable discrepancy. Moses, 
 the man of God (ver. 6), swears in the name and 
 at the command of God. Knobel's ebservation : 
 " moreover we read, in what the Jehovist has given 
 of the report of the author, of an oath of Jehovah, 
 Num. xiv. 21, 24,'' needs correction, since the oath 
 in question, which is identical with that in Deut.i. 
 34, is the one mentioned Num. xiv. 21, 24. 
 
 [Jehovah my God. It is less easy to reconcile 
 this expression with any form of the oath as taken 
 by Jehovah. May we not assume that Caleb 
 quotes some expression of Moses not elsewhere 
 preserved to us, but familiar then to Joshua i — 
 Tr.] 
 
 Ver. 10. God has fulfilled his promise and kept 
 him alive, as he spoke, and that for these forty 
 and five years .... while Israel walked in 
 
 the wilderness. "N3W has here the signification 
 ''in which" (time), " while," Ewald, Lehrg. §321, 
 c. Concerning the forty-five vears see the Introd. 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . The might of the hero is still unbroken 
 although he is now eighty-five years old. A similar 
 statement is made of Moses, Deut. xxxiv. 7. 
 
 Ver. 12. On the ground of all these facts Caleb 
 now asks for mount Hebron, although he had, ac- 
 cording to Num. xiii. 21, gone much further into 
 the country, even into the north of Palestine, while 
 certainly, according to Num. xiii. 22, 23, he had 
 spied out the land only into the region of Hebror 
 As there vers. 22, 23 are inserted into the context 
 so is it here with this whole passage, vers. 6-15 
 which probably comes from the same hand. It is 
 remarkable also, that Caleb here says to Joshua : 
 thou heardest in that day, how the Anakim were 
 there, since Joshua (Num. xiii. 8) also was one of 
 the spies ; cf. besides Knobel on this passage, also 
 Bleek, Introduction, i. p. 316. As Anakim are 
 mentioned, Num. xiii. 22 ; Judg. i. 10, and in this 
 book, ch. xv. 14, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 
 
 Qesenius) give the above explanation. See Smith's Diet 
 art. " Caleb,*' Am. Edition. — Tr.] 
 
 2 [The site of Kadesh is fully discussed in the Diet at 
 the Bible, s. v.l 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 12£ 
 
 Perhaps Jehovah wlU be with me that I may 
 drive them out, as Jehovah said. According 
 to ch. xi. 21, Joshua had already driven them out, 
 
 (rnD»3) , n"M for ''iJlH Gesen. § 103, 1, Rem. 
 
 Ewald, L'luq. S 264. a. 
 
 Ver. 13. Joshua cheerfully granted the request 
 of Caleh. He Messrd him, i. e. "joined with his 
 gratitude for the courageous declaration, an ex- 
 pression of his good wishes and prayer for the 
 success of his undertaking ; comp. (ien. xiv. 19 ; 
 xxvii. 23; Ex. xxxix. 43 : 2 Sam. xiv. 22" (Kno- 
 bel). Joshua himself, as in ch. xvii. 14 ft'., bestows 
 on him the land. 
 
 Ver. 14. Thus Hebron passes over into the 
 hands of Caleb. According to ch. xxi. 11, he 
 must have yielded the city to the Levites, while he 
 held the land for himself. 
 
 Ver. 15. A notice that in earlier times (C'D2 7) 
 Hebron had been called " city of Arba," who was 
 a great man among the Anakim. The same re- 
 mark is repeated ch. xv. 13; xxi. 11, and had al- 
 ready occurred Gen. xxiii. 2. Another piece of 
 information see Num. xiii. 22. 
 
 And the land had rest from war ; repeated 
 here from ch. xi. 23. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. The manner of employing the lot here is dif- 
 ferent from its use in ch. vii. 14, inasmuch as we 
 Lere have to deal, not with a criminal process, but 
 only with the fairest possible performance of an ad- 
 ministrative transaction, namely, with the division 
 of the land. In this case also God himself should 
 give the decision, and therefore resort is had to the 
 lot. So again after the return from the exile the 
 resettlement of the capital was effected by easting 
 lots (Xeh. xi. 1), comp. Winer, ii. 31. 
 
 2. That the Levites received no province as a 
 tribe, but rather cities for their habitation, and pas- 
 tures for their herds, just so much, therefore, as, 
 joined to the portion of the offerings mentioned 
 Num. xviii., was necessary for their subsistence, 
 this was altogether suited to keep them in lively 
 remembrance that Jehovah was their inheritance. 
 Christ expresses the same principle in regard to 
 his disciples, Matt. x. 9, 10; Mark vi. S, 9~; Luke 
 ix. 3 ; x. 4, 7. Paul appeals directly to the 0. T. 
 arrangement, 1 Cor. ix. 13, although for himself 
 he makes no claim to this right, 1 Cor. ix. 18. 
 Now also these principles ought to give the stand- 
 ard to congregations and church authorites in fix- 
 ing the salaries of spiritual offices. Fat benefices 
 with large landed possessions or extravagant rev- 
 enues of money are wrong ; but equally wrong is 
 it when care for subsistence daily oppresses the 
 preacher and robs him of the joy of his calling. 
 In this matter there is still much room for im- 
 
 provement. Rightly, therefore, does Starke say 
 " The Levites were by this wise arrangement sc 
 much the more assured of their earthly support, 
 and could so much the more diligently and with- 
 out embarrassment perform their duty. Tiny are 
 a pattern for all Christians, who ought to regard 
 a'l which they have as a gift of God." 
 
 3. The youthful freshness with which Caleb 
 comes forward, has in it something uncommonly 
 cheering, and shows how a pious walk joined with 
 an efficient accomplishment of the business of life, 
 keeps a man even physically sound and vigoroul 
 up to advanced age. It was so also with Moses, 
 and even in our time there were and are men who 
 have shared the same beautiful lot. Of one at 
 least let us here make mention, the recently de- 
 parted Nitzsch. Compare also in Sehleiermacher's 
 Monologen the discourse concerning " Youth and 
 Age." 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Caleb's demand. (1) On his part well grounded, 
 therefore : (2) gladly granted by Joshua. — What is 
 right and just one may well demand — How God 
 sustains those who are his even to old age, and 
 until they are gray (Is. xlvi. 4), shown in the 
 case of Caleb. — The blessing of a faithful fulfill- 
 ment of the commands of God. — The land had 
 ceased from war (Peace Sermon). 
 
 Starke : Only he who is a child of God and 
 belongs to the peculiar people of God, can partake 
 of the heavenly inheritance, Gal. iv. 7 ; iii. 29 ; 
 Rom. viii. 17. — In the reception of earthly good 
 we must refer everything to the divine blessing.— 
 O, how profitable is godliness! It is profitable 
 unto all things and has the promise of the life 
 which now is and of that which is to come, 1 Tim. 
 iv. 8 ; Matt. vi. 33. Although God does good to 
 his children and blesses them, yet with the sweet 
 He always shows them the rod also. Mai. iii. 16- 
 18. — In the world is war and strife, but in heaven, 
 peace, rest, and blessedness, Job vii. 1. 
 
 Cramer : Dividing an inheritance and all busi 
 ncss transactions and dealings are matters of con 
 science, 1 Thes. iv. 6. — No one can of himseli 
 take for himself anything of the kingdom of heaven 
 and of eternal life, except it be given to him from 
 above, John iii. 27. — That to which a man has a 
 right he may even demand of the magistrate, for 
 to this end are judges appointed, Dent. xvii. 18. — 
 Our glory and boast should be the testimony of 
 a good conscience, 2 Cor. i. 12. Acts xxiv. 16. — 
 Godliness is rewarded also with long life and 
 health, Ps. xci. 16 ; Prov. iii. 2. 
 
 Osiander: Although we certainly cannot at- 
 tain blessedness through our own works and merits, 
 still God of his great goodness is wont to reward 
 what we do from the spirit of submissive obedienc* 
 with temporal and spiritual benefits. 
 
126 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 
 Division of West Palestine among the Nine and a Half Tribes remaining. Appoini 
 ment of the clties of refuge, and the clties of the ltvites. 
 
 Chapter XV.-XXT. 
 
 1. Territory of the Tribe of Judah. 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 a. Its Boundaries 
 
 Chapter XV. 1-12. 
 
 1 This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families j 
 ever, to the border of Edom, the wilderness of Zin southward w as the uttermost 
 
 2 part of the south coast. And their south border was from the shore [end] of the 
 
 3 salt sea. from the bay [Heb. tongue] that looketh southward : And it went out to 
 the south ?ide to [of] Maaleh [the ascent of] Acrabbim, and passed along to Zin, 
 and ascended up on the south side unto [of] Kadesh-barnea, and passed along to 
 
 4 Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa : From thence it 
 [and] passed toward Azmon, and went out unto the river [water-course] of Egypt ; 
 and the goings out of that [the] coast [border] were " at the sea ; this shall be your 
 south coast [border]. 
 
 5 And the east border was the salt sea, even unto the end of the Jordan : and their 
 [the] border in the north quarter was from the bay [tongue] of the sea, at the utter- 
 
 6 most part [the end] of the Jordan : And 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 
 
 7 Bohan the son of Reuben : And the border went up toward Debir from the valley 
 of Achor, and so northward looking [and turned northward] toward Gilgal, that 
 t* before the going up to Adummim, which is on the south side of the river [water- 
 course] : and the border passed toward the waters of En-shemesh [Sun-spring], and 
 
 8 the goings out thereof were at En-rogel [Fullers-spring] : And the border went up 
 by [into] 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 
 
 9 giants [Rephaim] northward: And the border was drawn 2 from the top of the hill 
 [mountain] 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 : 
 
 10 And the border compassed [took a compass] from Baalah westward unto mount 
 Seir, and passed along unto the side of mount Jearim (which is Chesalon) on the 
 north side [Fay, more exactly : to the side northward of Har-jearim, that is Ches- 
 
 11 alon], 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 at the sea. 
 
 12 And the west [prop, sea] border was to [or at] the great sea. and the coast 
 thereof This is the coast [border] of the children of Judah round about, according 
 to their families. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 1 — This Terse would read more exactly as follows : And there was the lot for the tribe of the sons of Jadah 
 icoording to their families : toward the border of Edom, the wilderness of Zin southward. In the extreme south. — Tr.] 
 
 [i Ver 9 Gesenius inclines to the meaning " stretched " tr extended." for ~^Sj*1 in the Kal and Piel ; and so De Wett^ * 
 
 Fay. and others translate ; but as F'urst and Winer (Simonis) approve in these conjugations the definition " mark off," dtjv 
 lire, which all admit to be the sense of the Piel, there seems to be no necessity for changing the English Tersion. — Tr.] 
 
 a The Kethib TT*m, although we cannot allowably ex- the text rather than the needless Keri Vni. Ccmp. ch. 
 press it as a siug. in ''•he translation, is to be retained iu | xi. 2. Ewald's Lehrg. § 306, &■ 
 
CHAPTER XV. 12. 
 
 b. Caleb's Possession. His Daughter Achsah. Conclusion to vers. : -12. 
 Chapter XV. 13-20. Comp. ch. xiv. 6-15; Judg. i. 10-15. 
 
 13 And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Ju- 
 dah, according to the commandment of the Lord [Jehovah] to Joshua, even the city 
 
 14 of Arba [Kirjath-arba, ch. xiv. 15] the father of Anak, which city is Hebron. And 
 Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the 
 
 15 children [sons] of Anak. And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Debir : and 
 
 16 the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher [Book-city, comp. ver. 49]. And Ca- 
 leb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah 
 
 17 my daughter to wife. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took 
 
 18 it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. And it came to pass, as she came 
 unto him [came in], that she moved him to ask of her father a field : and she lighted 
 
 19 off her [the] ass ; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? Who answered 
 [And she said], Give me a blessing ; for thou hast given me ' a south land [prop, a 
 land of the south-country] ; give me also springs of water : and he gave her the up- 
 
 20 per springs, and the nether springs. This is the inheritance [possession] of the 
 tribe of the children [sons] of Judah according to their families. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 [1 Ver. 19 — ^3rii*"13. Since the suf. ^ cannot well be taken as a dat. but only as an ace., many have understood 
 
 n V~1S adverbially, "into a land," etc. So Fay, following Enobel : Nach dem Mittagstande hast du mich gegeben. 
 Bo also the LXX. : on eis yjji' Naye£ oeowKas *ic ; but the Vulgate more simply regards this as a case where the yerb of 
 giving governs two accusatives ; terrain austratem tt torrentem dedisli mihi. Gesen. Lex. *. v . ^£13 p. 708, 1. Witt. 
 this agree De Wette, Maurer, Keil, Zunz — Tb.] 
 
 c. Catalogue of the Cities of the Tribe of Judah. 
 Chapter XV. 21-63. 
 
 a. Cities in the South. 
 Chapter XV. 21-32. 
 
 21 And the uttermost cities 1 of the tribe of the children [sons] of Judah toward 
 
 22 the coast [border] of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, And 
 
 23 24 Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, And Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan, Ziph, 
 
 25 and Telem, and Bealoth, And Hazor, Hadattah [Hazor-hadattah], and Kerioth, 
 
 26 27 and Hezron [Kerioth-hezron] which is Hazor, Aniam, and Shema, and Moladah, 
 
 28 And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-palet, And Hazar-shual, and Beer- 
 
 29 30 sheba, and Bizjoth-jah, Baalah, and Iim, and Azem, And Eltolad, and Chesil, 
 31 32 and Hormah, And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah, And Lebaoth, and 
 
 Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon : all the cities are twenty and nine, with [and] 
 their villages. 
 
 textual and grammatical. 
 
 [1 Ver 21 — And the cities were, in [or from] the extremity of the tribe of the sons of Judah, toward the border of 
 Kdoo, in the south-country : Kabzeel, etc. — Tr.] 
 
 0. Cities in the Lowland. 
 
 Chapter XV. 33-47. 
 
 33 34 And in the valley [lowland], Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah, And Zanoah, 
 
 35 and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam, Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Aze- 
 
 36 kah, And Sharaim, Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim ; fourteen cities 
 with [and] their villages : 
 
 37 38 Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdalgad, And Dilean, and Mizpeh, and Jok- 
 39 40 theel, Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon, And Cabbon, and Lahmam," and Kith- 
 
 « Numerous Codd. and Editions read D!2rO (Lahmas) instead of CEPO . 
 
L2S THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 41 lish, And Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen citie« 
 with [andj their villages : 
 
 42 43 44 Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan, And Jiphtah, and Ashnah, and Xezib, And 
 
 Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah ; nine cities with [and] their villages : 
 45 46 Ekron, with [and] her towns [Heb. daughters], and her villages : From 
 
 Ekron even unto the sea [or, and westward], all that lay near [by the side of] 
 47 Ashdod, with [and] their villages : Ashdod with [omit : with] her towns and 
 
 her villages ; Gaza, with her towns [daughters] and her villages, unto the river 
 
 [water-course] of Egypt, and the great sea " and the border thereof. 
 
 y. Cities on the Mountain. 
 Chapter XV. 48-60. 
 
 And in the mountains [prop, on the mountain], Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh, 
 And Dannah, and Kirjath-sannah, which is Debir, And Anab, and Eshtemoh, 
 and Anim, And Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh ; eleven cities with [and] their 
 villages : 
 
 Arab, and Dumah, and Eshean, And Janum, 6 and Beth-tappuah, and Aphe- 
 kah, And Huuitah. and Kirjath-arba (which is Hebron) and Zior ; nine cities 
 with [and] their villages : 
 
 Maon. Carmel. and Ziph, and Juttah, And Jezreel, and Jokdeam. and Zanoah, 
 Cain, Gibeah, and Tinman ; ten cities with [and] their villages. 
 
 Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor, And Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon ; 
 six cities with [and] their villages : c 
 
 60 Kirjath-baal (which is Kirjath-jearim) and Rabbah ; two cities with [and] 
 their villages. 
 
 S. Gtiesinthe [Tilclernets. 
 Chapter XV. 61-63. 
 
 61 62 In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, and Secacah, And Nibshan, and the 
 
 city of Salt, and Eu-gedi ; six cities with [and] their villages. 
 63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children [sons] of Ju- 
 
 dah could not drive them out ; but the Jebusites dwell with the children [sons] 
 of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. | tribe of Judah, (a) its bounds (vers. 1-12); (b) 
 
 Caleb's possession (vers. 13-19); (c) a list of the 
 The beginning of the account concerning- the di- cities (vers. 20-63). 
 vision of Palestine having been given in vers. 1-fi a. Ver. 1-12. Its Boundaries, ver. 1. And there 
 of the preceding chapter, we find the continuation was the lot of the tribe of the sons of Judah, ac- 
 of it in ch. xvA and onward. The enumeration cording to their fam nies : toward (^S not bs) 
 of names which now follows, embracing five chap- the border of Edom , (toward) the wilderness of 
 ters in all, with only three interruptions (chaps. '» 
 
 xv. 3-19; xvii. 3-18"; xviii. 1-10) and those in- Zin, southward, in (ja as Gen. ii. 8; xi. 2) 
 
 48 
 
 
 49 
 
 50 
 
 51 
 
 
 52 
 
 53 
 
 54 
 
 
 55 
 
 56 
 
 57 
 
 
 58 
 
 59 
 
 structive, is extremely valuable for the geography 
 of Palestine. It suggests a comparison with 
 Homer's catalogue of ships, //. ii. 484 ff. For the 
 cartographic presentation of the places named the 
 maps of Kiepert, Van de Velde, and Menke may 
 be consulted. [Osborne's Wall-map, also, and the 
 maps accompanying Robinson's Researches]. In 
 ch. xv. we have given us the province of the 
 
 the extreme south ; i. e. the territory of the tribe 
 of Judah embraced the most southern part of the 
 land, so that, as Keil rightly supposes, it touched 
 Edom in the east and in the south had the wilder- 
 ness of Zin as its horder. The position of this 
 wilderness is determined, from Num. xx. 1 ; xxvii. 
 14 ; xxxiii. 36, by that of Kadesh-barnea concern- 
 ing which we have already spoken, on ch. xiv. 6 
 
 a So according to the Keri ^i"Ttn, while the Eethih would have it written V^SH. On the reading cf the 
 Eethib, comp. ver. 12. 
 
 t> So the Keri C^2^1 ■ the Kethib reads D^l, hence Bunsen : Janim. We stand by the reading of the Masoretw 
 with tr.e LXX. (Iavovfi), Vulg. (Janam), Luther, and De Wette. 
 
 c Between verses 59 and 60 the LXX. have (A B E X) the addition : 0exw «ai 'E^para (avrrj earl BeoWfi) tcai Qaytttp, 
 cat 'AtTau (A'lTaf in Cod. Vat.) K ai Kovkbv teat TaTa/il (TaTajn in cod. Vat.) itai Sajpijs (@ui8tjs in Cod. Vat.) »cat Kapett tai 
 raAAia *at Baidijp {©eprjp in Cod. Vat.) ttai Mavc-xw* jroAets erotica tai at (ttunat avruiv. ) See further on this in the E** 
 ffetlra.) notes 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 120 
 
 According to this view, the wilderness of Zin also 
 must be sought in the Arabah, and according to 
 Num. xiii. 26 should have formd the northern part 
 of the wilderness of Paran. Cf. the Articles Zin and 
 Paran in Winer, ii, 135 and 192 [and in the Diet, of 
 the Bible}. — The general account of the position of 
 the hind of Judah is followed (vers. 2-12) by the 
 mure particular description of the boundaries ; and 
 rir-r, the south border is drawn (vers. 2-4) so as to 
 coincide in general with Num. xxxiv. 3-5. 
 
 Ver. 2. It- starting-point is the end of the Salt 
 aea, more exactly still, the tongue which turns 
 southward. " This tongue is the soutli {more 
 accurately southernmost) part of the Dead Sea, be- 
 low the promontory which stretches far into the 
 sea west of Kerah (Robinson, ii. 231-2.34), and ex- 
 tending quite to the southern point at the so-called 
 salt-mountain, and salt-morass from which the 
 border of Judah began " (Keil). The Salt-moun- 
 tain (Kaschm Usdum), and salt-swamp are ac- 
 curately given on Kiepert's Map. 
 
 From this point the border runs in a tolerably 
 direct course toward the south, as we learn from 
 ver. 3 which says : It went out toward the south 
 side of the ascent of Acrabbim. On Acrabbim 
 comp. eh. xi. 17. If the mountain Acrabbim is 
 the same as the Bald mountain, mentioned ch. xi. 
 17 ; xii. 7, as a south boundary, this height (Knobel : 
 ascent) of Acrabbim would be a pass in this Bald 
 mountain. Knobel who rejects the identity of the 
 Bald and Acrabbim mountains, believes that the 
 latter was the steep pass es-Sufah, S. YV. of the 
 Dead Sea, which view is indicated by Menke on his 
 map, while Kiepert's sketch supports our opinion. 
 From this south-side of the hill of Acrabbim, the 
 border goes over toward Zin, ;'. e. perhaps a defi- 
 nite place (Keil) or mountain (Knobel) in the 
 wilderness of Zin and deriving its name therefrom. 
 Thence it went up to the side of Kadesh- 
 barnea, and passed along to Hezron, .... 
 and went out at the water-course of Egypt, 
 and the goings out of the border were at the 
 sea. In other words : The border went constantly 
 southward to Kadesh-barnea (Num. xxxiv. 3). 
 South of Kadesh it turned toward the west, since 
 it came out finally at the torrent of Egypt (comp. 
 ch. xiii. 3) and at the sea. Hezron (ver. 25 with 
 the addition " that is Hazor ") Adar, Karkaa, Az- 
 mon, are to us unknown places. The torrent of 
 Egypt was spoken of ch. xiii. 3. The sea is evidently 
 the Mediterranean sea. Ruins of considerable cities 
 are still met with in these regions then allotted to 
 the tribe of Judah ( Robinson, i. 290, 318; ii. 591 f.). 
 
 Ver. 4. This shall be your south border. The 
 jussive is to be explained, as Masius and Keil ob- 
 serve, by reference to Num. xxxii. 2. 
 
 Next, in ver. 5 a, the east border is given : the 
 salt sea in all its extent from south to north, to 
 the end of the Jordan, i. e. to its embouchure at 
 the Dead Sea. 
 
 Ver. 5 b-11. North Border. This went forth 
 from the northern tongue of the sea at the mouth 
 of the Jordan, and is given a second time, ch. xviii. 
 15-19, as the south line of Benjamin. 
 
 Ver. 6. It went up toward Beth-hogla, a bound- 
 ary point between Judah and Benjamin, belong- 
 ing to the latter, perhaps the same as the thresh- 
 ing floor of A tad and Abel-mizraim (mourning 
 Df the Egyptians) Gen. 1. 10, between Jericho 
 and the Jordan, discovered again by Robinson, ii. 
 268 in Ain Hadschla, (cf. von Raumer, p. 177). 
 From Beth-Hogla it passed on northwardly to 
 Beth-Arabah, which is ascribed now to Judah 
 rer. 61), now to Benjamin (ch. xviii. 22), and lay 
 9 
 
 (ver. 61) in the wilderness at the north end of th« 
 Dead Sea ; and went up to the stone of Bohan, 
 the son of Reuben. This stone of Bohan ■• must 
 
 from the ""V? an ^ "'"'t' cu - xvm - 17. nave ' :lm 
 nearer the mountain, that is, more to the west or 
 southwest" (Knobel). Keil seeks it on the same 
 grounds " nearer the mountain." and declines any 
 more exact determination. Further conjectures 
 see in Knobel, p. 415. 
 
 Ver. 7. From the stone of Bohan it went up 
 toward Debir which lay in the vicinity of Gilgaf, 
 to he distinguished evidently from the Canaanitisb 
 royal city conquered bv Joshua near Hebron (ch. 
 x.29, 38; xii. 13 ; xv. 15,49; xxi. 5; 1 Chron. vii. 
 58), — from the valley of Achor, ch. vii. 26. Now 
 it turned northward toward Gilgal, that is be- 
 fore the going up to Adummim, which is on the 
 south side of the water-course. Keil supposes 
 this Gilgal not to be the place of encampment 
 mentioned ch. iv. 19, because here "its position is 
 determined with reference to another place than 
 Jericho." This reason would have force only if 
 " the other place," the ascent of Adummim, could 
 not be shown to have been in the same region. 
 But so long ago as the time of Jerome, he ob- 
 serves that the ascent of Adummim (now Galaat 
 el Dentin) (Ritter, xv. 493 [Gage's transl. iii. 10], 
 Tobler, DenlavUrdigkeiten, p. 698), lay on the road 
 from Jerusalem : " est autem confinium tribus Judat 
 et Benjamini, descendentibus ab jElia ubiet castellum 
 militum situm est, ob auxilia viatorum." He has in 
 mind, as we may suppose, since from the context 
 Luke x. 30 flits before him, the road from Jeru- 
 salem to Jericho. But Gilgal lay near Jericho, ac- 
 cording to ch. iv. 19 being itself not a city but a 
 larger circuit, whence, ch. xviii. 17, we read of 
 
 '"II '' '3. The watercourse is the Wady Kelt, 
 south of Riha. Further particulars see in Knobel, 
 pp. 416, 417. With this view von Raumer also 
 agrees, comp. pp. 198 with 169. 
 
 The border now goes to the Sun-spring as in 
 ch. xviii. 17. " That is the present Ain el-Hodh, or 
 Apostles' Spring, three-quarters of an hour north- 
 east of Jerusalem, the only spring on the road to 
 Jericho. Seetzen, ii. p. 273, Tobler, Topographs, 
 etc., ii. p. 398 ff." (Knobel). F'rom the Sun-spring 
 it went (see the side map to Map iii. in Menke) in 
 a southwest direction (conversely ch. xviii. 7) to 
 
 the Fullers' Spring ( /3"1 3^37, Spies' Spring would 
 
 be bans y*!?, cf. Gen. xiii. 9 ff. ; Josh. vi. 22). 
 
 This spring is mentioned again, 2 Sam. xvii. 17 ; 
 1 K. i. 9. It is the present deep and copious Well 
 of Job (von Raumer, p. 307), or of Nehemiah, on 
 the south side of Jerusalem, where the valleys of 
 Kidron and Hinnom unite (Robinson, i. 354-^491 ; 
 Tobler, ii. p. 50 ff.)" (Knobel). Furrer (p. 57) 
 says concerning it : " Somewhat south of the gar- 
 dens (p. 56) which spread themselves in the mod- 
 erately broad valley formed by the junction of the 
 ravines of Hinnom .and Kidron together with 
 the Tyropoeon, we come to an old well, called 
 En Rogel in the O. T., at the present time, Job's 
 Well. Although it is more than one hundred feet 
 deep [Robinson, one hundred and fifty feet], it 
 overflows, upon a long continuance of rainy 
 weather, which is regarded in Jerusalem as a joy- 
 ful occurrence, indicating a good year. The over 
 flow meanwhile lasts but a short time. I struck 
 
 the water at a depth of twenty-eight feet 
 
 The scenery about the fountain is very attractive 
 The hills rise high on the east and west. To the 
 
130 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 north one sees the spurs of Zion and Moriah, but 
 little of the city walls. Southward the eye follows 
 the course of the valley to its turn toward the 
 southeast. There a declivity of the mountain with 
 its olive trees and beautiful green fields formed a 
 very pleasing back-ground." • 
 
 Ver. 8. From En-rogel the border went up into 
 the valley of the son of Hinnom, on the south 
 side of the Jebusite, that is Jerusalem. The 
 direction accordingly runs southwest on the south 
 side of Jerusalem, where the valley mentioned lies. 
 It is noted also, ch. xviii. 16 ; Neh. xi. 30, as a 
 border between Judah and Benjamin. It was the 
 place where, after Ahaz, the horrible sacrifice of 
 children was offered (2 K. xxiii. 10 ; 2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 3 ; xxxiii. 6 ; Jer. vii. 31 ; xix. 2, fi ; xxxii. 
 35). The man from whom it derived its name is 
 as little known as Bohan the son of Reuben (ver. 
 6). On account of the offerings to Moloch, the 
 valley became "a symbol of Hell, the name of 
 
 which, 7e«Wa (Chald. D3n|, in which Cbn-"? 
 is perceptibly audible) is thence derived, cf. Matt. 
 v. 22, €jy tV yetvvav rov Trvp6s. Hitzig and Butt- 
 ther (apud Winer, i. 492) dispute the common 
 view that the valley was named after a person, 
 
 Hinnom, and take C2n as an appellative = moan- 
 ing, wailing; certainly a very appropriate desig- 
 nation of the scene of the sacrifice of so many in- 
 nocent victims. This hypothesis falls in well with 
 
 Kethib, 2 K. xxiii. 10, Yl ^33 "9 ""CH^ "for 
 
 the complete expression ^p^S^n "t*D, Judg. xix. 
 11. Jerusalem is in the same connection, called 
 also D-la 1 ], Judg. xix. 11 ; 1 Chron. xi. 4" (Kno- 
 bel). All in the time before David. So Bethel 
 was earlier called Luz (Gen. xxviii. 19), Bethle- 
 hem Ephrath, Gen. xxxv. 16; Mich. v. 1. Out 
 of the valley of Hinnom the border now ascended 
 to the top of the mountain that lieth before the 
 valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the 
 end of the valley of giants northward. The 
 mountain on which the border went up lies ac- 
 cording to this statement west of the vale of Hin- 
 nom and at the north end of the vale of Rephaim 
 This vale of Rephaim is one which extends in a 
 southwest direction from Jerusalem to Mar Elias, 
 one hour long, a half hour wide, fertile (Is. xvii. 
 
 5), and still well cultivated, a valley-plain (PP?) 
 
 not properly a vale (n^pS, ^V) " spacious enough 
 to serve as a camp for an army (2 Sam. v. 18, 22 ; 
 xxiii. 13; 1 Chron. xi. 5)," named after the old 
 gigantic race of Canaanites, the Rephaim, from 
 whom sprang Og king of Bashan (ch. xii. 4J. " It 
 is bounded on the north by a slight rock-ridge, 
 which constitutes the border of the valley of Hin- 
 nom, Winer, ii. 332 ; Robinson, i. 324 ; Tobler, ii. 
 401 ff.) That is the mountain which is here 
 meant. 
 
 Ver. 9. From the summit of this mountain, 
 the line was drawn ("1SP1, related to ~IW, to go 
 
 around, from which "lS,n, outline, form, shape of 
 the body, 1 Sam. xxviii. 14) to the fountain of 
 the water of Nephtoah. This fountain of the 
 water of Nephtoah, i. e. Liftah, one hour northwest 
 of Jerusalem, irrigates a strip of smiling gardens, 
 and its excellent water is carried also to Jerusalem 
 
 1 [A full account of this spring (called there tr Well of 
 the Messengers 1 ') if given in Gage's Ritter, iv. 145-148. — 
 tk.1 
 
 (Dieterici, Reisebilder, ii. p. 221 f. ; Tobler, ii. 258 ff. 
 apud Knobel) Valentiner, p. 95, observes : " Liftah 
 numbers its fighting men zy hundreds, and pro- 
 vides Jerusalem, among otner things, with water 
 from its copious fountain. From its position it is 
 doubtless to be regarded as the fountain of Neph- 
 toah, from which the dividing line between Judah 
 and Benjamin ran on to the cities of Mount Eph- 
 ron. This latter must not be confounded with 
 Ephraim, which lay further north, Josh. xv. 9 ; 
 xviii. 15." From this fountain it ran as Valen- 
 tiner, with reference to our passage, correctly 
 states, up to the cities of Mount Ephron, and 
 was drawn to Saalah, which is Kirjath-jearim 
 This mount Ephron is not elsewhere mentioned 
 It was certainly between Liftah and Kureyet el- 
 Enab, therefore probably the prominent ridge, on 
 which stand the places Soba, Kartal, Kulonieh, 
 etc., and near which the road from Jerusalem to 
 Joppa runs, Robinson, ii. 328 ff." (Knobel). Baala, 
 that is, Kirjath-jearim, one of the cities marked in 
 ch. ix. 17; xviii. 25,26; Ezr. ii. 25; Neh. vii. 29, 
 as belonging to Gibeon, " now Kureyet el-Enab, 
 three hours northwest of Jerusalem, see ver. 60," 
 (Knobel). The border still followed constantly a 
 northwest course. 
 
 Ver. 10. Now, however, it took a compass (bent 
 around, — P^) from Baala westward unto mount 
 Seir. This mount Seir must not be mistaken for 
 the Edomite mountain (Gen. xxxii. 3; Num. 
 xxiv. 18; Deut. ii. 4, 5, 29; Josh. xxiv. 4) ; rather 
 the mountain range is intended which runs in a 
 southwest direction as far as the Wady Surar. 
 The name has perhaps been preserved in Sairah, 
 Robinson, ii. 363 " (Winer, ii. 443). Cf. also Rob- 
 inson, Later Bibl. Res., p. 155, who gives the height 
 of the ridge as one thousand five hundred feet 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 Passed along to the side of mount Jearim 
 (which is Chesalon) towards the north. Chesa- 
 lon, probably, now Kesla (Robinson, ii. 363, more 
 definitely, Later Bibl. Res. p. 154), was called also 
 Har -jearim = mountain of forests, as Baala or 
 Kirjath-jearim, = city of forests, or forest-town. 
 The region appears therefore to have been earlier 
 thickly covered with woods. Thence the border 
 went down to Beth-shemesh, and passed on to 
 Timnah. Beth-shemesh = house of the sun, here 
 under this name as a border town of Judah ; ch. 
 xix. 41, called Ir-shemesh and counted as a border 
 town of Dan; according to ch. xxi. 9, 16; 1 
 Chron. vii. 59, a city of the priests, known especi- 
 ally from the narrative concerning the ark of the 
 covenant, 1 Sam. vi. 9-20. Robinson (iii. 17-20) 
 found, " to the west of the village Ain Schems, on 
 the plateau of a low swell or mound, between the 
 Surar on the north and a smaller Wady on the 
 south, the manifest traces of an ancient site. Here 
 are the vestiges of a former extensive city consist- 
 ing of many foundations, and the remains of an- 
 cient walls of hewn stone Both the name 
 
 and the position of this spot seem to indicate the 
 site of the ancient Beth-shemesh of the Old Testa- 
 ment," comp. Later Bibl. Res., p. 153 ; also, Furrer, 
 p. 187-211, especially 198-201. Timnah, or Tim- 
 natha (eh. xix. 43) belonging to Dan, now Tibneh, 
 west of Beth-shemesh (Furrer, p. 200), the home 
 of Samson (Judg. xiv. 1-4). In the vineyards of 
 Timnah, without anything in his hand he killea 
 the lion (Judg. xiv. 5-6). 
 
 Ver. 11. Now the boundary, following a north- 
 west course, went out unto the side of Ekron 
 northward, i. e. to a point lying in the vicinity of 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 131 
 
 Ekron north of this Philistine city. Then it was 
 irawn to Shieron (Socreir, Suglieir ; Knobel, p. 
 419), and passed along to mount Baala. This 
 mount Baala is probably, as Keil and Knobel also 
 suppose, " the short line of hills running almost 
 parallel with the coast, which Robinson observed 
 west of Ekron (Akir), hi. 22, 23. From this 
 mount Baala the border went out unto Jabneel, 
 and then to the sea, where its goings out were. 
 
 Jabneel or Jabneh (2 Chron. xxvi. 6, ^35^), de- 
 stroyed by Uzziah, the Jamnia so often mentioned 
 in the books of Maccabees (1 Mace. iv. 15; v. 58; 
 x. 69 ; xv. 40 ; 2 Mace. xii. 9). After the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, there was here a high school 
 of the Jews and a Sanhedrim ( Reland, p. 823, after 
 the Talmud; apud von Raumer, p. 204). It is 
 now Jebna, " a large village on an insignificant hill 
 west of Akir (Knobel, after Tobler, Dritte Wand- 
 erimg, p. 20 f. ; Wittmann's Reisen, ii. p. 7). An- 
 other Jabneel, which is mentioned ch. xix. 33, lay 
 on Lebanon. 
 
 Ver. 12. Gives the West Border. The great sea, 
 i. c, the Mediterranean. The borders thereof 
 
 (^D?!!), is to be explained as in ch. xiii. 23, 27, cf. 
 also Num. xxxiv. 6. 
 
 6. Vers. 13-20 (comp. ch. xiv. 6-15; Judg. i. 
 10-15). Caleb's Possession. His daughter Achsah. 
 Conclusion to a. Nothing is said here as in the 
 episode, ch. xiv. 6-15, of any demand of Caleb, but 
 simply ver. 13 that Joshua gave Hebron to Caleb, 
 according to the command of God. On the other 
 hand we have here, in almost literal agreement with 
 the account in Judg. i. 10-15, the story of Achsah, 
 whom Caleb gave as a reward for the conquest of 
 Debir, which is not alluded to in ch. xiv. 
 
 Ver. 13. It is stated that Joshua, according to 
 the command of Jehovah O^ ""f 7S, here andch. 
 xvii. 3, with which Gesenius compares Ps. v. 1 ; 
 lxxx. 1, niVTT?n"7y, and also 1 Sam. xxvi 4, 
 T03 " vS), gave Caleb his portion (p!?n) among 
 
 the children of Judah. This command must have 
 been communicated to Joshua then, as they were 
 dividing the land (Knobel). A complete account 
 of the facts is wanting, for ch. xiv. 9, which Keil 
 would apply here, speaks not of a command of 
 God to Joshua but of an oath of Moses to Caleb, 
 cf. further the explanation of ch. xiv. 9. Hebron 
 is here called Kirjath-arba as in ver. 54 ; xx. 7 ; 
 xxi. 11 ; Gen. xxiii. 2 ; xxxv. 27 (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 14-19. The history of Achsah, the daughter 
 of Caleb, is introduced with the remark that Caleb 
 drove out of Hebron the three sons of Anak, 
 Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, descendants 
 
 CT^?) of Anak. 
 
 Ver. 15. Thence he proceeded against the in- 
 habitants of Debir. According to ch. xi. 21 , Joshua 
 had conquered and devoted Debir. On the position 
 of tbis city see on ch. xi. 21. Debir before was 
 Kirjath-sepher. Ver. 49, the same city is called 
 
 nSD'j"" CTR. On this diversity of names cf. Keil 
 on ch. x. 38. The there quoted explanation of 
 Bochart (Can. ii. 17) on i"T:C : " Id Phomicibus 
 idemfuit quod Arabibus Sunna, lex, doctrina, jus can- 
 tmicum," suits better to "">? P"i"V"lp_ than if, as 
 
 1 [Punctuation in English can but imperfectly serve the 
 
 yurpose here of the nominative ending as distinct from 
 
 bat of the genitive, in German, to indicate that brother i9 
 
 9 
 
 Gesenius supposes, !"f3D = rtSDJD, ramus palmce 
 
 and nspvv-lj? therefore = palm city. 
 
 Ver. 16. Caleb, like Saul, 1 Sam. xvii. 25, prom 
 ises his daughter Achsah as a wife to whomsoevei 
 would conquer the city, which was found diffietfl 
 
 to take. nr>Dj?=35V signifies properly foot- 
 chains, cf. Is. iii. 18. 
 
 Ver. 17. And Othniel, son of Kenaz, the 
 brother of Caleb, took it. So we translate, 1 ac- 
 cording to the view of the Masoretes, with Keil, 
 Bunsen, and Winer (ii. 185) who appeal to Judg 
 i. 13 ; iii. 9. Omitting the comma after Kenaz, 
 and making " the brother " in apposition wit 1 ) 
 Kenaz (Kenaz the brother) is grammatically allow- 
 able, but is not the most obvious, cf. Judg. i. 13 
 (Bunsen). Vulg. yhi(er ; LXX. d5eA.(|>oD. Othniel 
 
 ( vS^iTI}? =lion of God) was, according to Judg. 
 iii. 9, the first Judge of Israel, who delivered his 
 people from the tyranny of the Mesopotamian King 
 Chushan-rishathaim. On the allowableness of his 
 marriage, see Michaelis, Ehegesetze Mosis, § 82, 
 Laws of Moses, § 1 1 7. 
 
 Ver. 18. Achsah had not gone with the rest into 
 the war, but had remained with her father prob- 
 ably in Hebron. As now she came to Debir to be- 
 come Othniel's wife, She moved liim (^nrTpn] 
 
 from TVO or iTD not used in Kal, perhaps " to 
 be excited," then in Hiphil, " to incite ; " so hera 
 and Judg. i. 14; 2 Chron. xviii. 2 ; in particular, 
 " to tempt to something wrong," Deut. xiii. 7 ; Is. 
 xxxvi. 8; Jer. xxxviii. 22, and often) to ask of 
 her father a field (Judg. i. 14 more definitely the 
 field which belonged to Debir), and lighted off 
 
 (niiiT 1 ! from the rare flD^ cognate with ^?^, 
 Judg. i. 14 ; iv. 21 = to sink down, to go under; 
 LXX : kcu e&6-ntrci> 4k tov ivov ; Vulg. : " suspira- 
 vitque ut sedebat in asino." This translation of the 
 LXX. followed by the Vulg., raises the conjecture 
 
 that the LXX., instead of the unusual n?".Fn, 
 
 read PP^PH) from the ass. " Whether Othniel 
 followed her is not said. She herself proceeded 
 further, and on approaching her father she sprang 
 from the ass and humbled herself before him " 
 (Knobel). So did Rebecca also at her first meet- 
 ing with Isaac (Gen. xxiv. 64). Caleb perceived 
 that she had something unusual to present to him, 
 and asked : What is to thee ? What wouldest 
 thou ? or what dost thou wish ? 
 
 Ver. 19. And she said: Give me a blessing, 
 
 i"'?'??' *'• e -> as m Gen.xxxiii. 11, a gift, a pres- 
 ent, as Gen. xxxiii. 10, nn2JS is used instead of 
 it. This gift should consist in springs of water, 
 since Caleb had given her toward the south coun- 
 try W3.9> comp. x. 40). It is to be noted, first, that 
 here Debir is reckoned as belonging to the Negeb, 
 while the city in ver. 49 is counted to the moun- 
 tain ; probably, as Knobel suggests, because the 
 region was like the Negeb. Besides, the Negeb 
 
 begins, at least, in that section. Secondly, fllvS 
 
 C^Q occurs only here and Judg. i. 15, and is ex- 
 plained either " water springs " (Bunsen : Waster- 
 strudel, whirlpool or eddy), as Gesenius and Keil 
 
 in apposition with Othniel, thus making the latter Caleb'f 
 brother. — Ta.1 
 
132 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 prefer, or, according to Bertheau and Knobe], 
 who quote Zach. iv. 2, 3 ; Ecc. xii. 6 ; IK. vii. 41, 
 
 " water-holders," inclosed fountains, which '?i 
 Cant. iv. 12, should also mean. We venture not 
 to decide, but certainly hold the translation " water 
 springs " in a poetically colored passage, to be finer 
 than the transfer of " water-holders." Neither can 
 we exactly approve Buusen's " Wasserstrudel." 
 Thirdly, we notice that Achsah names the springs 
 instead of the fields which were watered by them, 
 in order doubtless " to express the direct antithesis 
 
 to the 353 : perhaps also from feminine shrewd- 
 ness and cunning, that she might not directly bring 
 out her proper wish. That gardens and fields in 
 Palestine are even to the present day watered from 
 springs and cisterns is well known, cf. what was 
 said above on ver. 7, also Cant. ii. 6 ; Robinson, i. 
 541 ; ii. 285; iii. 95. 
 
 And he gave her the upper springs and the 
 lower springs. Caleb responds to the wish of his 
 daughter, and gives her higher and lower springs, 
 that is, higher and lower fields watered by springs. 
 How large this possession was cannot be deter- 
 mined. Finally let us remark, in passing, that 
 Handel, in his Oratorio of Joshua, brings forward 
 Othniel and Achsah as chief personages. 
 
 Ver. 20 Belongs as a conclusion to vers. 1-12. 
 Its position shows that vers. 13-19 were inserted. 
 So also Keil : " the 20th verse contains the sub- 
 scription or conclusion to the first division of our 
 chapter, with which the description of the bounds 
 of the inheritance of Judah closes." 
 
 c. List of the Cities of the Tribe of Judah. From 
 ver. 21 on follow the names of the cities of the 
 tribe of Judah, and a. the cities in the south 
 ■•ountry (vers. 21-32) ; /3. the cities in the lowland 
 vers. 33-47) ; y. the cities on the mountain (vers. 
 ;<-60); S. the cities in the wilderness (vers. 61, 
 i>2). The whole is concluded with a notice (ver. 
 ■ 'in, ruling the Jebusites. 
 (i. Vers. 21-32. Cities in the South Country. Ver. 21, 
 
 n"~!i, a t the extremity or end ; )p, as in ver. 1. 
 
 In the south-country, 323^D ; cf ch. x. 40. The 
 enumeration begins within the Negeb at the east, 
 as ver. 2 ft', in giving the boundaries. First we 
 have nine cities named and connected by the cop- 
 ula, which Luther in his translation omits, while 
 the LXX. and Vulg. have it. Kabzeel or Jekab- 
 
 zeel (bS"2i2? Neh. xi. 25 = which God gathers) 
 was the birth-place of Benaiah one of David's he- 
 roes, 2 Sam. xxiii. 30. Eder, Jagur, not to be 
 made •ut. 
 
 Ver. 22. Kinah, " Perhaps the place of the 
 Kenites who settled in the territory of Arad, Num. 
 x. 32" (Knobel). 
 
 Dimona= Dibon, Neh. xi. 25. " Probably the 
 ruins ed-Dheib, northeast of Arad (Van de Velde, 
 .1/. hi. 252)," Knobel. 
 
 Adah. = Sudeid (Rob. ii. 474). The country 
 here is hilly and cut up by small ravines, but with- 
 out steep declivities, and sparsely covered with a 
 thin and now dried up growth of grass. (Rob. I.e.) 
 
 Ver. 23. Kedesh, Hazor, Kadesh-barnea and 
 Hezron (ver. 3), Ithnan — unknown. 
 
 Ver. 24. A second group of 'five cities follows, a 
 pentapolis. Ziph, perhaps = Kuseifeh (Kob. ii. 
 191, 195), southwest of Arad. Another Ziph lies 
 an the mountain, ver. 55. — Telem we, after the 
 jxample of Kimchi, with von Raumer (p. 222) and 
 
 Kn-hel, regard = C"S^t:, where Saul mustered 
 
 his army before he moved against the Amalekitet 
 (1 Sam. xv. 4). The position, in the Negeb, suit? 
 this view. When Keil (Com. on Josh, in h. 1.) ob 
 
 jects to this assumption that the words C?tD (op 
 
 pression) and CS^tp (youi:g lambs), came from 
 two quite different roots ; it is a sufficient answer to 
 say, with Gesenius, that one of the names mav be 
 altered (perhaps by corrupt pronunciation), which 
 is easily possible with names of places. Supposing 
 
 this, it is more probable that E. ; t3 ; s derived 
 
 from the longer E^tOD than the reverse. 
 
 Bealoth = Bealoth-beer, Ramath-negeb, Ramoth- 
 negeb (xix. 8), on the road toward Hebron, marked 
 on Menke's map. 
 
 Ver. 25. Hazor-hadata, «"f4jnn I"l =New Ha- 
 zor, since fVTn = tfin). Perhaps Hudhairah 
 (Rob. App. p. 114). 
 
 Kerioth-hezron, which is Hazor. Against the 
 Masoretes, but with the LXX. and Syr., we join 
 
 nV"1f5 and pT2n in one name, as Reland, Mau- 
 rer, Keil, and Knobel have done. In favor of this 
 the analogy of Kirjath-arba (ver. 13) and Kirjath- 
 jearim (ver. 9) adduced by Maurer, is of decisive 
 weight. " Possibly the place Kuryatein north ol 
 Arad (Rob. ii. 472), " (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 26. Third group, consisting again, like the 
 first, of nine cities, — A mam, unknown. 
 
 Shema, a place of the Simeonites ; ch. xix. 2 as- 
 sociated with Beer-shaba and Moladah ; i , ? t *\ 
 
 probably the same name, as £ and 12 are often in- 
 terchanged. 
 
 Moladah, according to ch. xix. 2 likewise a 
 place belonging to Simeon, nowMilh (Rob. ii. pp. 
 619, 621 ). " Moladah was at a later period inhab- 
 ited by the sons of Judah who returned from the 
 exile (Neh. xi. 25, 26). Probakly identical with 
 Malatha, an Idumean fortress (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 
 6, 2) ; often named in the Onom." (von Raumer, p. 
 214). It lies on the road to Hebron, northwest of 
 Baalath-beer. Robinson found here two wells 
 about forty feet in depth, and walled around with 
 good mason-work, one of them seven and a half 
 feet, and the other five feet in diameter. The 
 water appeared to be not good, but the Arabs oi 
 the Tiyahah watered their animals here as did the 
 Kudeirat at Beer-sheba (Kob. /. c. note). On the 
 plain lying near the wells to the south, the stones 
 of a ruined town, or large village, are scattered 
 over a space of nearly half a mile square, all un- 
 hewn. These wells and ruins in all probability 
 mark the site of Moladah of the 0. T., the Malatha 
 of the Greeks and Romans (Rob. ubi sup.). On 
 the etymological difficulty in deriving Milh from 
 Moladah or Slalatha, cf. the foot-note, p. 621. 
 
 Ver. 27. Hazor-gadah, Heshmon, Beth-palat, 
 unknown. 
 
 Ver. 28. Hazor-shual (br^tt? ~i"n = Fox- 
 yard ; [Gesen. village of Jackals], cf. the Lex. under 
 T2n for other like compounds), aplaceof the Sim- 
 eonites, ch. xix. 3 ; 1 Chr. iv. 28, inhabited, like Mo- 
 ladah and Shema, after the exile, by men of Judah 
 Neh.xi.27. Possibly Th'aly (Rob. iii. App. 114). 
 
 Beer-sheba, I'StP ~'fr?3> I. c. "well of seven 
 meaning the seven lambs which Abraham sacri- 
 ficed when he made a covenant with Abimelccr. 
 (Gen. xxi. 28-32)." So von Raumer, p. 176 
 Others, e. g. Ges., exnlain, with reference to Gen 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 133 
 
 xxvi. 30, by puteus juri&jurandi, well of the oath, 
 making 2???? = rTjJ'Qtr. Hitzig again (ubi sup. 
 p. 26) in another way; "if the wilderness be- 
 tween Pelusium and Gaza extends for the distance 
 of seven days' journey, Beershaba (properly, Bir 
 sib) signifies " well of the seven day camel " (which 
 has borne the seven days' thirst) — in the Arabic ; 
 and Arabs carry (Gen. xxxvii. 25) into Egypt, 
 on the backs of camels, the costly productions of 
 Gilead." Lange (Com. on Gen. xxi. 28 ff.) would 
 not press the antithesis between " seven-well " and 
 " oath-well." " The form designates it as the 
 seven wells, but the seven designates it as in fact 
 
 the well of the oath." In this view J?2t2? is taken 
 ££ = seTen, but at the same time it commemorates 
 that 373tl?3, to swear, means primarily to " seven 
 one's self " " to confirm by seven." Cf. Herod, iii. 8, 
 according to whom seven things were chosen 
 among the Arabians for the confirmation of an 
 oath. Beer-sheba is very often mentioned in the 
 history of the patriarchs (Gen. xxi. 14, 28-33; 
 xxii. 19 ; xxvi. 23 ; xxviii. 10; xlvi. 1). Accord- 
 ing to the passage before us it belonged to Ju- 
 dah ; from ch. xix. 2, 1 Chr. iv. 28, it was ascribed 
 also to Simeon. It is often named in the formula 
 "from Dan to Beersheba" (Judg. xx. 1; 2 Sam. 
 xvii. 11 ; 2 Chr. xxx. 5). At present it is called 
 Bir es-seba, on the north side of the Wady es-Seba, 
 clo?e on its banks, where two wells now bear this 
 name (Robinson, i. 300-303). These two wells 
 lie at some distance from each other, are round and 
 walled up in a very firm and permanent manner, 
 and furnish clear and excellent water in great abun- 
 dance. The ruins on some low hills north of the 
 well probably indicate the existence there formerly 
 of a small and straggling city (Robinson, ubi sup.). 
 Euseb. : Kiiipi-r) fiey'io-Tr). Hieron. : vicus grandis. 
 
 Bizjothah — undeterminable. 
 
 Ver. 29. The names of 13 places are added, 
 which lay to the west and southwest. Baala = 
 Deir el-Belah (Robinson, iii. App. p. 118), some 
 hours southwest of Gaza on the north border of 
 the Negeb with a great forest of palm trees, and 
 remnants of marble pillars (Ritter, xvi. 41, 42 
 [Gage's Trans, i. 30, 31]). The considerable plan- 
 tation of date-palms at this place is remarkable 
 from the fact that here alone in Palestine the dates 
 still ripen ; here, therefore, we pass the north limit 
 of date culture (Ritter/. c). 
 
 Ijini, " or Q , ?l?, as we may judge from 'Auei/i 
 in the LXX. Cod. Alex., is passed over in the 
 enumeration of Simeonite cities ch. xix. 1 ff. and 
 may have been not of much importance " ( Knobel ). 
 The site cannot now be determined. 
 
 Ezem also belonging, like Baala, to the Simeon- 
 ites (ch. xix. 3) = Abdeh, a place of very consid- 
 erable ruins on a ridge of rocks, and once strong, 
 
 0^37 = firmness, strength (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 30. Eltolad, later given likewise to Sim- 
 eon, ch. xix. 4. In 1 Chr. iv. 29it is called merely 
 Tholad (Keil). This also remains undiscovered. 
 
 Chesil, /"'CS. According to Job ix. 9 ; 
 /_ 
 xxzviii. 31 ; Amos v. 8, 3 is a constellation in 
 the heavens, probably Orion. Since the place 
 
 [s namel ch. xix. 4; 1 Chr. iv. 30; V^DS and 
 
 ^SVIS since further 1 Sam. xxx. 27, " the same 
 
 place is manifestly "called 7MW2, it must have 
 Teen the seat of a sanctuary as Knobel rightly con- 
 
 jectures. May not, as the name indicates, tha' 
 very constellation of Orion (Chesil) have been 
 worshipped here, especially as Jerome reports ( Vit. 
 Hilar, ep. 25, ap. Robinson, i. p. 298) that the in- 
 habitants had worshipped Venus and the Morning 
 Slur ? True, the morning star is mentioned and 
 not Orion, but Jerome hardly had so exact infor- 
 mation. At all events, worship of the stars then 
 existed, and that is the main thing. Probahly 
 Chesil is = Elusa, where in pre-Islamite times a 
 sanctuary of Arabic tribes existed (comp. Tuch, 
 Zeitschrift der deutsch-morgenl. Ges., iii. p. 194 f. ap. 
 Knobel). Elusa lies five and a half hours south 
 of Beer-sheba (comp. Robinson, i. pp. 296-298). 
 Horma " or Zephat, now Sepata, two and a half 
 hours southwest of Chalaza ; see Num. xiv. 45 " 
 (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 31. Ziklag, later belonging to Simeon, ch. 
 xix. 5; 1 Chr. v. 30. Familiar from the history 
 of David (1 Sam. xxvii. 6 ; xxx. 1 ; 2 Sam. i. 1 ; 
 iv. 10; 1 Chr. xiii. 1). Perhaps Tel el-Hasy, 
 northeast of Gaza (von Raumcr, p. 225), from 
 which one has an extensive view, westward to the 
 sea, in the east toward the mountains of Hebron, 
 northward to mount Ephraim, and southward to 
 the plains of Egypt (Ritter, xvi. 133 [Gage, iii. 
 246, 247]). Knobel seeks Ziklag to the southwest 
 of Milh, where a place, Gasludh, lies on the road 
 to Abdeh (Robinson, ii. 621), some hours east of 
 
 Sepata. The etymology of Ziklag (aJ?lT?, S^H?) 
 is doubtful ; perhaps, as Gesen. supposes, from 
 p7H *?> wilderness of destruction. 
 
 Madmanna = Minyay or Minnieh, south of 
 Gaza (Robinson, iii. 287 f.), on the route of the pil- 
 grims during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 
 
 Sansarma — unknown. The name signifies 
 " palm-branch." Instead of Madmanna and San- 
 sanna, elsewhere Beth-markaboth (" Wagon - 
 house," Knobel, Keil) and Hazar-suza or Susim 
 ("Horse-yard," Knobel ; "Horse-village," Keil) 
 are mentioned (xix. 3) as cities of the Simeonites. 
 Are they possibly stations of wagons and horses, as 
 Knobel conjectures ? 
 
 Ver. 32. Lebaoth or Beth-lebaoth, belonging 
 to the Simeonites, ch. xix. 6; in 1 Chr. iv. 31, the 
 name of the place is Beth Birei. Perhaps Leb- 
 hein, eight hours south of Gaza. 
 
 Shilhim, called, ch. xix. 6, Saruhen CjrWItP), 
 a place of the Simeonites, 1 Chron. iv. 31 = el- 
 Scheriat, about midway between Gaza and Beer- 
 sheba; a scene of ruins (Van de Velde, Narrative, 
 ii. p. 144. and Mem. p. 113, apud Knobel). 
 
 Ain, Rimmon, in ch. xix. 7 ; 1 Chron. iv. 32 , 
 Neh. xi. 29, treated as one place. Rimmon is dis- 
 covered in the ruins Urn er-Rumamim, about three 
 hours north of Beer-sheba. Only about thirty 
 minutes south of it is the well el-Khulweilifeh, 
 with remains of buildings (Robinson, iii. 8), on the 
 road from Hebron to Gaza. Compare, further, 
 Knobel on this verse. 
 
 All the cities twenty-nine and their villages. 
 There are not twenty -nine bat thirty-six, namely, 
 (1 ) group first, 9 ; (2) group second, 5 ; (3) group 
 third, 9 ; (4) group fourth, 13 =36. So indeed the 
 Syriac reads. Since, however, all the other ancient 
 versions have twenty -nine, the Syriac probably 
 gives a "critical correction." The matter is capa- 
 ble of the simple explanation that the original an- 
 cient list had only twenty-nine cities, but later, ai 
 even Keil concedes, " a supplementary hand added 
 still others without altering the sum total to car 
 resDOud " 
 
134 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 ff. Ver. 33-47. Cities in the Lowland. Ver. 33. 
 In the lowland. See ch. x. 40. It only needs to 
 
 be remarked here that the foot - hills (fYnH? S) 
 mentioned ch. x. 40; xi. 16 are here reckoned in 
 with the lowland. They are designated also as 
 the land of Goshen, as was explained, eh. x. 40, 
 (xi. 16), and form the east border of the Shephe- 
 lah of Judah. The places mentioned by the 
 author are arranged in three groups. The Jirst of 
 these (ver. 33-36) lies in the northeast part of the 
 lowland. 
 
 Eshtaol and Zorea mentioned in reverse order, 
 ch. xix.41 ; Judg. xiii. 25 ; xvi. 31. Here ascribed 
 to Judah, there to Dan. Eshtaol is the present 
 Um-Eschteiyeh (Robinson, ii. 342). Zorea was 
 Samson's home (Judg. xiii. 2), visited in modern 
 times by Robinson (Later Bibl. Res. p. 153), Tob- 
 ler (Oritte Wandenmg, p. 150) and Furrer (p. 
 200). The prospect from the summit of Zorea is, 
 according to Robinson's statement, beautiful and 
 very extensive, especially toward Beth-shemesh. 
 The well, the fields, the mountains, the women 
 who bore water, all transported the travellers back 
 into the earliest times, when in all probability the 
 mother of Samson in the same manner came to 
 the well, and laboriously carried her water -jar 
 home. Between Zoreah and Eshtaol Samson was 
 buried in his father Manoah's tomb (Judg. xvi. 31.) 
 
 Ashna, unknown. Knobel would read ""H^!? 
 after "A<rera of the LXX. Cod. Vat. 
 
 Ver. 34. Sanoah, now Sanna, not far from 
 Zorea (Robinson, ii. 343) to the southeast. "The 
 other, Zanoah, on the mountain, ver. 56, has not 
 yet been discovered by modern explorers" (Keil). 
 
 En-gannim, Tappuah, unknown. Enam, men- 
 tioned Gen. xxxviii, 14,21; perhaps Beth-anan, 
 Tobler.p. 137 (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 35. Jarmuth, a Canaanitish capital (ch. 
 
 xii. 11, comp. x. 3-27). Since HID"^, as Kno- 
 bel observes = HOT?, nan, ch. xix. 21 , and there- 
 fore, judging from the meaning of these words, lay 
 upon a height, the modern Jarmuk ( Robinson, ii. 
 344), which stands on a hill, and exhibits cisterns 
 and remains of buildings of high antiquity, may 
 be regarded as ancient Jarmuth. 
 
 Adullam. Probably Deir Dubban, two hours 
 north of Beit Jibriu, where are great and remark- 
 able caves, fully described by Robinson (ii. 353 f.). 
 He does not decide whether they are natural or 
 artificial. The circumstance that they are very 
 regularly hewn out leads us to conclude that they 
 are of artificial origin, which, however, may well 
 have been in part natural, since the mountain of 
 Judah is cavernous. [Robinson seems to indicate 
 no doubt at all of the purely artificial character of 
 the caves, only questioning whether the "pits" 
 through which they are entered "are natural or 
 artificial." Their object also was to him quite a 
 puzzle. — Tr.] 
 
 Socho, and Azeka, lay near Ephes-dammim 
 (Damun), 1 Sam. xvii. 1. Azeka has been al- 
 ready mentioned (ch. x. 10 f.) Goliath's battle 
 with" David took place between Azeka and Socho 
 (1 Sam. xvii. 1 ff.). Socho, now Shuweikeh, but 
 not to be confounded with Socho on the mountain 
 (ver. 48), which is also called Shuweikeh, lies 
 about seventeen miles southwest of Jerusalem on 
 the Wady Sumt, whose beautiful vale Robinson 
 (ii. 349 f.) regards as the terebinth-vale ("valley 
 ui Elah"), celebrated for the combat between 
 David and the giant (von Raumer, p. 222). 
 
 Ver. 36. Sharaim, " according to 1 Sam. xvii 
 
 52, westward of Socho and Azeka = Tel Sakarieh 
 and Kefr Sakarieh" (Knobel). The dual form of 
 the name indicates two villages out of which the 
 ancient Sharaim may have already grown, and 
 properly signifies "two doors." Adithaim, un- 
 known ; a dual form again. 
 
 Gedera, n^n?n vvith the article, properly, 
 
 " the wall." In ch. xii. 13 the king of "Hf! 
 (walled place) is mentioned. Probably the same 
 place. Whether Gederoth also (ver. 41) is the 
 same, as Knobel would have it, is to me doubtful. 
 Different towns might naturally be called simply 
 walled places. We may compare frequent ele- 
 ments of modern names, Burg, Ville, House, etc. 
 
 Another related name is "lit?, ver. 58. 
 
 Gederothaim is omitted by the LXX. If we 
 follow them, as Winer (ii. 471) and Knobel do, we 
 make out only fourteen cities according to the sum 
 total given, otherwise fifteen, as above thirty-six 
 instead of twenty-nine. 
 
 Ver. 37-41. Second Group. It includes sixteen 
 cities, lying " south " and " west " of the first, ver. 
 37. Zenan, probably indentical with Zaanan 
 (Mich. i. 11) ; perhaps Chirbet es-Senat. 
 
 Hadashah. " The smallest place in Judah, with 
 only fifty dwellings (Mischn. Erubin, pp. 5, 6 "), 
 Knobel. Not identical with Adasa, north of Jeru- 
 salem. Von Raumer has entirely omitted the lit- 
 tle place. 
 
 Migdal-gad = Tel Iedeideh, after which the 
 Wady Iedeideh is named (Tobler, p. 124 f.) 
 
 Ver. 38. Dilean, perhaps Beit Dula (Tobler, p 
 150). Mizpeh. We have already found a land 
 of Mizpeh on Hermon, ch. xi. 3-8, where the nama 
 waa explained and its frequent occurrence noticed. 
 The most celebrated place of the name is yet to be 
 mentioned, ch. xviii. 26. The one before us is 
 possibly the present Tel es-Safieh (Robinson, ii. 
 363) on a low hill, " but lying sufficiently above 
 the surrounding country to be seen at the distance 
 of some hours in every direction;" called in the 
 Middle Ages Alba specula or Alba custodia [Blanche- 
 garde], a castle, in the vicinity of which some ro- 
 mantic adventures of Richard Cceur de Lion are 
 reported to have taken place. These are enumer- 
 ated by Robinson (ubi sup. p. 366). 
 
 Joktheel, perhaps Keitidaneh (Robinson, iii. 
 App. 126), where are ruins. 
 
 Ver. 39. Lachish, according to x. 3 ft'. ; xii. 11, a 
 Canaanitish capital, later, like many of these cities, 
 fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. xi. 9). Here Ama- 
 ziah died "(2 K. xiv. 19). Sennacherib besieged La- 
 chish, and moved from hence toLibnah (Is.xxxvi. 
 2; xxxvii. 8). Nebuchadnezzar also contended 
 against the royal city of chariots (Mich. i. 13), 
 which had become a beginning of sin to the daugh- 
 ter of Zion, doubtless through temptation to idola- 
 try (Jer. xxxiv. 7). The position is questionable. 
 Robinson (ii. p. 388) decided against Urn Lakis, 
 which suits as far as the name is concerned, partly 
 because the trifling remains give no indication of a 
 once fortified and strong city, and partly because 
 the position does not agree with what is known of 
 the ancient city. He is followed by Knobel, who 
 thinks he has recognized Lachish in Zukkarijeh, two 
 and a half hours southwest of Beit Jibrin. On the 
 other hand von Raumer, Keil, and Van de Velde on 
 his map, unite upon Urn Lakis as the ancient city, 
 mainly on the ground that Eglon, mentioned here 
 in the same verse, and confidently recognized by 
 Robinson (ii. 392) in Ajalan, was again, according 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 13c 
 
 I 
 
 to his own statement (uln sup. 389) only three 
 quarters of an hour distant from Urn Lakis. We 
 likewise adopt this latter view. Eglon has been 
 already named ch. x. 1 ff. 36 ; xii. 32. — Bozkath, 
 perhaps Tubukah (Robinson, ii. pp. 388, 648), 
 spelled Tubaka by Van de Velde and Knobel. 
 
 Ver. 40. Cabbon = Kubeibeh, two and a-half 
 hours east of Ajlon (Eglon), upon a stony barren 
 height. So Knobel supposes, and the name certainly 
 sounds like ; but Robinson observes very moderately 
 that " there seemed to be nothing to mark it particu- 
 larly as an ancient site " (p. 394). 
 
 Lachmas, LXX. : Aa/tcJj ; Vulg. : Leheman ; hence 
 Luther : Lehmam. The LXX. support the reading 
 
 DOn?> the Vulg. goes back to the other reading, 
 
 CQri7. The correctness of the latter is favored 
 by the circumstance that Tobler (Dritte Wander- 
 ung, p. 129) has actually found south of Beit Jib- 
 rin, a place of ruins, el-Lahem. 
 
 Kithlish, undetermined. To compare Tell Kilkis 
 or Chilchis, not far from Kubeibeh, as Knobel does, 
 would be somewhat rash, since in this case (1) a 
 
 transposition of the A (2) a change of H into 2 
 must be assumed, which is not so easy to suppose 
 
 as the more frequent interchange of v and J3. 
 
 Ver. 41. Gederoth, eomp. ver. 36. — Beth- 
 dagon and Naamah and Makkedah, — a tripolis. 
 Beth-dagon to be distinguished from the border- 
 town of Asher mentioned ch. xix. 27, now Beth- 
 Dejan between Joppa (Jaffa) and Lydda (Lod, 
 Ludd), on a knoll to the left of the road (Furrer, 
 
 10), but according to Tobler (Nazareth nebst An- 
 ang der vierten Wcmderung, p. 306), on the right. 
 The name indicates the Philistine worship of Da- 
 gon. Naamah cannot be made out. Makkedah, 
 already spoken of more than once (ch. x. 10, 16 ff.) 
 in the account of the battle of Gibeon, also ch. 
 xii. 16, was a royal city of the Canaanites, accord- 
 ing to the Onom., three hours east of Eleutherop- 
 olis (assuming that this statement of the Onom. 
 does not rest, as Keil, on ch. x. 10, supposes, on an 
 error, and mean west instead of east). This would 
 be, and so Knobel takes it, about the region of 
 Terkumieh, or, if east be understood as = south- 
 east, of Morak. Both places lie at the foot of the 
 mountain of Judah. — Sixteen cities and their vil- 
 lages. In this instance there are actually sixteen. 
 
 Vers. 42—44. Third Group, " further south, em- 
 bracing nine places." Libnah, conquered by 
 Joshua (x. 29, 30), a Canaanite capital (ch. xii. 15), 
 later a city of the Levites (xxi. 13 ; 1 Chr. vi. 57), 
 according to the Onom., Libna in regions Eleuthero- 
 politana. Robinson (ii. p. 389) could find no trace 
 of it. Knobel conjectures that it may be the ruins 
 Hora-Hawara (Robinson, iii. App. 115), discovered 
 by Seetzen (iii. 31 ), because the Arab, hawara, like 
 
 713.27, signifies "white," and therefore this is the 
 Aral), translation of the Hebrew name (comp. sim- 
 ilar examples, vers. 2S— 36). But we cannot accept 
 this acute hypothesis. For. although in the Negeb, 
 where Tel flora stands on Van de Velde's Map, on 
 the road leading north from Beer-sheba, " the 
 Arabic designation of the cities may hare been 
 introduced early " (p. 425), so that the names were 
 ♦brutally translated, still we have not yet, at least 
 »mong the cities of Judah, found a single example 
 of this kind. Nay, what specially concerns the 
 :ase before us, the Arabic geographers in the Mid- 
 lie Ages, as Knobel himself informs us, are still 
 acquainted with a Libna [spelled Lohna] in Pales- 
 ine, e. g. Mar iszid, iii. p. 5, Jakut, Moscht, p. 379. 
 
 Ether and Ashan; afterwards belonging Vc 
 Simeon, xix. 7 ; 1 Chr. iv. 32. Prabobly to b« 
 sought in the south, toward the Negeb. 
 
 Ver. 43. Jiphta and Ashnah and Nezib, un- 
 determinable. 
 
 Ver. 44. Kegila, according to the Onom., eight 
 miles from Eleutheropolis toward Hebron ; rescued 
 by David from the hand of the Philistines (1 Sam. 
 xxiii. 5), but ungratefully treacherous toward him 
 (1 Sam. xxiii. 12). On Kiepert's Map, Jedna 
 ("Rob., hi. App. 117] or Idhna, about southwest of 
 Terkumieh, in accordance with the statement of 
 the Onom. Knobel maintains, on the contrary, that 
 KeeiAo, Ceila, or 'ExeAa of the Onom. now Kila 
 (Tobler, p. 151), belongs here, and finds Kegila 
 rather in the ruins called Khugaleh ( [Jughaleh 1 ] 
 Robinson, iii. App. 115), in the south of the Jebel 
 el-Chalil (Robinson writes el-Khulil). The simi- 
 larity of the name speaks for this position in the 
 
 plain, which suits also with "H, 1 Sam xxiii. 4. 
 
 Achzib, or 3^3, is also mentioned Mic. i. 14; 
 Gen. xxxviii. 5, in the plain. Perhaps Kesaba, 
 Kussabeh (Robinson, ii. 391), a place with springs, 
 and with ruins in the vicinity. 
 
 Maresha, likewise fortified by Rehoboam (2 
 Chr. xi. 8). The scene of Asa's victory (2 Chr. 
 xiv. 9-13), home of an otherwise unknown prophet 
 Eliezer (2 Chr. xx. 37), afterward Marissa (tt6\h 
 Swari), Joseph. Ant. xiv. 5, 3 ; 13, 9), mentioned 
 in the contests of the Maccabees ( 1 Mace. v. 65- 
 68), restored by Gabinius, destroyed by the Parthi- 
 ans. Robinson supposes (ii. 4) that Eleutheropolis 
 (Betogabris, Beit Jibrin), arose after this destruc- 
 tion of Maresha, and was built out of its materials. 
 Its foundation walls he thinks he found one and a 
 half hours south of Beit Jibrin. With this Tobler 
 agrees (pp. 129, 142 f.), who mentions a place of 
 ruins, Marasch, twenty-four minutes from Beit Jib- 
 rin, marked also on Van de Velde's Map as the an- 
 cient Maresha. Knobel seeks it. four hours south of 
 Beit Jibrin, where lies a place Mirsim ( Robinson, iii. 
 App. p. 117). Improbable. Maresha is, at all events, 
 distinct from Moresheth-gath, the home of the 
 prophet Micah (comp. von Raumer, p 215, Rob. ii. 
 4). — Nine cities and their villages. The num- 
 ber is correct again, as at ver. 4 1 . 
 
 Vers. 45-47. Fourth Group. This includes the 
 Philistine cities, Ekron, which ch. xix. 40 is as- 
 cribed to Dan, Ashdod and Gaza, and their 
 daughters, and their villages. But according to 
 ver. 1 1 the border of Judah runs north of Ekron, 
 toward the sea, and so includes the Philistine cities. 
 Of " daughters " i. e. subject cities, no mention 
 has been made in the preceding lists, while here 
 the statement of number at the close of the several 
 groups is wanting. The section is, accordingly, 
 a manifest addition from some other source, as 
 Ewald (Gesch. ii. p. 258), Bertheau (Komm. Zum 
 Buche d. Richt. p. 28), Knobel (p. 419), with per- 
 fect right maintain. Zealously to deny this, as Keil 
 does (Com. on Josh, in loc. ) we regard as perfectly 
 unnecessary, especially as Keil himself (ver. 32) can- 
 not help assuming a " supplementary hand." If a 
 supplement is anywhere possible, then certainly also 
 " a later addition," since both come substantially to 
 the same result. Besides, it is also " very striking," 
 as Keil himself says (I.e.), that Gath and Ashkelon 
 are here wanting, whereas in ch. xiii. 3, they are 
 mentioned, and that too, as cities which had their 
 own princes, and so cannot be reckoned among the 
 " daughters " of the rest. Verses 45-47, therefore, 
 make the impression not only of an addition, but 
 
136 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 etill more definitely that of a fragmentary addition. 
 For the rest we refer to the explanation already 
 given ch. xiii. 3 of the position of the several places, 
 which, after wars renewed through centuries, were 
 first conquered by the Israelites in the age of the 
 Maccabees. Comp. Knobel's excursus | <]" on this 
 passage. 
 
 y. vers. 48-60. Cities on the Mountain, vers. 
 48-51. First Group, wholly in the south, embra- 
 cing eleven cities. — On the mountain. See ch x. 
 40. — Shamir, perhaps Urn Schaumereh (Robin- 
 son, iii. App. p. 115). — Jattir, a priests' city (ch. 
 xxi. 14; 1 Chr. vi. 57), probably Attir (Rob. ii. 
 194, 625). — Soeho, different from Socho in the 
 lowland (ver. 35), but like that now called Suwei- 
 keh (Robinson, ii. 195), about ten miles S. S.W. 
 from Hebron (von Raumer, p. 222). 
 
 Dannah, passed over by von Raumer. Perhaps, 
 
 in Knobel's judgment, we are to read 71317 = 
 7133?^ = Zannte, the last inhabited place on the 
 southwest part of the mountain, five hours south 
 of Hebron (Robinson [Zanuta], ii. 626, iii. App. 
 116). — Kirjath-Sannah, that is Debir. Concern- 
 ing this, see on ch. x. 38, and also ver. 15 here. 
 
 Ver. 50. Anab, " a home of Anakim (xi. 21), 
 Btill existing under the old name east of Thabarieh, 
 (Seetzen, iii. 6, Robinson, ii. 195)" (Knobel). It 
 has, according to Robinson, a small tower. 
 
 Eshtemoh, situated very high, according to 
 Schubert, 2225 feet above the sea. A city of the 
 priests, ch. xxi. 14 ; now Sennia, a considerable 
 village, which Robinson saw (ii. 196) from Tha- 
 barieh. Around it (ii. 626) are broad valleys, "not 
 susceptible of much tillage, but full of flocks and 
 herds all in fine order." The travellers halted 
 among the olive trees in the moist southern valley. 
 At several places in the village they saw remains 
 of walls built of large stones, beveled around the 
 edges, but left rough, between, some of which were 
 more than ten feet long. Eshtemoh, or Eshtemoa 
 
 (SiDPti'S), appears from the extent of these walls 
 to have been, as Robinson judges, a spacious town. 
 It once received from David a part ( 1 Sam. xxx. 
 28) of the booty from the Amalekites. 
 
 Anim, probably the present Ghuwein (von 
 Raumer, p. 171, Knobel), south of Semua. So Wil- 
 son (i. 354 ap. von Raum. against Robinson, who 
 regards Ghuwein as Ain, ver. 32). 
 
 Ver. 51. Goshen, not determined. — Holon, a 
 priests' city (ch. xxi. 15 ; 1 Chr. vi. 58 [Hilen] ), not 
 ret discovered. — Giloh, birthplace of Ahithophel 
 (2 Sam. xv. 12), where the traitor against David 
 hanged himself (2 Sam.xvii. 23). — Eleven cities. 
 The number is correct. 
 
 Ver. 52-54. Second Group, north of the first, 
 west of the third group. See Menke's Map. 
 
 Ver. 52. Arab, omitted by von Raumer ; perhaps, 
 as Knobel thinks, Husn el Ghurab near Semua 
 (Robinson, i. 312). This is very questionable, 
 since Robinson only heard from the Arabs of a 
 ruin el-Ghurab, but did not see it. 
 
 Dumah, rTEOT, LXX. : Povfui, stated in the 
 Onom. to have been seventeen miles from Eleu- 
 -heropolis (Beit Jibrin), now Daumeh, a ruined vil- 
 lage, not far from Hebron in the Wady Dilbeh 
 (Robinson, i. 314). In Is. xxi. 11 Dumah is the 
 proper name of an Ishmaelite tribe in Arabia, 
 with wnich comp. Gen. xxv. 14. 
 
 Eshean (^StTM), elsewhere not mentioned. 
 Rince the Cod. Vat. of the LXX. has lopi, we 
 
 ght 
 
 43 f. 
 
 read with Knobel, after 1 Chr. ii. 
 V12W, and compare the place of ruins Simir (Rob- 
 inson, iii. App. p. 114), south of Daumeh. Vru 
 Raumer has passed over this place also, as being 
 unrecognizable. Keil likewise. 
 
 Ver. 53- Janum. On the reading comp. the 
 foot-note on the text. Not discovered. 
 
 Beth-tappua not to be confounded (a) with 
 Tappuah in the lowland (ver. 34), (6) with the En 
 Tappuah mentioned ch. xvii. 7, which was assigned 
 to Manasseh. The name of both towns refers to 
 
 fruit culture, since CH - / 7 ! (from flSJ, to emit 
 odors) signifies apple (Cant. vii. 9; Trov. xxv. 
 11), or apple-tree 1 (Cant, ii 3 ; viii. 5). Robinson 
 found apples and pears in the neighborhood of 
 Gophna, now Jifna [Jufna], (Robinson, iii. 77-80), 
 four and one half hours north of Jerusalem. 
 Comp. also von Raumer, p. 100. Beth tappuah 
 would thus be = apple-house. The name has been 
 preserved in Taffuh, a place about two hours west 
 of Hebron. It still lies (Robinson, ii. 428) "in the 
 midst of olive-groves and vineyards with marks of 
 industry on every side." This circumstance favors 
 our interpretation of the name, since where olive 
 trees and vines flourish apple trees can and could 
 be produced. Knobel, on the contrary, explains 
 
 TVBF\, from n?U and n?S, by "extent," 
 " breadth." " surface," and adduces, in support of 
 this interpretation of the name, the fact that both 
 our Bcth-tappuah and En-tappuah (ch. xvii. 7) lay 
 in a plain. To sustain our view, which von Rau- 
 mer also gives (p. 181), we may adduce the anal- 
 ogy of Bethphage NgBTPa, Chald. for the 
 
 Heb. 35TP3 (Cant. ii. 13), = Fig-house. 
 
 Apheka not the same as Aphek (xii. 18 ; xiii. 4), 
 which lay in the plain not far from Jezreel (1 Sam. 
 xxix. 1 ; IK. xx. 26, 30), where Saul was slain 
 by the Philistines, Benhadad the Syrian by the 
 Israelites ; but on Mount Judah, near Hebron, 
 " probably between Hebron and Tuffah " (Keil). 
 Against the opinion of von Raumer (p. 172) that 
 the battle of 1 Sam. iv. 1 may have taken place 
 here, comp. Thenius on that passage. Aphek on 
 the mountain of Judah has not yet been discovered. 
 
 The frequent occurrence of the name P??j or 
 
 P^S ( Judg. i. 31 ), or HpCK here, is explained, 
 
 as in the case of TVT5i n "J! 3 > Tfa from the 
 meaning of the word which signifies strength, and 
 then Fort, Burg (seeGesen.). It is derived from 
 
 PES, to be strong. 
 
 Ver 54. Humtah, not yet found. The name 
 (ntpj?n) appears to be related to ISP'n, Lev. xi. 30, 
 LXX eraipa, Vulg. lacerta, probably a species of 
 lizard (Gesen.). Lizards are mentioned by Seetzen 
 (pp. 446-448) ap. von Raumer (p. 105). There are 
 such still in Palestine [Tristram, pp. 495. 536], and 
 a place might be named after this creature just as 
 well a-atn : rthefoxorjackal(Hazor-shual,ver.28). 
 
 Kirjath Arba, that is, Hebron. See ver. 13. 
 Comp. besides, the more particular account of this 
 citv on ch. x. 36. 
 
 Zior. The name is perhaps retained, as Knobel 
 suggests, in that of the ridge Tughra near Hebron 
 (see Rosenm. Zeitschr. der D. M. O. xi. p. 56) 
 There are nine of the cities as stated. 
 
 1 [Tristram (Land of lsrad, p. 609 !•) strenuously m»ln 
 tains that the Apricot It the apple of Scripture. — Tl.J 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 131 
 
 Ver. 55-57. 'JTtird Group. East and northeast 
 of the first, (Knobel: northward; but see Menke's 
 Map) and southeast (Knobel: east) of the second. 
 
 Maon, now Main, " without doubt the Maon of 
 Nabal (Robinson, ii. 194; 1 Sam. xxv. 2). It 
 stood on the summit of a conical rock ( Robinson, 
 p. 193), which is crowned with ruins of no great 
 extent. David kept himself in the wilderness of 
 Maon (1 Sam. xxiii. 24 ff. ; xxv. 2). 
 
 Carmel, a name familiar in the history of Saul 
 (1 Sam. xv. 12), of David (1 Sam. xxv. 2, 5, 7, 40 ; 
 xxvii. 3), of Uzziah (2 Chr. xxvi. 10) ; in Roman 
 times a castle (Robinson, p. 198) with a garrison. 
 It appears in the history of King Amalrich in the 
 Middle Ages, a. d. 1172 (Robinson, p. 199)._ Now 
 called Kurmul, with vast ruins from antiquity and 
 the Middle Ages. 
 
 Ziph. When its inhabitants proved treacherous 
 toward David (1 Sam. xxiii. 19; xxvi. 1 ; Ps. liv. 
 2), he removed (1 Sam. xxiii. 14, 15, 19 ff.) from 
 the wilderness of this name to the wilderness of 
 Maon. Rehoboam fortified the city, whose ruins, 
 according to Robinson (ii. 191), " lie on a low hill 
 or ridge between two small Wadies which com- 
 mence here and run toward the Dead Sea." Now 
 called Zif, about one and three fourth hours south- 
 east of Hebron (von Raumer, p. 222). Not to be 
 confounded with Ziph, ver. 24. 
 
 Jut tab (niST), according to xxi. 16, a priest- 
 city, now Jutta (Robinson, /. c), " having the ap- 
 pearance of a large, modern Mohammedan town " 
 (p. 628). It was, probably, according to the con- 
 jecture first proposed by Reland (Pattest, p. 870), 
 adopted by Bachiene, Rosenmiiller (and also by 
 Robinson), the abode of the priest Zachariah. the 
 w6\ls 'lovSa (Luke i. 39). Reland supposes (Rob- 
 inson, ii. 628, note) that it. 'lovra has been changed 
 by error of the text, or softer pronunciation (comp. 
 von Raumer, p. 208, Anm. p. 222). 
 
 Ver. 56. Jezreel ( vSS~)T*, " whom or what, 
 God plants"), different from the Jezreel in the 
 plain of Esdraelon (xvii. 16), and mentioned else- 
 where only as the home of Ahinoam, the second 
 wife of David (not reckoning Michal whom Saul, 
 1 Sara. xxv. 44, gave to Shalti). Not to be iden- 
 tified. Jokdeam and Zanoah, likewise undiscov- 
 ered, and not elsewhere named. 
 
 Ver. 57. Cain C,?Mi? with the art. prop. " the 
 lance"), perhaps Jukin (Robinson, ii. 190), as 
 Knobel proposes (p. 437), "a Mohammedan Ma- 
 kani (station, grave), where they say Lot stopped 
 after his flight from Sodom " (Robinson, /. c). 
 
 Qibeah i ni , 22 = hill), a very common name of 
 place (ch. xviii. 28, Gibeah in the tribe of Benja- 
 min, Gibeah of Saul, 1 Sam. xi. 4 ; xiii. 2 ; xv. 
 2, and often, besides Gibeah in the tribe of Eph- 
 raim, ch. xxiv. 33). It shares with the topograph- 
 ical names 373;! (xviii. 24; xxi. 17), and "13732 
 (x. 2; xi. 19), and also that of the "judgment 
 hall," ra/8/8a9o, John xix. 13, the derivation from 
 
 the same root 7132 (to be high, to be arched) and 
 signification. Robinson (ii. 14) believes that in 
 the village of Jeba (Jebah) in the Wady el-Mus- 
 urr, southwest of Bethlehem, he had " with little 
 ioubt" discovered again Gibeah of Benjamin. 
 This Gibeah is also, in bis view, probably the Ga- 
 batha of Eusebius and Jerome, twelve Roman 
 miles from Eleutheropolis. Von Raumer agrees 
 with hin, while Keil and Knobel differ, on the 
 grounds that this place lies without the district of 
 
 this division of cities, and that the similarity of 
 name proves nothing, since this, as just now 
 shown, very often recurs elsewhere. Indeed, Rob- 
 inson himself (iii. 151), as Keil points out. found 
 another village, Jebak, north of Shechem ! For 
 these reasons we also side with the two latter in- 
 terpreters. Perhaps our Gibeah is (although we 
 cannot assert this, with the certainty which Kno- 
 bel expresses), one of the viculi called Gabaa and 
 Gabatha, contra orientalem plagam Oaromoz, in the 
 Onom. $■ v. Gahathon. 
 
 Timnah, to be carefully distinguished from Tira- 
 nah between Beth-shemesh and Ekron (xv. 10: 
 xix. 43 ; Judg. xiv. ; xv. 1-6), but certainly iden- 
 tical (so von Raumer, p. 224, and Knobel, p. 437, 
 iii/mitst Keil, in loc.) with Timnah (Gen. xxxviii. 
 12-14), to which Judah went up to his sheep-shear- 
 ers. Not yet discovered. On Mount Epbraim lay 
 
 (j~0Qi71 DTjO), ch. xix. 50 ; xxiv. 30. The name 
 
 (from i"T2p) signifies " portion assigned," Gesen. 
 There are ten cities as stated. 
 
 Vers. 58, 59. Fourth Group. This lies north of 
 the second and third. Halhul, still called Halhul 
 or Hulhul, in a well cultivated region, and chief 
 city of a district. Beautiful fields and vineyards 
 are seen there (Robinson, Later Bib!. Res., p. 281), 
 and also many cows and goats. Noticeable is Rob- 
 inson's remark : " The identity of no ancient site 
 is more undisputed, though it seems not to have 
 been recognized before our former journey " (/. c. 
 comp. Bibl. Res. i. 319). The place lies north of 
 Hebron on the way to Jerusalem (comp. also Val 
 entiner, Das heilige Land, p. 38). 
 
 Beth-zur, now Beit-Sur (Robinson, Later Bibl. 
 Res. p. 276 f.), whose principal relic is a ruined 
 tower, of which only one side is left. The place 
 appears to have been small but very strong, ac- 
 cording to Josephus [Ant. xiii. 5, 6), the strongest 
 fortress in all Judaea. It is frequently mentioned 
 in the First Book of Maccabees (ch. iv. 29, 61 ; vi. 
 7, 26, 31 f., 49 f. ; ix. 52, etc.), seldom in the O. T 
 (2 Chr. xi. 7 ; Neh. iii. 16). Here, according to 
 an old tradition found in the Onom., Philip (Acts 
 viii. 26-40) baptized the Eunuch (von Raumer, p. 
 182.) 
 
 Gedor, referred to, 1 Chron. xii. 7, as the home 
 of Joelah and Zebadiah, two followers of David ; 
 now Jedur, " on the brow of a high mountain 
 ridge" (Robinson, ii. 338), about northwest of 
 the road between Hebron and Jerusalem ; a small 
 ruin marked by one tree (Robinson, Later Bibl. 
 Res. p. 276 f.). 
 
 Verse 59. Maarath, unknown. Beth-anoth 
 (m35?TI 3, house of answers, of Echo, Gesen.), 
 
 distinct from ni37W3 in the tribe of Naphtali, 
 ch. xix. 38; Judg. i. 33, now Beit Ainun, with 
 ruins which Wolcott visited in 1842. Robinson 
 ( Later Bibl. Res. p. 280 f. ) saw it from Er Rameh. 
 Elthekon not discovered. 
 
 Fifth Group. According to the addition of the 
 LXX. which Jerome also has, on Mic. v. 2. " Cer- 
 tainly," says Knobel rightly, " this is no invention 
 of the LXX. but a translation of the original text, 
 which therefore lay more complete before them. 
 Otherwise a large piece of the mountain of Judah 
 with numerous places would be passed over, which, 
 considering the completeness of the author else- 
 where, has not the slightest probability. The gap 
 in the Masoretic text originated with a transcriber 
 
 who having read the JiT'lSm, ver. 59, supposed 
 
138 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 he had read the JITTSfTl at the end of this di- 
 vision." To this view Keil also assents, while lie 
 refers to the naive opinion of Jerome, that the 
 words had probably been rejected by the Jews from 
 malice (malitia), "ne Christusde triliaJuda ortusvid- 
 eretur," against which Clericns, " quite rightly " ob- 
 jected, '' jVoh video cur a Judceis propterea erasa essent, 
 cum sit alias in V. T. sat freguens meittio Bethlehemi 
 Davidis patrice." Menke also follows this view 
 on his map, while Maurer on the other hand, and 
 Bunsen, declare against the addition. The former 
 — since the LXX. in this book have allowed them- 
 selves many additions as well as omissions and ar- 
 bitrary changes — thinks most probably " eos totum 
 hoc comma ex loco quucunque alio, proprio Marie hue 
 transtulisse." The possibility of such a proceeding 
 need not be denied ; but here, as Keil and Knobel 
 rightly urge, our Masoretic text presents a mani- 
 fest hiatus which is excellently filled up by the ad- 
 dition of the LXX. Bunsen says : "The forms 
 of many of these names are decidedly not Hebrew ; 
 besides, except Tecoah and Bethlehem, not one of 
 the cities is elsewhere mentioned in the 0. T. We 
 have, therefore, here an old Aramaic gloss, which 
 •ome MSS. afterwards received into the text." 
 Reply : The first reason proposed by Bunsen is an 
 assertion without proof; and the second has no 
 weight, because very many of the cities mentioned 
 in this chapter are named nowhere else in the O. 
 T., e. g. ver. 56, Jokdeam and Zanoah ; ver. 54, 
 Humtah ; ver. 53, Jamun ; ver. 43, Nezib, etc. We, 
 therefore, regard the addition of the LXX. as a 
 highly valuable complement to the Masoretic text, 
 serving to fill up the catalogue of the cities. In an 
 English translation it would read : Tekoa and 
 Ephrata {that is Bethlehem) , and Phagor and Aitam 
 (Aitan),and Knlon and Tatami { Tatam), and Soresh 
 ( Thobesh ) , and Karem and Galiim, and Baither { The- 
 ter), and Manocho; eleven cities and their villages. 
 
 Telcoah (Sipffi), two hours south of Bethlehem, 
 the home of the prophet Amos (i. 1), who is said 
 to have been buried here ; fortified by Rehoboam 
 (2 Chr. xi. 6), and elsewhere mentioned in the 0. 
 T., e. g. 2 Sam. xiv. 2 ; Jer. vi. 1 ; Xeh. iii. 5, 27 ; 
 now Tekuah (Robinson, ii. 182-184 [Tristram, p. 
 406]), on a hill covered with ruins ; which agrees 
 with Jer. vi. 1. Concerning the neighboring 
 Frankenberg (Frank Mountain), which the Franks 
 are reported to have held for forty years after the 
 loss of Jerusalem, comp. von Raumer's " Excur- 
 sus," p. 223. 
 
 Ephratah (i. e. Bethlehem). Both names are ap- 
 plied, Ruth iv. 11; Mic. v. 1, unquestionably to 
 the city now before us, Bethlehem-Judah (Judg. 
 xvii 7," 9; xix. 1, 2; 1 Sam. xvii. 12 ; Ruth i. 1, 
 2). It was different from the Bethlehem in the 
 tribe of Zebulun (xix. 15) ; but whether this Beth- 
 lehem-Ephratah can be meant Gen. xxxv. 16, 19, 
 is doubtful, comp. Lange's Com. on Gen. p. 569. 
 
 The name 2n!?W2 = house of bread, bread- 
 house (Winer, i. 172) is clear; •"" H?£? also, or 
 nn^~S, is witnout difficulty derived from i"'"??' 
 with which the related E^TS may be compared. 
 
 In this view S would be = " the fruitful," "a 
 name," as Lange remarks {uhi sup.), " which cor- 
 responds with the added name Bethlehem." Be- 
 sides the place is, as maybe seen from Ruth, ch. ii. 
 and from the descriptions of modern travellers, 
 really fruitful. Thus Furrer relates : " The nearer 
 «e approached Bethlehem, the better cultivated we 
 
 found the fields But surprisingly lovely 
 
 was to us the sight of the Wady Charubeh, the 
 valley above which, high in the south, lies the lit- 
 tle town of Bethlehem, two thousand seven hun- 
 dred and four feet above the sea. There olive 
 and fig trees were growing in rich abundance. 
 Vineyards spread themselves out on the north- 
 western slope, whose watch-towers gently reminded 
 us of long past times." Bethlehem is now called 
 Beit-Lahm, that is, house of flesh, and is inhabited, 
 since 1834, almost exclusively by Christians, of 
 whom Tobler thinks, there may be three thousand. 
 The remaining three hundred inhabitants are Mo- 
 hammedans. There are no Jews there. The his- 
 torical importance of Bethlehem as David's city 
 (Ruth iv. 11 ; 1 Sam. xvi. 4; xvii. 12, 15; xx. 6, 
 2S ; Mic. v. 1), and as the birthplace of Christ 
 (Matt, ii iff; Luke ii. 4, 15) is well known. 
 Further particulars concerning the place see in 
 Seetzen, ii. 37 ff. ; Robinson, ii. 157-163 ; Tobler, 
 Topographic von Jerusalem, ii. 464 ; and Bethlehem 
 in Palastina, p. 2 ff. ; Furrer, Wanderunq en durch 
 Palastina, p. 167 ff.; Valentiner, Das heil. Land, 
 p. 28 ff. ; von Raumer, p. 313 ff. ; Ritter, Erd- 
 kunde, xvi. p. 284 ff. [Gage's transl. iii. 339-501. 
 
 Phagor, now Faghur between Hebron and Beth- 
 lehem, west of the road ( Robinson, Later Bibl. Res 
 p. 275, Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, p. 91 ff.). 
 
 Aitam (Et2 s 3?) mentioned 2 Chron. xi. 6, among 
 the cities fortified by Rehoboam, immediately after 
 Bethlehem. The name is still preserved in the 
 Wady and Ain Attar between Bethlehem and 
 Faghur, in Tobler, uhi sup. p. 88 ff. (Knobel). 
 Once, in Solomon's time, a pleasant place with 
 gardens, and perhaps also with a pleasure palace 
 of the king (Furrer, p. 177, Anm. 1). 
 
 Ktdon, now Kulonieh or Kalonieh, lying high 
 above the pilgrim road to Jerusalem (Furrer, p. 
 141). The moderately extensive ruins of ancient 
 Kulon which Hitzig, Sepp, Van Osterzee (Lange's 
 Comm. on Luke, ch. xxiv. 13), Furrer, and appar- 
 ently also Tobler {Nazareth in Palast. u. s. w. pp. 
 316, 319), understand to be the Emmaus of the N. 
 T. " lie near the bottom of the valley whose love- 
 liness is very beautifully described by Furrer. " A 
 copious spring," he says, " concealed under an 
 overarching rock, by a double outlet irrigated gar- 
 dens, in which numerous almond trees with pink 
 blossoms gleamed through the dark green foliage 
 of the orange-trees. Up the surrounding slopes, 
 vineyards and rows of olive trees rose by a suc- 
 cession of terraces. The prospect extends not far 
 in any direction ; but its seclusion heightens the 
 charm of the happy, pleasant vale " (p. 142). The 
 distance from Jerusalem is about one and a half 
 hours. 
 
 Tatami, or Tatam, is not identified, nor Galiim ; 
 for the Galiim named, Is. x. 30 ; 1 Sam. xxv. 44, 
 lay north of Jerusalem in Benjamin (Knobel). 
 
 Sores, now Saris, "on a proud hill" (Furrer, p. 
 139), up which terraces of olive-trees ascend, four 
 hours west of Jerusalem (comp. also Robinson, 
 Later Bibl. Res. p. 154 ff). 
 
 Karem, now Ain Karem, three quarters of an 
 hour west of Jerusalem ( Furrer, p. 210), with a 
 splendid cloister, whose garden walls are overhung 
 bv tall cypress-trees, in the midst of a landscape 
 which surprises the traveller by its loveliness and 
 beauty (Robinson, ii. 141-157, Later Bibl. Res. p 
 271 f.', Tobler, Topog. ii. 344 ff). 
 
 Beither, now Better, southwest of Jerusalem 
 (Furrer, p. 191), situated high up on a mountain 
 side above fine green terraces, surrounded with 
 
CHAPTERS S.VL, XVII. 
 
 139 
 
 alive and fig trees ; mentioned. Cant. ii. 17, where 
 
 the "">'"?? '!?H nre Dest explained as mountains 
 
 Dt'Bether. "'O? signifies part, piece. Gen. xv. 10 ; 
 
 Jer. xxxiv. IS, 19. Cognate is p"7?! prob. 
 
 mountain defile, 2 Sam. ii. 29. "^2, j'TT/p? is 
 what we technically call terrain coupe' (a country 
 cut up, broken country). Of this character is the 
 country about Bether (Furrer, p. 192). 
 
 Mauocho, according to Knobel's highly probable 
 
 conjecture = '"^03^2, 1 Chr. viii. 6, to which place 
 Benjamites were carried from Geba. 
 
 Ver. 60. Sixth Group, northwest of the fifth, em- 
 bracing only two cities. Kirjath-jearim, ver. 9. 
 As was there remarked, this place was = to Ku re- 
 yet el-Enab, three hours northwest of Jerusalem. 
 " The old ' city of the woods ' has become in mod- 
 ern times the 'city of wine,' " as Robinson (ii. 335) 
 interprets the ancient and the present name. Peo- ! 
 pie from Kirjath-jearim once brought up the ark ' 
 from Beth-shemesh (1 Sam. vi. 21 ; vii. 1, 2). Of 
 the vineyards some still exist, according to Valen- 
 tiner, p. 19, on the east side of the place. Rabba, 
 not to he identified. 
 
 5. Ver. 61, 62. Cities in the Wilderness. The 
 wilderness of Judah bordered in the east on the 
 Dead Sea, in the south on the Xegeb, on the terri- 
 tory of the third, fourth, and fifth groups of cities I 
 (westward) on Mount Judah (see Menke's map, 
 iii.), in the north on the border line of the tribe of I 
 ■Judah as given vers. 6, 7. This whole region 
 is with good reason designated as a wilderness 
 
 (~13"TO), since, with the exception of En-gedi and 
 certain spots where springs occur, it is a wild, bar- 
 ren, " frightful" (Furrer, p. 149) solitude. Thus 
 the neighborhood of the Cloister of Mar Saba. e. 
 g. wears the appearance of terrible desolation and 
 loneliness. " In vain the eye searches far and near 
 for some green thiiiL' to cover the weather-worn 
 chalk rock of the gullied mountain. In summer 
 the intolerable heat blazes upon the naked rocks, 
 and the winter rains rush down from the heights 
 to no profit " (Furrer, p. 161). The roads through 
 this wilderness, on which the starry heavens look 
 down at night with wondrous beauty (Furrer, «. 
 s. ), lead frequently to steep precipices; sometimes 
 bo abruptly down the rocks that it needs all the 
 
 sagacitv and practice of the animals not to fall 
 (Furrer, p. 149). In this solitude David oncf 
 spent his time (1 Sam. xxiii. 24 ; Ps. lxiii. 1 ; liv 
 2), here John the Baptist preached (Matt. iii. \) 
 here Christ was tempted (Matt. iv. 1 ; Mark ii. 12, 
 13 ; Luke iv. 1). Comp. further, Knobel, p. 440; 
 Robinson, ii. 187, 202 ff., 474 ff. ; von Schubert, 
 iii. pp. 94, 96, 102 ff. ; Seetzen, ii. p. 220 ff. ; von 
 Raunier, p. 47. 
 
 Vers. 61, 62. Beth-arabah, ver. 6. Probably 
 Kaffr Hajla (Knobel). Maddin, Secaeah, Nib- 
 shan. not mentioned elsewhere, unknown. 
 
 The city of Salt (Ir-hamelah, n./^il "PS), 
 LXX. : T) mjAis raw a\wv. Vulg. : civitas salis. 
 Luther: Salzstadt [Salt city]. Probably near the 
 valley of Salt where the Edomites suffered several 
 defeats (Knobel), and so, tolerably far south, comp. 
 2 Sam. viii. 13 ; Ps. lx. 2 ; 2 K. xiv. 7 ; 1 Chr. 
 xviii. 12; 2 Chr. xxv. 11 ; and so Robinson, ii. 
 4S3. 
 
 En-gedi 0T?T*lJ, Goat -fountain), now A in 
 Jidy, on the west side of the Dead Sea, with a 
 rich, warm (81° F., Robinson, ii. 210), sweet spring 
 of water (Furrer, p. 159), which once refreshed 
 palms and balsam-shrubs. " The Canticles sing 
 (i. 14) of a ' cluster of the Hennah ' ' from the vine- 
 yards of En-gedi. Here flourishes the giant As- 
 elepias, which bears the fruit so famous under the 
 name of Apples of Sodom" (Furrer, p. 159). The 
 vegetation is tropical. By the fountain are the re- 
 mains of various edifices apparently ancient, al- 
 though the spot where the old city stood appeart 
 to have been further down (Robinson, ii. 216). 
 Here David tarried, 1 Sam. xxiv. 2. Whether 
 Hazezon-Tamar (Gen. xiv. 7 ; comp. 2 Chr. xx. 2) 
 was the same place as En-gedi, is doubtful ; von 
 Raumer (p. 188) and Keil are in favor of the sup- 
 position, Knobel (on this verse) is against it. 
 
 Ver. 63. A passing statement that the children 
 of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites. 
 The same verse is repeated, Judg. i. 21, with the 
 difference only that, instead of the children of 
 Judah, the children of Benjamin are named, to 
 whom, according to ch. xviii. 28, the place wai 
 allotted. See more on xviii. 28. On the impor- 
 tance of this verse for determining the date of the 
 composition of our book, see the Introd. § 2. 
 
 1 [Did. of the Bible, art. " Camphire." — Tb.J 
 
 2. The Territory of the Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh 
 Chapters XVI., XVII. 
 
 a. Its Boundaries. 
 
 Chapter XVI. 1-4. 
 
 And the lot of [for] the children [sons] of Joseph fell [came out] from [the] Jor- 
 dan by Jericho, unto [at] the water of Jericho, on the east, to the wilderness which 
 goeth up from Jericho throughout [on] Mount Beth-el, And goeth [and it went] 
 out from Beth-el to Luz, and passeth [passed] along unto the border of Archi [the 
 Arehite] to Ataroth, And goeth [went] down westward to the coast [border] of 
 Japhleti [the Japhletite], unto the coast [border] of Beth-horon the nether, and to 
 Gezer : and the goings out thereof are [were] at the sea. So [And] the children 
 [sons] of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance [possession | 
 
140 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 b. Portion of the Tribe of Ephraim. 
 Chapter XVI. 5-10. 
 
 5 And the border of the children [sons] of Ephraim [was] according to their fami- 
 lies was thus [omit: was thus]: even [and] the border of their inheritance [posses- 
 
 6 sion] on the east side was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon the upper ; And the 
 border went out toward the sea to Michmethah on the north side [so De TVettt! ; 
 Keil, and Fay : from Michrnethah, northward] ; and the border went about east- 
 ward unto Taanath-shiloh, and passed by it on the east [eastward] to Janohah 
 
 7 And it went down froin Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and came to [struck 
 
 8 or touched] Jericho, aud went out at [the] Jordan. The border went out [went] 
 from Tappuah westward unto the river [water-course of] Kanah: and the goings 
 out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe 
 
 9 of the children [sons] of Ephraim by their families. And 1 the separate cities 
 for the children [sons] of Ephraim ivere among the inheritance of the children 
 
 10 [sons] of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. And they drave not out the 
 Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer : but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites 
 unto this day, and serve under tribute [and they became tributary servants ; LXX. : 
 KaL iyivovro \nr6<popoi &ovkoi~\. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Perhaps the connection of this Terse, and its own meaning may best be represented thus : Ver. 8. This is the pos- 
 
 msion Ver. 9. And [also] the cities which were separated for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the possession 
 
 »f the sons of Manasseh, etc. — Te.] 
 
 c. Portion of the Tribe of Manasseh. 
 Chapter XVTI. 1-13. 
 
 1 There was also a lot [And there was the lot] for the tribe of Manasseh ; for he 
 was the first-born of Joseph ; to wit, for Machir the first-born of Manasseh, the 
 father of Gilead : [,] because he was a man of war. [;] therefore [and] he had 
 
 2 Gilead and Bashan. There was also [And there was] a lot for the rest of the chil- 
 dren [sons] of Manasseh by their families; for the children [sons] of Abiezer, and 
 for the children [sons] of Helek. and for the children [sons] of Asriel, and for the 
 children [sons] of Shechem, and for the children [sons] of Hepher, and for the 
 children [sons] of Shemida : these were the male children of Manasseh the son 
 
 3 of Joseph by their families. But [And] Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son 
 of Gilead. the son of Machir. the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters : and 
 
 4 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 Lord [Jehovah] commanded Moses to give us an 
 inheritance [a possession] among our brethren : therefore [and] according to the 
 commandment of the Lord [Jehovah] he gave them an inheritance [a possession] 
 
 5 among the brethren of their father. And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, be- 
 
 6 sides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side [of the] Jordan ; 
 Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance [possession] among his sons : 
 and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead. 
 
 7 And the coast [border] of Manasseh was from Asher to Mchinethah, that lieth 
 before Shechem ; and the border went along on the right hand [De Wette : towards 
 
 8 the south] unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah. Now [omit: now] Manasseh had 
 the land of Tappuah : but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the 
 
 1 children of Ephraim : And the border descended unto the river [water-course 
 of] Kanah [reeds ; hence = Reed-brook], southward of the river [water-course]. 
 These cities l of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh : the coast [border] of 
 Manasseh also was on the north side of the river [water-course], and the out-goings 
 
 1 of it were at the sea : Southward it [the land] was Ephraim's. and northward it 
 was Manasseh's, and the sea is [was] his border ; and they met together in 
 [touche 1, oi struck upon] Asher on the north, and in [upon] Issachar on the east 
 
CHAPTERS XVI., XVII. 
 
 141 
 
 LI And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher, Beth-shean and her towns [daugh- 
 ters], and Ibleam and her towns [daughters], and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns 
 [daughters], and the inhabitants of En-Dor aud her towns [daughters], and the in- 
 habitants of Taanach and her towns [daughters], and the inhabitants of Megiddo and 
 her towns [daughters], even three countries [Gesen., Fay : the three heights, i. e. the 
 three cities situated on heights. See the exegetical explanations. LXX. : «ai to tpitov 
 r»]s No^ey. Vulg. : tertia pars. Luther: the third part of Napheth, De Wette : three 
 
 12 portions of country (drei Landschajten) ; Bunsen : die Dreilandschaf]. Yet [And] 
 the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of [could not conquer] 
 
 13 those cities ; but [and] the Canaauites would dwell in that land. Yet [And] it came 
 to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen [became] strong, that they put the 
 Canaanites to tribute [made the Canaauites tributary servants] ; but did not utterly 
 drive them out, [De Wette, Fay : aber vertreiben thaten sie sie nicht ; nearly the 
 same as "but drive them out they did not do ; " to express : W'Hin N? ttTTiiTl]' 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 9. These cities had Ephraim in the midst of the cities of Manasseh. 
 north side of the water-course. — Ta.J 
 
 And the border of Manasseh was on tb* 
 
 d. Complaint of the Sons of Joseph on Account of an insufficient Possession. 
 Chapter XVII. 14-18. 
 
 14 And the children [sons] of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou 
 given me but one lot and one portion to inherit [as a possession], seeing I am a great 
 people, forasmuch as [in so far as, ~27H"1^] the Lord [Jehovah] hath blessed me 
 
 15 hitherto? And Joshua answered [said to] them. If thou be a great people, then 
 [omit : then] get thee up to the v/ood-country [forest], and cut down for thyself 
 there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants [Rephaim], if mount Ephraim 
 
 16 be too narrow for thee. And the children [sons] of Joseph said, The hill [moun- 
 tain] 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 [in] Beth-shean and her towns 
 
 17 [daughters], and they who are of [in] the valley of Jezreel. And Joshua spake 
 unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a 
 
 1 8 great people and hast great power, thou shalt not have one lot only : But the [a] 
 mountain shall be thine ; for it is a wood [forest], and thou shalt cut it down : and 
 the out-goings of it [its outrunners, spurs] shall be thine : for thou shalt [wilt] 
 drive out the Canaanites, though [for] they have iron chariots, and though they be 
 [for they are] strong. 
 
 EXEOETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 The two chapters, sixteen and seventeen, belong 
 together, since they contain the statements con- 
 cerning the territory of the tribes of Ephraim and 
 Manasseh, the sons of Joseph (Gen. xli. 50-52; 
 xlvi. 20; xlviii. 5 flf.). The united inheritance of 
 the two tribes includes a fruitful, for the most part, 
 and pleasant country h iiiLC in the midst of western 
 Palestine. It extends from the Jordan, and the east- 
 ern declivities of mount Ephraim (which are much 
 less rough than the land of Judith), across to the sea- 
 shore which borders the beautiful plain of Sharon. 
 Of this entire district Ephraim received the south- 
 ern portion, Manasseh (strictly speaking only the 
 half-tribe of Manasseh, comp. ch. xiii. 29 If.) the 
 northern. Ephraim only, and he for a narrow 
 space, touched the Jordan. See the often men- 
 tioned and very clear Map iii. of Menke's Bibel 
 
 1 [Mr. Grove, in the Diet, of the Bible (e g. i. 752 b, note 
 I repeatedly says that irT"l? 11^~ , 1 should be ren- 
 
 Atlas, and also Kiepert's Wall Map. On the qual 
 ity of the land comp. Robinson, iii., lect. xiv. ; 
 Ritter, xvi. 566 ff. [Gage's transl. iv. 293-J32] ; von 
 Raumer, pp. 42-45 ; Furrer, pp. 21 1-246 ; Robin- 
 son, Phys. Geog. pp. 34-42 [Stanley, Sin. and Pal 
 ch. v.]. 
 
 a. Ch. xvi. 1-4. Boundaries of the Entire Prov- 
 ince. Ver. 1. The lot came out, namely, from the 
 urn. Bunsen rightly observes : " From the ambi- 
 guity of the word ' lot,' the passage might perhaps 
 be paraphrased thus : ' The lot was drawn for the 
 children of Joseph and to them fell,' " etc. 
 
 From the Jordan by Jericho, 1 at the watet 
 of Jericho on the east. The water of Jericho is 
 the fountain of Elisha (2 K. ii. 19-22), now Ain es- 
 Sultan, whose waters are diffused over the plain 
 (Robinson, ii. 283 tf.). It gurgles forth beauti- 
 fully from under the rocks, and forms, at the foot 
 of the hill from which it comes, a beautiful basin 
 
 Jordan," the " Jordan of Jericho," i. e. that part of th« 
 Jordan which touches upon the territory of Jericho" (Eno- 
 , bel on Num. xxii. 1). Comp. Stanley (Sin. and Pal. p. 292, 
 
 oered simply Jordan-Jericho," and that « by " or near, has n . 6) . TUs is most conTe[lienU y eIpre3S ed as In the Kn» 
 
 oo business there. This is strange, since the natural sense n^h Version — Te.] 
 
 tf the words in such connection is much rather " Jericho- 
 
142 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 of water densely surrounded by oleanders and 
 reeds (Furrer, p. 150. [Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 
 300, et ibid. Van de Velde, in a note] ). Somewhat 
 to the north of this, the still larger fountain of 
 ])uk is met with, the waters of which, led along in 
 canals, formerly turned several mills in the vicin- 
 ity (Robinson," Furrer, [Stanley]). The border 
 began at the lower Jordan, and went thence to the 
 fountain of Elisha. This, accordingly, the region 
 of the Jordan opposite Jericho, is its eastern start- 
 ing point or, more correctly, place. Hence it 
 passed into the wilderness which goes up from 
 Jericho on the mountain of Beth-el. The re- 
 gion intended here is what in ch. xviii. 12 is called 
 the wilderness of Beth-aven, which city appears 
 from ch. vii. 2 to have lain east of Beth-el. On 
 the mountain of Bethel. "1H3 which the Masor- 
 
 etes separate from VSW3 is yet, and notwith- 
 standing the LXX., Chald., and Arab, versions 
 tepeat this view, undoubtedly to be connected with 
 
 7NVP2, according to 1 Sam. xiii. 2, and to be 
 pointed ""112. So the Vulg. : ad montem Bethel, 
 and Syriac" (Keil). The mountain about Bethel 
 is meant. 
 
 Ver. 2. And it went out (the border) from 
 
 Beth-el to Luz. Hebr. Tiff? btf-j-Paa K^l. 
 The words must either be translated, as we have 
 done, with the LXX., Luther, De Wette, [Eng. 
 vers.] Keil, Bunsen, in which case Beth-el stands, 
 as Bunsen also supposes, for mountain of Beth-el ; 
 or, as Knobel among others prefers : " and it went 
 out from Bethel-luzah." In this translation Kno- 
 bel (1) follows in ver. 1, the Masoretic pointing 
 
 "TI?, (2) assumes in ver. 2 a union of the old 
 and new names, "quite contrary to the usage of 
 our author, who, when a city had two names 
 
 places one after the other connected by STT, as 
 he does e. g. (ch. xviii. 13) in the case even of 
 Beth-el and Luz " (Keil). Other examples are ch. 
 xv. 14, 49, 54 (ver. 59, LXX.), 60. See more 
 concerning Beth-el and Luz on ch. xviii. 12, 13. 
 From Luz, i.e. Beth-el (ch. xviii. 13), it went, and 
 on the south side of this city (ch. xviii. 13), unto 
 the border of the Arehite to Ataroth. Hushai 
 was an Arehite (2 Sam. xv. 32 ; xvi 16 ; 1 C'hron. 
 xxvii. 33). Where his possession lay is to be de- 
 termined from Ataroth, concerning which see on 
 xviii. 13. 
 
 Ver. 3. Thence it went down westward to 
 the border of the Japhletite, unto the border of 
 Beth-horon, the nether, and to Gezer ; and the 
 goings out thereof were at (or, toward) the sea. 
 The border followed from Bethel toward Ataroth 
 a northerly, then a southwestern, and finally a de- 
 cidedly western course (see the map). The Japh- 
 
 ktite 0-?.: - -T> only here as a patronymic; the 
 prop, name £/2' (whom He, i. e. God saves, 
 Gesen.), 1 Chron. vii. 32, 33. On Beth-horon 
 comp. partly ch. x. 10, partly ch. xviii. 13. Gezer 
 
 ("ITS)) as the seat of a Canaanite king mentioned 
 already ch. x. 33; xii. 12; according to ch. xxi. 
 21 ; 1 Chr. vi. 52, a city of the priests; not yet dis- 
 ■iovered by modern travellers. Knobel seeks the 
 city northwest of Beth-horon, where Menke has 
 introduced the name. Comp. also von Baiimer, 
 p. 191, and his map, where he also has placed it 
 aorthwest of Beth-horon. 
 
 Ver. 4. " North of the line indicated Ephraim 
 
 and Manasseh took their possession." It is there- 
 fore only the south line of both tribes, which is al 
 the same time the north line of Benjamin, and a? 
 such is giveu in inverse order as before men 
 tioned, in ch. xviii. 12, 13. 
 
 b. Ch. xvi. 5-10. The Province of the Tribe q) 
 Ephraim. Ver. 5. The south border is first given 
 Ataroth-addar appears as the starting-point, iden- 
 tical, according to xviii. 13, with our Ataroth, ver. 
 2. Assuming this, " the author notices only the 
 western half ol the south border, and omits the 
 eastern half," for Beth-horon, whether the upper 
 as here, to the lower as mentioned in ver. 2, lies 
 west, or more accurately still, southwest of 
 Ataroth-addar. We might, it is true, and Knobel 
 proposes this as an alternative, read J~n~lt£5?, and 
 understand the Ataroth mentioned ver. 7, which 
 would then make the eastern part of the south 
 
 border to be drawn. But in that case, "^H^ oi 
 
 "Q3J"! would, it seems to us, be inserted between 
 the two names. The first supposition therefore 
 appears preferable, according to which we are to 
 understand that the south border of Ephraim in 
 its western half is specified from Ataroth-addar to 
 Beth-horon. But even thus we have not, if we 
 compare ver. 3, this western half of the line at all 
 complete; for from ver. 3, the border proceeds still 
 to Gezer, nay even to the sea. And the LXX. 
 have here after Beth-horon nal Ta^upa. Perhaps 
 this, as well as what is mentioned besides, ver. 3, 
 has here fallen out. At all events we have, as ver. 
 6 will show, to deal with a corrupt text, in which 
 
 the first words of ver. 6 to and including i"'52*U 
 might easily have formed the conclusion of ver 5, 
 to which they would admirably suit. [Verse 5 
 would thus end — Beth-horon, the upper ; and the 
 border went out to the sea]. Then the south bor- 
 der at least of Ephraim, from Ataroth-addar to 
 the sea, would be completely given. 
 
 Ver. 6. Keil says, in reference to this verse : 
 " With ver. 6 I know as little as my predecessors 
 how to begin. It would appear that vers. 6-8 
 should give the northern boundary of the land of 
 Ephraim, and that from a central point, in ver. 6 
 and 7 toward the east, then in ver. 8 toward the 
 west," as analogous to which, Knobel, who shares 
 this view, adduces the south boundary of Zebulun, 
 ch. xix. 10-12, and the division of the places of 
 Benjamin, ch. xviii. 21-28, as also the west border 
 of Naphtali, ch. xix. 33 ff. " In this view, how- 
 ever," as Keil further remarks, " the first clause of 
 ver. 6 is perfectly inexplicable, and must be cor- 
 rupt." Perhaps there originally stood " on the 
 north the border went out from Michmethah, for 
 according to ch. xvii. 7, the border of Manasseh 
 went ' from Asher to Michmethah.' " It seems to 
 us still better to assume that it originally stood : 
 
 T T - . - T T- 
 
 If that were so it is obvious mar the twice recur 
 ring n^'H b^oan Sm (namely, at the end 
 of ver. 5, and at the beginning of ver. 6), must 
 have fallen away once. Let us now by this exten- 
 sion of Keil's very appropriate correction restore 
 the text, and we gain a reading at least in some 
 degree acceptable, bv which ( 1 ) ver. 5 receives a 
 good ending, and (2) ver. 6 an intelligible begin- 
 ning, and the whole would mean thu» And the 
 border went out seaward, i. e. toward the west, 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 143 
 
 from Miehmethah on the north side, i. e. north of 
 Miehniethah. Miehmethah (LXX. : MaxB<i6) lay 
 according to ch. xvii. 7, east from Shechem. See 
 further un xvii. 7. Thus we should have given 
 the starting-point of the eastern half of the north rn 
 boundary of Ephraim, as lying north of Miehme- 
 thah in the icest of the land. But then, it proceeds, 
 the border went about eastward unto Taanath- 
 shiloh, and passed by it on the east to Janohah. 
 Taanath-shiloh, now Tana, Ain Tana, a place of 
 ruins, southeast of Xablus (Robinson, Later Bibl. 
 Res. p. 295 1 ). Janoah, " according to the Onom. s. 
 v. 'lavcl., Janon, twelve miles, i, e. near three hours 
 east of Neapolis, now a ruin, Janun, somewhat 
 over two hours southeast of Xablus, Robinson, 
 Later Bibl. Res. p. 297 " (Knobel). The border, ac- 
 cordingly, went from Michmethah to Janohah in a 
 southeast direction, as Menke has indicated. 
 
 Ver. 7. From Janohah it went down to Atar- 
 oth, and to Naarath, and came to (struck) Jeri- 
 cho, and went out at the Jordan. Keil holds this 
 Ataroth to be the same as Ataroth, ver. 2, Ataroth- 
 addar (ver. 5 and xviii. 13), thus making it the 
 Atara discovered by Robinson (iii. 8U, not that 
 mentioned ii. 315), one and a half hours southwest 
 of Jiljilieh, as Robinson himself also believes. 
 Knobel explains that our Ataroth here in ver. 7 
 
 cannot be identified, but must certainly, from "H^ 
 have lain nearer the Jordan, possibly one of the 
 two Ataroths which the Onom., s. h. v., refers to in 
 the district of Jerusalem. We shall come upon 
 the question again, ch. xviii. 13. Naarath = 
 Naaran, 1 Chr. vii. 28, in the east of Ephraim. 
 Onom. : " Uaorath villa, in quinto milliario Jerichus," 
 i. e. two hours from Jericho (Keil, Knobel, von 
 Raumer, p. 215). Struck Jericho, i. e. the terri- 
 tory of Jericho which city, according to xviii. 21, 
 belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. The border of 
 Ephraim thus touched the northern side of this 
 territory, comp. xviii. 12. 
 
 Ver. 8. Now follows the western half of the 
 north border of Ephraim, described as follows : 
 
 From Tappuah trie border goes (TT.?. S .) west- 
 ward to the water-course of Kanah, and the go- 
 ings out thereof were at [to] the sea. Tappuah, 
 distinct from the Tappuah (xv. 34) and Beth-tap- 
 puah (xv. 53), in Judah, concerning the etymology 
 of which we have already spoken ; the residence 
 of a Canaanite king (xii. 24). Its site is doubt- 
 fill. Knobel : " Probably Kefr Kud with its im- 
 portant well, by which the great road from Bcisan 
 and Zerin passes toward Ramleh (Robinson, Later 
 Bihl. Res. p. 121 ff.) as in the Roman times a mili- 
 tary road passed from Cesarsea to Scythopolis past 
 Capercota ( Tab. Patting, ix. f, in Menke, Map 
 vi. where an extract from the Tab. Peuting. is 
 found"). The fact that the place is called (xvii. 
 
 7) n YV, while Kefr Kud has a valuable well, 
 would seem to favor the identity of the two places ; 
 but it may be maintained on the other hand, (1) 
 that Kefr Kud lies too far north on the border of 
 Manasseh toward Issachar, while it should lie on 
 the border of Manasseh toward Ephraim (see 
 Menke's Map viii. compared with Map iii) ; (2) 
 that the old name does not at all appear in the 
 present name Kefr Kud. This is true rather of 
 the present Belad (land) Tafua northeast of 
 Shechem, toward which von Raumer, though not 
 without hesitation, inclines. We hear of a land of 
 Tappuah in ch. xvii. 8 as the district belonging to 
 
 1 Robinson expressly denies the probability that Ain 
 rmnm is the ancient Taanath-shiloh] 
 
 En-tappuah. Van de Velde (Mem. p. 357 ) holds it 
 to be Atuf, four hours E. N. E. of Shechem. Very 
 improbable. Hence we decide for Belad Tafua, 
 against which Keil brings the objection, that this 
 
 opinion does not agree with the I" 1 '? 5 '!'" vS (ch 
 xvii. 7), and therefore he concludes that here also 
 the text is corrupt. See further on ch. xvii. 7, 
 where we must at all events return again to this 
 passage. 'Water-course of Kana (Reed-brook), 
 see ch. xvii. 9. 
 
 Ver. 9. To this province belong also the cities 
 separated in the land of Manasseh for the children 
 of Ephraim, of which, however, only Tappuah is 
 ■mentioned ch. xvii. 8. Instead of the elsewhere 
 
 " unheard of" iTl^OSp, Knobel proposes to read 
 nib^52: Gesen. /YiVra?. Maurer and Keil 
 regard it as a substantive formed after the analogy 
 of ?T7 I 7 1 ?' iTrraDD, and other words. Maurer 
 translates loca selecta. To me the change of Chireq 
 into Kibbuts, as proposed by Gesen., appears the 
 most simple, and thus we have a part. Hophal. 
 Ver. 10. An addition similar to ch. xv. 63. 
 
 They became tributary servants (SP?"^^ 
 
 "f?^)- In Gen. xlix. 15 the same expression is used 
 concerning Issachar. According to 1 K. ix. 16, 
 Pharaoh, in the beginning of the reign of Solo- 
 mon, took Gezer, burned the city and drove ont of 
 it the Canaanites. Hence the LXX. add to our 
 verse : w Eo>s avilin <f»apati; $aai\tvs 'Atyinrrov xal 
 eAafiti' avrijy (AEX. rrjy tt6\iv) ko.1 tviirpncrtv avr^v 
 iv Trvpi, Kat roils •frepet.'aiouF, Kai robs KaTotKovvra? ev 
 Tat'ep i^eKcvrnffav (AEX. sfcKtvTnvev) KaX eoWev 
 eV tptpvij Trj dvyarpl aurov. Manifestly transferred 
 ad libitum from 1 K. ix. 16. Knobel, Gen. xlix. 
 
 15, translates ~t53J"DJ2, er ivard zu Frohn des Ar- 
 beiters, i. e. he fell under tributary labor, as he 
 himself further on explains. Lange, more poeti- 
 cally and more clearly : " He is become subject 
 to tributary service." We render the phrase here 
 in prose, with De Wette " subject to tributary 
 service." The common rendering: "subject to trib 
 ute " which Bunsen still retains, gives the erroneous 
 idea that the Canaanites had to pay a tribute in 
 money, like the tributary states in" the Turkish 
 empire. The expression is used elsewhere, with 
 the exception of Gen. xlix. 15, "of the Canaanites 
 who became subject to the Hebrews (as ch. xvii. 
 13; 1 K. ix. 21 ; Judg. i. 28, 33), and of prisoners 
 taken in war whom the Hebrews made slaves 
 (Dent. xx. 11; Is. xxxi. 8) " (Knobel). Comp. 
 also Keil on Kings, pp. 44 and 67 [Germ.]. 
 
 c. Ch. xvii. 1-13. Portion of the Tribe of Man 
 asseh. The description of this province by its 
 boundaries, beginning ver. 7, is preceded by some 
 genealogical notices concerning the families of the 
 tribe. Of these that of Machir had already re 
 ceived its territory beyond the Jordan. 
 
 Ver. 1 . And there was the lot for the tribe 
 of Manasseh. After it had fallen to Ephraim, Ma- 
 nasseh's turn came. These introductory words refer 
 only to the country allotted to this tribe west of the 
 Jordan (vers. 7-13). This lay north of the posse*- 
 sion of Ephraim in a fertile and beautiful region. 
 
 For he was the first-born of Joseph, Gen. 
 
 xli. 51; xlviii. 14. Keil: "the *3 is not to be 
 pressed, and the whole remark is made only with 
 reference to the following genealogical state- 
 ments." Better Knobel : " Wherefore (because ha 
 was Joseph's first-born) he received yet a posses- 
 
144 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 «ion in Canaan also, the land of the fathers, God's 
 land." ^252 , is placed first and is afterwards 
 
 taken up by *> after ''n*!* thus : " To Maehir 
 .... (and) to him fell Gilead and Bashan." 
 Why is stated in the parenthetical clause. " be- 
 cause he was a man of war," Num. xxxii. 29 ff. 
 This portion of the tribe, the author would have us 
 understand, had nothing to receive west of the Jor- 
 dan. They had their part already on the east side. 
 Ver. 2. The other sons of Manasseh follow, to 
 whom the lot fell in west Palestine. They are 
 mentioned in Num. xxvi. 30-32, where instead of 
 
 "ITy*3S stands ~*"' > ^- By an error of tran- 
 scription, as Keil conjectures, the 3 appears to 
 have fallen out. Instead of C'-QT to read 
 D^TO as Knobel proposes, is not justifiable; 
 
 rather, since in genealogies ""j?? may indicate all 
 (male and female) posterity, while here, in what 
 follows, female descendants also are mentioned, the 
 
 D^DT is added for perspicuity" (Keil). 
 
 Ver 3. It had been stated also in Num. xxvi. 
 33 that Zelopkehad, 1 the son of Hepher, had no 
 sons but only daughters. Zelophehad himself, ac- 
 cording to Num. xxvii. 3, had died in the wilder- 
 ness, but the daughters declare it an injustice 
 (Num. xxvii. 4) that their father's name should 
 perish, and that too when he had not been of those 
 that rose up against the Lord in the company of 
 Korah. Moses agrees with them, and at their 
 request grants their wish, an inheritance among 
 their brothers. By this the name of Zelophehad 
 was preserved, which could not have been the case 
 without the possession of an estate to which the 
 name of the original proprietor attached. The law 
 which governed the case is found in Num. xxvii. 
 8-11 (compared with Num. xxxvi. 6-10), oc- 
 casioned by this occurrence. They were accordingly 
 heir daughters, coinp. Knobel on Num. xxvii. 1 ff 
 
 Ver. 4. Now, since the land was divided, they 
 claim their right, appealing to the command of 
 God through Moses. Eleazar and Joshua without 
 objection immediately promise what they desire. 
 
 Vers. 5, 6. " According to this the inheritance 
 coming to the Manassites had to be divided into 
 ten parts, since the male posterity fell into five 
 families, and so received five parts, while the sixth 
 family, that of Hepher, was divided again into 
 five families, through his grand-daughters, the rive 
 daughters of Zelophehad, who married men of the 
 other families of their paternal tribe (Num. xxxvi. 
 1-10), and received each her special share of the 
 land" (Keil). Because, therefore, the daughters. 
 as heirs, obtained their possession among the male 
 descendants of Manasseh, the inheritance in west- 
 ern Palestine must need be divided into ten parts. 
 while the land of Gilead went to the remaining 
 Manassites. The genealogy is for the rest by no 
 means clear. Comp. Knobel on Num. xxvi. 29- 
 34 ; Keil on ver. 1 of this chapter. 
 
 Vers. 7-13. Portion of the Western Branch of the 
 Tribe of Manasseh. The author gives the bound- 
 ary again from east to west, as in the case of 
 Judah (eh. xv. 2 ff), the sons of Joseph (xvi. 1 ff.) 
 find Benjamin (ch. xviii. 12 ff). So the author of 
 the Apocalypse also names the gates of the New 
 Jerusalem, beginning from the east (Rev. xxi. 13), 
 
 1 TPT- 't^, hence properly to be written in Eng. 
 - : t : ' 
 Balopbchad. not Zelophehad. 
 
 and Ezekiel designates the several tribe divisioni 
 in like manner from east to west (ch. xlviii. 1 ff). 
 And the border of Manasseh was from Asher 
 to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem ; 
 and the border went along on [toward] the 
 right hand unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah. 
 What border is meant, the north or south 1 Kno- 
 bel thinks the former, Keil and Bunsen the south 
 border. The starting-point lies unquestionably in 
 
 the east. Asher ("ItTS), fifteen Roman miles from 
 Shechem toward Bethshean (Scvthopolisl, perhaps 
 Teyasir (Robinson, Later Bill! Res. p. 306 f.), or 
 Jatir (Van de Velde, ii. 295, apud. von Raumer, p. 
 148). This however is not certain, but only so 
 far sure that Asher is to be sought, according to 
 the statement of the Onom., on the road from 
 Shechem to Bethshean, hence in the eastern part 
 of the territory of Manasseh. 
 
 Thence the border goes to Michmethah which 
 we have already met with at ch. xvi 5. This 
 
 Michmethah (nrijjpa, perhaps "hiding-place," 
 
 from nOS, Gesen.) lay, as our passage would in- 
 dicate, before, i. e. according to the customary use 
 of *39"75, east or northeast of Shechem, unless, 
 as Knobel assumes, *3?'7P is to be taken here in 
 
 reference to a more remote distance = 7TO, Deut. 
 xi. 30. In this case. Kubatijeh (on Menke's Map viii 
 written Kabatijeh) orKabaat (Buckingham, Syria, 
 i. p. 45.3), Kabate in Seetzen (ii. p. 166), lying ex- 
 actly north of Shechem, on the road from Shechem 
 to Jenin would in his view offer itself for compari- 
 son. The etymological relationship of the two words 
 
 is thus established by Knobel : " 52 doubtless is to 
 be regarded, with the LXX as the plural of a sing. 
 nri!23Q, for which they may probably have used 
 
 also nnX33 (see on ch. xii. 18). Then, since m and 
 b are frequently interchanged (see on ch. iii. 16), the 
 present name of the place agrees, etc." Against 
 this we would oppose the following considerations : 
 ( 1 ) It appears to us that the operation by which 
 the relationship between the names Michmethah 
 and Kubatijeh, or Kabaat, or Kabate, is attempted 
 to be proved, is an exceedingly 'violent one. (2) In 
 
 Deut. xi. 30 7*10 does indeed stand for a north- 
 west direction, but it is precisely 7^Q that stands 
 there, meaning, in a quite general way, over against, 
 and not the more definite ^3S"vV concerning 
 which Knobel himself admits that in geographical 
 statements it is " certainly for the most part to the 
 east," — precisely in the same way, Knobel might 
 
 have added, as is the case with ''JSy (Gen. xxiii. 
 17 ; xxv. 18; Deut. xxxii. 49). (3) If Michme- 
 thah is to be sought so far north, then ch. xvi. 6, 
 where it is brought in to determine the north bor- 
 der of Ephraim which lies south of Manasseh, is 
 inexplicable. Rather may it be said, that (a) the 
 
 statement of this passage: 33JJ7 , 3D/5? ~'U; , >! 
 and (i) the proximity indicated, ch. xvi 6, of 
 Taanath-shiloh, which is now recognized in Ain 
 Tana [?], go to show that Michmethah is to be 
 looked for east or northeast of Shechem, perhaps, 
 also, on the road to Bethshean, where Kiepert, in- 
 deed (on the large map, 3d and most recent edition, 
 1866), although with a mark of interrogation, and 
 Menke (Map iii.) have inserted the name. But if 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 14S 
 
 this is correct we have here not the north border 
 of Manasseh, but the south, the same which is 
 given, ch. xvi. 5 ff., as the north boundary of 
 Ephraim; and there lies before ns precisely the 
 same case of the double registry of the same line 
 as between our two tribes and Benjamin (ch. xvi. 
 1-4 compared with ch. xviii. 12, 13) on one side, 
 and between Judah and Benjamin (ch. xv. 5 ff. ; 
 xviii. 15 ff.) on the other. But as regards the 
 north border of Manasseh, it as well as the east 
 border is given in common for both tribes in the 
 second half of ver. 10. 
 
 Shechem, ^5^7, now Nablus or Nabulus, hav- 
 ing, like Jerusalem, Gibeon, and Jericho, had sev- 
 eral names between the times of the patriarchs and 
 of Christ (Gen. xii. 6 ; John iv. 5), lies on the 
 
 watershed (Q5?7 = back) between the Mediter- 
 ranean and the Jordan Valley (Furrer, pp. 237, 
 238), in a lovely, richly favored valley between 
 Ebal and Gerizim, surrounded by gardens in which 
 nature has prodigally scattered her richness (Fur- 
 rer, p. 234). See the fresh and beautiful descrip- 
 tion in Furrer, p. 230 ff. ; comp. further, von Rau- 
 mer, p. 161 ff. ; Rob. iii. p. 95 ff. [Tristram, 141 
 ff. ; Stanley, S. $• P., 229 ff.]. Shechem has at 
 present about eight thousand inhabitants. From 
 Michmethah the border went to the right 
 
 (^S3jrP7^) unto the inhabitants of en-Tap- 
 puah. According to this, en-Tappuah or Tappuah 
 (ch. xvi. 8) lay south of Michmethah, and hence 
 also south or southwest of Shechem. But Balad 
 Tafuah (comp. on ch. xvi. 8) lies rather northeast 
 of Shechem. How then should the border go 
 thence toward the right, i. e., southwardly ? May 
 not, perhaps, an escape be found from the ob- 
 scurity (undeniably very great ') of this passage in 
 the fact that it reads, not unto en-Tappuah, but only 
 unto the inhabitants of Tappuah ? Although then 
 Tappuah itself had lain northeast of Shechem, we 
 might still imagine that the territory of this royal 
 city of the Canaanites (ch. xii. 17) had stretched 
 toward the south or southwest. With Knobel, 
 who everywhere here supposes that he has the 
 north boundary line before him, it all goes beauti- 
 fully. For him the line runs from Asher to Kuba- 
 
 tijeh, from Kubatijeh to Jamun U , P^. in spite of 
 the article, is taken as a proper name= Yamon, 
 Rob. iii. pp. 161, 167), and from Jamun to Kefr 
 Kud. But we repeat, that we are not now con- 
 cerned with the north limit of Manasseh, but its 
 southern, toward Ephraim. [So Mr. Grove, also, 
 Diet, of the Bible, art. " Manasseh," p. 1770 c, al- 
 though he thinks it doubtful whether the portions 
 of Ephraim and Manasseh were intended to be 
 effectually separated, and that, if they were, no 
 clear line of division can now be made out. — Tr.J 
 
 Ver. 8. Another notice of Tappuah, purporting 
 that the land of Tappuah went to Manasseh, the 
 city to Ephraim. The latter possessed, according 
 to ch. xvi. 9, still other places in Manasseh. Kie- 
 pert has inserted Tappuah on the map northwest 
 uf Shechem and Michmethah, but with a mark of 
 interrogation. Menke assigns it the same position, 
 pernaps with reference to the brook of reeds men- 
 tioned (ch. xvi. 8), which we here find again in 
 rer. 9. 
 
 Ver. 9. And the border descended unto the 
 watercourse Xanah, southward of the water- 
 eourse. Iu ch. xvi. 8, it reads : From Tappuah the 
 border goes westward toward the Reed-brook, and its 
 
 I fCf. Grove in Did. of Bible, art- rt Mi<-hmetuah. v ] 
 10 
 
 out-goings were at the sea. Keil supposes this brook 
 to be the Abu Zabura, which Knobel also mention? 
 at first, although he immediately afterward refen 
 to the Nahr el-Kassab. Von Raumer decides foi 
 the latter (p. 51) with greater positiveness, because 
 the old name Keed-brook has been preserved in 
 Xahr el-Kassab. But Nahr el-Kassab is the same 
 stream which on Kiepert's wall-map appears as 
 Xahr el-Falik (Van de Velde : Falaik), which Kie- 
 pert with von Raumer holds to be the Reed-brook 
 (brook of Can a). The border extended south of 
 the brook to the sea, i. e., the Mediterranean sea 
 
 C""?*lN ch. xvi. 8), which Jerome strangely re- 
 gards as being the mare salsissimum 1 
 
 These cities belonged to Ephraim among the 
 cities of Manasseh. Thus ch. xvi. 9 is more ex- 
 actly defined, " These cities." Which cities ? It 
 is indeed said further : " and the border of Manas 
 seh was north of the brook," but the definition is 
 made no clearer thereby. The sense can hardly 
 be other than what Masius long ago expressed : 
 " Funiculus, qui discernabat fralrum istorum posses- 
 sioites, ambiebat ille quidem torrentem Cannosum 
 
 (n3p 7n3) a meridie atque earn attribuebat Manas- 
 sensibus; verumtamen urbes,qua? illi torrenti ab austro 
 adjacebant, etsi essent reipsa intra Manassensium 
 positai terminos, nihilomimis jure fuerunt Ephraimi- 
 tarum; qiue vera a septentrione torrentis exstabant, 
 eas obtinebant Manassenses." For in ver. 10 we 
 read still more plainly : " Southward (from the 
 brook it, the land, was) Ephraim's, and northward 
 (of the same) it was Manasseh's ; and the sea was 
 his border (toward the west). Knobel would, ac- 
 cording to ch. xvi. 9, read ?2 for ^~y$ ; but this 
 is not strictly necessary. 
 
 Ver. 10. South of the Reed-brook the land is 
 here said to have belonged to Ephraim, north of it 
 to Manasseh, a boundary line as simple as could 
 be. Knobel here comes into perplexity, out of 
 which he would escape by supposing that the north 
 border of Manasseh cuts through the Reed-brook, 
 while the north border of Ephraim comes to it, so 
 that the territory of Manasseh there formed a 
 point ! — And the sea was his border. Both di 
 visions had the sea on the west, one (Ephraim) 
 south of the Reed-brook, the other (Manasseh) 
 north of it. The account of the north boundary 
 for both in common follows (comp. ch. xvi. 1 ff). 
 
 They struck upon l^WSS]") Asher on the north, 
 
 ;'. e., on the north side (ch. xix. 26). The descrip- 
 tion of the province concludes with the eastern 
 limit; on Issachar on the east (ch. xix. 17). 
 The two tribes were bounded, therefore, (1 ) on the 
 east by Issachar; (2) on the north by Asher; (3) 
 on the west by the sea; (4) on the south by Ben- 
 jamin and Dan. Between them they had a divis- 
 ion line which is twice referred to, (a) ch. xvi. 6 ff. 
 (4) in our chapter, ver. 7-10 ; but unfortunately in 
 neither place with such clearness as marks the 
 description e. g. of the boundary between Judah 
 and Benjamin (ch. xv. 8 ff). A separate border 
 of Manasseh on the north, such as Knobel as- 
 sumes, we cannot find given in the text. 
 
 Vers. 11-13. Six cities are enumerated which 
 Manasseh received beyond his own country, in 
 [ssachar and Asher, without, however, being able 
 to expel the Canaanites from them. At a later 
 period having become stronger, they were content 
 to make them tributary servants (ver. 13). The 
 same report is found again (Judg. i. 27 ff), where, 
 however, Endor is omitted. 
 
146 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 The word ni33 reminds us of ch. xv. 47. Kno- 
 bel rinds here the second document of the Jehovist. 
 
 Ver. 11. Beth-shean (fHtpTPa, j. e ., house of 
 rest, now Beisan, — " in an expansion of the 
 Jordan Valley, which is bounded on the west by 
 the low ridge of Mount Gilboa. At the present 
 day ruins of an ancient Roman theatre are found 
 here, but only about seventy or eighty miserable 
 ■»uts for the two hundred actual inhabitants. It 
 stands about four hours from Tiberias, on the road 
 from Jerusalem to Damascus " (von Raumer, p. 
 150; Rob. iii. 174 ff.). The Philistines hung on its 
 walls the dead body of Saul (1 Sam. xxxi. 10). It 
 was aftenvard called Scythopolis (see Herod, i. 
 104-106, in regard to the origin of the name). 
 From the summit of Gilboa, two thousand two 
 hundred feet high, Furrer (p. 260) saw a green 
 plain lying at his feet on the east, out of which 
 rose the black tents of the Bedouin camps, like 
 dark patches, on the green. The plain extends 1 
 downward to the Jordan, and he was able to follow 
 its picturesque windings to a considerable distance. 
 " There, not tar from the river," Furrer proceeds, 
 "Beisan must lie, although I could not discern 
 it — the ancient Bethshean on whose walls the 
 Philistines once hung the dead body of Saul." 
 [Comp. Tristram's account of Beisan, p. 504 ff.] 
 
 Ibleam, where Ahaziah was mortally wounded 
 (2 K. ix. 27), a Levitical city (ch. xxi. 25), per- 
 haps, as Knobel supposes, Jelameh, Jelamah be- 
 tween Zerin and Jenin (Rob. iii. 161). The accu- 
 sative (fAl > 2Bf fm Pb$)) which follows is remark- 
 able, since the sentence had begun with 7 ""H^l. 
 It is most simply explained by a change of con- 
 struction, perhaps occasioned by the fact that 
 
 tP^irt /, which governs the accusative, is used in 
 •erse 12 ; to which may be added that in Judg. i. 
 27, the whole statement begins with BPTVFN?!. 
 Nor should it be overlooked, that instead of the 
 cities the inhabitants whom Manasseh could not 
 drive out are mentioned. 
 Dor, ch. xi. 2 ; xii. 23. 
 
 En-dor (TH yS), four Roman miles south of 
 Tabor, according to the Onom. (von Raumer, p. 
 125), near the northern slope of the Jebel Dachi 
 (Duhv, little Hermon), which rises in "yellow 
 nakedness" over against Tabor (Furrer, p. 308; 
 Rob. p. 171 f. ). Endor was the abode of the 
 " woman with a familiar spirit," whom Saul con- 
 sulted (I Sam. xxviii. 9), but is also celebrated (Ps. 
 lxxxiii. 1 1 ) as the scene of the victory in which 
 the Midianites were destroyed. In the parallel 
 passage (Judg. i. 27 ff.) Endor is not mentioned. 
 Taanach, ch. xii. 21. Megiddo, ch. xii. 21. 
 
 The three heights (JIMi! HWblp ■ LXX., 
 r\ TpiTov ttjs N<S</>€0 ; Vulg., tertia pars urbis Na- 
 phet). What is intended is the three cities lying 
 on hills : Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, a Tripolis 
 of mountain cities in distinction from the places on 
 the plain : Bethshean, Ibleam, and Dor. The 
 
 author might have called the latter also a i"lt!?7t??, 
 a n^-rtpn mwbp, using nbctp in the general 
 Bense of " plain," and not in the definite geograph- 
 ical signification which in this book it everywhere 
 bears, as e. g-, in ch. xv. 33. 
 
 Ver. 12. "The Manassites, however, were not 
 
 1 [Knobel'a supposition Is better, namely, that 7 PPn 
 to Uere felt to be equivalent to receive, possess, have. — Tr.] 
 
 in a condition to expel the population from the 
 cities named, so that the Canaanites, according to 
 their will and pleasure, dwelt in this district " (Kno- 
 bel). The will and pleasure is right vividly ex- 
 pressed by the plastic v$ VI ( c h. vii. 7 ; Ex. ii. 21 ). 
 Ver. 13. But when the Israelites became strong 
 QpTn) they made the Canaanites tributary ser- 
 vants (comp. ch. x. 10), but drive them out they 
 did not. We allow ourselves this translation, 
 after the example of De Wette, to indicate in 
 English something of the effect of the emphatic 
 
 iET-nn *5b cnim. 
 
 d. Ver. 14-18. Complaint of the Children oj 
 Joseph that their Possession is insufficient. " An 
 old, original fragment, and a beautiful, historical 
 trait in the character of Joshua. The unselfish 
 Joshua was himself of Ephraim, Num. xiii. 8, 16 " 
 (Bunsen). As the history of Achsah (ch. xv. 13- 
 19), occurring in the midst of the boundary descrip- 
 tions of Judah, and catalogues of its cities, makes 
 a very refreshing impression on the laborious ex- 
 plorer of these records, so this narrative awakens 
 similar emotions. The children of Joseph, ;'. e., 
 probably the patriarchs of the tribe, came com- 
 plaining before their fellow-tribesman Joshua, to 
 whom they had trusted for a better guardianship 
 of their interests. " Why," they ask, " hast thou 
 given me but one lot and one portion, as a posses 
 sion, when I am a great people, in so far as Jeho- 
 vah hath blessed me hitherto." Joshua, by no 
 means disposed to grant special favors to his own 
 tribe, demands of them to use their strength, to 
 go up into the forest, to clear it out, and establish 
 for themselves new abodes there among the Periz- 
 zites and the Rephaim. When they (ver. 16) 
 show little inclination to this course, and at the 
 same time intimate that they cannot spread them- 
 selves further in the plain because of the formida- 
 bleness of the Canaanites who dwell there, Joshua 
 (ver. 17) still remains firm. In both his replies 
 (vers. 15, 17) he betrays a touch of irony, as if he 
 would say . Yes, it is true, thou art a numerous 
 people, and hast great strength, and oughtest there- 
 fore to have more than one share. But seek to 
 procure this second portion thyself! Rely on thy 
 own power ! Cut down the forest ! Behold thou 
 wilt drive out the Canaanites ; it is precisely thy 
 task to conquer those that have iron chariots and 
 are mighty; no other tribe can do it." Of the 
 manner in which Ewald (ii. 315-317, 2d [Germ.] 
 ed.) treats this narrative, we shall have occasion to 
 speak further on. 
 
 Ver. 14. As here, so also ch. xvi. 1 ff. ; xvii. 10, 
 the children of Joseph are taken together. They 
 are regarded as one tribe, so to speak, the tribe of 
 Joseph, as Rev. vii. 8. Comp. also passages like 
 Am. vL 6; Ps. lxxvii. 16; lxxviii. 67; lxxx. 2: 
 lxxxi. 6 ; Ez. xxxvii. 16, 19. 
 
 One lot and one portion. " v"V2 and ~3C 
 are synonymous and combined for greater empha 
 sis. b^iS is the lot which is cast ; /QO the 
 measuring line, then the measured inheritance " 
 (Keil). Comp. also ver. 5. 
 
 So far as C^tpM""^V ; not as Gesenius would 
 have it, "1??H" ^J? ; de gradu, Maurer) Jehovah 
 hath blessed me hitherto (nD'T^?, de tempore, 
 Maurer). A quite peculiar blessing had been prom- 
 ised to Joseph (Gen. xlix. 25, 26; Deut. xxxiii. 
 13-17. 
 
 Ver. 15. Joshua's answer. Get thee up into 
 
CHAPTEK XVH. 
 
 147 
 
 the forest. The forest of the mountain of Eph- 
 raim and of its out-goings (ver. 18) is meant. 
 That Mount Ephraim (mountain of Israel, eh. xi. 
 16-21) was then covered with woods, is clear from 
 1 Sam. xiv. 25 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 6. Even the forest at 
 Bethel, 2 K. ii. 23, 24, probably belonged ( Winer. 
 I'. 675) to the forest of Ephraim. And even at 
 the present day, according to the uniform testi- 
 mony of travellers, the heights of .Mount Ephraim, 
 forming the northern portion of the mountainous 
 country between the plain of Jezreel and the wil- 
 derness of the south (von Raumer, p. 42), are more 
 rich in vegetation than that part of the same 
 mountain which belonged to Judah Especially 
 is this the case with its spurs toward the north- 
 west and northeast. On the northwest a forest- 
 covered hill joins itself to Mount Ephraim connect- 
 ing the latter with Carmel, that most beautiful, and 
 greenest of all the mountains of Canaan. On the 
 northeast Mount Gilboa, where Saul and Jonathan 
 fell in the contest with the Philistines (1 Sara, 
 xxviii. 4 ; xxxi. 1-8 ; 2 Sam. i. 6-20), constitutes 
 its off-shoot toward the Jordan. On the road from 
 the hamlet of Jelbon, in which word the old name is 
 preserved, Furrer (p. 260) ascended the mountain 
 by a lofty slope which was in places clothed with a 
 dense oak thicket. A small forest of low oak trees 
 is mentioned by the same traveller as standing on 
 the right of the road from Nazareth to Carmel (p. 
 280). Without doubt it is the same woods which 
 Schultz describes (Reise in das gelobte Land, pp. 
 249, 250), since he also notices the " crisp eastern 
 oaks." Robinson (iii. p. 189 f.) speaks of" a wide 
 strip of low woody heights " by which Carmel is 
 joined on the southwest with the mountains of 
 Samaria. We find woods therefore partly on 
 Mount Ephraim itself, partly on its off-shoots. 
 
 At the very foot of this forest, however, on the 
 northwest spur of Mount Ephraim, the children 
 of Joseph had had cities in the plain assigned to 
 them, namely, Taanach, and Megiddo (Dor lay 
 further west on the sea) in the plain of Jezreel 
 (ver. 11). Ibleam and Bethshean also (ver. 11) 
 lay west and east of Mount Gilboa, being spoken 
 of again in ver. 16. Knobel (p. 450) says: 
 " Whether the author thinks also of the Little 
 Hermon lying further north, and so refers to En- 
 dor, is doubtful," and we not only share his doubt 
 but go a step further and consider it quite improb- 
 able, ^nce Robinson (iii. p. 171) speaks of that 
 mountain as " a desert, shapeless mass," and Furrer 
 (p. 308) notices the "yellow nakedness" of the 
 Jebel Duhy, or Dachi. 
 
 Cut down for thyself there in the land of 
 the Perizzltes and of the Rephaim, if Mount 
 
 Ephraim is too narrow (^S here in a different 
 Bense from ch. x. 13). Cornel, a Lapide (in Keil, 
 p. 411 f. ) long ago hit upon the thought that here 
 and in ver. 18, by the forest the Perizzites and the 
 Rephaim were to be understood, thus assuming 
 that there was a metaphor. He says : " Est vieta- 
 ohora, terrain enim a ChananoBis occupatam vocat syl- 
 'Jam, eo quod sicut si/lva exscindi debet, ut locus arari 
 possit : sic exscindendi erant Pherizaii, ut eorum ter- 
 •am oceuparent Josephitce." 
 
 Him Ewald follows, as Keil has pointed out, 
 when he represents the import of ver. 15 in the 
 following manner : " not at a loss for the answer, 
 Se (Joshua) replied : ' if they were so numerous 
 (and Mount Ephraim as hitherto occupied by them 
 too small) then they need only move into the for- 
 est (i. e. into the thickly settled and cultivated 
 plain) and laboriously cut down for themselves 
 
 there the tall, profitable trees.' In other words 
 they should enter the plain surrounding the moun- 
 tain on which they dwelt, where, however, the 
 ' Perizzites and Rephaim ' (that is, the enemy) still 
 lav in dense masses, whom the tribe (instead of 
 envying other tribes their inheritance), ought 
 themselves long ago to have destroyed and so to 
 have doubled their possession." A purely arbi- 
 trary explanation, which may be pardoned to old 
 Cornelius a Lapide, but so much the less readily 
 to Ewald, as he arrogates too much to himself 
 when, with well-known dogmatism, he says (p. 
 315, note 2) : " Already the LXX. failed to under- 
 stand this ancient passage, hard to be compre- 
 hended by reason of its ' biting scorn ' (sic !), and 
 still less have the moderns understood it." Wherein 
 the fault of the LXX. consists in this respect, we 
 are unable, after repeated comparison of the orig- 
 inal with their version, to discover, unless in the 
 
 fact that the LXX. venture to render i"l|7j? (quite 
 properly in our humble opinion) by ava&T)6i, while 
 Ewald prefers to make of it march into the plain. 
 Of the " biting scorn " of Joshua we will pres- 
 ently speak again. 
 
 Ver. 16. The sons of Joseph answer, that the 
 mountain really will not suffice for them, while 
 
 the Canaanites in the valley-land (P?23Jn"V~^3) 
 have iron chariots. They appear as if they had 
 not heard a syllable of going up into the forest. 
 
 Is not enough. Here ^^^r is used as in Zech. 
 x. 10 ; Num. xi. 22 (Knobel and Keil). LXX. : 
 ov\ opKtVfi, according to the correct text, instead 
 of ipeoicet. Comp. also LXX.. Num. xi. 22. The 
 iron chariots of the Canaanites were greatly feared 
 by the Israelites, and were " the main reason why 
 the Hebrews could not establish themselves in the 
 plains (ch. xi. 4; Judg. i. 19 ; iv. 3 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 
 5). Israel adopted this species of weapons not 
 until the time of David and Solomon (2 Sam. viii. 
 4; 1 K. v. 6; ix. 19; x. 26)" (Knobel). That 
 the Canaanites had these iron chariots did not 
 hinder the children of Joseph from "occupying 
 the forest region " (Keil), but the plain, as Kno- 
 bel rightly perceived, since the " chariot-cavalry " 
 (Winer, ii. 671), very dangerous in the plains, 
 could not well get on in the mountain, as the pas- 
 sage of Vegetius (Mil. iii- 24), cited by Winer, 
 shows: "Quadrigce Jalcahe ut primo magnum into* 
 lere terrorem, ita postmodum fuere derisui. Nam 
 difficile currus faJcatus planum semper inoenit cam- 
 pum et levi impedimento detinetur, unoque afflicto aut 
 vulnerato equo decipitur." 
 
 Ver. 17. Joshua does not allow them to slip out, 
 but holds fast to his declaration already made, the 
 sense of which has been exhibited above. 
 
 Ver. 18. Continuation. A mountain shall be 
 thine, for it is a forest. The mountain of Eph- 
 raim is meant. This mountain should fall to the 
 lot of the strong and able house of Joseph, be- 
 cause it was adapted to them as being woodland 
 to be cleared up by them. As the result of this 
 clearing the one lot should become two, as it were, 
 to which Joshua plainly points, ver. 17. 
 
 Thou shaft cut it down, and the out-goings 
 
 Cl\"YS!>hl) of it shall be thine. We cannot with 
 Knobel understand the sense of these words so 
 that according to ver. 15, the one of these out-go- 
 ings or spurs, the northwestern one, toward Car- 
 mel, and according to this verse the other, north- 
 eastern, Gilboa, were to be granted in addition to 
 what they had received ; for in this case Joshua 
 
148 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 would have made a concession to his fellow tribes- 
 men, and so broken the point of the whole trans- 
 action. Rather, the sons of Joseph have indeed 
 Mount Ephraim proper, as they themselves say 
 (ver. 16), already in possession, and, in the vicinity 
 if those two spurs to the northwest and northeast, 
 the cities mentioned in ver. 11 had been allotted. 
 It' now they have not room enough, they should, 
 partly on .Mount Ephraim, and partly on the 
 heights which rose above those cities, in the terri- 
 tory of the Perizzites and Rephaim, cut down the 
 woods and so make themselves new abodes, as, mod- 
 est in his claims, Joshua himself did (ch. xix. 50). 
 To convince and encourage them Joshua adds : — 
 For thou wilt drive out the Canaanites, for 
 they have iron chariots, for they are strong. 
 " Mate Dalluus, alii, quamvis currus ferreos habcunt 
 
 et potentes sint. '3 sit/infirm nam. Sensus : hanc 
 ipsam ob catisam, quod currus ferreos habent et po- 
 tentes sunt, vos, Ephraimitce et Manassitaz, eos ag- 
 grediamini, quippe qui estis populus numerosus et 
 potens"(ver. 17). So Maurer, and De Wette, 
 Keil, Knobel likewise. When the LXX. render 
 
 the last words : SIH P^tH ""S by <ri) yip imfpio- 
 
 Xiieis avrov, they either read : nj?v? pTPt ^3 
 
 S^np, or, which is to me more likely, allow them- 
 selves a variation. The Vulg. translates very 
 freely : " Et poteris ultra procedure, cum subverteris 
 Chananaium, quern dicis ferreos habere currus et esse 
 fortissimum." 
 
 At this place we may appropriately return to 
 Ewald's account of the transaction. He com- 
 ments on vers. 16-18, thus: "but when to this 
 sharp answer " (he means the decision of Joshua 
 given in ver. 15), " they go on to reply that, ' that 
 did not suit, that the mountain was enough for 
 them, since the Canaanites living in the plain had 
 the dangerous iron chariots.' Joshua carries still 
 further the figure of forest and mountain, even to 
 the uttermost, and, in order to finish the matter 
 with one blow, turns off the importunate petition- 
 ers who desire much and yet, out of vain fear, will 
 not exert themselves to obtain their wish, by the 
 still more pointed insult (sic!) that 'they should by 
 all means, since they were a very numerous and 
 strong tribe, have not merely one lot ! Rather 
 should they, besides the mountain which they al- 
 ready possessed, and yet did not truly possess, 
 have also another, namely, that forest, which they 
 would have first with bitter toil to clear off and 
 make useful, i. e. the Canaanites, whom to subdue 
 in spite of, and indeed precisely on account of, 
 their mighty armor, and to render serviceable was 
 their second portion yet to be acquired ; and in 
 this, fear and trembling would be of no avail ! ' A 
 biting sarcasm, worthy of a Samson ! And so the 
 most ancient legend, as it appears in this narra- 
 tive, conceived of Joshua also as the hero who con- 
 tended by his humiliating wit against the presump- 
 tion of the men of his tribe, — a true man of the 
 people, in the best sense of the word." 
 
 Against this, aside from what we have already 
 oHid in opposition to the figurative interpretation 
 of the forest and mountain, two remarks are ap- 
 propriate : (1) ver. 16 is treated quite arbitrarily 
 when Ewald, in his note, p. 316, writes : " In ver. 
 
 16, *0 is, against the Masora, to be separated as 
 
 ' no ! ' and N!£P^ to be written." Thus he 
 would bring out exactly the opposite sense, 
 namely, that the mountain ivas enough for them, 
 
 although the sons of Joseph, in ver. 14, complain 
 of that very thing, that their district was too small 
 for so numerous a people ; (2) the more " pointed 
 insult," which Ewald, resting on ver. 17 and 18 
 puts into the mouth of Joshua, presupposes that his 
 answer in ver. 15 also was pointed, and moreover 
 a pointed insult, as indeed he finds in the whole 
 passage nothing but biting mockery (p. 315. n«te 
 2). Fine irony, a noble humor, we also recognrw 
 in the replies of Joshua as well in ver. 15 as in 
 vers. 17, 18, but between this and "biting mock- 
 ery " there is a great difference. Irony is mor- 
 ally allowable, mockery and insult not. He who 
 employs the latter is a bad man, and will never be 
 regarded as " a true man of the people in the best 
 sense of the word," which the most ancient myth 
 is here said to have made Joshua. Joshua was 
 certainly a true people's man ; certainly our author 
 will, in this old, precious narrative, so represent 
 him, but as a people's man who has gained his 
 popularity not through sharp and sharper sar- 
 casms, but through his unselfishness and noble 
 preeminence. For, that any one should have be- 
 come a favorite by insulting mockery, would no 
 more occur in Joshua's time than in ours. We 
 must, therefore, deny the biting scorn which Ewald 
 here scents out. Malicious teazing lay far enough 
 remote from so noble a hero as Joshua. He knew 
 nothing of it. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 The narrative, ch. xvii. 14-18, can, on the one 
 hand, be employed to show Joshua as a pattern 
 of an unselfish, noble, and prudent popular leader 
 and statesman ; and, on the other, to set home his 
 decision toward the house of Joseph, as an impres- 
 sive lesson to all at the present day who desire 
 everything from the state, but would themselves 
 put forth the least possible exertion. So in refer- 
 ence to the age in general ; but the passage admits 
 of an individual application also to all idle men 
 who will not labor, for instance, in new founded 
 colonies, where a sermon on this text would, under 
 certain circumstances, be very much in place. 
 
 Starke : That is the way with the covetous 
 man, that the more he has the more he desires to 
 have, and cannot but grudge his neighbor what 
 belongs to him. One should be content vvith that 
 which God gives. Those who are appointed to 
 the duty of distributing goods and lands, however 
 faithfully they may perform the service, yet com- 
 monly get no great thanks therefor. 
 
 An original remark occurs in the Bibl. Tub. on 
 ver. 15: It is a duty of the magistrate, among 
 others, this, namely, for the benefit of the inhabi- 
 tants when there are many of them, to prepare 
 the yet uncultivated land for cultivation, that the 
 people may derive from it so much the more rev- 
 enue and support. 
 
 Lange : So it goes also with many an insincere 
 combatant in the kingdom of God, that_ they 
 would fain have many "spiritual gifts but without 
 a strife. 
 
 Kramer : Prayer, labor, and trust in God must 
 go together, Ps. cxxvii 2. 
 
 [Matt. Henry : Many wish for larger posses- 
 sions, who do not cultivate and make the best of 
 what they have, think they should have more tal- 
 ents given them, who do not trade with those with 
 which they are intrusted. Most people's poverty 
 is the effect of their idleness ; would they aig thei 
 need not beg. — Tr.] 
 
CHAPTERS XV11I., XIX. 149 
 
 3. The Territories of the Seven remaining Tribes : Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun 
 Tssachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dun ; and the Possession of Joshua. 
 
 Chapteus XVIII., XIX. 
 
 a. Setting up of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Description of the Land yet to be divided 
 Chapter XVIII. 1-10. 
 
 1 And the whole congregation of the children [sons] of Israel assembled together 
 at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there : and the land was 
 
 2 subdued before them. And there remained among the children of Israel seven 
 
 3 tribes, which had not yet [omit : yet] received their inheritance. And Joshua said 
 unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land which 
 
 4 the Lord [Jehovah] God of your fathers hath given you ? Give out from among [for] 
 you three men for each tribe : and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go 
 [about] through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them [their 
 
 5 possession] : and they shall come again [omit: again] to me. And they shall divide 
 it into seven parts : Judah shall abide in their coast [stand on his border] on the 
 south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts [stand on their border] in 
 
 6 the north. Ye shall therefore [And ye shall] describe the land into seven parts, and 
 bring the description [so Buusen, but properly : them or it] hither to me, that I 
 
 7 may cast lots for you here before the Lord [Jehovah] our God. But [For] the 
 Levites have no part among you ; for the priesthood of the Lord [Jehovah] is their 
 inheritance [possession] : and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, 
 have received their inheritance [possession] beyond [the] Jordan on the east, which 
 
 8 Moses the servant of the Lord [Jehovah] gave them. And 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 
 
 9 lots for you before the Lord [Jehovah] in Shiloh. And the men went and passed 
 through the land, and described it by [the] cities into seven parts in a book, and came 
 
 10 again [omit: again] to Joshua to the host [camp] at Shiloh. And Joshua cast lots 
 for them in Shiloh before the Lord [Jehovah] : and there Joshua divided the land 
 unto the children of Israel according to their divisions. 
 
 b. The Territory of the Tribe of Benjamin. 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 11-28. 
 
 a. Its boundaries. 
 Chapter XVIII. 11-20. 
 
 11 And the lot of the tribe of the children [sons] of Benjamin came up according 
 to their families : and the coast [border] of their lot came forth between the chil- 
 
 12 dren of Judah and the children of Joseph. And their border on the north side 
 was [De Wette : began ; but properly : There was for them the border, etc.] from 
 [the] Jordan, [Fay : at the Jordan] ; and the border went up to the side of Jericho 
 on the north side [omit: side], and went up through [on] the mountains west- 
 
 13 ward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 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 [on] the hill [mountain] 
 
 14 that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon. And the border was drawn 
 thence, and compassed the corner of the sea [and bent around toward the west side] 
 southward, from the hill [mountain] that lieth before Beth-horon southward ; and 
 the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal (which is Kirjath-jearim), a city of the 
 children [sons] of Judah. This was the west quarter [side]. 
 
 15 And the south quarter [side] was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the bol- 
 der went out on [toward] the west, and went out to the well [fountain] of the 
 
 16 waters of Nephtoah. And the border came [went] down to the end of the moun- 
 tain that lieth before the valley [ravine] of the son of Hinnom, and [om't : and] 
 
150 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 which is in the valley of the giants [Rephaim] on the north, and descended to the 
 valley [ravine] of Hinnom, to the side [prop. : shoulder] of Jebusi on the south 
 [De Wette : on the south side of the Jebusite ; Fay : on the side of the Jebusite 
 
 17 toward the south], and descended to En-rogel, and was drawn from [on] the north, 
 and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over 
 against the going up of Adumniini, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son 
 
 18 of Reuben, And passed along toward the side [shoulder] over against [ViaJ [the] 
 
 19 Arabah [Jordan-valley] northward, and went down unto [the] Arabah : And the 
 border passed along to the side [shoulder] of Beth-hoglah northward : and the out- 
 goings of the border [it, the border] were at the north bay [tongue] of the salt sea, 
 at the south end of [the] Jordan. This was the south coast [border]. 
 
 20 And [the] Jordan was the border of it [bordered it], on the east side. This was 
 the inheritance of the children [sons] of Benjamin, by the coasts [borders] thereof 
 round about, according to their families. 
 
 $. Cities of the Tribe of Benjamin. 
 Chapter XVHI. 21-28. 
 
 21 Now [And] the cities of the tribe of the children [sons] of Benjamin, accord- 
 ing to their families, were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of [Emek] 
 
 22 23 Keziz, And Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el, And Avim, and Parah, and 
 
 24 Ophrah, And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba ; twelve cities with 
 
 25 26 [and] their villages: Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth, And Mizpeh, and Chephi- 
 27 28 rah, and Mozah, And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah, And Zelah, Eleph, and 
 
 Jebusi (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath ; fourteen cities with [and] 
 their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to 
 their families. 
 
 c. The Territory of the Tribe of Simeon. 
 
 Chapter XIX. 1-9. 
 
 1 And the second lot came forth to [for] Simeon, even [omit: even] for the tribe 
 of the children [sons] of Simeon according to their families : and their inheritance 
 [possession] was within the inheritance [possession] of the children of Judah. 
 
 2 And they had in their inheritance [possession], Beer-sheba, and Sheba, and 
 
 3 4 Moladah, And Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Azem, and Eltolad, And Bethul, and 
 5 6 Horruah. And Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah, And Beth-lebaoth, 
 
 7 and Sharuhen : thirteen cities and their villages : Ain, Remmon, and Ether, 
 
 8 and Ashan ; four cities and their villages : And all the villages that were round about 
 these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramath of the south. This is the inheritance [posses- 
 sion] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Simeon, according to their families. 
 
 9 Out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance [possession] of 
 the children [sons] of Simeon : for the part of the children [sons] of Judah was 
 too large for them ; therefore [and] the children [sons] of Simeon had their inher- 
 itance [possession] within the inheritance [possession] of them. 
 
 d. The Territory of the Tribe of Zebulun. 
 Chapter XIX. 10-16. 
 
 10 And the third lot came up for the children [sons] of Zebulun according to their 
 1 L families : and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid : And their border 
 
 went up toward the sea [westward], and Maralah. and reached to Dabbasheth, and 
 
 12 reached to the river [water-course] that is before Jokneam : And turned from Sarid 
 eastward, toward the sun-rising, unto the border of Chisloth-tabor, and then goeth 
 
 13 [and went] out to Daberath, and goeth [went] up to Japhia. And from thence 
 passeth [it passed] on along on the east [toward the east, toward the rising of the 
 sun] to Gittah-hepher, to Ittah-kazin, and goeth [went] out to Remmon-methoar 
 
 14 [Remmon which stretches] to Neah; And the border compasseth [bent around] it 
 on the north side [northward] to Hannathon: and the out-goings thereof are [were] 
 
 15 in the valley of Jiphthah-el : And Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Ida- 
 
CHAPTER XTX. 151 
 
 16 lah, and Beth-lehem ; twelve cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheri 
 tance [possession] of the children [sons] of Zebulun according to their families, 
 these cities with [and] their villages. 
 
 e. The Territory of the Tribe of Issachar. 
 
 Chapter XIX. 17-23. 
 
 17 And [omit: and] the fourth lot came out to [for] Issachar, for the children 
 
 18 [sons] of Issachar according to their families. And their border was toward Jezreel 
 
 19 20 and Chesulloth, and Shunem, And Hapharaim, and Shihon, and Anaharath, And 
 
 21 Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, And Remeth, and En-gannim, and En-haddah, 
 
 22 and Beth-pazzez ; And the coast [border] reacheth to [struck] Tabor, and Sha- 
 hazimah, and Beth-shemesh ; and the out-goings of their border were at [the] 
 
 23 Jordan ; sixteen cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheritance [pos- 
 session] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Issachar, according to their fam 
 ilies, the cities and their villages. 
 
 f. The Territory of the Tribe of Asher. 
 
 Chapter XIX. 24-31. 
 
 24 And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children [sons] of Asher accord- 
 
 25 ing to their families. And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and 
 
 26 Achshaph, And Alammelech, and Amad, and Misheal ; and reacheth to [it struck] 
 
 27 Carmel westward, and to [omit : to] Shihor-libnath ; And turneth [turned] toward 
 the sun-rising to Beth-dagon, and reacheth to [struck] Zebulun, and to [omit : to] 
 the valley [ravine] of Jiphthah-el, toward [on] the north side of Beth-emek, and 
 
 28 Neiel, and goeth [went] out to Cabul on the left hand, And Hebron, and Rehob, 
 
 29 and Hammon, and Kanah, even unto great Zidon ; And then [omit : then] the 
 coast [border] turneth [turned] to Ramah, and to the strong [fortified] city Tyre ; 
 and the coast [border] turneth [turned] to Hosah ; and the out-goings thereof are 
 
 30 at the sea from the coast to Achzib [in the district of Achzib] : Ummah also 
 [and Ummah], and Aphek, and Rehob : twenty and two cities with [and] their vil- 
 
 31 lages. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of 
 Asher according to their families, these cities with [and] their villages. 
 
 g. The Territory of the Tribe of Naphtali. 
 Chapter XIX. 32-39. 
 
 32 The sixth lot came out to [for] the children [sons] of Naphtali, even [onui 
 
 33 even] for the children [sons] of Naphtali according to their families. And their 
 coast [border] was from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, [the oak of Zaanan- 
 nim], and Adami, Nekeb [or Adami-nekeb], and Jabneel, unto Lakum ; and the 
 
 34 out-goings thereof were at [the] Jordan: And then [omit: then] the coast [border] 
 turneth [turned] westward to Aznoth-tabor, and goeth [went] out from thence to 
 Hukkok, and reacheth to [struck] Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to 
 [struck] Asher on the west side, and to [omit : to] Judah upon [the] Jordan to- 
 
 35 ward the sun-rising. And the fenced [fortified] cities are Ziddim, Zer, and Ham- 
 
 36 37 math, Rakkath, and Cinneroth, And Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor, And 
 
 38 Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor, And Iron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth 
 
 39 anath, and Beth-shemesh ; nineteen cities with [and] their villages. This is the in- 
 heritance [possession] of the tribe ol the children [sons] of Naphtali, the cities 
 and their villages. 
 
 h. The Territory jf the Tribe of Dan. 
 
 Chapteb XIX. 40-48. 
 
 40 And [omit : and] the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children [sons] 
 
 41 of Dan, according to their families. And the coast [border] of their inheritance 
 
152 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 42 [possession] was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, And Shaalabbim. and Aja- 
 
 43 44 Ion, and Jethlah, And Elon, and Thimnathah, and Ekron, And Eltekeh, 
 
 45 and Gibbethon, and Baalath, And Jehud. and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon, 
 
 46 And Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before [over against] Japho. 
 
 47 And the coast [border] of the children [sons] of Dan went out too little for them 
 [Fay : went out from them (»'. e., the children of Dan extended their border fur- 
 ther) ; De "Wette : and the border of the sons of Dan went out (afterwards) 
 further from them ; Bunsen : and the border of the children of Dan went yet 
 further than this ; Zunz : went beyond these] ; therefore [and] the children [sons] 
 of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge 
 of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after 
 
 48 the name of Dan their father. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of 
 the children [sons] of Dan according to their families, these cities with [and] their 
 
 villages. 
 
 i. Joshua's Possession. 
 
 Chapter XIX. 49, 50. 
 
 49 [And] when they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their 
 coasts [according to its borders], the children [sons] of Israel gave an inheritance 
 
 50 [possession] to Joshua the son of Nun among them : According to the command 
 [mouth] of the Lord [Jehovah] they gave him the city which he asked, even Tim- 
 nath-serah, in mount Ephraim ; and he built the city, and dwelt therein. 
 
 ;'. Conclusion. 
 Chapter XTX. 51. 
 
 51 These are the inheritances [possessions], 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 inheritance [possession] by lot in Shiloh before the Lord [Jehovah], 
 at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So [And] they made an end of 
 dividing the country [land]. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 As chapters xvi. and xvii. belonged together, so 
 io these two chapters xviii. and xix., which con- 
 tain the account of the allotments of the remaining 
 seven tribes. Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, 
 Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. At the end follows a 
 notice of the possession given to Joshua (ch. xix. 
 49, 50), with the conclusion of the whole section 
 (ver. 51). There are seven tribes only left to be 
 noticed, because the tribe of Levi was to receive 
 no inheritance, as had been already before said (ch. 
 xiii. 14, 33) and repeated (ch. xviii. 7). This 
 distribution was effected at Shiloh (ch. xviii. 1), 
 while Judah and the house of Joseph — Ephraim 
 and Manasseh — had received their possessions, as 
 may be confidently inferred from ch. xiv. 6, in the 
 camp at Gilgal (see on xiv. 6). But before pro- 
 ceeding to divide the land, twenty-one men were 
 sent out to survey and describe it (ch. xviii. 3, 10). 
 
 a. Chap, xviii. 1-10. Erection of the Tabernacle 
 at Shiloh. Description of the Land yet to be dividt <!■ 
 The whole congregation comes together at Shiloh, 
 where they set up the tent of the congregation 
 ( tabernacle). The land is completely subdued, but 
 ■even tribes still remain, which have not yet re- 
 ceived anv possession, since the most powerful tribe 
 of Judah, Ephraim, and the half tribe of Manas- 
 seh (to say nothing of the tribes east of the Jor- 
 dan, previously spoken of), had first obtained their 
 portion (vers. 1,2). Joshua reproaches them for 
 their listlessness, and, in order to discharge the 
 •en lining duty as impartially as possible, perhaps 
 
 also bearing in mind the complaint of the sons of 
 Joseph (ch. xvii. 14-18), he provides that twenty- 
 one men, three from each of the seven tribes, shall 
 first " describe " the land (vers. 3-7). This is done 
 (vers. 8, 9), and now Joshua casts lots and distrib- 
 utes the still remaining territory (ver. 10). Eleazar 
 is not mentioned here, while in ch. xiv. 1, 2 [also 
 xix. 51] he and the patriarchs of the tribes are in- 
 troduced with Joshua. 
 
 Ver. 1. And the whole congregation of the 
 sons of Israel assembled together at Shiloh. 
 " The congregation of the sons of Israel," here as 
 Ex. xvi. 1, 2, 9; more briefly, "congregation of 
 Israel," Ex. xii. 3, or merely " the congregation," 
 Lev. iv. 15. The same is the "congregation of 
 
 Jehovah " (n*T37 from "i?2, for H^S* 1 by aphje- 
 
 resis, Gesen.). It is called also ?K?P1 ;np 
 
 pi?"' convocation, from vn|?, to call together, 
 in Kal not used while Hiphil is found Num. viii. 
 9 ; x. 7 ; xx. 8 ; and Niphal, Num. xvi. 3, and in 
 
 this passage, Gesen.), Dent. xxxi. 30 ; ! ~^i~'; ^Hp, 
 Num. xvi. 3 ; xx. 4, or simply ?»3JW7i Lev. iv. 13, 
 precisely like fTTOn. Shiloh (nbu? or nVtt?, 
 1 K. ii. 27, or iVtt?, Judg. xxi. 2 1 , "ibttJ, Judg. xxi 
 19, shortened from TiV'tP, from nbtt\ to rest, 
 "a place of rest"), in Joseph. Ant. v. 1, 20, 21. 
 SjAoOj' (hence pointing back to the form P '^ 
 
CHAPTERS XVIII., XIX. 
 
 155 
 
 from which , 3VV , B5, 1 K. xi. 29 ; xii. 15 ; Neh. xi. 
 
 5, with which Gesen. very aptly compares !T2 
 
 and *3v3. ch. xv. 51 ; 2 Sam. xv. 12), now Seilun, 
 Hist correctly made out in modern times by Rob- 
 inson (iii. 84 ff.) from its position, which is accu- 
 rately given Judg. xxi. 19. Eusebius and Jerome 
 already give the distances from Neapolis (Onom. 
 art. " Selo ") incorrectly : " the knights of the cross, 
 also, found Silo at Neby Samwil, where the monks 
 and pilgrims continued, with little variation, to 
 seek the place until the middle of the sixteenth 
 century." About this time there appears in Boni- 
 facius (De Perenni Cnltu) a more correct view con- 
 cerning the sites of the holy places, but it was soon 
 lost (Rob. iii. 89). Among the ruins, to which 
 one ascends by a gentle slope, whose fertile soil, 
 when Furrer visited Shiloh, was covered with wheat 
 fields (p. 225), there are still found (Rob. /. c.) 
 many large stones, and some fragments of columns 
 which indicate the site of an ancient town. The 
 tabernacle stood here from Joshua to Samuel (Jos. 
 xviii. 1 ; 1 Sam. iv. 3). Afterward Shiloh was 
 rejected by God (Ps. Ixxviii. 60-68 ; 1 Sam. iii. 4; 
 Jer. vii. 12, 1+ ; xxvi. 6), and at a very early pe- 
 riod utterly destroyed ; for Jerome sa\ - : " Sito 
 tabernaculum et area Vominifu.it, fix oJtaris funda- 
 menta monstrantur " (von Raumer, p. 221 ; Rob. /. 
 c). Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 19) assumes that Joshua 
 brought the tabernacle (tV Upim amif-ov) to shi- 
 loh, because the place by its beauty seemed t" him 
 appropriate, until an opportunity should be offered 
 them to build a temple ('hjcrovs iara t$v Uphv 
 ffK7]V^)V Kara 2i\ovv Tr6\tv, €irtTT]8ttov yap eSoVei to 
 Xwpi'of Sia to KaAAos, 6a»s av oocoSoueo/ vabv ai»T0?, 
 to 7rpayuaTa TrapeVx*?)- The site in the midst of 
 the land was very suitable and also very beautiful, 
 so thai Josephus may at bottom have very nearly 
 hit the truth. How Gen. xlix. 10 is to be explained 
 does not concern us here. See Lange, Com. "» 
 Gen., in L, on the various interpretations id' this 
 difficult passage. Finally, let it be noticed that 
 Shiloh lies eight and a half hours north of Jeru- 
 salem, and nearly five hours south of Shechem 
 (Furrer, p. 413). 
 
 And set up the tabernacle of the congrega- 
 tion there ; and the land was subdued before 
 
 them. As regards the fSiS'bnN, Luther's 
 translation Stiftshtltte, i. e. tent of the covenant, 
 is, as Gesen. remarks, the Greek erK7)ct) toD uup- 
 ruplov, Lat. tabernaculum tesiimonii, according to a 
 
 derivation from "TO, testari; cf. TVCTSTl ]3t?0, 
 tent of the law, Num. ix. 15. It is more probable 
 that, with Gesen. and after him most of the mod- 
 erns, "I?" S3 is to be derived not from TI3J but 
 
 from *T3?^ (Niph. "TC712), and accordingly we 
 translate tent of the congregation, place where the 
 ^"JV. meets. 1 If the national sanctuary is called 
 also nmiyn-jSa^ (Num. ix. 15), or bflS 
 
 1 [Professor Plumtre (Diet, of the Bible, p. 3152) leads us 
 rather to " the Tabernacle of meeting " (meeting-tent?) as 
 *he proper equivalent to the Hebrew designation, but with 
 ft deeper sense than would commonly be attached to the 
 
 phrase. He well says : " The primary force of "T^?' 1 is 
 
 " to meet by appointment, '' and the phrase *T3?i72 7HS 
 nas therefore the meaning of " a place of or for a fixed 
 meeting." ''The real meaning of the word is to be found 
 tn what may be called the locus classtcus, as the interpreta- 
 •od of all words connected with the tabernacle. Ex xxix. 
 
 rVnVTl (Num. ix. 15; xvii. 23; xviii. 2), the 
 
 two names agree well with each other, in so far as 
 the tent where the congregation met was, at the 
 same time, the tent in whose most holy recess the 
 
 law was preserved within the fr^nSn ]T~M (Ex. 
 xxv. 22). Concerning the construction and in- 
 terior arrangement of the tabernacle, comp. Winer 
 (ii. 529 ff.) as well as Riggenbach. The land was 
 
 subdued (Hti'lilDi from It'DS, prop, to trei-i 
 under the feet ; in the same sense as here, Gen. 
 i. 28; Jer. xxxiv. 16, and with the addition 
 
 :T72^b, 2 Chr. xxviii. 10 ; Jer. xxxiv. 11 ; Neh. 
 v. 6; the Niphal, Num. xxxii. 22-29, Gesen.) be- 
 fore them. Because the land was subdued it might 
 be divided. 
 
 Ver. 3-10. The iuisMon of the twenty-one men 
 for the description of the laud is now related. 
 Knobel refers this section to the Jehovist, and to 
 the second of his documents ; on which compare 
 the Introduction. But when Knobel (p. 451) 
 further supposes it improbable that such an occu- 
 pation of the land would take place under Joshua, 
 and maintains that the taking up the land and 
 people must have been effected at a later period, 
 say in the time of Judges i. 19-34 f., or Judges iv 
 2 tf., we may urge, against this totally unsup- 
 ported suggestion, that the time of Joshua, when 
 the (anaanites were filled with terror and distress 
 through the strange conqueror (ch. ii. 9-11), and 
 had lost all confidence in themselves, was much 
 better suited for the perilous accomplishment of 
 such a result than the following age. in which the 
 Israelites did indeed gain victories but were then 
 immediately enslaved again (Judg. ii. 14-23 ; iii. 8, 
 13, 14: vi. l,etc). Besides, a man of the circum- 
 spection of Joshua would, surely if any leader of 
 the people, conceive the idea of occupying the land 
 before he went forward hap-hazard to the division 
 of it. For, although he acted under the divine 
 command, he assuredly did not act without hu- 
 man consideration which was not at all excluded 
 Hi i' '■ That Joshua, as Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 
 21) of his own invention relates, sent with these 
 men some skilled in the art of mensuration fl7)o-oGs 
 . • . . avfipas ro'vs t/tyieTp7)0"o/ieVous tJji' \oipav av- 
 Ttcv i^etre/xipe, TrapaSous anrois Tear "yeaiuerptas 
 imo-Triij.ovas), our text is altogether ignorant. 
 Josephus may, indeed, as Keil also (in loc.) ob- 
 serves, have rightly judged when he makes the 
 men attentive to the quality of the soil of Pales- 
 tine, and assumes that the several inheritances 
 were rather estimated than measured (kuI Siutovto, 
 — on account of the diverse quality of the soil — 
 Ttfir}rous uaAAor 1) fierprjTous Tous K\r\povs 5e?p UTre'- 
 Aa/3e, 7roAAa«is kvbs trkedpou Kav XiAlaii' avra^iou 
 yeyouevou (Ant. v. 1, 21). 
 
 Ver. 3. A reproof to the remaining seven tribes 
 who doubtless could not yet effectually resolve to 
 give up their previous nomadic life, and accustom 
 themselves to settled abodes, especially when these 
 would in great part have yet to be conquered. 
 
 42-46. The same central thought occurs in Ex. xxv 22. 
 'there I will me'l with thee ' (comp. also Ex. xxx. 6, 36; 
 Num. xvii. 4). it is clear therefore that ' congregation : 
 is inadequate. Not the gathering of the worshippers oniy, 
 but the meeting of God with his people, to commune with 
 them, to make himself known to them, was what the nam* 
 embodied. Ewald has accordingly suggested Offtnbaritn^s 
 ztlt = Tent of Revelation, as the best equivalent (Altei 
 thiuner, p. 130). This made the tent a sanctuary. Thus il 
 was that the tent was the dwelling, the house of God (Bahr 
 Symbolik, i. 81)." — TE.l 
 
154 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Ver. 4. Joshua will uot longer tolerate this 
 lethargy, and therefore demands of each tribe to 
 choose three men whom he will send out, and 
 these shall rise OOp^l) and go through the land 
 and describe it according to their possession. 
 There were accordingly 7 X 3 = 21 men, and not 
 merely ten as Josephus reports, reckoning one to 
 each tribe (Ant. v. 1, 20), but in all ten (v. 1-21), 
 because three surveyors were included in the total 
 number. In the description was included particu- 
 larly, according to ver. 9, an accurate designation 
 of the cities, while at the same time situation and 
 soil might be more particularly taken into ac- 
 count. Qn^TP "'S v, i. e. " with reference to its 
 being taken in possession by the seven tribes" 
 (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 5. More minute statement of the errand 
 of the men sent out, ver. 4. They should divide 
 the remaining land into seven parts, yet Judah 
 should remain on his border in the south, and 
 the house of Joseph in the north on his border, 
 that is to sav, no change should be made in the 
 possessions of these tribes. With them it should 
 remain as it was. 
 
 Ver. 6. When they had described the land thus 
 into seven parts, they should bring the same, ;'. e. 
 the list as Bunsen for distinctness translates, to 
 Joshua at Shiloh (ver. 4), and then would he cast 
 the lots before Jehovah their God. This last 
 should be done at a consecrated place before God's 
 face, that it might stand fast inviolably. 
 
 Ver. 7. Reason why there should be only seven 
 parts. First, the Levites have no part among 
 you; for the priesthood of Jehovah is their 
 possession. Essentially the same reason for the 
 lack of a possession as is given, ch. xiii. 14, 33 ; 
 yet here instead of " the sacrifices of Jehovah, 
 xiii. 14, or simply 'Jehovah God of Israel,' xiii. 
 33, we have ' the priesthood of Jehovah,' " as 
 Num. xvi. 10; Ex. xxix. 9; xl. 15; Num. iii. 10; 
 xviii. 1-7 ; xxv. 13 " (Knobel). Second, Gad, and 
 Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have 
 received their possession beyond the Jordan on 
 the east, etc. 
 
 Ver. 8. At the departure of the men Joshua re- 
 peats his command. 
 
 Ver. 9. They go and describe the land accord- 
 ing to the cities into seven parts in a book, i. e. 
 they describe it and divide it with special refer- 
 ence to the cities found therein, into seven parts. 
 
 Rosenmiiller, incorrectly : " D> "}? ;> per «rbes, i. 
 e. odditis etiam et adscriptis urbibus, quoe in quaque 
 regione erant : " the cities rather give the proper 
 ground of division. How long a time the mes- 
 sengers spent in this service we are not informed. 
 Josephus makes up a story of seven months (Aril. 
 v. 1, 21 : Oi Se 6.vSpes ol rte/up9iirret .... wepioS- 
 tiaavrh re koI Ti^Tjira^ei/oi tV yri", t» *&$&!"? 
 ur/vl iraprja-av Trpbs avrbv els iiKovv TnJAii/, tyta r))r 
 ffKrjxV kiTT&Kfunv). The Jewish historian ap- 
 pears to have been led to the seven months by the 
 seven parts into which the land was divided. The 
 statement is " of no value " (Bunsen), and is " of 
 no more consequence than the assertion of the 
 Rabbins that the division at Shiloh was made 
 •even years after that at Gilgal " (Keil). 
 
 Ver. 10. After they have returned Joshua casts 
 
 lots and effects the division. On Dnp7nD2>, 
 
 jomp. ch. xi. 23 ; xii. 7. 
 
 o. Ch. xviii. 11-28. The Territory of the Tnbe of 
 Benjamin. First are given o. its boundaries, ch. 
 cviii. 11-20, then 0. its cities, ch. xviii. 21-28. It 
 
 was in general mountainous, in part very desert 
 but in part also, as in the neighborhood of Jericho 
 and Jerusalem (Joseph. Ant. v. 1,21; Bell.Jud. 
 iv. 8, 3), a well cultivated, fruitful land. The land 
 of Benjamin now makes the impression of solitude 
 and desolation, as if the breath of death rested 
 upon it (Furrer, p. 218-327 [Stanley, 5. &• P. has 
 an instructive chapter on the Heights and Passes 
 of Benjamin]). 
 
 a. Ch. xviii. 11-20. Jts Boundaries, ver. 11. 
 The territory of Benjamin lay, according to this 
 verse, between the sons of Judah on the south, and 
 the sons of Joseph on the north. 
 
 Ver. 12. The border which is here drawn is the 
 north border, on the north side. It went out 
 from the Jordan, and ascended, north of Jericho, 
 on to the mountains westward, i. e. ascended 
 north of Jericho, on the mountain lying west (and 
 northwest) of this city, and already familiar (ch. 
 xvi. 1). Its goings out were at the wilderness 
 of Beth-aven. In ch. vii. 2, Beth-aven is clearly 
 distinguished, as lying east of Beth-el, from this 
 latter city which itself is often called by the proph- 
 ets 1)N"iT2 (Idol-house, Am. iv. 5: Hos. iv. 
 15 ; v. 8 ; x. 5, 8). Since Michmash again, accord- 
 ing to 1 Sam. xiii. 5, lay east of Beth-aven, this 
 place must have been situated between Beth-el 
 and Michmash. Kiepert has introduced Beth- 
 aven on his map somewhat to the northeast of 
 Michmash, whose immediate surroundings, con- 
 trasted with the bare and rocky heights to the east 
 and north, might be called green and fertile 
 (Furrer, p. 217). " The bare and rocky heights" 
 to the east and north of Michmash are no other 
 than those of Beth-aven. 
 
 Ver. 13. And the border went over from 
 thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz (which 
 is Beth-el) southward. Here the difficulty which 
 we met in ch. xvi. 2 from the distinction between 
 Beth-el and Luz falls away, since it is said that 
 the border between Benjamin and Ephraim went 
 over out of the wilderness of Beth-aven toward 
 Luz, that is Beth-el, and more particularly on the 
 south side of Luz, thus excluding Beth-el from 
 the cities of Benjamin, while yet, in ver. 22, it be- 
 longs to them. In this way contradiction would 
 arise which Knobel seeks to obviate, thus : " The 
 author does not say that the border went merely 
 to the south side of Beth-el ; it went to the south 
 
 side of the ridge PrO?) of Beth-el, t. e. toward 
 Bethel." Beth-el 0?N"'~ |, 2, Gen. xxviii. 11-19; 
 
 xxxi. 13, earlier W' = almond -tree), familiar 
 through all the history of Israel, from the patri- 
 archs'to the Maccabees (1 Mace. ix. 50), and even 
 later (Joseph. Bell. Jud. iv. 9, 9), now a seat of the 
 worship of God, again a place of idolatry, lies on 
 the right of the road from Jerusalem toward 
 Shechem (von Raumer, p. 178), is now called 
 Beitin (Robinson, p. 225 ff.), and was first recog- 
 nized by the Missionary Nicolayson in 1836 (von 
 Raumer. p. 174). Ruins cover three or four acres, 
 and there are interesting remains of a great reser- 
 voir which Furrer saw (p. 221 ). Beitin lies 1,767 
 feet high, three and three-quarters or four hours 
 from Jerusalem (von Raumer, p. 179; Furrer, p. 
 413). From this position of Beth-el we may un- 
 derstand how the border went down CT3J) from 
 therce toward Ataroth-addar, which is identical 
 with the place of the same name, ch. xvi. 2, but 
 different from the Ataroth, ch. xvi. 7. " Robin- 
 son found an Atara about six miles south, and ■ 
 
CHAPTERS XVIII., XIX. 
 
 156 
 
 second one about four miles north of Gophna. 
 The southern one appears to be the same as Atar- 
 ath-addar, past which ran the north border of 
 Benjamin from Beth-el toward lower Beth-horon, 
 Jus. xvi. 2, 3, 5 ; xviii. 13, 14." So von Raumer, 
 (p. 175), with whom Knobel agrees, while Rob- 
 inson himself, according to the passage cited by 
 Knobel (ii. 315), holds that this southern Atara 
 cannot be Ataroth-addar, because it lies too far 
 within the territory of Benjamin. He has been 
 followed by Kiepert, Van de Velde, and Menke 
 on their maps. Von Eaumer, also has only 
 marked this northern Ataroth, and entirely omit- 
 ted the southern one which, according to his view 
 and that of Knobel, should be = Ataroth-addar. 
 We, like Keil (on ch. xvi. 2), adopt the view of 
 Robinson. 
 
 From Beth-el the border went thus northwest- 
 wardly toward Ataroth-addar, and thence on to- 
 ward the southwest, upon ( De Wette : on ; Bunsen : 
 over) the mountain that lieth on the south side 
 of the nether Beth-horon. This is the north 
 border of Benjamin, which, as far as lower Beth- 
 horon, coincides with the south border of Ephraim. 
 
 Beth-horon CjiMTTTja = house of the hollow) 
 mentioned, ch. x. 11, in the history of the battle 
 of Gibeon, and in ch. xvi. 3-5, as here, as a border 
 city between Benjamin and Ephraim, a citv of 
 Levites, ch. xxi. 22, fortified by Solomon, 1 K. ix. 
 17; 2 Chron. viii. 5), spoken of in the Maccabssan 
 wars (1 Mace. hi. 15-24; vii. 39 if. ; ix. 50), and 
 in the history of the wars of the Jews (Joseph. 
 Bell. Jud. ii. 19, 18). There was, as appears 
 from ch. xvi. 3, 5; 1 K. ix. 17 ; 1 Chron. vii. 24 ; 
 2 Chr. viii. 5, as well as from the passage before 
 us, an upper and a lower Beth-horon. Both places 
 are still recognized. The upper is now called Beit 
 ur el-Forka, the lower Beit ur et-Tahta. The lat- 
 ter place stands on the top of a low ridge ( Robin- 
 son, iii. 58 f.) and is separated from the upper 
 Beth-horon by a wady. Robinson and his com- 
 panion passed through this, and then began to 
 ascend the long and steep pass. " The ascent is 
 very rocky and rough ; but the rock has been cut 
 away in many places and the path formed into 
 
 steps; showing that this is an ancient road 
 
 The pass between the two places was called both 
 
 the ascent (i"n5?a) and descent ("TVto) of Beth- 
 horon, Josh. x. 10, 11 (Gr. : avd&atris ko! xaTci/3- 
 aais riaitiuyajr, 1 Mace, iii. 15-24)." (Robinson, 
 5S-60). Remains of ancient walls are found in 
 both places as well as in the pass between them 
 (iii. 58). Eurrer (p. 14) found the hill on which 
 stands the village of lower Beth-horon, partly cov- 
 ered with olive trees. The barley fields in the low 
 ground were mingled with patches full of dark 
 green beans. He also describes the pass as " rocky, 
 steep, and extremely laborious." Seldom does a 
 trader drive his camels through it (contrast Israel's 
 hope, Is. Ix. 5, 6, 9). The land on almost all sides 
 is burnt up like a desert, through which no one 
 passes (Furrer, p. 15). 
 
 Ver. 14. At this point, namely, at the mountain 
 south of Lower Beth-horon, the boundary line of 
 Benjamin bends southwardly toward Kirjath-baal, 
 or Kirjath-jearim, separating this territory from that 
 of Dan on the west; while the border of Ephraim 
 runs out in a northwest direction past Gezer to the 
 sea. Of this west border of Benjamin, of which we 
 Dow read for the first time, it is said : and the border 
 
 was drawn ("^Sril, as ch. xv. 11, and often ) and 
 Sent around toward the west side southward 
 
 from the mountain 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 
 
 side. D T "J~IS9 = sea-side [side toward the sea]. 
 HSS is properly " mouth " = to HS, from HSS 
 
 (cogn. with nnS, HP3) to blow ; then, like 
 Lat. ora (from os), "side," which is turned to any 
 quarter of the heavens. As here COVINS, so ver. 
 
 15 we have i"ia?5 S, and Ex. xxvi. 20, ] iB2 B 
 [comp. ver. 12 of this chap.]. Kirjath-baal : see 
 ch. xv. 60. 
 
 Ver. 15-19. South Border. This coincides en- 
 tirely with the north border of Judah, ch. xv. 5-9. 
 
 i^9^ merely indicates that the south border 
 started from the west and ran toward the east.' 
 That Kirjath-baal (Kirjath-jearim) belonged to 
 the cities of Judah and not to those of Benjamin, 
 is plainly apparent from ch. xv. 60. The border, 
 therefore, on Kiepert's Map requires correction ; 
 Menke has drawn it right. 
 
 Ver. 20. The east border consists of the Jor- 
 dan. 
 
 0. Ch. xviii. 21-28. Cities of the Tribe of Ben- 
 jamin. They fall into two groups of twelve and 
 fourteen cities, the former lying in the east, the 
 latter in the west. Jericho, ch. ii. 1 , and often. 
 Beth-hoglah, eh. xv. 6. Emek (vale of) keziz. 
 There is a Wady el-Kaziz east of Jerusalem (Van 
 de Velde, Mem. 'p. 328, apud Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 22. Beth-arabah, ch. xv. 6, now Kafir 
 Hajla. Zemaraim, probably a place of ruins. 
 Sumrah, northeast of the Wady el-Kaziz, near 
 the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, opposite the 
 Khan Hadschur. See Van de Velde's Map. 
 Bethel, ver. 13. 
 
 Ver. 23. Avim. Since Avim (CWil) here 
 
 follows directly after Beth-el, while Ai 0^?) which 
 stood near Beth-el (ch. vii. 2 ; xii. 9), and to the 
 east of it, is not mentioned, it is natural with 
 Knobel to regard Avim as identical with Ai, 
 which is called also Aiah (Neh. xiii. 1 1 ) and 
 Aiath (Is. x. 23). The signification of all these 
 names is essentially the same : ruins, heaps, stone- 
 heaps, Mich. i. 6 (see Gesen.). Where Ai lay is 
 not accurately made out. Van de Velde, follow- 
 ing Finn, supposes, as may be seen from his map, 
 that it was the same as Tel el-Hadshar (Stone- 
 hill), thirty -five minutes east of Beth-el (ii. 251- 
 255, and Mem. p. 282, apud von Raumer, p. 169). 
 Robinson (ii. 119, 312 f.) sought it twice, but after 
 all his investigation only reached the conclusion 
 that the most probable site of Ai is the place of 
 ruins exactly south of Deir Dirvau, one hour dis- 
 tant from Beth-el. The direction would be south- 
 east. Knobel on the passage before us has not 
 kept the two views sufficiently distinct. Furrer 
 also visited the region, but undertook no further 
 researches. He too speaks of " many stones " ex- 
 isting there (p. 219). [Tristram, 168 f. confidently 
 agrees with Robinson's view.] The tent of Abra- 
 ham once stood here between Beth-el and Ai (Gen. 
 xii. 8; xiii. 3). The history of the conquest of 
 Ai has been treated above, ch. viii. Hitiig (ubt 
 sup. pp. 99, 100) disputes the existence of a city 
 of Ai altogether, and proposes the view that Ai 
 signifies in Turkish "moon," and can therefore 
 have been the Scythian, perhaps Amoritish name 
 for Jericho as Dibon was the Hebraized Dirvan 
 
156 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Council (??). After the Exile, Benjamites dwelt 
 there again (Neh. xi. 31 ; vii. 32 ; Ezra ii. 28), so 
 that the city had been rebuilt. 
 
 Parali, a place of ruins, Fara, west of Jericho 
 on Van de Velde's Map. Ophrah, in Saul's time 
 attacked by the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii. 17), per- 
 haps, as Robinson (ii. 124) conjectures, the mod- 
 ern Taiyibeh. Von Raumer (p. 216, n., 235 c) 
 suggests that Ophrah may be the same as Ephraim 
 or Ephron (John xi. 54). 
 
 Ver. 24. Chephar - haamonai, Ophni, men- 
 tioned only here, and hitherto undiscovered. 
 
 Gaba (VZ2) = nj??3 "height," "hill." This 
 Gaba is according to ver. 28 distinct from Gibeath 
 or Gibeah, with which further 1 Sam. xiii. 2, 3 ; 
 Is. x. 29 are to be compared. Now since between 
 Anathoth and Michmash (see Kiepert's Map) 
 there is a place called Jeba, the question has arisen 
 whether this Jeba was Gaba or Gibeah. Robin- 
 son (ii. 114,316) was at first inclined to regard 
 Jeba as = Gibeah, the Gibeah of Saul, but after- 
 ward became satisfied (comp. Bibl. Sac, Aug. 
 1844, p. 598) that Gibeah of Saul was rather, as 
 Gross suspected, to be looked for on the hill Tuleil 
 el-Fuleh (" hill of beans," Rob. p. 317), where von 
 Raumer also, and Van de Velde, and Kiepert place 
 it, while our Gaba, as the similarity of the name 
 renders probable, has been preserved in the Jeba 
 just spoken of. Knobel on the contrary identifies 
 Gaba and Gibeah of Saul in accordance with Rob- 
 inson's earlier view, and proposes a variety of con- 
 jectures in regard to Gibeath of ver. 28. For the 
 distinctness of Gaba and Gibeah of Saul, Is. x. 29 
 is, we may remark in conclusion, decisive, a pas- 
 sage whose vividness of description Furrer (who 
 likewise regards the two places as clearly different, 
 pp. 212, 213, compared with 215, 216), was con- 
 strained on the spot to admire (pp. 216, 217). To 
 this eastern division belong also the two cities of 
 priests, Anathoth and Almon, ch. xxi. 18, of 
 which more hereafter. 
 
 Ver. 25-28. "The fourteen west Benjamite 
 cities." 
 
 Ver. 25. Gibeon, 1^33, properly the same 
 
 name again as 3723, i"tj?23, TO723, quite famil- 
 iar to us from the narrative, in this book, of the 
 wiles of its inhabitants (ch. ix.) and from the bat- 
 tle at Gibeon (ch. x. 1-15) ; later (ch. xxi. 17) a 
 Levite city as well as Geba. It is the modern el-Jib 
 lying on an oblong hill or ridge of limestone rock, 
 which rises above a very fertile and well cultivated 
 plain (Robinson, ii. 135 ff.). Of the fertile plain 
 Furrer also (p. 16) makes mention. He found the 
 hill on which el-Jib is situated well cultivated in 
 terraces. Vines, figs, and olives flourish on the 
 eastern slope, while on the north the Tel falls off 
 somewhat abruptly (Fnrrer, pp. 16, 17). Histor- 
 ical associations with days subsequent to Joshua 
 attach to this place where stood the Tabernacle 
 under David and Solomon (1 K. iii. 5 ff . ; 1 Chr. 
 xvi. 39 ; xxi. 29 ; 2 Chr. i. 3 ; 2 Sam. xx. 9). To 
 Gibeon belonged Chephirah (ver. 26), Beeroth 
 (ver. 25), Kirjath-jearim (ch. xv. 9-60; xviii. 14). 
 
 Eamah (^?"5 = height, a frequently occurring 
 name of places, on which compare Gesen.), not to 
 he confounded with the Ramah of Samuel or 
 Ramathaim (von Raumer, p. 217, No. 148); near 
 Gibeah (Judg. xix. 13 ; Hos. v. 8), noted in the 
 :ontests with Syria (1 K. xv. 17; 2 Chr. xvi. 1' 
 »nd Assyria (Is. x.29) ; the place where Jeremiah 
 ras 3et free (Jer. xl. 1, compared with xxxi. 15) 
 
 inhabited again after the exile (Ezra ii. 26; Neh. 
 vii. 30; xi. 33) ; now er-Ram (Robinson, ii. 315) ; 
 a wretched village north of Gibeah, on a hill 
 (Furrer, p. 214). Furrer discovered here remains 
 of Roman milestones, and supposes that a Roman 
 road ran from Gibeah, Rama, Geba down toward 
 the narrow pass of Michmash (p. 215). 
 
 Beeroth mentioned, ch. ix. 17, as belonging to 
 Gibeon, or allied with Gibeon ; home of the mur- 
 derers of Ish-bosheth (2 Sam. iv. 2), and of Joab's 
 Armor-bearer (2 Sam. xxiii. 37), likewise rebuilt 
 after the exile (Neh. vii. 29). Robinson (ii. 132) 
 regards the present Bireh as Beeroth. a village 
 with old foundations, remains of a Gothic church, 
 and about seven hundred Mohammedan inhab- 
 itants. With him agree Keil and Knobel, while 
 von Raumer disputes the view of Robinson as con- 
 tradicting the statements of Jerome (p. 197, n. 187). 
 But compare, for a defense of Robinson, Keil on 
 ch. ix. 17. 
 
 Ver. 26. Mizpeh, not the same as the Mizpeh 
 in the lowland, ch. xv. 38 ; already in the time of 
 the Judges a place of assembling for Israel (Judg. 
 xx. 1 ; xxi. 1 ) ; but specially celebrated on ac- 
 count of Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 5-15; x. 17) ; after 
 the fall of Judah, the seat of the Chaldsean gov- 
 ernor Gedaliah (2 K. xxv. 23, 25 ; Jer. xl. 6 ff. , 
 xli. 1 ff.); now the Nebi Samwil, i. e. prophet 
 Samuel, five hundred feet above the level of the 
 plain, 2,484 feet above the sea (von Raumer, after 
 Symonds, p. 213), with a very rich and extensive 
 prospect (Robinson, ii. 143, 144). Here they 
 would have it that Samuel was buried under the 
 half- decayed mosque on the mountain. Thus 
 Nebi Samwil would be = the Rama of Samuel. 
 Robinson has, however, among others, shown that 
 this is not so, but that Mizpeh is probably to be 
 sought here. He is followed by Keil, Knobel, 
 Tobler, Van de Velde, Kiepert, Furrer (p. 212). 
 The last named writer from the Scopus near Jeru- 
 salem perceived Nebi Samwil in the northwest, 
 " the high watch-tower of the land of Benjamin." 
 
 Chephirah, like Beeroth belonging to Gibeon 
 (ch. ix. 17 ; Ezr. ii. 25) ; the present place of ruins 
 Kefir on the mountain east of Ajalon (Jalo). See 
 Robinson (Later Bibl. Res. p. 146). The name is 
 
 related to "133, village, instead of which ~' , S3 
 occurs, Neh. vi. 2. Mozah, mentioned only here 
 and unrecognized. 
 
 Ver. 27. Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah, also 
 unrecognized, and like Mozah mentioned only in 
 this place, — a proof again of the integrity of the 
 LXX. in ch. xv. 59. 
 
 Zelah (3?7.?i rib, side), burial-place of Saul 
 and Jonathan (2 Sam. xxi. 14) ; unknown; and 
 so with Eleph. — Jebusi, I. e. Jerusalem. See ch. 
 xv. 8. 
 
 Gibeath (n?2|). This is the Gibeah of Saul 
 
 (b^SEJ H5723, 1 Sam. x. 26 ; xi. 4 ; xv. 34, and 
 often) ; as was already shown above on ver. 24, to 
 be sought on the hill Tuleil el-Ful. Here occurred 
 before Saul's time the outrage reported in Judg. 
 xix. which resulted in the destruction of the city, 
 and the extirpation of the Benjamites except six 
 hundred (Judg. xx). Comp. also Hos. ix. 9; x. 
 9. After Saul's death its inhabitants hung seven 
 of his descendants, on the mountain of Gibeah (2 
 Sam. xxi. 6-9), but Mephibosheth was spared 
 Furrer accomplished the way from Jerusalem to 
 Tel el-Ful, on foot, in one hour and twenty-five 
 minutes (p. 412). He found the summit com 
 
CHAPTEKS XVIII., XIX. 
 
 157 
 
 pletely strown with ruins. There the traveller was 
 rewarded with a wide and glorious prospect 
 scarcely inferior to that of Mizpeh. " The land 
 of Benjamin with its many famous old cities lay 
 spread out around me. Over the heights of Hiz- 
 meh, Anathoth, and Isawijeh, the eye swept down- 
 ward to the Jordan valley, which here appeared 
 more beautiful than on the mount of Olives. In 
 the southeast the dark blue of the Dead Sea 
 enlivened wonderfully the stiff yellow mountain 
 rocks of its neighborhood. On the far distant 
 horizon the mountain chains of Moab were traced 
 'n soft and hazy lines. Northward lay Ramah and 
 the hill of Gelia. Further west and around toward 
 the south followed Gibcon, ' the glorious height,' 
 Mizpeh, the queen among the mountains of Ben- 
 jamin, and then in the south, the most beautiful 
 of all, the Holy City " (pp. 212, 213). Excellently 
 descriptive ! 
 
 Kirjath, not to be confounded with Kirjath- 
 jearim, ver. 14, ch. xv. 60, which belonged to 
 Judah. Perhaps, as Knobel conjectures, Kerteh, 
 west of Jerusalem (Seholtz, Reise, p. 161). 
 
 c. Ch. xix. 1-9. The Territory of the Tribe of 
 Simeon. The second lot came out for the tribe of 
 Simeon, who, since the portion assigned to the 
 tribe of Judah was too large for them (ver. 9), re- 
 ceived their possession out of that of Judah ; con- 
 cerning which comp. Gen. xlix. 7. Two groups 
 of cities are enumerated, one of thirteen or four- 
 teen (comp. on this difference, ch. xv. 32), all lying 
 in the land of the south, the other of four cities. 
 Of these latter, Ashan and Ether lay, according 
 to ch. xv. 42, in the Shephelah. When now Ain 
 and Rimmon, which in ch. xv. 32 are ascribed to 
 the Negeb, are here placed with Ashan and Ether, 
 the author seems, as Knobel remarks, to refer 
 them here to the Shephelah also. " The dividing 
 line between the Negeb and Shephelah was not so 
 accurately determined." The province of Simeon, 
 although only the cities and villages are men- 
 tioned, appears to have been a continuous one, 
 namely the Negeb, with a small part of the She- 
 phelah, while the Levites, as we learn from ch. xxi. 
 acquired particular cities with their appurtenant 
 pasture-ground throughout the whole land. The 
 list of the abodes of Simeon is found again, 1 Chr. 
 iv. 28—32, with slight deviations (see Keil, p. 420). 
 The explanations concerning the places see on ch. 
 xv 24-32, 42. 
 
 d. Ch. xix. 10-16. The Territory of the Tribe of 
 Zebulun. The third lot fell to Zebulun (Gen. xlix. 
 13; Deut. xxxiii. 19), the hounds of which, from 
 the data given, can be but imperfectly determined. 
 Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 22) assigns the sea of Gennes- 
 aret as the eastern border, Carmel and the sea 
 as the western. He says : ZafiovAwiTai 5f t^v 
 ii4rpT)(Tiv pexpt T evvntjapiT l?>os , Ka6r}Kouaaf 5e Trepl 
 Kdpu.ri\oy Kal daWafrtraf i\axov. In general this 
 statement agrees with our book, only Zebulun ap- 
 pears not to have reached to the sea. His prov- 
 ince was, especially in the interior where it em- 
 braced the beautiful valley el-Buttauf (Robinson, 
 iii. 189), fertile, toward the sea of Gennesaret 
 mountainous but pleasant and well cultivated, 
 higher than the plain of Jezreel and lower than 
 the mountains of Xaphtali : " a land of mountain 
 terraces" (Knobel [cf. Robinson, iii. 190]). 
 
 Ver. 10 South Border, given as at ch. xvi. 6 ; 
 xix. 33, from a central point toward west and 
 
 »st. It went to Sand. Where this Sarid ("T"W) 
 lay cannot be made out. Von Raumer is entirely 
 iilVut concerning it ; Masius and Rosemiiller seek 
 
 the place south of Carmel, near the Mediterranean 
 Sea, which however does not answer well on ac- 
 count of ver. 11 ; Keil and Knobel, just on ac- 
 count of this verse, place it more in the interior, — 
 north or east of Legio (Lejijim) in the plain of 
 E>draelon (Keil), or one hour southeast of Naz- 
 areth (Knobel). The latter, however, supposes no 
 place to be intended but, since Sarid may signify 
 
 brook, incision (according to T^tP ', perforaoit, and 
 
 ^7"?) incidit), " the southern mouth of the deep 
 and narrow wady descending from the basin of 
 Nazareth." It is possible that Sarid lay here, and 
 was named after the mouth of this wady. But 
 that this itself was intended appears to me con- 
 trary to all analogy in the other determinations of 
 boundary. 
 
 Ver. 11. From hence the boundary went up to- 
 ward the sea (westward), and (more particularly) 
 toward Maralah, and struck Dabbasheth and 
 struck the water-course that is before Jokneam. 
 Maralah is unfortunately altogether unknown ; per- 
 haps on account of i~l ~ 37, to which Keil calls atten- 
 tion, to be sought somewhere on Carmel. Dabbash- 
 eth (j™I???5?, camel's hump, Is. xxx. 6, therefore a 
 
 name like CDtO) perhaps situated on the height 
 of Carmel (Keil). Knobel refers to Jebata (Rob- 
 inson, iii. 2U1 ) between Mujeidil and Kaimon. near 
 the edge of the mountains which border the plain 
 of Jezreel, or to Tel Tureh somewhat further 
 toward the southwest (Robinson, Later Bib/. Re* 
 p. 115). These are pure conjectures without anj 
 firm foundation. The water-course thai is before 
 Jokneam (see ch. xii. 22) is, without doubt, the 
 
 Kishon, fllUyj?, ('. e. which curves, winds about, 
 
 from tP-lp), now Nahr el-Mukattaa (Mukattua) 
 with clear, green water (von Raumer, p. 50). " It 
 flows through the slender valley which separates 
 Carmel from the hills lying along to the north of 
 it. Dense oleander thickets skirt the bed of the 
 brook, and follow its pleasantly winding course 
 (Furrer, p. 280). The Kishon is historically cele- 
 brated for the events recorded, Judg. iv. 7, 13 ; v. 
 21 (comp. Ps. lxxxiii. 10), and 1 K. xix. 40. With 
 reference to Judg. v. 9, Furrer observes, " The 
 water flowed in a swift stream of about a foot in 
 depth, strong enough to carry away corpses." 
 Differing from all other commentators, Knobel 
 will see nothing of the Kishon here, but thinks of 
 the Wady el-Milh on whose eastern bank Kaimea 
 (Jokneam) should lie. The grounds of his view 
 are given in his Commentary, p. 458. 
 
 Ver. 12. As the border turned from Sarid west- 
 ward, so also it turned from the same point toward 
 the east : Eastward, toward the sun-rising, unto 
 the border of Chisloth-tabor, and went out to 
 Daberath. and went up to Japhia. C/i/sioth-tabor 
 
 (-QJjTrvbpS, like P"???, ch. xv. 10, trom 
 
 vD^\ to be strong), probably = jTvpS, ver. 18, 
 in the tribe of Issachar ; now Iksal, Ksal, Zal, on 
 a rocky height west of Tabor, with many tombs 
 in the rock (Rob. iii. 182). The rocky height on 
 which it stands lies more in the plain (Rob. /. c). 
 Daberath, a Levitical city, eh. xxi. 28 ; 1 Chron. 
 vi. 72, pertaining to Issachar ; now Deburijeh, a 
 small and unimportant village " lying on the side 
 of a ledge of rocks directiy at the foot of Tabor " 
 (Rob. iii. 210). Furrer describes its situation thus 
 "A little valley running north and south divides 
 
158 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Tabor from the low hills in the west. Near the 
 mouth of this wady, in the northeast arm of the 
 valley of Jezreel, lies the village of Deburijeh " 
 
 (p. 306). Japkia (V?*, "glancing," Gesen.). 
 .Tata, somewhat over half an hour southwest of 
 Nazareth in another valley. It contains thirty- 
 houses with the remains of a church and a couple 
 
 of solitary palm trees The Japha fortified 
 
 by Josephus was probably the same, a large and 
 Btrong village in Galilee," afterward conquered by 
 Trajan and Titus under the orders of Vespasian 
 (Rob. iii. 200). When it is said of the border that 
 
 it ascended (f/?) toward Japhia, this is correct, 
 for " Monro ascended the Galilean mountains 
 from the plain of Jezreel, ' in a ravine ' toward 
 Jaffa" (Monro, i. 276 ap. von Eaumer, p. 128). 
 With this comp. Knobel's remark : """IvS stands 
 correctly, since according to von Schubert, iii. 169, 
 the valley of Nazareth lies about four hundred 
 feet higher than the plain at the western foot of 
 Tabor." 
 
 Ver. 13. From Japhia the border ran still in an 
 easterly direction : Eastward, toward the rising 
 (of the sun), to Gittah-hepher, to Ittah-kazin, 
 and went out to Remmon, which stretches to 
 
 Neah. Gath-hepher (ngrTTUJia, fT| with H 
 local), the birth-place of the prophet Jonah (2 K. 
 xiv. 25), whose grave is shown in a mosque = el 
 Meschad, one hour northeast of Nazareth (Rob. 
 iii. 209). Robinson says concerning it (note, p. 
 209) : "At el-Meshhad is one of the many tombs 
 of Neby Yunas. the prophet Jonah ; and hence 
 modern monastic tradition has adopted this vil- 
 lage as the Gath-hepher where the prophet was 
 bom (2 K. xiv. 25 ; Quaresimus, ii. 855)." Ittah- 
 kazin ^SjrrtJTO,, nV with n local), un- 
 known. The name signifies, " time of the judge." 
 Remmon, a city of Levites, ch. xxi. 35 ; 1 Chron. 
 vi. 62, perhaps' the present Rummaneh, north of 
 Nazareth (Rob. iii. 194, 195; von Raum. p. 138). 
 Which extends to Neah. Thus, according to the 
 very simple and therefore obvious conjecture of 
 
 Knobel: "MHO n3S"1. The LXX. made a 
 
 proper name out of "'SriSH, A/i/uaflapht, Vulg. 
 Amthar. Fiirst renders the participle by " marked 
 off, staked out." With him agree Knobel and 
 Bunsen. Gesenius, Rosenmiiller, De Wette, on 
 the other hand, translate it, " which stretches to- 
 ward." Since "Wn everywhere else is employed 
 of the boundary, we side with Knobel. 1 Neah 
 (rt2?2, perhaps "inclination," slope, declivity, 
 r. V>0, Gesen.), unknown ; "perhaps the same as 
 ?S" > 173, ver. 27, which lay south of Jiphtha-el, as 
 
 they said also riTT for btOPi ch. xv. 11" 
 (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 14. And the border bent around it 
 (Neah | northward to Hannathon: and the out- 
 goings thereof were in the valley of Jiphthah- 
 el (God opens). Compassed Neah, not Rimmon 
 (Keil), and went in a northerly direction toward 
 
 Hannathon (]»"!3n, pleasant), in which Knobel 
 and Keil ( Bihl. Com. ii. 1 , in loc. ) suspect the New- 
 Testament Cana (John ii. 1, 11 ; iv. 46; xxi. 2) ; 
 
 1 [The author translates precisely with Gesenius , indeed 
 •here seems to be little difference in conception between 
 tb*se "ritics. — Tg.] 
 
 the present Kana el-Jelil between Jefat and Rum 
 maneh. Jiphtha-el ( xSVTriE*) is perhaps tha 
 Japata defended by Josephus, now Jefat, midway 
 between the sea of Tiberias and the Bay of Accho 
 (von Raumer, p. 129; Knobel and Keil). The 
 valley would be, according to this view, the great 
 Wady Abilie, which commences above in the hills 
 near Jefat (Rob. Later Bib. Res. p. 1 03 f.). It emp- 
 ties into the Nahr Amar (Belus), as Van de Velde's 
 map clearly shows. Comp. ver. 27. Keil remarks 
 very correctly, " that this verse should describe the 
 northern boundary," but, as is to be inferred also 
 from the other expressions of Keil, does this very 
 imperfectly. 
 
 Ver. 15. This verse beginning with } is evi- 
 dently a fragment. There must something before 
 have fallen out, in favor of which is the circum- 
 stance also, that at the close of the verse twelve 
 cities and their villages are summed up, while only 
 five are named. We must conclude, as Keil also 
 assumes, that there is here a chasm in the text 
 where we are left in the lurch even by the LXX., 
 who at ch. xv. 59 offered so helpful a supplement. 
 Probably there has dropped out (a) the statement 
 of the west border, which Knobel also feels to be 
 wanting ; (6) the enumeration of seven cities among 
 which it is likely that Nazareth would not have 
 failed to be. In respect to this last city, it cannot 
 help striking one without needing to agree with 
 Jerome on ch. xv. 59, that here Nazareth is want- 
 ing as there Bethlehem. As regards the missing 
 west border, it is indicated ver. 27, in connection 
 with Asher, but " in a very general and vague 
 manner." The five cities are : Kattath. perhaps = 
 
 ^■£H!3 (ch. xxi. 34), Kireh, a place of ruins one 
 and a half hour's south of Kaimon (Knobel, on 
 the authority of Bob. Later Bill. Res. p. 116). 
 Nahallal or Nahalol, a Levitical city, ch. xxi. 35 ; 
 Judg i. 30 ; unknown. Shimron (ch. xi. 1), like- 
 wise. Idalah, the same. Beth-lehem, now Beit- 
 lahm, west- northwest of Nazareth (Rob. Later 
 Bibl. Res. p. 113) ; von Raumer, p. 122. 
 
 e. Ch. xix. 17-23. The Territory of the Tribe of 
 Issaehar. The borders of the tribe of Issachar 
 are not particularly noted by the author, having 
 been given by him in connection with the other 
 tribes, except the eastern part of the north border 
 and the east border, ver. 22. Issachar touched in 
 the north on Zebulun and Naphtali ; in the west 
 on Asher and Manasseh ; in the south likewise on 
 Manasseh in part, and in part also (see the maps) 
 on Ephraim ; in the east on the Jordan. Its most 
 important and most beautiful section of country 
 was the fertile plain of Jezreel (von Raumer, 
 Palest, p. 39 ff. ; Ritter, xvi. 689 ff. ; Furrer, p. 
 258 ff.). Josephus observes concerning the boun- 
 daries, merely : Kal utri roinots 'Itraxapij, Kap- 
 jUtjAov Te opos Kal tov iroTQ.fj.ov tov fir/KOvs notno-afitvn 
 TcppLOva, to 5* lrafivpwv (Tabor) 6pos tov nKdrovs 
 [Ant. v. 1, 22). 
 
 Ver. IS. Jezreel (vtW"?p.), "i.e., God's plant 
 
 ing. Esdraela, among the Greeks, from which 
 Stradela ; at the time of the crusades, Little Ge- 
 rinum (Parvum Gcrinum) ; now Zerin " (von 
 Raumer, p. 157). It stands on the brow of a very 
 steep rocky slope of one hundred feet or more to- 
 ward the northeast, commanding a wide and nobla 
 view of the country around in all directions (Rob. 
 iii. 161 ff). The present village is small and poor. 
 The inhabitants live in constant strife with the 
 Bedouins of the plain of Jezreel, *-ho, with vio> 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 156 
 
 lence or craft, practice incessant provocations ami 
 robberies on the wretched people (Furrer, pp. 262- 
 264). The splendid site induced Ahab and his 
 house to reside here, perhaps more especially in 
 the summer (Keil), to keep court, 1 K. xviii. 45, 
 46; xxi. I ff. ; 2 K. viii. 29 ; ix. 15-37; x. 1-11. 
 Hosea refers to the blood-guiltiness of Jezreel (ch. 
 i. 4, 11 ; ii. 22). Chesulloth = Chisloth-tabor, ver. 
 12 
 
 Shunem, C31JP (prop., according to Gesenius, 
 
 " two resting-places," for C^S/IET, for which, as 
 
 Eusebius informs ns, D/ 1 "^ also was employed), 
 now Solam or Sulem (Rob. iii. 169), on the de- 
 clivity at the western end of Mount Duhy (little 
 Hermon), over against Zerin, but higher. Furrer 
 required one and a half hours between Zerin and 
 Shunem. The ground in the broad valley rose 
 and fell in gentle undulations. The village itself 
 lies behind tall cactus hedges and trees (Furrer, p. 
 264, 265). Here the Philistines encamped before 
 Saul's last battle (1 Sam. xxviii. 4). Shunem was 
 the home of Abishag (1 K. i. 3). In the house of 
 a Shunamite woman Elisha often lodged, and her 
 son he raised from death (2 K. iv. 8-37 ; viii. 1-6). 
 Shunem (Shulem) was probably also the birth- 
 place of the Shulamite (Cant. vi. 12). 
 
 Ver. 19. Chepharaim, perhaps = Chepher, the 
 residence of a Canaanitish king mentioned ch. xii. 
 17; according to the Onom., Affarea, according to 
 Knobel, Afuleh, west of Shulem, and more than two 
 hours northeast of Lejun. Shihon, not found. 
 
 Anahaxath. According to Knobel either Xa'- 
 nrah, on the east side of Little Hermon (Rob. 
 Later Bibl. Res. p. 339) on an elevation, or — since 
 Cod. A of the LXX. gives instead of this name, 
 
 PeviB and 'A/SjWe'fl, therefore HJITIS — Arraneh, 
 north of Jenin, in the plain (in Seetzen, ii. 156 ; 
 Rob. iii. 157, 160). 
 
 Ver. 20. Rabbith, " conjecturably Arabboneh, 
 somewhat further toward the northeast on Gilboa, 
 in Rob. iii. 158" (Knobel). 
 
 Kislnon, a Levitical city, ch. xxi. 28, is errone- 
 ously called BTJi?., 1 Chr. vi. 57 (Knobel, Keil). 
 The site is unknown. 
 
 Abez, not identified. 
 
 Ver. 21. Remeth, "or Ramoth, or Jarmuth, 
 belonging to the Levites (ch. xxi. 29 , 1 Chron. vi. 
 58); the name signifies height" (Knobel). Con- 
 cerning Knobel's further conjectures, see Keil, Bib. 
 Com. on the 0. T. ii. 145, rem. Unknown. 
 
 En-Gannim, □ < 22"] > ??, i. e., Garden-spring, a 
 Levitical city, ch. xxi. 29, " without doubt," as 
 Knobel rightly says, " the present Jenin." For, 
 according to Robinson (iii. 155), this town lies in 
 the midst of gardens of fruit-trees, which are sur- 
 rounded by hedges of the prickly pear ; but having 
 for its most remarkable feature a beautiful, flow- 
 ing, public fountain, rising in the hills back of the 
 town, and brought down so that it issues in a 
 noble stream in the midst of the place. Furrer 
 describes it as an important place on the border of 
 the Samaritan mountain, and mentions not only 
 the copiousness of the water, but the fruitfulness 
 of the gardens there (p. 257). In Josephus (Ant. 
 xx. 6, 1 ; Bell. Jud. iii. 3, 4), En-gannim is called 
 Tfala, from which Jenin has come, as Robinson 
 rightly conjectured (iii. 156, note 1). 
 
 En-Haddah and Beth-pazzaz, not yet identi- 
 Sed. En-haddah may have been the same as 
 Judeideh or Beit Kad, Kadd on Gilboa (Rob. iii. 
 157 ,, Knobel. 
 
 Ver. 22. And the border struck Tabor and 
 Shahazimah, and Beth-shemesh ; and the out- 
 goings of their border were at the Jordan. In 
 this the eastern part of the north border is given. 
 The western point of beginning was Tabor, here 
 probably not the mountain of this name, but a 
 city lying on this mountain (Knobel and Keil), 
 which was given to the Levites (1 Chr. vi. 62 1. 
 Remains of walls have been found there by Seet- 
 zen, Robinson (iii. 213 ff.), Buckingham, Ruseg- 
 ger, and most recently Furrer (p. 307 ff.) Tb.E 
 largest and best preserved mass of ruins is fcund, 
 according to Furrer's representation, on the south- 
 east corner of the plateau of the mountain, where 
 the large closely-jointed blocks of cut stone lie 
 firmly one upon the other, from fifteen to twenty 
 
 feet high. Shahazimah ( the Kethib reads Q-"KnE7) 
 = heights, therefore a city lying on a height, per- 
 haps Hazetheth, on the hills east of Tabor toward 
 the Jordan (Knobel). Beth-shemesh, not to be con- 
 founded with Beth-shemesh in the tribe of Judah 
 (ch. xv. 10, mentioned besides in Judg. i. 33), per 
 haps = Bessum (Rob. iii. 237 ), a conjecture of Kno 
 bel's with which Keil agrees. " The eastern portion 
 of the north border of Issachar toward Naphtali 
 may have run from Tabor northeastward through 
 the plain to Kefr Sabt, and thence along the Wady 
 Bessum to the Jordan. But how far the territory 
 of Issachar extended down into the Jordan Valley 
 is not stated" (Keil). 
 
 Sixteen cities. The number is correct if Tabor 
 is taken as a city. This city would then be as- 
 cribed here to Issachar, while in 1 Chron. vi. 62 it 
 is reckoned to Zebulun ; not a remarkable thing 
 in the case of a border town. 
 
 /. Ch. xix. 24-31. The Territory of the Tribe of 
 Asher. The fifth lot fell to the tribe of Asher, 
 which received its territory on the slope of the 
 Galilean mountains toward the Mediterranean; 
 in general, likewise, a very beautiful and fertile 
 region, whose olive trees (Dent, xxxiii. 24) were 
 formerly famous for their rich product. Even yet 
 there are in that region " ancient olive trees, large 
 gardens with all kinds of southern fruit trees, and 
 green corn-fields" (Furrer, p. 291). From the 
 Franciscan cloister at Accho " the eye sweeps east- 
 ward over the wide, fertile, grassy plains up to the 
 mountains of Galilee " (ibid. p. 294). Here Asher 
 had his beautiful possession. This was the koiAoj 
 of which Josephus speaks : TV 8e a-ro tou Kapuv- 
 kov, Koi\t£$a Trpoaayopfvofxtvrjy 8ia rb teal roiaiirtji 
 tlvai, Atrripirai (pcpovrai tratrav r^]v «V1 SiSutfo: 
 TeTpa/jLuernv (Ant. v. 1, 22). The description be- 
 gins in the vicinity of Accho (ver. 25), goes first 
 toward the south (vers. 26, 27), then northward 
 (vers. 28-30). 
 
 Ver. 25. Helkath, a city of the Levites, ch. xxi. 
 31 = Jelka or Jerka, northeast of Accho (Robin 
 son iii. App. p. 133), on the slope of the moun- 
 tains by a little wady. 
 
 Hah, passed over by von Raumer, possibly Julia 
 or Gnlis, in the same region, somewhat to the 
 southwest of Helkath and more toward the sea. 
 
 Beten (IP?- Belly, = Valley, xoiKas, Gesen. 
 with which the designation used by Josephus for 
 the whole region is suggestively accordant), not 
 yet identified ; according to the dnom. called Beth 
 beten or BejSeTeV, eight Roman miles east of Ptole- 
 mais. Von Raumer (p. 121, Rem. 18, E.) inquires 
 whether it is identical with Ekbatana not far from 
 Ptolemais (Plin. v. 17, 5 ; Reland, p. 617). 
 
 Achshaph, ch. xi. 1 ; xii. 20. 
 
 Ver. 26. A lammelech. The name is preserved 
 
160 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 in the Wady el-Malek which empties into the 
 Kishon from the northeast. 
 
 Amad. Knobel supposes this to be the modern 
 Haifa, about three hours south of Accho, on the 
 sea, called by the ancients Sycaminon, i e. Syca- 
 more-town, since the Hebrew name "fj?0? must, 
 according to the Arab., be interpreted by Syco- 
 moms. Knobel further tliinks that since d passes 
 into r, for which Ex. ii. 15 is cited, the old name 
 Amad may be preserved in Ammara as the coun- 
 try people call Haifa. 
 
 Misheal, a Levitical city (ch. xxi. 30; 1 Chr. 
 vi. 59), according to the Onom. s. v. Masan, situ- 
 ated on the sea, juxta Carmelum. This suits with 
 the following statement of the direction of the 
 boundary : and struck Carmel westward and 
 Shihor-libnath. — Shihor-libnath. The brook of 
 
 Egypt was called simply nrPIP, ch. xiii. 8. Here 
 
 jy H3?v W is intended not the Belus (Xahr 
 Raaman), which empties into the Mediterranean 
 north of Carmel, but, from the direction which the 
 description takes, and with respect to ch. xvii. 10, 
 a stream south of Carmel, and quite probably 
 the Xahr Zerka or Crocodile Brook. Its name 
 Zerka, " blue," bluish stream, as Knobel and Keil 
 
 suppose, might answer both to the ~ 1 1iT , ^ , 1 
 
 " black," and to the i"^?7i "white." 
 
 Ver. 27. Erom that point the border returned 
 toward the sunrising, to Beth-dagon. This 
 Beth-dagon, different from the Beth-dagon in the 
 Shephelah which was assigned to Judah, ch. xv. 
 41, has not been discovered. Proceeding in a 
 northeasterly direction the border struck Zebulun 
 and the ravine of Jiphtha-el, that is, according 
 to the explanations on ver. 14, the Wady Abilin, 
 to the north of Beth-emek and Neiel. — Beth-emek 
 is not identified. Neiel is perhaps the same as Xeah, 
 ver. 13. — Erom hence the border went out to Ca- 
 bul on the left hand. i. e . " on the north side of it. 
 Cabul, northeast of the Wady Abilin, four hours 
 southeast of Accho still bears the same name ; in 
 the LXX. Ka/3ciA; in Josephus nd/n) KaBw\a ( fit. 
 §43). Comp. Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. p. 88. 
 
 Vers. 28-30. The main province proper of the 
 tribe of Asher having been marked out in the pre- 
 ceding verses, the northern district is now more 
 particularly defined (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 28. Hebron, probably a mistake of the 
 copyist for Abdon, which is named eh. xxi. 30 ; 
 
 1 Chr. vi. 59, among the Levitical cities CP?57 = 
 
 T1"T?^). Not yet recognized ; neither is Rehob, 
 Hammon, or Kanah. See Conjectures in Knobel, 
 pp. 464, 465 ; and Keil, Bibl. Com. ii. 2, in I. [also 
 Diet, of the Bible]. The limitation even unto 
 Great Zidon indicates that these places are to be 
 sought for in that direction. Concerning Sidon, 
 see on ch. xi. 8. 
 
 Ver. 29. From Sidon the border returned 
 southward toward Raman and to the fortified 
 city of Tyre (Zur). Ramah is, according to 
 Robinson (Ltitrr Bibl. Res. p. 63), Rameh, south- 
 east of Tyre, on a solitary hill (hence the name) 
 in the midst of a basin of green fields and sur- 
 rounded by greater heights. ~l" 'V^ 1 ? " ' For- 
 Iress of Zor,' I. «. Tyre, is not the island of Tyre, 
 jut the city of Tyre standing on the main land, 
 now Sur" (Keil). At present the once mighty 
 Tyre is a " small and wretched " town, in respect to 
 irbich the predictions of the prophets have been 
 
 fulfilled (Is. xxiii. 7, 8; Ezek. xxvi. 12, 27). Foi 
 the future also " she seems destined to remain nec- 
 essarily a miserable market spot " (Furrer, p. 385). 
 
 The site is a noble one. The name "i- signifies 
 
 -fflS 
 
 ' rock ' 
 
 Xotice the alliteration 
 
 ~ 1 -. Comp. further, Ritter, Erdk. xvii. p. 320 
 ft", and Movers, Phonizier, ii. 1, 118ff. (in Keil). 
 Now the border turned toward Hosah, which is un- 
 known, and finally ran out to the sea in the region 
 of Aehzib. " Achziph. Hrec est Ecdippa in none 
 milUario Ptolemaidis peryentibus Tyrum' (Onom.), 
 Now Zib, three hours north of Accho ; the 'Apx-fi or 
 'Aktiitovs of Josephus {Ant. v. 1, 22). Another 
 Aehzib belonged to Judah, ch. xv. 44. The name 
 
 is probably = to2*3S. " Winter-brook," Gesen. In 
 fact, " Pococke saw [ap. Ritter, xvi. 811) a brook 
 pass along on the south side, over which, a beauti- 
 ful bridge having an arch crossed." By a wide 
 circuit the author has arrived again at the vicinity 
 of Accho. 
 
 Ver. 30. Finally he names still three cities by 
 themselves, Ummah and Aphek, and Rehob, of 
 which only the Aphek on Lebanon, ch. xiii. 14, 
 can with certainty be made out, as was there stated. 
 Possibly, nay probably, Ummah and Rehob also 
 lay in that mountain region. It is to be noted 
 
 that the name Rehob (2 n ~, from -L 1 "^' " to be 
 wide, spacious") occurs twice in the territory of 
 Asher, namely, here and in ver. 28 above. (It is a 
 
 name precisely analogous to n?"!2 and nQ^)), 
 The total twenty-two does not agree with the enu- 
 meration, as is often the case. 
 
 g. Ch. xix. 32-39. The Territory of the Tribe 
 of Naphtali. The sixth lot came to the tribe of 
 Xaphtali, which is designated in Gen. xlix. 21 
 
 as the " hind let loose " (nrPlblp H^'S). Theii 
 province was bounded east by the sea of Gennesaret 
 and the Jordan, west by Asher, south by Zebulun 
 and Issachar. In the north it reached far up into 
 Ccele-syria, and so to the very extremity of west 
 Palestine. The possession of the tribe, through 
 which runs the mountain of Naphtali rising to the 
 height of 3,000 feet — the modern Jebel Sated, — 
 sinks down on the west into the plain on the sea, 
 while in the east it falls oft' to the Jordan valley and 
 the sea of Merom. The -oil is. generally speaking, 
 fruitful, the natural scenery of great beauty. Comp. 
 besides the former travellers, Furrer, pp. 306-331, 
 for the vicinity of the sea of Merom. p. 361 ft". 
 
 Ver. 33. Knobel assumes that here, as in ver. 
 Hi and ch. xvi. 6, the author, proceeding from a 
 central point, describes the west border first toward 
 the north, then toward the south. To us it ap- 
 pears more simple, since Heleph is not repeated 
 like Sarid (vers. 10, 12), to understand with Keil 
 that in ver. 33 the west border toward Asher, with 
 the north and east border is described, in ver. 34 
 the south border. 
 
 Heleph is unknown. On the other hand we 
 know from Judg. iv. 1 1 , where Allon, the Oak, i.e., 
 
 according to Gen. xii. 6, the oak forest IT 1 -S 
 taken collect.) near Zaannanim lay, namely, by 
 Kadesh northwest of the sea of Merom. Here Sis- 
 era was slain (Judg. iv 21) by Jael, the wife of 
 Heber the Kenite, who had pitched his tent there 
 
 (Judg. iv. 11). The name =*??"" is dtrivec" 
 
 from l?", " to wander," a place, therefore, where 
 the tents of the wanderers, the nomads, stanc" 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ltil 
 
 Such a noniadi; herdsman was Hcber. Even to 
 the present day the Bedouins more or less friendly 
 disposed wander about in the north of Palestine, 
 in the plain of Jezreel, on Gilboa, and on Tabor. 
 Comp. Furrer, p. 311, and often. Robinson notices 
 the oaks growing in this region (iii. p. 370; Later 
 Bib/. Res. p. 365 [Stanley, 5! <$• P. pp. 142, 355 n.]). 
 Furrer clearly perceived from Tibnin, looking east- 
 ward, near the elevated Biraschit, the mighty Mes- 
 siah-tree, " a solitary, majestic oak" (indicated on 
 Van de Velde's Map). Forests, however, nowhere 
 met the view, however eagerly he sought to dis- 
 cern them. He is led accordingly to the remark : 
 " Other travellers have praised the abundance of 
 trees in northern Galilee. They could not, I think, 
 have followed my road. An atmosphere of death 
 seemed to me to lie on the holy land here as in 
 Benjamin " (Furrei, p. 337). 
 
 Adami-nekeb (Spil.n'^O^S, •"■ e - Adamiof the 
 depth, hollow, " of the pass " (Knobel and Keil). 
 The name "2"TS (reddish) recalls CIS, eh. iii. 
 16. 
 
 Jabneel, Lakum, like the preceding, unrecog- 
 nized, although Knobel thinks he has found 
 Adami-nekeb in Deir-el-ahmar, ;'. e. red cluster, 
 three hours northwest ofBaalbec. See particulars, 
 Knobel, p. 466 ; a different view, Keil, ii. 1, p. 149. 
 
 And the outgoings thereof were at the Jor- 
 dan (ver. 22). The upper Jordan is meant, the 
 Nahr Hasbany. as a source of the Jordan, comp. 
 Num. xxxiv. 10-12. 
 
 Ver. 34. And the border returned westward, 
 i.e. from the Jordan, the border, namely, the south 
 border of Naphtali turned back, probably follow- 
 ing the Wady Bessum westward to Aznath-tabor. 
 
 2t£7, as in ver. 12. Aznath-tabor is, according to 
 the Onom. a " vims adregionem Dioccesarece pertinens 
 in campestribus." Not discovered. From this notice 
 it stood near Diocresarea = Sepphoris = Sefurieh, 
 perhaps, as Knobel and Keil suppose, southeast of 
 this city, toward Mount Tabor. Thence it ran on 
 to Hukkok, which cannot be identified. 
 
 And struck Zebulun on the south, and struck 
 Asher on the west, and Judah ; the Jordan (was) 
 toward the sun-rising. The south and west bound- 
 ary is to be understood, which grazed Zebulun in 
 the >outh, and Asher and Judah in the west, while 
 the Jordan is noticed as the east border. Great 
 difficulties are raised by the enigmatical nTWPS, 
 The LXX. do not have it, but read : Kal avva^ia 
 t£ Za&v\itii> curb vorou. Kai rep 'Acrrjp trvva^ei Kara 
 daAdfTcrav, Kal 6 'lopbdvris curb c\vara\uiv j]\iov. Either 
 the word was wanting in their text, or, which is 
 more likely, they left it out because they knew not 
 what to do with it. The Vulgate translates, dis- 
 regarding the punctuation of the Masoretes : " Et 
 in Juda ad Jordanem." This Luther [and the 
 Eng. Ver.] followed; but von Rautner (p. 233 rt'.) 
 has labored to show that this Judah on the Jordan 
 consisted in the sixty Jair villages on the east side 
 of the Jordan. His reason is that Jair, who is 
 brought in, eh. xiii. 40; Num. xxxii. 41, contra 
 morem (i. e. contrary to the rule proposed Num. 
 xxxvi. 7, as a descendant of Manasseh, from 
 Machir the Manassite) was actually, according to 
 1 Chr. ii. 5. 21 f., descended through Hezron, on 
 his father's side, from Judah, and therefore to be 
 lesignated properly and regularly a descendant 
 of Judah. Keil also has adopted this view, which, 
 however, after all the care with which von Raumer 
 has labored to develope it, appears not sufficiently 
 
 established by that solitary passage in Chronicles 
 combined with Josephus. Ant. viii. 2, 3. Rather " it 
 is hard to believe that the possession of Jair, which 
 belonged, from ch. xiii. 30, to Manasseh, could 
 have borne the name of Judah " (Bun-en). Not 
 more satisfactory are the attempts of older writers ; 
 of Masius, who supposes that a narrow strip of the 
 land of Naphtali stretched along down the west 
 shore of the Sea of Galilee to Judah ; of Bachiene, 
 who places a city Judah on the Jordan ; of Keland, 
 who says that sometimes all Palestine, the whole 
 land of the twelve tribes, was called Judaea, there- 
 fore the land east of the Jordan might be so called. 
 Hence alterations of the text have been resorted to. 
 
 From the omission of mirQl 1 )V the best Co- 
 dices of the LXX. ( Vat., Alex., and Aid.), Clericus 
 had proposed to treat it simply as not belonging to 
 the text. Maurer, followed "by Bunsen, referring 
 
 to ch. xvii. 10 ; xix. 22, would read cb:Q2, and 
 translates accordingly: " et terminus eorum erat 
 Jordanus ab oriente." Concerning the LXX. his 
 
 says briefly and well : " Sept. mi!T31 suo 
 Marie omiserunt, cfr. ad vers. 15, 30, 38 al." Kno- 
 bel thinks "it would be more suitable to read 
 
 "Oi^ttP?, since Naphtali bordered on Issachar 
 on the west and south." He says further, " If we 
 retain ilTirPH, we must assume that the part of 
 Issachar bordering on Naphtali was called Judah, 
 of which, however there is no evidence." But what 
 if not an adjacent portion of Issachar, but a place 
 in Asher, which was mentioned immediately before 
 
 iTJVISt, was so called ? And this appears in fact 
 to have been the case, for on Van de Velde's Map 
 there is a place north of Tibnin marked el-Jehudt- 
 jeh, in whose name the old name has been pre- 
 served, since Jehudijeh might come from m : l^ , 
 
 as well as from Tin*, c h. xix. 45 (see below). 
 Furrer reached this Jehudijeh from Tibnin in an 
 hour (p. 339 1. 11, compared with 1. 4 from bot- 
 tom). After first descending the steep path, which 
 winds down along the west slope from Tibnin, he 
 went up then out of the ravine (the Wady llmah 
 is meant) toward the west, and came to the little 
 village Jehudijeh, "Jews village," surrounded by 
 many trees. Of ruins, Furrer found there a finely 
 chiseled block of stone which he regards as the 
 slight trace of a synagogue. In this manner we 
 may solve the riddle, simply and easily, as it seems 
 to us, without any change of 'the text and hoi ding fast 
 the Masoretic punctuation. If, however, we were to 
 change the text, Maurer's conjecture would de- 
 serve the preference over that of Knobel, because 
 
 rmrP2% from the similarity of the letters, might 
 
 very easily have arisen from □7 ; Q:n, which is not 
 
 the case with ""OtPtm. 
 
 Ver. 35-39. Fortified Cities of Galilee, ver 34 
 Ziddim, unknown. Zer, likewise unknoni 
 Hammath, to be kept distinct from the often men 
 tioned Hamath, the northern boundary-town of 
 Palestine; a Levitical city, eh. xxi. 32, called 
 also Hammoth-dor or Hammon (1 Chr. vi. 61). 
 The name indicates warm springs, such as existed 
 at Ammaus south of Tiberias ('A/t/iaovs in Joseph 
 Ant. xviii. 2,3; Bell Jud. iv. 1,3; see Menke's 
 Map v., side map of Galilee), and still exist. 
 
 Rakkath, situated, as the Jews have thought 
 on the site of the later Tiberias. 
 
162 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Cinneroth (iTJ33 or nn33, ch. xi. 2 ; Targ. : 
 
 ID^?, -IDia" 1 ?, 10133, IWijmfc, Joseph. Be/7, 
 /urf. iii. 10, 7, 8), the city already mentioned, ch. 
 xiv. 2, which gave name to the beautiful and fer- 
 tile plain, pictured by Josephus (/. c.) in the most 
 splendid colors, and to the sea (ch. xii. 3 ; xiii. 27 ; 
 Num. xxxiv. 11), but which has itself disappeared. 
 Knobel supposes the Khan Minijeh to be the place 
 where it stood. The plain, which is about an hour 
 long and twenty minutes broad, extends from near 
 Mejdel to Khan Minijeh. Comp. further Furrer, 
 
 p.319ff. ; Robinson, iii. 290). i"H33 signifies prob- 
 ably " low ground," a hollow, koi\o.s, from 232 
 (Knobel). 
 
 Verse 3fi. Adamah, unknown. Raman, the 
 
 firesent Rameh, southwest of Sated, on a plain, a 
 arge, beautiful village surrounded with planta- 
 tions of olive trees. Hazor, see on ch. xi. 1. 
 
 Ver. 37. Kadesh, see on ch. xii. 22. Edrei, 
 not to be confounded with Edrei in Bashan, ch. 
 xii. 4, unknown. En-hazor, doubtless Ain Hazur 
 south of Rameh. 
 
 Ver. 38. Iron, now Jaron, Jarun, on a height 
 northwest of el-Jisch (Giscala) in a fertile and cul- 
 tivated region with ruins near by. Seetzen, ii. p. 
 123 f. ; Van de Velde, Narr. i. 174 ff., apud Knobel. 
 Migdal-el (bs-bjTS.^, God's tower). The 
 name speaks for Magdala (Matt. xv. 39), now el- 
 Mejdel, which it is supposed to be by Gesen. and 
 Robinson (iii. 278), only it is remarkable that 
 Migdal-el was not before (ver. 35) included in the 
 cities lying on the Sea of Gennesaret, rather than 
 here among such as lie further west. On this ac- 
 count Knobel, contrary to the Masoretic pointing 
 
 12S"7"T30, joins it with the following C^n, and 
 then finds the place in Mejdel Kerura, west of 
 Rama, three hours east of Accho ( Robinson, Later 
 Bibl. Res. p. 86). Too far west. 
 
 Horem, unless one accepts Knobel's combina- 
 tion, not yet found. So with Beth-anath (Judg. 
 i. 33), and Beth-shemesh, which is different from 
 Beth-shemesh in Judah (ch. xv. 10), and Beth- 
 shemesh in Issachar (ver. 22). Nineteen cities. 
 The number detailed is sixteen. 
 
 g. Ch. xix. 40-48. The. Territory of the Tribe of 
 Dan. This tribe received the seventh lot, which 
 fell to them in "pleasant places" (Ps. xvi. 6), 
 west of Benjamin, north of judah, south of Eph- 
 raim. Their country lay mostly in the Shephelah, 
 but hindered by the Amorites (Judg. i. 34) from tak- 
 ing possession of their province, the warlike tribe con- 
 quered, besides, a small tract far up in the moun- 
 tains of the north (Judg. xviii. 1 ff.). Josephus 
 does not mention this (Ant. v. 1, 27), but our 
 author does (ver. 47). 
 
 Ver. 41 . Zorah, Eshtaol, and Ir - shemesh, 
 three cities of Judah which were yielded to the 
 Danites, but of which they did not occupy Irshe- 
 mesh, a city assigned to the Levites (ch. xxi. 16). 
 
 Ver. 42. Shaalabbin (fab^E? r lia^I? 5 , 
 Gesenius : place of jackals, comp. 757 : ltl' , """!"n, 
 ch. xv. 28), 2 Sam. xxiii. 32; 1 Chr. xi. 33 ; 1 K. 
 iv. 9 ; now Salbit (Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. p. 
 144, n. 3 [Selbit]. Ajalon, ch. x. 12. 
 
 Jethlah. According to Knobel contained in 
 the Wadv Atallah west of Jalo (Ajalon) (Robin- 
 son, Later Bibl. Res. pp. 144, 145). 
 
 Ver. 43. Elon, perhaps Ellin (Robinson, iii. An. 
 p. 120). Thimnatbah, ch. xv. 10. Ekron, ch. 
 xv. 11. 
 
 Ver. 44. Eltekeh, a city of *'.e Levites, ch xxi 
 23, otherwise unknown. 
 
 Gibbethon, ch. xxi. 23, a Identical city also. 
 Mentioned 1 K. xv. 27 ; xvi. 15, 17, in the contest! 
 with the Philistines ; not yet discovered in modern 
 times. 
 
 Baalatb, fortified by Solomon, 1 K. ix. 18 ; un- 
 known. Whether identical with Baala, ch. xv 
 11 '! (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 45. Jehud, very probably el - Yehudijeh, 
 two hours north of Ludd (Robinson, iii. 45), in a 
 beautiful, well-cultivated plain. 
 
 Bene-berak, now Ibn Abrak, one hour to the 
 west of Yehudijeh. 
 
 Gath-rimmon, a Levitical city, ch. xxi. 24 ; 1 
 Chr. vi. 54, to be sought according to the Onom. 
 in the vicinitv of Thimnah, but not vet discovered 
 (Keil). 
 
 Ver. 46. Me-jarkon (aquce fiavedinis, yellow 
 water), unknown. 
 
 Rakkon ("pp? from pp^ = TlyH, "cheek," 
 Gesen.) unknown. 
 
 With the border before Japho. These words 
 indicate that Me-jarkon and Rakkon are to be 
 sought in the region of Japho. 
 
 Japho 03^, beauty) is mentioned elsewhere in 
 the 0. T. only 1 K. v. 9 ; 2 Chr. ii. 16; Ez. iii. 
 7 ; Jon. i. 3. Under the Greek name of Iojitttj, 
 Lat. Joppe, it occurs often in the books of Macca- 
 bees (1 Mace. x. 74, 76 ; xii. 34 ; xiv. 15, 34 ; xv. 
 28, 35 ; 2 Mace. xii. 3-7), and in the Acts of the 
 Apostles (ch. ix. 36-43 ; x. 5, 8, 23, 32 ; xi. 5). 
 The place is now called Jaffa, in which the old 
 name Japho is preserved, and it has, since the 
 times of the Crusaders to the present day been the 
 landing-place of pilgrims who go thence to Jeru- 
 salem. The population amounts to not far from 
 five thousand souls, including about three thousand 
 Mohammedans, six hundred Christians, and only 
 about one hundred and twenty Jews (von Raum. 
 p. 205). The city is very old, built, as the an- 
 cients thought, before the Flood : " Est Joppe ante 
 diluvium, ut ferunt condita" (Pomp. Mela, i. 11); 
 " Joppe Pho?nicum antiquior terrarum inundatione, ut 
 ferunt" (Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 13) (apud von Rau- 
 mer, p. 204). On the east the town is surrounded 
 by a wide circle of gardens and groves of noble 
 trees. Oranges, almonds, figs, apricots, peaches, 
 pomegranates, apples and plums, sugar-cane and 
 cotton, all flourish admirably here ( Furrer, pp. 6, 
 7). Even to these gardens extended, according to 
 the passage before us, the territory of Dan. Con- 
 cerning Joppa, comp. further, Ritter, xvi. 574 ff. 
 [Gage's transl. iv. 253-259]), Winer in the Real- 
 ivoiterbuch, Robinson, 1 Tobler, Wanderung, and 
 Nazareth, nebst Anhang u. s. w., p. 302. This 
 author found civilization so far advanced there in 
 1865 that houses were numbered, and " in genuine 
 Arabic numerals," and their " gates named, e. g. 
 Tarif el-Baher, Sea-gate." 
 
 And the border of the children of Dan went 
 out from them, ;'. e. the children of Dan extended 
 their territory as is related in Judg. xviii ; not, 
 however, in the immediate vicinity, but rather, 
 after having through five scouts become satisfied 
 of the feasibility of their undertaking (Judg. xviii. 
 
 7-10), at the foot of Anti-Lebanon in Laish (0/^7, 
 
 Judg. xviii. 7, 27), or OtP?, as the place is called 
 
 1 [Robinson gives no original information eor lerning 
 Joppa ; see iii. 31, note. — Tb.] 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 163 
 
 in the latter half of our verse. The reason for 
 this migration lay in the pressure of the Amorites 
 who did not allow the Danites to spread them- 
 selves in the plain (Judg. i. 34). With the peace- 
 ful and quiet Sidonians they were able more 
 easily to deal and then conquer them also. For 
 the children of Dan went up to fight against 
 Leshem, and took it. and smote it with the 
 edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt 
 therein, and called Leshem Dan, after the 
 name of Dan their father. This Leshem or Lais 
 which was called Dan by the Danites, and perpro- 
 lepsin, is called so also in Gen. xiv. 14, is preserved 
 in the present name of the place, Tel el-Kadi ( hill of 
 
 the judge), hill of Dan, for 7"tJ means judge, as 
 Wilson, ii. 172, apud von Raumer, p. 125, Rem. 
 24 a, has pointed out, and with this Gen. xlix. 16 
 may be compared. It is a pleasant green hill of 
 not more than twenty or thirty feet in height on 
 the north side, while toward the south it falls ort' 
 to a considerably greater depth (Furrer, p. 365, 
 366). Furrer saw no trace of an ancient city ex- 
 cept some heaps of stones near the southwest 
 edge. The same traveller describes very vividly 
 the capture of Leshem by the Danites, p. 367. 
 Comp. Robinson, iii. 351, 358 ; Later Bibl. Res. p. 
 392 ; Ritter, xv. p. 207 [Gage's transl.ii. 204-207] , 
 von Raumer, p. 125. The name was most famil- 
 iar from the expression "from Dan to Beer- 
 
 sheba," Judg. xx. 1 ; 1 Sam. iii. 20 ; xxx. 30 ; i 
 Sam. xvii. 11. Jeroboam established here the wor- 
 ship of the calves, the " Neo-Israelitish worship," 
 1 lv. xii. 28, 29. Jehu was still devoted to it, 2 K. 
 x. 29 ; Am. viii. 13, 14. May not the old name 
 Leshem have been retained in that of the middle 
 source of the Jordan, el-Leddan (Keil, i. 2, p. 53) ' 
 
 I. Ch. xix. 49, 50. Joshua's Possession. Ac- 
 cording to his desire, the moderation of which has 
 already been alluded to, ch. xvii. 14 ff., Joshua re- 
 ceived, after the land had been divided, Timnath- 
 serah (remaining portion, Gesen.), or Timnath- 
 heres (portion of the sun), as a possession, on 
 Mount Ephraim. There on the mountain Gaash 
 was he buried, ch. xxiv. 30 ; Judg. ii. 8, 9. It is 
 now Tibneh between Gophnah and el-Mejdel, 
 first discovered by Smith in 1843 on an affluent of 
 the Wady Belat. The ruins are of considerable 
 importance ; the tombs there are similar to the 
 royal tombs at Jerusalem (Bib. Sacra, 1843, p. 
 484 fF. in von Raumer, p. 166). Robinson, Later 
 Bibl. Res. p. 141. Ritter, xvi. p. 562 ff. [Gage'» 
 transl. iv. 246 £]. The place is not to be con- 
 founded with Timnath (ver. 43) ch. xv. 10. 
 
 le. Ch. xix. 51. Conclusion. This general re 
 mark in closing the narrative, directly refers, by 
 the statement that the division was made in Slu- 
 loh, only to ch. xviii. 1 , because there the majority 
 of the tribes had received their portions. 
 
 4. Appointment of the Cities of Refuge. 
 
 Chapter XX. 
 
 a. The Command of God to Joshua. 
 
 Chapter XX. 1-6. 
 
 1 The Lord also [And Jehovah] spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children 
 
 2 [sons] of Israel, saying, Appoint out [Appoint] for you [the] cities of refuge, 
 
 3 whereof I spake unto you by the hand, of Moses : that the slayer that killeth 
 [smiteth] any person unawares [by mistake] and unwittingly, may flee thither 
 
 4 and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And 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 [speak his words] 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 
 
 5 among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not de- 
 liver the slayer up into his hand ; because he smote his neighbor unwittingly, and 
 
 6 hated him not beforetime. And 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. 
 
 b. Fulfillment of this Command. 
 
 Chapter XX. 7-9. 
 
 7 And they appointed [consecrated] Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and 
 Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, (which is Hebron) in the mountain 
 
 3 of Judah. And on the other side [of the] Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned 
 [appointed ver. 2] Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain [the table land] out of 
 the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan is 
 
164 
 
 ±HE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed [prop, of 
 appointment] for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger [sojourner] thai 
 sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth [smiteth] any person at unawares 
 [by mistake] might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood 
 until he stood before the congregation. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 Ch. xn. contains the designation of the free cities 
 for homicides as Moses had already (Nam. xxxv. 
 9-34; Dent. xix. 1-13) ordained. There were to 
 be six of them (Num. xxxv. 6, 13 ; Deut. xix. 3-9) 
 and they were taken from the number of the Le- 
 vitieal cities (Num. xxxv. 6). The way to them 
 must be prepared (Deut. xix. 3), that the fugitive 
 might as quickly as possible reach his asylum. 
 
 a. Ch. xx. 1-6. God's Command to Joshua, vers. 
 
 I, 2. Recollection of the ordinance established by 
 God through Moses (Num. xxxv. 9 ff. ; Deut. xix. 
 5 IF., with which Gen. ix. 5 tf. , and Ex. xxi. 12-14 
 maybe further compared). The cities are called 
 
 ^ <r?*?L' 37- The root t27f7 signifies (1.) to draw 
 together, to contract ones self, (2. ) to draw in, hence 
 to receive (a fugitive), as in the Chal. (Gesen.) 
 [The meaning of the noun comes near to asylum]. 
 
 Ver. 3. In these cities the man-slayer (C 1 *P~\ 
 
 from nS"^, prop. " to break or crush in pieces") 
 
 might flee, yet only the one who smote (i"'?^) a 
 
 $oul by mistake (ni2t£72, from 22tp, to go astray, 
 
 to err," for which in Num. xxxv. 22, J?nE3 [in 
 
 a twinkling] stands). Knobel remarks on n33tj?2, 
 
 on Lev. iv. 2 : " This expression, as well as 3JIE' 
 
 and n2t£7, occurs in reference to transgressions of 
 the divine law which are committed without con- 
 sciousness of their being unlawful, and which are 
 only afterwards recognized as sins (vers. 13, 22. 27, 
 v. 18; xxii. 14), e.g., of sins of the congregation 
 without their knowledge (Num. xv. 24 ff.), or even 
 of unlawful conduct which lias resulted from some 
 weakness, carelessness (ch. v. 15), or which was 
 occasioned by some tut fortunate accident (Num. xxxv. 
 
 II, 15, 22 f. ; Josh. xx. 3, 9). Hence it stands in 
 general for unpremeditated sins in opposition to 
 
 np"J "Tj?i i. e., violent intentional sins, which 
 must be punished with death (Num. xv. 27-31), 
 and could not be expiated with sacrifices." Thus 
 
 it is added here also, unwittingly U"~IV1" N 73?, 
 without his knowing it). Now for those who had 
 slain any person by mistake, without intending it, 
 these cities should be for a refuge from the avenger 
 
 of blood. He is — ~^T^ '^-, LXX. o ayx^T^vayv 
 to afua luyxiGTcvs. whence ayxtcrevcii, is the near- 
 est of kin, according to Ammonius the one en- 
 titled to the heirship, different from avyyeveTs, 
 who have no such right, and from olieetot, related 
 by marriage, Herod, x. 80. The word ayx'o-Teiui 
 occurs frequently in the LXX. still also in Isseus, 
 Orat. Att.n. 11, and inEurip. Trach. 243). Vulg. : 
 
 •Mtor sanguinis. -K2 signifies properly to demand 
 back, reclaim what belongs to one, hence, in con- 
 nection with E^, to require, revenge the blood J 
 which has been stolen by the murderer. As such 
 a. reclamation in reference to real estate belonged ] 
 •o the family (Lev. xxv. 35; Ruth iv 4-6), so ■ 
 
 that they alone had a light to repurchase it ; so 
 also the reclamation for the blood of a member of 
 a family was a duty of the family, and thev akrae 
 had a right in regard to it. Precisely so was it with 
 the duty of marrying a brother's widow (Deut. 
 xxv. 5;" Matt. xx"ii. 23 ff. ; Mark xii. 19; Luke 
 
 xx. 28) which is expressed Ruth iii. 13 by -S3. 
 On the custom itself of vengeance for blood [t'u: 
 vendetta], see the Theological and Ethical. 
 
 Ver. 4. More particular directions, not given 
 in the passages of the Pentateuch, how the man- 
 slayer should proceed on his arrival at the free 
 city. He must remain standing at the entering 
 of the gate of the city, i. e. ante portam (Vulg.), 
 and state his case before the ears of the elders of 
 
 that city. Then they shall gather him pEDN?) 
 into the city, and shall give him a place, that 
 he may dwell among them, i. e. assign to him 
 a habitation. 
 
 Vers. 5, 6. He might not be delivered to the 
 avenger of blood, but might, according to ver. 6, 
 to the congregation, that is, as appears from Num. 
 xxxv. 24 ft", to the congregation of his own city, 
 who should hold judgment upon him, and either, 
 if they found him guilty, give him up to the 
 avenger of blood, or, if they esteemed him innocent, 
 send him back to the city of refuge, where he must 
 remain until the death of the anointed high-priest 
 (Num. xxxv. 25), that is, of the ruling high-priest. 
 After the death of the latter there follows, some- 
 what as upon the death of an anointed prince, an 
 amnesty, and the man-slayer is at liberty to return 
 to his home. If, however, lie presumptuously leaves 
 his asylum sooner, he is exposed to the anger of 
 the avenger (Num. xxxv. 26, 28). 
 
 b. Ch. xx. 7-9. Fulfillment of this Command, 
 ver. 7. They consecrated to this use six cities. 
 
 C <T '.[7r'! as Keil rightly notices, is not merely to 
 set apart, but to set apart something to a holy des- 
 tination from the remaining mass of things. " The 
 free cities " as Ranke says ( Untersuch. uber den 
 Pentateuch, ii. 316, apitrl Keil, pp. 36.3), "are in- 
 tended to keep the people and land of Jehovah pure 
 from blood guiltiness. They exist as a monument 
 of Jehovah's love for his chosen." Hence not cities 
 at random but Levitical cities were chosen (Num. 
 xxxv. 6). 
 
 Kedesh in Galilee. Ch. xii. 22 ; xix. 37. 
 
 '* .'|, from * |, signifies a ring, Esth. i. 6 ; Cant. 
 
 v. 14, then circle, section of land, like " 2-. In 
 particular it is a circuit of twenty cities (1 K. ix. 
 
 11) in the tribe of Naphtali. ' '2Ti within whose 
 borders many heathen still dwelt, and hence called, 
 
 Is', viii. 13, E^ISn 2 (comp. Matt. iv. 15, TaAiAaio 
 ruiv i8va>v). From it the name Galilee, which oc- 
 curs in the translation here and in ch. xxi 32, has 
 been formed. Shechem, ch. xvii. 7. Ktrjatn- 
 arba, ch. xv. 13. The three cities of refuge west 
 of the Jordan thus lay so distributed that one 
 (Kedesh) was found in the north, one (Shechem) 
 in the centre, and one (Kirjath-arba = Hebron) 
 in the southern part of the land. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 165 
 
 Ver. 8. East of the Jordan there are likewist 
 three which Moses had already (Deut. iv. 41-43 
 established. 
 
 Bezer, perhaps identical with Bozra ( Jer. xlviii 
 24), but not to be identified more particularly, al- 
 though we may, as Knobel remarks on Num. xxxii. 
 38, compare the place of ruins Burazin, some way 
 east of Heshbon in the plain (Robinson, App. p. 
 170). or Berza (Robinson, ibid.). 
 
 Ramoth rnGilead, the same city which is called, 
 ch. xiii. 26, Ramath-Mizpeh, 1 now, as was shown at 
 the place cited (comp. also Knobel on Num. xxxii. 
 42, p. 1 83), es-Salt, and therefore not to be placed so 
 far northward as on Menke's Map iii. ; comp. Gen. 
 txxi. 49. 
 
 Golan in the country of Gaulanitis (Jaulan) 
 not yet discovered by modern travellers, but in the 
 time of Eusebius and Jerome called a K<i/j.i\ y.cylar-i\ 
 and villa pragrandis. Since Ramoth in Gilead lay 
 in the middle of the land, Bezer probably in the 
 south, and Golan in the north, there seems to have 
 been a similarly fit distribution of the cities to that 
 which we have noticed in West Palestine. But 
 while they were enumerated there from north to 
 south, these are mentioned, as in Deut. iv. 43, in 
 the opposite order. 
 
 Ver. 9. These were the cities appointed, — 
 
 rni^an "HS, the Vulgate, rightly : civitatt s 
 
 constitutes, cities of appointment (from f?J* to ap- 
 point), i. e., which were appointed in order that 
 every one .... might flee thither ; Kimchi, in- 
 accurately ; urbes congregationis (with reference to 
 
 the signification of ~^> in Niph.); Gesen., not 
 precisely : urbes asyli, for in that view they are 
 called, ver. 3, Elb^an ^V. Luther [and Eng. 
 Vers.] translated quite rightly : these were the cities 
 appointed for all the children of Israel, etc. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 So long as no organized commonwealth exists 
 among a people, a common consciousness of right 
 develops itself first in that sphere of society which 
 is immediately given by the divine order of nature 
 — the family. It will therefore interpose when the 
 right of one of the members is violated, whether 
 in the loss of material goods through robbery, or 
 by injury to body and life. So we find vengeance 
 for blood, not only among the Hebrews, Arabs, 
 Persians, but also among the Greeks, with tin- 
 Germanic and Slavic peoples, in the infancy of 
 their development, as now among savage nations. 
 The theocratic legislation found the custom existing, 
 and sought, without attempting to abolish, to restrain 
 k. This purpose was served by the free cities, as 
 
 1 (Oeborc'e large map makes them distinct places. — Ta.J 
 
 also by the other restricting appointments in the 
 passages of the law quoted above, as well as in 
 this passage. It deserves to be carefully consid- 
 ered also, that according to the view of the O. 
 T., in a case of manslaughter, not merely the 
 family to which the slain man belonged was in- 
 jured, but God himself in whose image man was 
 created (Gen. ix. 6). On this account the real 
 avenger of blood, as is said just before, is God 
 himself (Gen. ix. 5; Ps. ix. 13; 2 Chron. xxiv. 
 22). He avenges the murdered man even on 
 brutes (Gen. ix^; Ex. xxi. 28, 29). Since God 
 is wronged in intentional murder, even the altar 
 itself affords no protection to the slayer (Ex. xxi. 
 14), ransom is not allowed (Num. xxxv. 31), the 
 land even is defiled and cannot be purified from 
 the blood which has been shed in it, without the 
 blood of him who has spilled it (Num. xxxv. 33). 
 The legislation of the O. T. is. therefore, on this 
 side, much stricter than the Greek, Roman, or 
 German idea of right. These allowed ransom, and 
 regarded consecrated places as places of asylum 
 even for the intentional murderer (comp. Winer, 
 Healw., art. " Ereistatt "). On the other hand, it 
 appears much more humane and equitable in re- 
 garding God himself as the proper avenger (see 
 Gen. ix. 5 ff., and comp. Lange on the passage), 
 in distinguishing between premeditated and unin- 
 tentional homicide, and in requiring punishment 
 of the perpetrator only, not at all of his relations. 
 Comp. on this subject the art. " Blutracher" by 
 Oehler in Herzog's Realencyk. ii. 260 ff., also Winer, 
 art. " Blutracher," Keil, Com. on Josh, in loc, [and 
 Smith's Diet, of the Bible, arts. "Blood, Avenger 
 of," and " Cities of Refuge." — Te.] 
 
 H05IILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 The chapter is suitable to be treated as a Bible 
 lesson, to show, with reference to the passages 
 Gen. ix. 5 ff. ; Ex. xxi. 12-14 ; Num. xxxv. 9 ff. ; 
 Deut. xix. 1 ff., how solemnly and strictly, and at 
 the same time how justly and mildly, the 0. T. 
 legislation spoke concerning violence to human 
 life ; how it in part clung still to the patriarchal 
 institutions, but in part prepared for a better order ; 
 in particular, how this arrangement for free cities 
 put a check on family revenge, and endless, bloody 
 quarrels. For the practical application, the fol- 
 lowing comments of Starke give hints : The name 
 of the Lord is a strong rower and safe refuge ; the 
 righteous flee thereto and are protected, Prov. xviii. 
 19 ; Ps. xviii. 2, 3. — The blood of a man is highly 
 esteemed before God ; he who sheds it has God's 
 wrath upon him, Gen. iv. 10; ix. 6; Gal. v. 21; 
 Rev. xxii. 15. — God has no pleasure in sin, Ps. v 
 5, nor delight in the deal h of the sinner, Ezek. xviii 
 23, 24. 
 
166 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 5. Appointment of the Cities for the Priests and Levites. 
 Chapter XXI. 
 
 a. Demand of the Levites that Cities should be given them. 
 Chapteb XXI. 1-3. 
 
 1 Then [And] came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the 
 priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the 
 
 2 tribes of the children [sons] of Israel ; And they [omit : they] spake unto them at 
 Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lord [Jehovah] commanded by the 
 hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs [and their pasture- 
 grounds ; De Wette : their circuits ; Bunsen : common-pastures ; Knobel : driving- 
 
 3 grounds] for our cattle. And the children [sons] of Israel gave unto the Levites 
 out of their inheritance [possession], at the commandment of the Lord [Jehovah], 
 these cities and their suburbs [pasture-grounds]. 
 
 b. General Account of the Levitical Cities. 
 Chapter XXI. 4-?. 
 
 4 And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites : and the children [sons] 
 of Aaron J the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of 
 Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon [the Simeonites], and out of the tribe of Ben- 
 
 5 jamin, thirteen cities. And the rest of the children [sons] 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 
 
 6 half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities. And the children [sons] 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-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen 
 
 7 cities. The children [sons] 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 
 
 8 And the children [sons] of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with 
 [and] their suburbs [pasture-grounds], as the Lord commanded by the hand of 
 Moses. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 p Ver. 4. S "O?^ *7X)\ strictly : and there were for the sons of Aaron . by the lot thirteen cities. And 
 ■o through the following verses to the 7th inclusive. — Tb.] 
 
 c. Cities of the Children of Aaron ( Cities of the Priests). 
 
 Chapteb XXI. 9-19. 
 
 9 And they gave out of the tribe of the children [sons] of Judah, and out of the 
 tribe of the children [sons] of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by 
 
 10 name [which were called by name], Which the children [sons] of Aaron, 1 being of 
 the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi, had : for theirs 
 
 11 was the first lot. And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak (which 
 city is Hebron) in the h\\\-country [on the mountain] of Judah, with the suburbs 
 
 12 thereof [and its pasture-grounds] round about it. But [And] the fields of the city, 
 and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for [in] his pos- 
 
 13 session. Thus [And] they gave to the children of Aaron the priest, Hebron with 
 her suburbs, to be a city [the city] of refuge 2 for the slayer ; and Libnah with 
 
 14 her suburbs, And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs, 
 
 15 16 And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs, And Ain with hei 
 suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with her suburbs ; nine 
 
 1 7 cities out of those two tribes. And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her 
 1? suburbs, Geba with her suburbs, Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her 
 1 9 suburbs ; four cities. All the cities of the children of Aaron, the pi ests, were 
 thirteen cities with their suburbs. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 167 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [- /er. 10. M ^3^ V* ^n^H, as in verse 4, properly : And there was for the sons of Aaron [sc. the lot, see exeg. not*], 
 or. there were [the cities]. The subject in any case has to be supplied, on account of the parenthesis at the end of ths 
 
 verse. — Tr.] 
 
 [- Ver. 13. Hebron the city of refuge for the slayer, and its pasture-grounds. It may be remarked, once for all, that 
 " suburbs " in the version, should uniformly throughout the chapter be understood in the sense which we have hitherto 
 indicated by substituting ff pasture-grounds." The a with " which precedes it should as uniformly be "and." — Tr.1 
 
 d. Cities of the remaining Kohathites. 
 Chapter XXL 20-26. 
 
 20 Arid the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites which [who] remained 
 of the children of Kohath, even [omit : even] they had the cities of their lot out 
 
 21 of the tribe of Ephraim. For [And] they gave them Shechem with her suburbs 
 in mount Ephraim, to be a city [the city] of refuge ' for the slayer ; and Gezer 
 
 22 with her suburbs, And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Beth-horon with her sub- 
 
 23 urbs ; four cities. And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gib- 
 
 24 bethon with her suburbs, Aijalon with her suburbs, Gath-rimmon with her sub- 
 
 25 urbs ; four cities. And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her 
 
 26 suburbs, and Gath-rimmon, with her suburbs ; two cities. AH the cities were ten 
 with their suburbs, for the families of the children of Kohath that remained. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL 
 
 [ 1 Ver. 21. Heb. nearly as in ver. 13. And they gave them the city of refuge for the slayer, Shechem ami its pas- 
 ture-grounds, on Mount Ephraim. — Tr.] 
 
 e. The Cities of the Gershonites (comp. ver. 6). 
 Chapter XXI. 27-33. 
 
 27 And unto the children [sons] of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out 
 of the other [omit : other] half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with 
 her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer, 1 and Beesh-terah with her sub- 
 
 28 urbs ; two cities. And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, 
 
 29 Dabareh with her suburbs, Jarmuth with her suburbs, En-gannim with her sub- 
 
 30 urbs ; four cities. And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon 
 
 31 with her suburbs, Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs ; four 
 
 32 cities. And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, 
 to be a city of refuge for the slayer ; 2 and Hammoth-dor with her suburbs, and 
 
 33 Kartan with her suburbs ; three cities. All the cities of the Gershonites, accord 
 ing to their families, were thirteen cities with their suburbs. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL 
 
 [1 Ter. 27. As in ver. 21 : The city of refuge for the slayer, Golan, in Bashan, etc. — Ta-J 
 [2 Ver. 32. As in ver. 27. — Tr.] 
 
 /. The Cities of the Merarites (comp. ver. 7). 
 Chapter XXI. 34-42. 
 
 34 And unto the families of the children [sons] of Merari, the rest of the Levites, 
 out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs, and Kartah with her sub- 
 
 35 36 urbs, Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs ; four cities. And out 
 of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs, 
 
 ¥! 38 Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs ; four cities. And 
 out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge 
 
 39 for the slayer ; ' and Mahanaim with her suburbs, Heshbon with her suburbs, 
 
 40 Jazer with her suburbs ; four cities in all. So all the cities [All the cities] for 
 the children [sons] of Merari by their families, which were remaining of t^e fami- 
 
 41 lies of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities. 2 All the cities of the Levites 
 
168 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with 
 
 42 their suburbs. These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them. 
 Thus were [So to] all these cities. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL 
 
 [ 1 Ver. 38. As in vers. 27, 32. — Tr.] 
 
 [3 Ver. 40. Heb. with broken construction : and their lot was twelve cities. — Tr.] 
 
 g. Conclusion. 
 Chapter XXI. 43-46. 
 
 43 And the Lord [Jehovah] gave unto Israel all the land which he sware [had 
 
 44 sworn] to give unto their fathers : and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And 
 the Lord [Jehovah] gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware 
 [had sworn] unto their fathers : and there stood not a man of all their enemies 
 before them ; the Lord [Jehovah] delivered all their enemies into their hand. 
 
 45 There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord [Jehovah] had spoken 
 unto the house of Israel ; all came to pass. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 The chapter contains the catalogue of the Le- 
 vitical cities, which were appointed according to 
 the regulations already given by Moses, Num. 
 xxxv. 1 ff. There were forty-eight of them in all, 
 of which six were at the same time (ch. xx.) cities 
 of refuge. On Kiepert's Wall Map they are dis- 
 tinguished by a colored line drawn under each [on 
 Clark's Bible Atlas of Maps and Plans, by being 
 printed in small capitals, and on Menke's by a dis- 
 tinguishing mark]. 
 
 The list of the Levitical cities is given also in 
 1 Chron. vi. 39-66, with several in part easily re- 
 movable deviations, due probably, as Keil sup- 
 poses (ii. 1, p. 156, note), to another documentary 
 source. The chronicler names only forty-two 
 cities, although he also relates ver. 45 ff. that the 
 children of Aaron had received thirteen, the other 
 Kohathites ten, the Gershonites thirteen, the Me- 
 rarites twelve cities, in all therefore forty-eight. 
 Omitted are (1) Jutta in Judah, (2) Gibeon in 
 Benjamin, (3) Eltekeh in Dan, (4) Gibbethon in 
 Daii, (5) Jokneam in Zebulun, (6) Nahalal in 
 Zelmlun. Knobel seeks the reason in mere negli- 
 gence on the part either of the chronicler himself 
 or of a transcriber. Judging somewhat more leni- 
 ently, we may find the explanation in an oversight, 
 well' deserving excuse amid so many names. If, 
 further, the author of Chronicles gives to some ex- 
 tent different names, many of them exhibit faulty 
 
 readings, as ~OT for TT3?i!l (ver. 25), ^1U. for 
 
 ^tTJ? (ver. 29), etc., but others, on the contrary, 
 
 the true reading, as )&$ for T.V (ver. 16), O^ 1 ?? 
 
 'or TiEPV" 12 (ver. 25), and W for n?a^ 
 
 (ver. 35). In other places he shows only different 
 forms of the same name, as the examples cited by 
 
 Keii, m$?y for liabs, ba? a for Wd, -pan 
 
 for "^S^ nan, and many others (Keil, ub. sup.). 
 Some, finally, are probably different designations 
 of the same city, as Q2ap> for O^^, ni»SH 
 
 for nW£, and D3S for a^T?' (1 Chron. vi. 
 53, 58 [Eng. 68, 73] compared with Josh. xxi. 22, 
 29. 
 
 a. Vers. 1-3. Demand of the Levites that Cities 
 should be given to them. The account which we have 
 here of the application of the heads of the tribe 
 (Ex. vi. 14, 25) reminds us of ch. xiii. 6, where it 
 is similarly told concerning Caleb, that he, accom- 
 panied by members of his tribe, brings to mind the 
 promise "that had been given him by Moses. Cal- 
 vin regards it as probable that the Levites had 
 been forgotten, adducing in support of this : " Sic 
 enitn accidere sotet, ditm quisque ad sua curanda at- 
 tentus est, utjratrumobliviscatur." Considering the 
 great respect in which their fellow tribesman of 
 that day, Eleazar, was held, and that he himself 
 shared in the distribution of the land, we may 
 much rather assume with Masius (in Keil, p. 155), 
 " illos, cum res ad earn opportunitatem perductat fuis- 
 sent, accessisse ad divisores communi suorum tribuhum 
 nomine ul designatas ab illis urbes sortirenlur." They 
 had not deemed it opportune to urge their claim 
 before. 
 
 b. Vers. 4-8. Account of the Levitical cities in 
 general. According to Ex. vi. 16-20, and Num. iii. 
 17-19, compared with 1 Chron. v. 27-vi. 34 [Eng. 
 vi. 1-49], we have the following family-tree for the 
 Levites, to keep which before the eyes may help to 
 understand the following allotment : — 
 
 1. Gershon. 
 
 2. Kohath. 
 
 3. Merari (Ex. vi. 16 ; Num. iii. 17). 
 
 1. Amram. 
 
 2. Izhar 
 
 3. Hebron 
 
 4. TJzzdel (Es. vi. 18 ; Num. iii. 19). 
 
 I. Aaron 
 
 2. Moses (Ex vi. 20). 
 
 Aaron's posterity received the priesthood, Num. 
 iviii. 1, 2, 7 (1 Chron. vi. 49). All the other Le- 
 rites hence the descendants of Moses also, were 
 
 appointed, Num. xviii. 3-6 (1 Chron. vi. 33 [48]) 
 to the inferior service of the sanctuary. The chil- 
 dren of Israel, according to Num. xxxr. 6 ff., de 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 169 
 
 termined what cities the families of the Levites 
 ihoull receive, but the lot decided which of these 
 lities each particular family should have. 
 
 Ver. 4. The first lot came out for the families 
 of the Kohathites, and, among these, for the 
 sons of Aaron the priest, of the Levites. They, 
 namelv, the proper priests, received thirteen cities 
 in the territory of the tribe of Judah, Simeon, and 
 Benjamin. Upon which Calvin remarks : " Quod 
 non contigit fortuito eventu : quia Dens pro admirabili 
 sua consilio in ea sede eos locavit, ubi statuerat tern- 
 plum sibi eligere." 
 
 Ver. 5. The other Kohathites, that is, the pos- 
 terity of Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel, and, in the line of 
 Amram, those of Moses, shared ten cities in the 
 land of Ephraim, Dan, and Manasseh west of the 
 Jordan. 
 
 Ver. 6. The Gershonites received eighteen cities 
 of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh east 
 of the Jordan. 
 
 Ver. 7. To the Merarites were allotted twelve 
 cities out of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. 
 
 c. Vers. 9-19. The Cities of the Sons of Aaron 
 (cities of the priests). In vers. 9-1 6 are mentioned 
 the cities which the Aaronides received in the coun- 
 try of Simeon and Judah, then in vers. 17-19 the 
 four cities of Benjamin. That they had so many 
 was reasonable in view of the future increase of 
 the posterity of Aaron. 
 
 [Keil, Bill. Comm. ii. 1, pp. 155, 156, says on this 
 topic : " This number for the cities allotted to the 
 Levites will not appear too large if we consider, 
 that (1) most of the cities of Canaan, to judge 
 from the great number in so small a country, could 
 not have been very large ; (2) the Levites were not 
 the sole occupants of these cities, but had only the 
 necessarj abodes in them for themselves, and pas- 
 ture for their cattle iu the vicinity, while the re- 
 maining space was for the other tribes; (3) that 
 the twenty-three thousand male persons which the 
 Levites numbered in the second census in the 
 steppes of Moab, when distributed among thirty- 
 live cities, would give to each six hundred and 
 fifty-seven males, or about thirteen hundred male 
 and female Levites. On the other hand, the allow- 
 ance of thirteen cities to the priests has raised ob- 
 jections tending to the supposition that, since 
 Aaron, in Joshua's time, couid scarcely have had 
 so numerous a posterity from his two remaining 
 sons as to fill two, not to speak of thirteen cities, 
 therefore the catalogue betrays a document of a 
 much later date (Maurer and others). But in this, 
 not only is there ascribed to those who effected the 
 division, the monstrous short-sightedness of assign- 
 ing to the priests their abodes with reference merely 
 to their necessity at that time, and without regard 
 to their future increase, but also of having taken 
 the size of the cities as much too important, and 
 the number of the Levites as much too small. 
 But it was not at all designed that the cities should 
 be filled with the families of the priests. And 
 although the poll-list of the priests then living is 
 nowhere given, still, if we remember that Aaron 
 died in the fortieth year of the. exodus, at the age 
 of one hundred and twenty-three years (Num. 
 xxxiii. 38), and so was already eighty-three years 
 old when they left Egypt, it will appear that there 
 might be now, seven years after his death, descend- 
 ants of the fourth generation. But his two sons 
 had twenty-four male offspring who founded the 
 twenty-four classes of priests instituted by David 
 M Chron. xxiv.). If, then, we allow only six 
 males respectively to each of the following genera- 
 ions, the third generation would already have 
 
 numbered one hundred and forty foin persons, 
 who, ranging from twenty-five to thirty-five years 
 of age at the distribution of the land, might now 
 have had eight hundred and sixty-four male chil- 
 dren. Thus the total number of male persons of 
 the priestly class might at that time have amounted 
 to over one thousand, or to at least two hundred 
 families." — Tr.] 
 
 Ver. 9. The cities were called by name, that 
 is, they indicated them by their names, " specified 
 them by name " (Knobel). 
 
 Ver. 10. The subject of the principal sentence is 
 
 7"V13, which must be supplied from the parenthet- 
 ical explanatory sentence ("for theirs was the first 
 lot"). The awkwardness of the construction re 
 minds us of ch. xvii. 1. 
 
 Vers. 11, 12. The first city named is Hebron, 
 here also as in ch. xv. 13, and often, called the city 
 of Arba. When this Arba is here called the father 
 
 of Anok, P"0??, but elsewhere always the father of 
 
 Anak (PJ? 'Ei/an), the T^^V. is undoubtedly a 
 mere variety of pronunciation of the same name. 
 The A sound ea.-ily passes over, in the German 
 dialects also into the sound. At Hebron the 
 
 Levites received, besides the city, only O^^O 
 
 (from C~|) to drive), the " drives," the pasture- 
 grounds, but not the tillable land which, with the 
 villages thereon, belonged to Caleb (ch. xiv. 12). 
 
 Compare also in reference to the Q^ttHJri ver. 3, 
 as well as Num. xxxv. 2. 
 
 Ver. 13 repeats the sense of ver. 11 on account 
 of the parenthetical remark in ver. 12. Libnah 
 (ch. xv. 42 ; x. 29) ; Jattir (ch. xv. 48) ; Eshte- 
 moa (ch. xv. 50) ; Holon (ch. xv. 51 ) ; Debir (ch. 
 xv. 15, 49 ; x. 38) ; Ain (ch. xv. 32) ; Jutta (ch. 
 xv. 55) ; Bethshemesh (ch. xv. 10). Of the cities 
 so far enumerated six, Hebron, Jattir, Eshtemoa, 
 Holon, Debir, Jutta, lay on the mountain of Judah ; 
 two, Libnah and Beth-shemesh, in the lowland, to 
 which is added one city of Simeon, Ashau in the 
 
 lowland ()^^' ch. xv. 42 ; xix. 7, as should be 
 
 read, 1 Chron. vi. 44 (59), instead of V.V- 
 
 Ver. 1 7 ff. The four Levitical cities in Benjamin, 
 Gibeon (ch. ix 3 ff. ; x. 1 ff. ; xviii. 25), Geba (ch. 
 xviii. 24), Anathoth, and Almon. The two latter 
 are wanting in the list of the cities of Benjamin, 
 and are therefore still to be spoken of here. Ana 
 
 thoth (nV"Q37), Jeremiah's birth-place (Jer. i. 1 ; 
 xx ix. 27). whose inhabitants, however, hated him 
 (Jer. xi. 21 ), and were therefore threatened by the 
 indignant prophet (Jer. xi. 22, 23), lies one hour 
 and a quarter (Furrer one hour and seventeen 
 minutes) northeast of Jerusalem, and is now called 
 Anata, built "on a height rising a little above the 
 table-land." As traces of its antiquity, Furrer, 
 who made a trip thither from Jerusalem (pp. 75- 
 80), found in a house stones with jointed edges, 
 three feet long and one and a half feet wide (p. 
 77). Robinson (who first recognized in Anata the 
 ancient Anathoth, while ecclesiastical tradition had 
 chosen for it another site, near the village of 
 Kuryet el-Enab, about three hours from Jerusalem 
 on the road to Ramleh, and had called it Jeremiae) 
 also notices ancient remains of walls, fid, like 
 Furrer, praises the prospect from this place (Rob. 
 ii. 109, 110; Furrer, p. 77). The statements of 
 Joseph. [Ant. x. 7, 3), of the Onom., and of Jerome 
 in the Comm. in Jer 1, on the distance of Ana- 
 
170 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 thoth from Jerusalem have been provt I correct 
 (see von Raumer, p. 171). Almon (T"3ySi 1 
 Chron. vi. 45 (60) H^bs), now Almit (Rob. Later 
 Bibl. Res. 287) or el-Mid, as Tobler writes it 
 (Denkbl. p. 631, note 1), situated a little to the 
 northeast of Anathoth. A place of ruins. 
 Ver. 19. Thirteen cities in all. 
 
 d. Vers. 20-26. The Cities of the remaining Ko- 
 hathites. Of these there were ten, namely, four in 
 Ephraim (ver. «a), four in Dan (ver. 24), two in 
 west Manasseh r er. 25). 
 
 Vers. 20-22. a. Four Cities in Ephraim, She- 
 chem (ch. xvii. 7), Gezer (ch. x. 33; xvi. 3), 
 Kibzaim (instead of which 1 Chron. vi. 53 (68) has 
 
 DV!2(T, not discovered. That Kibzaim and Jok- 
 i in-.- l i ri may be ; as Knobel and Keil suppose, differ- 
 ent names of the same place, is confirmed perhaps 
 by the fact referred to by Gesenius in his Lex., that 
 
 D3?P|T, " gathered by the people," from r. i"IO|?. 
 and D^23|7 from V?I5' t0 c °ll ect . cognate with 
 n^Uf?, Ezek. xxii. 20, " have a quite similar 
 etymology." The fourth city is Beth-horon. 
 " Whether the upper or lower city, is not said " 
 (Keil). 
 
 Vers. 23, 24. 0. Four Cities in Dan, Eltekeh, 
 Gibbethon (ch. xix. 44), Arjalon (ch. x. 12 ; xix. 
 42), Gath-rimmon (ch. xix. 45). 
 
 Ver 25. 7. Two Cities in West Manasseh; Ta- 
 nach (ch. xii. 21 ; xvii. 11). Gath-rimmon, an 
 old mistake in copying for 0^73 (1 Chron. vi. 
 55 [70]), that is Ibleam (ch. xvii. 11). 
 
 Ver. 26. In all, ten cities. 
 
 e. Vers. 27-33. The Cities of the Gershonites. 
 Thirteen, again, as with the sons of Aaron (vers. 
 4, 19), namely, two in East Manasseh (ver. 2), 
 four in Issachar (ver. 28), four in Asher (ver. 30), 
 three in Naphtali (ver. 32). 
 
 Ver. 27. a. Two Cities in East Manasseh. Golan 
 
 (ch. xx. 8 ; Deut. iv. 43). Beesh-tera (rH^tpV?, 
 
 cont. from T^tPE-jTa, that is, House of As- 
 
 tarte; called 1 Chron. vi. 56 (71) jTnPltp??. It 
 was plainly a city with a temple of Astarte, per- 
 haps the Ashteroth-Kamaim mentioned in Gen. 
 xiv. 5 as the residence of Og, king of Bashan , the 
 6ite of which cannot now be determined. In any 
 case, we must not, as Keil and Knobel observe, 
 think of the present Busra in the east of Hauran 
 (as Reland does, pp. 621, 662), for this was called 
 even from ancient times B<f<r<ropa, Boaopi ( 1 Mace. 
 
 v. 26 ; Joseph. Ant. xii. 8, 3), hence as now i"HV3, 
 which the Greeks and Romans corrupted into 
 BddTpc (Knobel). But we must not either refer 
 as Knobel would, to a Bostra or Bustra on Mount 
 Hermon, north of Banias, since the territory of 
 the tribes did not extend so far north. Knobel, 
 indeed, assumes this when he discovers Baal-gad 
 in Heliopolis ; which view we have attempted to 
 disprove in ch. xi. 17. The site of this Beeshterah, 
 therefore, must be regarded as not yet ascertained. 
 That the name Beeshtera should occur more than 
 once, and therefore on Mount Hermon, is owing to 
 ie wide spread of the worship of Astarte through 
 that region. So much the more difficult will it be 
 to make out the situation of our city. 
 
 Vers. 28, 29. 3. Four Cities in Issachar: Kishon 
 jch. xix. 20), Dabareh (ch. xix. 12), Jarmuth, 
 Bn-gannim (ch. xix. 21). 
 
 Vers. 30, 31. 7. Four Cities in Asher: Misha) 
 (ch. xix. 26), Abdou (ch. xix. 28), Helkath (ch. 
 xix. 25), Rehob (ch. xix. 28). 
 
 Ver. 32. 8. Three Cities in Naphtali: Kedesh 
 (ch. xix. 37), Hammoth-dor, called Hammath in 
 ch. xix. 35, and Hammon in 1 Chron. vi. 61 (76), 
 
 Kartan C!^Hi?> according to Keil contracted from 
 
 lyn-lf? = GYV-i-, 1 Chron. vi. 61 (76), like Do- 
 than, 2 K. vi. 13, from Dothain, Gen. xxxvii. 17), 
 not named among the cities of Naphtali. Knobel 
 says : " Perhaps Katanah, with ruins, northeast 
 from Safed," in Van de Velde, Mem. p. 147. 
 
 Ver. 33. Thirteen cities in all. 
 / Vers. 34-42. The Cities of the Merarites. They 
 acquired twelve cities (ver. 40), namely, four in the 
 tribe of Zebulun (ver. 34), four in the tribe of 
 Reuben (ver. 36), and four in the tribe of Gad; 
 mostly therefore in eastern Palestine. 
 
 Vers. 34, 35. a. Four Cities in Zebulun : Jokneam 
 (ch. xii. 32; xix. 11), Kartah (ch. xix. 15), Dim- 
 nan, perhaps = ^-P* 3 ! or isiS"! (ch. xix. 13 ; 1 
 Chron. vi. 62). So Knobel and others. Keil 
 questions the identity, because in the passage 
 quoted from the Chronicles the text is undoubt- 
 edly corrupt, since it presents not four but only 
 two cities, Rimmono and Tabor. Nahalal (ch. xix. 
 15). Instead of this Tabor, 1 Chron. vi. 62. 
 
 Vers. 36, 37. $. Four Cities in Reuben: Bezer 
 (ch. xx. 8; Deut. iv. 43), Jahazah, Kedemotb, 
 and Mephaath (ch. xiii. 18). Both verses are 
 supported by the majority of Codd., are not want- 
 ing in the early translations, and correspond to 
 the statements of vers. 7, 40, 41. When Rabbi 
 Jacob ben Chasim omitted them in his great Rab- 
 binic Bible of the year 1525, on the authority of 
 the Masora, he proceeded altogether without right, 
 cf. Knobel, p. 474 ; Keil, Bibl. Com., p. 155, Anm. 
 2 ; and Com. on Josh., p. 457, note ; also De Rossi, 
 Varue Lectionet, ad h. 1., and J. H. Michaelis, note 
 to his Heb. Bibl., ed. Halle (ap. Keil, /. c). 
 
 Vers. 38, 39. 7. Four Cities in the Tribe of Gad: 
 Ramoth in Gilead (ch. xx. 8; xiii. 26), Maha- 
 naim (ch. xiii. 26), Heshbon (ch. xiii. 17), Jazer 
 (ch. xiii. 25). 
 
 Ver. 40. Twelve cities in all. 
 
 Vers. 41, 42. End of the list of Levitical cities. 
 There were forty-eight of them, as had been com- 
 manded, Num. xxxv. 6, and as is here again men- 
 tioned. Each one had its pasture-ground ; "I ? 
 
 "^S, city city, i. e., each city according to the 
 manner of distributive numerals, Gesenius, Gram. 
 § 118, 5. 
 
 jr. Vers. 42-45. Conclusion. He refers to what 
 God had said to Joshua, ch. i. 2-6, when he directed 
 him to take possession of the land. 
 
 Ver. 43. Jehovah gave Israel the land which he 
 had sworn to their fathers (Gen. xii. 7; xv. 18; 
 Num. xi. 12; xxxii. 11; Deut. xxxi. 21). And 
 they possessed it, and dwelt therein. The same 
 expression is used ch. xix. 47. 
 
 Ver. 44. And he gave them rest round about, 
 as he likewise had sworn to their fathers (Ex. 
 xxxiii. 14; Deut. iii. 20; xxv. 19). Their ene- 
 mies could not stand against them, and although 
 these were not yet entirely subjugated, as appears 
 from Judg. i.. they dared no enterprise against the 
 Israelites while Joshua lived (Judg. ii. 6 if.). Aa 
 Rahab said to the spies (ii. 9), a terror had fallen 
 on the Canaanites. 
 
 Ver. 45. The good words not one of which 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 171 
 
 failed (?DJ, fell), j. e., remained unfulfilled (ch. 
 xxiii. 14), are God's promises. Comp. on this 
 in the New Testament, 2 Cor. i. 20, " God is in his 
 
 promises truthful, and keeps them, only that we 
 through unbelief and indifference ourselves stand 
 in the way," Osiander. 
 
 SECTION THIRD. 
 
 The Release of the Two and a Half Transjordanic Tribes. Joshua's Farewell D» 
 course. His Death and that of Eleazar. 
 
 Chapters XXII.-XXIV. 
 
 1. The Release of the Two and a Half Transjordanic Tribes. 
 
 Chapter XXII. 
 
 a. Joshua's Parting Address. 
 
 Chapter XXII. 1-8. 
 
 1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe cf Manas- 
 
 2 seh, And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord 
 [Jehovah] commanded you, and have obeyed [hearkened to] my voice in all that I 
 
 3 commanded you : Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, 
 but [and] have kept the charge of [omit : of] the commandment of the Lord [Je- 
 
 4 hovah] your God. And now the Lord [Jehovah] your God hath given rest 
 unto your brethren, as he promised [spoke to] them : therefore [and] now re- 
 turn ye, and get you unto your tents, and [omit : and] unto [into] the land of your 
 possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord [Jehovah] gave you on the other 
 
 5 side [of the] Jordan. But [Only] take diligent heed to do the commandment and 
 the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord [Jehovah] charged [commanded] you, 
 to love the Lord [Jehovah] 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 
 
 6 with all your soul. So [And] Joshua blessed them, and sent them away ; and they 
 
 7 went unto their tents. Now [And] to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses 
 had given possession in Bashan : but [and] unto the other half thereof gave Joshua 
 among their brethren on this [the other] ' side [of the] Jordan westward. And [and 
 also] when Joshua sent them away also [omit : also] unto their tents, then he 
 
 8 blessed them, And he [omit : 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. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 7. — "Q3JJ2 as ~Q???> ca - T - li except that the latter is defined by 7V2P ; here it is "on (lit. out of) th* 
 )lher side " with reference to Bashan east of the Jordan, which has just been mentioned. — Tr.] 
 
 6. Return Homeward of the Two and a Half Tribes. Erection of an Altar on the Jordan. 
 
 Chapter XXII. 9, 10. 
 
 9 And the children [sons] of Reuben, and the children [sons] of Gad, and the' 
 half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children [sons] of Israel 
 out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country [into the 
 land] of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed [in 
 which they had possessions], according to the word of the Lord [Jehovah] by the 
 
172 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 10 hand of Moses. And when they came unto the borders of [into the circles 1 of 
 the] Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children [sons] of Reuben, and 
 the children [sons] of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by 
 [the] Jordan, a great altar to see to [an altar great to behold]. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 10. — *n i*Tl 7* -". "circles, circuit, region ; " see the exeg. note. That this district is said to have been 
 In the f 'land of Canaan,' - which is in general strongly distinguished from the table-land east of the Jordan, certainly 
 favors the supposition that the altar in question was erected on the west side of the river "till everything else is against 
 It, and we cauuot but think that the recent commentators, against many of the oldei -\nd against Josephus, have too 
 readily assumed that it was so. It is in itself highly improbable that the Gileadites -mould have built an altar with 
 their design on ground not belonging to them, where they could have no control over its safety, and where it is impos- 
 
 Bible to see how it could bear witness for tkem. And the expressions in ver. 11, 3 V™^ '"^ '^, " over against the 
 
 land of Canaan,'' and W s \33 ""Ql? •S, both naturally point to the other side, and can only with a degree of vio 
 lence be understood of a locality in the fullest sense within and of the land of Canaan. Consider further that there was 
 no mention by the Israelites of simply destroying the altar, which would on this supposition be easy, and in their state 
 of mind very natural (as indeed they would not have allowed if to be built without explanation on their territory), but 
 that the ambassadors must pass over into Gilead to treat of the matter, and that there to all appearance the naming of 
 the altar took plnce, and there will appear to be more reasons for the view of those who place the altar on the east bank 
 of the Jordan than against it. May not the solution of the difficulty lie in the extension of the "land of Canaan," in 
 ver. 10, so as to include the whole of the Ghor (ancient Arabah), overlooking the river, for the moment, as a boundary, 
 and making the boundary between Canaan, the "low country," and Gilead to be the wall of eastern mountains which 
 fences in the Jordan Valley? This being conceded, the phrase "over against," quasi "fronting." in ver. 11, and 
 
 W* 3 ™Q1?~7K (English version, "at the passage of," etc.), " to the other side with reference to the sons of Israel," 
 might both be understood in their most usual sense. Certainly some notice ought to be taken of the probabilities for 
 this opinion. — Ta.] 
 
 c. Embassy from Israel to the Two and a Half Tribes on account of the Altar. 
 
 Chapter XXTI. 11-20. 
 
 11 And the children [sons] of Israel heard say, Behold, the children [sons] of 
 Reuben, and the children [sons] of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, have built 
 an [the] altar over against the land of Canaan, 1 in the borders [circles] of [the] 
 
 12 Jordan, at the passage of [opposite to] the children [sons] of Israel. And when 
 the children [sons] of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children 
 [sons] of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against 
 
 13 them. And the children [sons] of Israel sent unto the children [sons] of Reuben, 
 and to the children [sons] of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh into the land 
 
 14 of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, And with turn ten princes, of each 
 chief house ' 2 a prince throughout [for] all the tribes of Israel ; and each one was 
 an [a] head of the house of their fathers [the head of their chief houses] a among 
 the thousands of Israel. 
 
 15 And they came unto the children [sons] of Reuben, and to the children [sons] 
 of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake 
 
 16 with them, saying. Thus saith the whole [all the] congregation of the Lord [Jeho- 
 vah], What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Isrt. 
 to turn away [return] this day from following the Lord [Jehovah], in that ye havr* 
 
 17 builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lord [Jehovah] ? Is 
 the iniquity 3 of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this 
 day, although there was a plague [and the plague was] in the congregation of 
 
 18 the Lord [Je'..<>vahl. But that ye must turn away this day from following the 
 Lord [Jehovahj T and it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the Lord [Jeho- 
 vah], that to-morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel. 
 
 19 Notwithstanding [And truly], if the land of your possassion be [is] unclean, 
 then [omit : then] pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord [Jeho- 
 vah] wherein the Lord's [Jehovah's] tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession 
 among us : but rebel not against the Lord [Jehovah], nor rebel against us, in build- 
 
 2" ing you an altar beside the altar of the Lord [Jehovah] our God. Did i.ot Achan 
 the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing [in what was devoted], 
 ard wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel ? and that man perished not alone 
 in his iniquity. 
 
chapter xxn. 178 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 11. — ,K, H tn a place to which one has come : " comp. 7, letter B, also Greek ew, « for ev. In all this 
 however, the idea of motion is not wholly lost, namely, " a motion that'preceded " (Gesen. Lex. p. 52 B). — Te.] 
 
 p Ver. 14. — 2K fTf»3, "house of a father,'' and jTQS j"V2, "house of the fathers," = father-house, father- 
 houses. On the use of the genitive plural instead of the plural of the noun limited, see Gesen. Lex. s. v. jT*2 (11), 
 p. 129. — Te.i 
 
 [8 Ver. 17. — Q "pVVlS, prop, an adverbial ace., "in respect to " the iniquity, et«. The sense of the question 
 Is, " Had we not enough of the iniquity ? "' etc. Zunz"s version appears to take the last member of the verse singularly, 
 as giving a vivid designation of the time of the transgression : als die Seuche war, etc. " And " (1) need not be under* 
 stood here as zz "although," but more naturally in its proper sense : " and the plague [for which] was upon the congi*. 
 gation (not the particular sinners) of Jehovah." The next verse (18) then proceeds: And (nearly zz and yet) ye are 
 turning away this day from after Jehovah. Or, if we suppose a somewhat more free combination of clauses, than ia 
 often met with in this style of Hebrew writing, we may consider the two verses as making up a compound sentence, in 
 which one question runs through to the end of the first member of ver. 18. We should then translate thus ; is the 
 Iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, and [for which] the plague waa on 
 the congregation of Jehovah, — and are ye turning away this day from afJSr Jehovah ? And it will be (q. d., the result 
 Is) ye will rebel to-day against Jehovah, and to-morrow upon the whole congregation of Israel he will break forth." 
 — Te.] 
 
 d. Apology of the Two and a Half Tribes for Building the Altar. 
 
 Chapter XXII. 21-31. 
 
 21 Then [And] the children [sons] of Reuben, and the children [sons] of Gad, and 
 the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and said [spake] unto the heads of the thou- 
 
 22 sands of Israel, The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods [God, God Jeho- 
 vah, God, God Jehovah, or, the God of gods, Jehovah, etc.], he knoweth, and Israel 
 he shall know ; if it be [was] in rebellion, or [and] if in transgression [trespass] 
 
 23 against the Lord [Jehovah], (save us not this day,) That we have built us an altar 
 to turn [return] from following the Lord [Jehovah], or [and] if to offer thereon 
 burnt-offering, or [and] meat-offering, or [and] if to offer [make] peace-offerings 
 
 24 thereon, let the Lord [Jehovah] require it ; And if we have not rather [omit : rather] 
 done it for fear of this thing [done this from concern, for a reason], saying, In time 
 to come your children [sons] might [will] speak unto our children [sons], saying, 
 
 25 What have ye to do with the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel ? For [And] the 
 Lord [Jehovah] hath made [the] Jordan a border between us aud you, ye children 
 [sons] of Reuben and children [sons] of Gad ; ye have no part in the Lord [Jeho- 
 vah] : So [And] shall your children [sons] make our children [sons] cease from fear- 
 
 26 ing the Lord [Jehovah]. Therefore [And] we said, Let us now prepare to build 
 us an altar [let us now do for ourselves to build the altar], not for burnt-offering, 
 
 27 nor for sacrifice : But that it may be a witness between us and you, and between our 
 generations after us, that we might do the service of the Lord [Jehovah] before 
 him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings ; 
 that your children [sons] may not say to our children [sous] in time to come, Ye 
 
 28 have no part in the Lord [Jehovah]. Therefore [And] said we, that it shall be, 
 when they should [shall] so say to us or [and] to our generations in time to come, 
 that we may [will] say again [omit : again], Behold [See] the pattern of the altar 
 of the Lord [Jehovah], which our fathers made, not for burnt-offerings, nor for 
 
 29 sacrifices ; but it is a witness between us and you. God forbid [Far be it from us] 
 that we should rebel against the Lord [Jehovah], and turn this day from following 
 the Lord [Jehovah], to build an altar for burnt offerings, and for meat-offerings, or 
 [and] for sacrifices, beside the altar of the Lord [Jehovah] our God, that is before 
 his tabernacle [dwelling]. 
 
 30 And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, and heads 
 of the thousands of Israel which toere with him, heard the words that the children 
 [sons] of Reuben, and the children [sons] of Gad, and the children [sons] of Ma- 
 
 31 nasseh spake, it pleased them [was good in their eyes]. And Phinehas the son 
 of Eleazar the priest said unto the children [sons] of Reuben, and to the children 
 [sons] of Gad, and to the children [sons] of Manasseh, This day we perceive that 
 the Lord [Jehovah] is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass 
 
174 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 against the Lord [Jehovah] : now ye have delivered [then did ye deliver] th« 
 children [sons] of Israel out of the hand of the Lord [Jehovah]. 
 
 e. Return of the Embassy. Naming of the Altar. 
 
 Chapter XXIL 32-34. 
 
 82 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the 
 children [sous] of Reuben, and from the children [sons] of Gad, out of the land 
 of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children [sons] of Israel, and brought 
 
 33 them word again. And the thing pleased [was good in the eyes of] the children 
 [sons] of Israel : and the children [sons] of Israel blessed God, and did not intend 
 to go up [Heb. nearly : did not say they would go up] against them in battle, to 
 destroy the land wherein the children [sons] of Reuben and [the sons of] Gad 
 
 34 dwelt. And the children [sons] of Reuben and the children [sons] of Gad called 
 the altar Ed [ Witness ; or, more probably, omit : Ed] : for it shall be a witness 
 [it is a witness] between us that the Lord [Jehovah] is God. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 The author of chaps, xiii.-xxi. having given the 
 report, distinguished by his valuable and accurate 
 statements, of the division of the land, the appoint- 
 ment of the cities of refuge and the Levitical cities, 
 relates to us in the three following chapters, which 
 close the book, the release of the two and a half 
 transjordanic tribes, transcribes Joshua's last dis- 
 courses to the people, and finally gives account of 
 his death and that of Eleazar. 
 
 Chap. xxii. itself falls naturally into the following 
 smaller sections: (a.) Joshua's farewell discourse 
 to the two and a half tribes, vers. 1-8 ; (6.) Return 
 of these tribes to their home. Erection of an altar 
 on the Jordan, vers. 9, 10 ; (c.) Embassy from Israel 
 on account of this altar, vers. 11-20; (d.) The 
 apology of the eastern tribes, vers. 21-31 ; (e.) Re- 
 turn of the embassy, vers. 32-34. 
 
 a. Vers. 1-8. Joshua's Farewell Discourse to the 
 Two and a Half Tribes from across the Jordan. 
 Joshua acknowledges their obedience to Moses and 
 to his own commands (ver. 2), and further, that 
 they had faithfully stood by their brethren and kept 
 the commandment of God (ver. 3). As now Jeho- 
 vah had given rest to the others, they might return 
 to their tents in the land of their possession already 
 given to them by Moses beyond the Jordan (ver. 
 2). To this he "adds the admonition that they 
 should continue to observe the commandment, to 
 serve God in unchanging love, with their whole 
 heart and their whole soul. Still further are they 
 called upon to share their rich booty with their 
 brethren (ver. 8). That he sent them away with 
 his blessing is twice related (vers. 6 and 7 b). A 
 geographical notice is inserted (ver. 7). 
 
 Ver 1. TS, almost certainly not immediately at 
 the end of the war, but, from the connection in 
 which this narrative occurs, and according to ver. 
 4, not until after the division of the land was com- 
 pleted. 
 
 Ver. 2. They have kept their obligations to 
 Moses (Num. xxxii. 20 ff.) and to Joshua himself 
 ,'ch. i. 16 ff.). 
 
 Ver. 3. Still further, they had kept what was to 
 oe kept, the commandment of Jehovah. On 
 1 rn?B rgptpn -iaa?, vid. Gen. xxvi. 5 ; Lev. 
 nii 35. 
 
 Ver. 4. Comp. ch. i. 15, n-TTO y^S, vers. 9, 
 
 10 ; Gen. xxxvi. 43 ; Lev. xiv. 34 ; xxv. 24, and 
 often. 
 Ver. 5 recalls Deut. iv. 2, 29 ; vi. 5 ; viii. 6. On 
 
 the infin. form. fOilS, cf. Gesen. § 133 ; Ewald, 
 § 238 a ; Knobel on Deut. i. 27. 
 
 Ver. 6 properly closes in its first half the ac- 
 count of the sending away of the two and a half 
 tribes, while ver. 7 adds a notice which was given 
 in a similar way ch. xiv. 3, xviii. 7, and was 
 therefore not necessary. Keil, in his earlier com- 
 mentary on Joshua, noticed it quite sharply. He 
 says (p. 462), " in ver. 7 we find again a notice, char- 
 acteristic of our author, as Maurer rightly observes, 
 in which he, from a mere desire to be perfectly ex- 
 plicit, sometimes falls into redundancy and super- 
 fluous repetitions." He now (Bibl. Com. in loc.) 
 says more mildly, " in ver. 7 the author, for the 
 sake of perspicuity, inserts the repeated observa- 
 tion, that only half of Manasseh had received their 
 inheritance at the hand of Moses in Bashan, while 
 the other half, on the contrary, had received theirs 
 through Joshua west of the Jordan, as in ch. xiv. 
 3 and xviii. 7. To us this repetition appears re- 
 dundant ; it agrees, however, with the fullness, 
 abundant in repetitions, of the ancient Hebrew 
 style of narrative." The second half of the verse 
 now repeats what is known already from ver. 6. 
 
 Since it begins with the words '? 221, it would 
 almost seem that something immediately preceding 
 had fallen out or " been omitted." 
 
 Ver. 8 presents a continuation of the foregoing 
 in the demand not previously made, that they 
 should share the rich booty with their brethren. 
 This booty consisted in cattle, silver, gold, brass, 
 iron, and clothing, and these all in very large 
 quantities (Ex. iii. 22; xi. 2; xii. 36). "By the 
 brethren are meant the members of their tribes 
 who had remained at home, to whom, according 
 to Num. iii. 27, one half belonged. Although wif 
 cannot, with Knobel, recognize three original ele- 
 ments of the section, namely, vers. 1-4 and 6 from 
 the War-book, ver. 5 from the Deuteronomist, vers. 
 7, 8 from the Law-book, we may not suppress the 
 remark that ver. 7 b. and 8 appear to have sprung 
 from a different source, the statements of which 
 are not fully communicated. Whoever put the 
 finishing hand to the whole work, has added that 
 portion of its contents which offe-ed a new tfloughu 
 as a valuable complement. 
 
CHAPTER XXTT. 
 
 175 
 
 6. Vera. 9, 10. Return of the Two and a Half 
 Tribes to their Home. Erection of an Altar on the 
 Jordan. The children of Reuben and Gad, and 
 the half tribe of Manasseh returned from Shiloh, 
 which is in the land of Canaan, into the land 
 of Gilead, into the land of their possession, 
 
 wherein they had taken possessions (•"WDW2, 
 as in Gen. xxxiv. 10; xlvii. 27; Num. xxxii. 30; 
 
 firop., " wherein they had been held fast," or estab- 
 ished themselves), according to the command of 
 Jehovah by Moses. That they departed from 
 Shiloh, favors the view that this return took place 
 not till after the division of the land. From ver. 
 9 we see that only the country west of the Jordan 
 is regarded as the land of Canaan : that on the 
 east of that river is called here simply Gilead, 
 although it embraced Gilead and Bashan, the king- 
 doms of Sihon and Og. The command of Jehovah 
 by Moses, see Num. xxxii. 20 fF. 
 
 Ver. 10. On their way home they reared an altar 
 on the Jordan. For they came into the regions 
 on the Jordan [the circles of the Jordan], Hebrew, 
 
 l^H-U niV??. As in ch. xiii. 2 and Joel iv. 4, 
 
 the circles of the Philistines (n\Fltp7?n 2 or 
 
 ni?7? 2) are mentioned, so here the 1?"?*'3 2, 
 which, Gen. xiii. 10, 11; 1 K. vii. 47, are desig- 
 nated as liT" 1 "^ "'S? (Matt. iii. 5, tj Ttepix<»l>os 
 toC 'lopSavov), then, Gen. xiii. 12 ; xix. 17, simply, 
 
 as "^??U ; now the Ghor. The west side of the 
 Ghor is intended, as appears from the addition, 
 which is in the land of Canaan, — on the west 
 bank of the Jordan. Here they built an altar on 
 the Jordan, an altar great to behold. Hebrew, 
 
 i"l!007 7172, ('. e., an altar so high and broad 
 that it could be seen from a great distance [or, 
 great in appearance, great as compared with other 
 altars, quasi "great-looking"], since Moses had 
 once raised such an altar to commemorate his vic- 
 tory over Amalek (Ex. xvii. 15), they believed they 
 were acting in good faith, as also they afterwards 
 with a good conscience testify (ver. 24 IF.). 
 
 c. Vers. 11—20. Embassy from Israel to the Two 
 and a Half Tribes on Account of this Altar. Ver. 
 11. The children of Israel heard that an altar had 
 been built, over against the land of Canaan 
 
 (}3?3p Y"?^ bTO"7r<, i. e ., on its eastern side, 
 Knobel), in the circles of the Jordan (vS 
 "121 nib'O?, i. e., in the Ghor), at the side of 
 
 the sons of Israel 0^1 ~Q?7" ,S, as j n jj.x, xxv. 
 37; xxxii. 15). It is the east side [Zunz : at the 
 side (of the river) turned toward the children of 
 Israel. But comp. Textual Note]. 
 
 Ver. 12 repeats that the children of Israel had 
 heard of this, but adds that the whole congregation 
 of the children of Israel gathered themselves to- 
 gether at Shiloh, to overrun the two and a half 
 tribes with war. Knobel regards this verse as an 
 interpolation, and out of the War-book. It is 
 noticeable, indeed, that the beginning of ver. 1 1 
 is repeated here, and that ver. 13 might perfectly 
 well follow ver. 11. But, on the other hand, the 
 ferse contains nothing at all which could disturb 
 the connection or would be improbable in itself, 
 since in view of Lev. xvii. 8, 9 (comp. Ex. xx. 24) 
 such an excitement appears so much the more in- 
 telligible, as the tabernacle had been a short time 
 before (ch. xviii. 1) erected for the first time in 
 
 Shiloh. " This zeal was," as Keil says, with ref- 
 erence to Calvin's remark on this passage, "en- 
 tirely justifiable and praiseworthy, smce the altar, 
 although not built for a place of sacrifice, yet 
 might easily be perverted to that use, and lead the 
 whole people into the sin. At all events, the two 
 and a half tribes ought not to have undertaken 
 the building of this altar without the consent of 
 Joshua, or of the high-priest." 
 
 Vers. 13, 14. The congregation now send Phin- 
 ehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and ten princes 
 to their fellow tribes beyond the Jordan, to demand 
 
 an explanation of this matter. Phinehas (DPl^S, 
 
 according to Gesen. = brazen mouth, Dn2 = 
 
 T?'"'3)i son of Eleazar and one of the daughters 
 of Putiel (Ex. vi. 25), is named (Num. xxv 6 fF.) 
 as zealous for discipline and morality in Israel, as 
 a victorious leader of the people (Num. xxxi. 6 fF.) 
 in the strife with the Midianites, and was therefore 
 very well suited, on account of the high respect 
 which he undoubtedly enjoyed, to be the head and 
 spokesman of the embassy. Afterwards, he was, 
 as related Judg. xx. 2S, himself high priest. Tha 
 ten princes who were sent with him represented 
 the nine and a half tribes west of the Jordan, and in 
 
 ver. 30 are called Hl^H "Wtop. Each of them 
 was head of a chief (father) house among tha 
 thousands of Israel. On the relation of the chief 
 houses, or, as De Wette translates family houses 
 (Stammhauser), to the whole tribe, cf. ch. vii. 14, 
 
 16-18. The '^ttT s sbS are the families of 
 Israel, as appears from 1 Sam. x. 19, 21, where 
 H;?^ > 3 exchanged with nnStpQ. The expres- 
 sion is often met with, e. g., Judg. vi. 15 ; Num. i. 
 16 ; x. 4 ; in our ch., ver. 30, and above all in the 
 famous passage Mic. v. 1. 
 
 Vers. 15-20. The messengers come to the chil- 
 dren of Reuben, and the rest, in the land of Gilead, 
 and make to them earnest representations. As 
 their speaker we have to imagine to oarselvei 
 Phinehas, the man of the brazen-mouth, whose 
 words sound vehemently and as instinct with feel- 
 ing. He assumes from the first that the altar was 
 built mala fide by the two and a half tribes, that the 
 question is one of rebellion against Jehovah (vers. 
 16, 22), and then asks whether the iniquity of Peor 
 was not enough, of which the people were not yet 
 purified, that they should call forth against them 
 the wrath of Jehovah anew (vers. 17, 18). Rather, 
 he admonishes them in the second part of his 'lis 
 course, if the land of their possession seemjd to 
 them unclean, should the brother tribes cross over 
 into the land of Jehovah's possession, where his 
 dwelling was, and there take possession, but nut 
 rebel against Jehovah and apostatize by building 
 them an altar besides the altar of Jehovah (ver. 
 19). With an impressive reference to the crime 
 of Achan who perished not as an individual man, 
 but likewise brought God's anger on the entire 
 congregation, the noble zealot concludes his dis- 
 course (ver. 20). 
 
 Vers. 15, 16. "What trespass is this — to turn 
 away — that ye might rebel against Jehovah. 
 The expressions here chosen are to he particularly 
 
 noted: (1) 73753, used ch. vii. 1 and ver. 20 with 
 
 ?, of the thing, to commit a trespass in respect to 
 
 something; but here with ?, of the person, and 
 he the most exalted person, Jehovah ; " to deaf 
 
176 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 treacherously, with concealment, underhandedly," j the Lord, and bring their brethren into hostility 
 in consistency with the probable ground signitica- ! i.e., draw down mischief on the whole people from 
 
 tion ; " to cover," whence "Sip, mantle. For 
 
 strengthening, the substantive ?5 is added to 
 the verb, as [ch. vii. 1] 1 Chron. v. 25 ; x. 13 ; 
 2 Chron. xii. 2. (2) Vl ^DSt? 3C7, as vers. 23, 
 29 (cf. ch. xxiii. 12), to turn away from Jehovah. 
 In that consists the treacherousness in general, that 
 they turn away from Jehovah. But since they 
 have so far lbrgotten themselves as even to build 
 an altar, so (3) the strongest expression is chosen, 
 
 namely, T^O, to be disobedient, refractory, to rebel 
 (Gen. xiv. 4; 2 K. xviii. 7, 20; xxiv. 1), first, 
 against human rulers, as the passages quoted show, 
 bat here, as in Ezek. ii. 3 ; Dan. ix. 9, against Je- 
 hovah. 
 
 Ver. 17. Is the iniquity of Peor too little for 
 us ? That is, the iniquity which we committed 
 (Num. xxv. 3 ; xxxi. 16) in the worship of Baal 
 Peor, consisting in the offering of young maidens 
 (Winer, Realw., art. Baal [Smith's Bill. Diet.]}. 
 At that time twenty-four thousand of the people 
 died as a punishment. To the zeal of Phinehas 
 the people owed the cessation of the plague (Num. 
 xxv. 9-12). Of him God said to Moses, " he has 
 turned away my anger from the children of Israel " 
 (Num. xxv. 11). So much the more remarkable 
 must it appear that Phinehas himself here still 
 designates the iniquity as one from which we are 
 not cleansed until this day. He is thinking, per- 
 haps, that, as in his opinion the case of the two 
 and a half tribes shows, the inclination to idolatry 
 still exists among the Jews. So explained already, 
 after the example of R. Levi ben Gerson, C. a 
 Lapide, and Clericus : " A quo nondum satis abhor- 
 remus ; muhi enim videntur fuisse, qui nondum delicti 
 magnitudinem intelligebant." Vid. Prov. xx. 9. "Non 
 deerant etiam, qui clam Cananawrum el Chaldozorum 
 deos colerent, ut liquet ex oratione Josum, cap. xxiv. 
 14, 23 " {ap. Keil, Com. on Josh, in loc). With this 
 agree Keil and Knobel. 
 
 Ver. 18. And ye turn away this day from 
 following Jehovah. The sense is : so little do 
 you think of that plague which once came upon 
 the congregation, that you are to-day ready again 
 to turn away from Jehovah [comp. Textual and 
 Gram. Note]. 
 
 And it will be, since ye rebel .... will be 
 wroth. The construction is the same as in Gen. 
 
 xxxiii. 13, VT1BP1 EftS = ''"> S cs . Mean- 
 ing : " Consider well, for if you rebel to-day against 
 Jehovah, to-morrow he will be angry with the whole 
 congregation of Israel." The judgment of God 
 comes quickly, and it comes not alone on the two 
 and a half tribes, but upon the whole people. In 
 the latter circumstance lies, for Phinehas, at the 
 same time, a sort of warrant for his speaking so 
 earnestly to his transjordanic countrymen. 
 
 Ver. 19. Proceeding in a milder tone, Phinehas 
 proposes to them, that if their land seemed un 
 clean to them they should go over to the others in 
 the land where Jehovah has his dwelling, only they 
 should build no separate altar. Knobel : " And, 
 
 indeed CHS, as Gen. xxvi. 9 ; xxix. 14; xliv. 28), 
 if the land which they have taken were unclean, 
 they could cross over into the land of Jehovah's 
 possession, where the dwelling of Jehovah had its 
 
 seat 0?®i as ch. xviii. 1), and there settle; only 
 they 6hould not, through such building of a special 
 altar besides the true altar of Jehovah, rebel against 
 
 God.' 
 
 If the land .... be unclean, etc., i. e., be 
 cause Jehovah had not his abode there, and be- 
 cause many heathen dwelt among them. 
 
 Land of your possession .... land of the 
 possession of Jehovah. The antithesis is worthy 
 
 of careful notice. T?Oi with the accus. as Job 
 
 xxiv. 13, liS "H-lb. 
 
 Ver. 20. Finally, Phinehas reminds them of the 
 crime of Achan (ch. vii. 1 ff.), which was yet fresh 
 in memory, and which, as once the iniquity of 
 Peor, had involved in its consequences, not only 
 the particular man, but also his children (ch. vii. 
 24), and, through the unfortunate attack on Ai 
 (ch. vii. 1-5), the entire people. Keil: "Phinehas 
 argues a minore ad majus. Yet the antithesis of 
 minus and majus is not, with Calvin, to be sought 
 in the clundestinum unius hominis maleficium and the 
 manifesta idololatria, but to be understood with 
 Masius, thus : ' Si Achan cum fecisset sacrilegium, 
 non solus est exstinctus, sed indignatus est Deus uni 
 versce ecclesias, quid futurum existimatis, si vos, tan- 
 tus hominum numerus, tarn graviter peccaventis im 
 Deum"' (p. 381). 
 
 d. Vers. 21-31. Defense of the Two and a Half 
 Tribes against the Reproach on Account of this Altar. 
 With a solemn appeal to God, and that as the God 
 Jehovah, whom Israel worshipped, these tribes de- 
 clare that they have built the altar, not in treach- 
 ery, to turn away from Jehovah and establish a 
 new worship (vers. 21-23), but rather from solici- 
 tude lest the posterity of those who dwelt in Ca- 
 naan proper should say to their posterity: Yon 
 have no part in Jehovah ! and should so restrain 
 their children from worshipping Him. This had 
 led them to think of building an altar, not as an 
 altar of sacrifice, but as a witness to their common 
 worship of Jehovah, even to future generations, 
 that, if ever the case before supposed should occur, 
 they might point to this altar fashioned after the 
 pattern of the altar of Jehovah (vers. 26-28). In 
 conclusion, they again repeat that reliellion or 
 apostasy was furthest from their thoughts (ver. 
 29). With this frank reply, evidently springing 
 from a good conscience, Phinehas and the princes 
 declare themselves satisfied : for to-day have they 
 learned that Jehovah is among them, from whose 
 hand the children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh 
 have saved Israel (vers. 30, 31). 
 
 Vers. 21-23. The answer of the Eastern tribes 
 
 begins with much solemnity : God (^S), God Jeho- 
 vah (nJH^ E'ribS), God (bS). God Jehovah 
 (nin"! CribS), he knoweth it (VT S^n), and 
 let Israel also know. " The combination of the 
 three names of God, 7S, the strong, ETPS, 
 the Supreme Being worthy to be feared, and njTP, 
 He who truly is, the covenant God (ver. 22) serves, 
 as in Ps. 1. 1, to strengthen the appeal, which is 
 intensified by the repetition of the three names" 
 (Keil). 
 
 If it be in rebellion, etc. The apodosis to this 
 follows at the close of ver. 23, let Jehovah re- 
 quire it. Interpolated into the asseveration is the 
 imprecation, proceeding from an excited feeling, 
 and addressed immediately to God, save us not 
 
 this day ! This day, n $TJ E^U = to-day. He 
 should to-day not help them, to-day not stand h* 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 177 
 
 them, to-day forsake them if they have .reared the 
 altar in rebellion or in trespass. Knobel : " In 
 case of our unfa thfulness, help thou us not in our 
 present trouble, but leave us to destruction ! A 
 parenthetic clause, in which the excited feeling 
 passionately invoking evil upon itself passes into 
 the appeal' to God." On the different kinds of 
 Bacritice, in vers. 23 and 27, see Winer, Realw., 
 art. " Opfer " ; Herzog, Realenc. x. 614 ff. [Smith's 
 Diet, of the Bible, artT " Sacrifice"]). 
 
 Vers. 24, 25. And if not rather from anxiety, 
 for a reason, we have done this thing, saying, 
 
 etc. From anxiety, rDSTTO, from 3SJ, to fear, to 
 be concerned, 1 Sam. ix. 5 ; x. 2 ; Ps. xxxviii. 19. 
 The substantive occurs Ezek. iv. 16 ; xii. 18, 19; 
 
 Jer. xlix. 23 ; Prov. xii. 25. — For a reason, "Q^^p, 
 
 conip. ch. v. 4, as also "?? '?• Gen. xii. 17 ; xx. 
 11. — Saying, i. e., saying to themselves, and so = 
 thinking. 
 
 Ver. 25. S~l\ " This infin. form, instead of 
 the shortened, &<2, 1 Sam. xviii. 29, has analo- 
 gies in p'2\ Ezek. xxiv. 3, and \*RB* : , Cant. v. 
 
 1 1, whereas in the Pentateuch only i"^~11 is used " 
 (Keil). The anxiety was not unfounded, in so far 
 as in the promises only Canaan was spoken of, 
 therefore only the land west of the Jordan accord- 
 ing to the clear signification of ver. 10. Comp. 
 Gen. xii. 7 ; xiii. 15 ; xv. 18; xvii. 8, and in par- 
 ticular, Num. xxxiv. 1-12. 
 
 Vers. 26-28. Let us now do for ourselves to 
 build the altar, not .... but that it may be a 
 
 witness, etc., H^jh «b nt??5?5. Either to be 
 taken, according to the examples cited by Knobel, 
 Gen. ii. 3 ; xxx. 30, as we have aimed to express 
 it in our translation, or a9 Keil prefers : " We will 
 make us to build an altar (an expression out of the 
 language of common life for : We will build us an 
 altar)." Both explanations afford a good and 
 apposite sense, which Luther renders with preg- 
 nant brevity: " Lasset nns einen altar bilden' (let 
 us build an altar), doubtless following the Vulg. : 
 " Exstruamus nobis altare." The LXX, refer the 
 
 ^?P5?:> not to the building in itself, but to the de- 
 sign of the altar to be built : nal eXiraiitv notrjaat, 
 }5rw tou OiKoSo/XTjffai t6v Quijxov rourov, oitK '<EV€Ktv 
 Kupiraifjidruv .... aAA' Iva 7) fxap-rvpiov toOto, etc. 
 Ver. 27. The altar, therefore, should serve not 
 for sacrifices, but to be a witness (cf. Ex. xvii. 15) 
 between the generations on both sides, in the pres- 
 ent and future times, that we might do [or that 
 we do] the service of Jehovah before Him 
 
 Cl2Qb W ni25?-n^l ISS 1 ?) with our burnt- 
 offerings, etc. The offerings were not to be made 
 upon this altar, but before Him, before Jehovah, 
 in Canaan. There would they perform the seivice 
 of Jehovah. 
 
 Ver. 28. Simply for that should the altar be 
 built after the pattern of the altar in the Taber- 
 nacle, that it might be a witness to which posterity 
 
 also might point. /V35£l from f^T3, is the 
 model, Ex. xxv. 9, 40 ; 2 K. xvi. 10, after which 
 anything is built ; but then also here, as Deut. iv. 
 16-18; Ezek. viii. 10, copy, image of anything. 
 This sense is expressed by the LXX. quite cor- 
 rectly by 6/xolwna, by Luther by "likeness." The 
 
 Vulgate does not translate i"V33J7J ; De Wette's 
 Bau (structure) is too indefinite. 
 IS 
 
 Ver. 29. Another asseveration of their inno, 
 cence. " The speakers conclude with the expres- 
 sion of their horror at the idea of forsaking Jeho- 
 vah, IDgO Mb nb^n, far be it to us from 
 
 Him, i. e., from God pS®" = nirTO, i Sam. 
 xxiv. 7 ; xxvi. 11 ; 1 K. xxi. 3), that we should 
 rebel against Jehovah." etc. ["The sense is: 
 ' profane or accursed be it from Jehovah,' God for- 
 bid, LXX., fj.}] yzvono ; or, the primary significa- 
 tion being neglected ; ' woe to me ' [or us] ' from 
 Jehovah,' " etc., Gesen. in v., nT* ?H]. 
 
 Ver. 30. It was good in their eyes, namely, 
 in the eyes of the ambassadors, who had heard 
 these words of the two and a half tribes. The 
 
 sense of 2rV3i'2 is very correctly given by the 
 LXX. by Kal ijpetrev avTols. 
 
 Ver. 31. In his explanation Phinehas gives the 
 glory to God alone, when he says : This day wo 
 perceive that Jehovah is among us, because 
 
 "•^£?j in this sense, as Gen. xxx. 18; xxxi. 4iJ; 
 xxxiv. 13, 27; Eccl. iv. 9; viii. 11, more com- 
 pletely IV-** 7V-) ye have not committed thia 
 trespass against Jehovah. God himself, as Phin- 
 ehas rightly asumes, hindered that. Now (*N 
 before conclusions = then or now, Job ix. 31 ; 
 Prov. ii. 5; Ps. cxix. 92) 1 have ye rescued Israel 
 
 from the hand of Jehovah. " On "f*P b v -in, 
 comp. Gen. xxxvii. 21; Ex. ii. 19" (Knobel). 
 This was realized in so far as otherwise a punish- 
 ment like that in Num. xxv. 8 would have again 
 fallen on the whole people. 
 
 e. Vers. 32-34. Return of the Embassy. Nam- 
 itig of the Altar. Phinehas and the princes return 
 from the land of Gilead to Canaan, and bring 
 back word which is universally acceptable, so that 
 the people thank God, and all thought of going to 
 war against the eastern tribes is dropped (vers. 32, 
 33). The chapter concludes with the mention that 
 the children of Reuben and Gad had named the 
 altar : It is a witness between us that Jehovah 
 is God (ver. 34). In ver. 32 the children of Reu 
 ben and Gad alone are named, and so in ver. 34, 
 merely for brevity's sake. 
 
 Ver. 34. By the giving of this name the two and 
 a half tribes distinctly professed themselves wor- 
 shippers of Jehovah as the true God. The first 
 
 '? stands like the Greek on, as sign of the quo- 
 tation of direct discourse (cf. Gen. iv. 23 ; xxix 
 33; Ruth i. 10; 1 Sam. x. 19), and is therefore 
 not to be translated. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1 . As Israel was to honor only one God, Jeho- 
 vah, who truly was (Ex. iii. 14 ; xx. 2), so should 
 there be in Israel only one place of sacrifice (Lev. 
 
 xvii. 1-9) ; for to the B^TOJp (Lev. xvii. 7), prop. 
 goats, then, probably, shepherd deities, whose wor- 
 ship the apostate Jeroboam, according to 2 Chron. 
 xi. 15, brought in again with that of the calves, 
 to these they should not sacrifice. Considering the, 
 strong inclination of the people to turn aside to 
 heathenish idolatry, which had shown itself re- 
 peatedly (Ex. xxxii; Num. xxv.) on their march 
 through the wilderness, the leaders of Israel must 
 
 1 [Perhaps, rather, simply : " then («., when yt adopt*} 
 the pious course)." — Ta.] 
 
178 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 have felt aow that the people had received their 
 dwelling place, and the tabernacle been reared at 
 Shiloh, and the land divided, the supreme neces- 
 sity of establishing the unity of the worship. This 
 could be truly instituted with a people that needed 
 to be educated through the law (Gal. iv. 23, 24), 
 only by absolutely prohibiting the offering of sacri- 
 fices on any other altar than the altar in the taber- 
 nacle. One God, one house of God among the one 
 people chosen by him : one altar of sacrifice before 
 the door of this one habitation, — all this belonged 
 together in the Old Testament, precisely as in the 
 New, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and 
 Father of all (Eph. iv. 5, 6). 
 
 2. The zeal which animated a Phinehas already 
 once before (Num. xxv.). and now again, was a 
 holy zeal for the honor of God, manifestly spring- 
 ing from a deep moral aversion to the shameful 
 Peor-worship which threatened to bring Israel into 
 destruction. Altogether in the same spirit as 
 Phinehas, Elijah acted at a later period (1 K. 
 xviii.). If this involved the shedding of blood, 
 we must consider that, according to Lev. xvii. 4, 
 idolatry was regarded exactly as if a murder had 
 been committed, and was therefore to be punished 
 with death. The spirit of Jewish zealotry, as it 
 was developed at the time of the destruction of 
 the city by Titus, was a caricature of that which 
 Phinehas and Elijah cherished. How Christ stood 
 related to it appears from the account of the puri- 
 fication of the Temple (John ii. 13 ff. ; Matt. xxi. 
 12 ft. ; Mark xi. 15 ff.), which teaches us how in 
 Him holy zeal was blended with temperate self- 
 restraint (John ii. 15, 16), as an impressive admo- 
 nition to blind zeal in all ages. True, holy zeal is 
 in all respects different from the wild excited pas- 
 sion of fanaticism. That resembles the flame which 
 purifies the noble metal from the dross, this is the 
 torch which, wherever it is hurled, sets all in 
 flames, destroys everything, not in majorem Dei 
 gloriam, but in majorem insanice gloriam. If our 
 times in ecclesiastical matters show again a very 
 strong tendency to that false zealotry, this sign of 
 the times is to be esteemed one of the worst, a sign 
 in which no one will conquer, but many certainly 
 perish. 
 
 3. How a good conscience might appeal to God, 
 the two and a half tribes show in their reply to 
 the ambassadors of Israel. On the ground and 
 foundation of Christianity also, the same appeal 
 is still allowable, as the asseverations employed by 
 Christ and his Apostles prove, comp. e. g., John 
 iii. 5; v. 24, 25 ; vi. 53; xiii. 16, 21 ; Luke xxiii. 
 43 ; Rom. i 9 ; ix. 1 , 3 ; JPhil. i. 8. Such affirma- 
 tions are not thoughtlessly ejaculated assertions, 
 but they spring immediately from the temper of 
 the soul filled with the spirit of God, which temper 
 they evince. 
 
 4. To have no part in the Lord is the worst thing 
 which can befall a people, a congregation, an indi- 
 vidual. How deeply Peter once felt this we learn 
 from John xiii. 8, 9. 
 
 5. In all that men do or leave undone constantly 
 to recognize the hand of the Lord, therefore the 
 control of his providence (ver. 31 ), is an altogether 
 peculiar result of earnest religious meditation. 
 The eye of the ancient Israelites for this, as the 
 passage before us shows, and 1 Sam. iii. 8 very 
 impressively, was sharpened in an unusual degree. 
 The more clearly this ultimate causality of God is 
 iiseemed, so much the more intelligible appears to 
 
 us all human history, and that as the hypothesu 
 of divine control and human conduct, or of divinB 
 appointment and human freedom. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 The release of the brother tribes from Gilead, 
 by Joshua. (I) How he acknowledges the fra- 
 ternal help which had been afforded; (2) admon- 
 ishes to faithful compliance with the commands of 
 God; (3) dismisses them, with his blessing, to 
 their tents (vers. 1-8). — The return of the tribes 
 to the country east of the Jordan, and the erection 
 of the altar on the border of Canaan (vers. 9, 10).— 
 Israel's embassy to their brethren beyond the Jor- 
 dan, (1) occasion (vers. 11-14); (2) the message 
 of Phinehas and the princes (vers. 15-20); (3) the 
 answer to this (vers. 21-31) ; (4) the return of the 
 messengers (vers. 31-33). — Phinehas the holy 
 zealot for the honor of God (vers. 15-20, with ap- 
 propriate and skillful use of Num. xxv. 1 ff. — So let 
 the whole congregation of the Lord say to you — 
 a powerful, solemn word (ver. 16) ! — How people 
 with a good conscience speak. ( 1 ) They may ap- 
 peal to God as their witness; (2) they may, how- 
 ever, also state clearly and frankly what they have 
 done, without being obliged to conceal anything 
 (vers. 21-31 ). — Monuments of historical events are 
 dumb and yet eloquent witnesses (ver. 28 compared 
 with vers. 9, 10, and 34). — How brethren can un- 
 derstand each other (vers. 30, 31). — To-day we 
 perceive that the Lord is among us ! Can we not 
 also frequently say so, when God keeps us that we 
 commit no trespass against Him (vers. 31). — A 
 joyful return home (vers. 32, 33 ) . — What joy good 
 tidings may spread abroad (ver. 33). — In all things 
 be the honor God's (ver. 33, comp. Ps. cxv. 1). 
 
 Starke : It is not enough to begin well, but 
 we must also continue in that way and persevere 
 even to the end, Heb. iii. 12, 14; Matt. x. 22; 
 xxiv. 13. — When God releases us from our service 
 we may go but not before, Ps. xxxi. 16 ; xxxix. 5 ; 
 Luke ii. 29. — A Christian zeal for religion is not 
 wrong. — It is certainly allowable in important 
 cases, with moderation to answer, and with adju- 
 ration by the name of God to manifest truth and 
 innocence. — Altars and images are not in them- 
 selves wrong and forbidden : only we must not 
 practice superstition with them, 2 K. xviii. 4. 
 
 Osiander : By this is it manifest and known 
 that we love God if we keep his commandments, 
 John xiv. 23; xv. 14. — Whenever we hear con- 
 cerning Christian believers that they stand fast in 
 the faith, we ought to thank God for such a ben- 
 efit [1 Thess. i. 1-3 ; ii. 6-9]. — We should, as far 
 as possible, guard beforehand that none be offended 
 (ver. 34). 
 
 Hedinger : Precipitate blood-thirstiness is not 
 consistent with true religion ; for how can he who 
 himself would not break the bruised reed, allow us 
 either to bruise that which is whole, or break that 
 which is braised, or burn up the broken ? Is. xliii. 
 3. — In cases which are ambiguous and uncertain, 
 it is better to let the judgment stand suspended 
 than to act contrary to love, 1 Cor. xiii. 7. — As 
 good householders plant trees of which only their 
 children and children's children will eat the fruit, 
 and sit under the shadow, so should Christian par 
 ents strive still more earnestly that true godlinesi 
 may be propagated to their children. 
 
CHAPTERS XXIII., XXIV. 179 
 
 2. Joshua's Parting with the People. His Death and that of Eleazar 
 
 Chapters XXIII., XXIV. 
 
 a. The First Parting Address. 
 
 Chapter XX III - 
 
 m. Promise that Jehovah unit still fight for hit people, and help them to the complete possession of the land. 
 
 Chapter XXHI. 1-11. 
 
 1 And it came to pass, a long time [many days] 1 after that the Lord [Jehovah] 
 had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed 
 
 2 old and stricken in age. And 2 Joshua called for 3 [omit : for] all Israel, and [omit : 
 and] for their elders, and for their heads, and for their officers [overseers], and 
 said unto them, I am old and [omit : and] stricken in age [far gone in years] : 
 
 3 And ye have seen all that the Lord [Jehovah] your God hath done unto all these 
 nations because of you ; for the Lord [Jehovah] your God is he that hath fought 
 
 4 for you. Behold [See], I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, 
 to be an inheritance [as a possession] for your tribes ; from [the] Jordan, with 
 [and] all the nations that I have cut off, even unto [and] the great sea westward 
 
 5 [toward the going down of the sun]. And the Lord [Jehovah] your God, he shall 
 expel them from before you, 4 and drive them from out of your sight ; 4 and ye shall 
 possess their land, as the Lord [Jehovah] your God hath promised [spoken] unto 
 
 6 you. Be ye therefore very courageous [And be ye, or, ye shall be, very strong] 
 to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn 
 
 7 not aside therefrom to the right hand or [and] to the left ; That ye come not among 
 these nations, these that remain among [with] you ; neither make mention of the 
 name 6 of their gods, nor cause to swear by them [it], neither serve them, nor bow 
 
 8 yourselves unto them : But cleave unto the Lord [Jehovah] your God, as ye have 
 
 9 done unto this day. For [And] the Lord [Jehovah] hath driven out from before 
 you great nations and strong : but as for [and] you, no man hath been able 
 
 10 to stand [hath stood] before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase 
 [chaseth] a thousand : for the Lord [Jehovah] your God, he it is that fighteth for 
 
 11 you, as he hath promised [spoken] unto you. Take [And take] good heed there- 
 fore [omit : therefore] unto yourselves [your souls], that ye love the Lord [Jeho- 
 vah] your God. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 [1 Ver. 1. 1 D^*tt, prop, after, or following, many days. This ia taken by our version rather as modifying tbt 
 following clause, "at the end of many days after," etc., than as parallel to it (De Wette, Fay), and meaning the urn* 
 thing : " after many days, after Jehovah had given," etc. The latter is preferable. — Th.] 
 
 [2 Ver. 2. N"^|^1 should introduce the apodosis to ver. 1, and the translation be (ver. 1), "and it came to pass . 
 iter that Jehovah' .... and Joshua was old, far gone in years (ver. 2), that Joshua called all Israel," «tc. — Tt.] 
 
 [8 Ver. 2. Lit. " called to," but the " to " is superfluous in consistency with the usage generally ; so that " for " shouM 
 toe omitted throughout this verse. — Tr.] 
 
 [4 Ver. 5. Our version rightly, although perhaps too strongly marks the variety in Di^SS and Q3\35 7X2, 
 which De Wette and Fay neglect. — Tr.] 
 
 [6 Ver. 7. Q272. To indicate exactly the construction of the prep. 2 with both verbs, Is scarcely possible in Ung 
 lah. We have to adopt some such substitute as, "and not make mention q/, and not cause to swear by the name of 
 ■heir gods." — Tr.] 
 
 0. Warning against Apostasy from God. 
 Chapter XXIII. 12 -16. 
 
 12 Else [For] if ye do in any wise go back [return], and cleave unto the remnant 
 of these nations, even [omit : even] these that remain among [with] you, and shall 
 
180 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you [and come among 
 
 13 them, and they among you] : ! Know for a certainty that the Lord [Jehovah] your 
 God will no more drive out any of [omit : any of] these nations from before you : 
 but [and] they shall be snares [a snare] and traps [a trap] unto you, and scourges 
 [a scourge] in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good 
 land [ground nniS] which the Lord [Jehovah] your God hath given you. 
 
 14 And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth ; and ye know in all 
 your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing [word] hath failed of all the 
 good things [words] which the Lord [Jehovah] your God spake concerning you ; 
 all are come to pass unto you, and [omit : and] not one thing [word] hath failed 
 
 15 thereof. Therefore [And] it shall come to pass, that as all good things are [e~ ery 
 good word is] come upon you, which the Lord [Jehovah] your God promised [spoke 
 to] you ; so shall the Lord [Jehovah] bring upon you all evil things [every evil 
 word], until he have destroyed you from off this good land [ground] which the Lord 
 
 16 [Jehovah] your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed [transgress] the 
 covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] your God, which he commanded you, and have 
 gone and served [go and serve] other gods, and bowed [bow] yourselves to them ; 
 then shall the anger of the Lord [Jehovah] be kindled against you, and ye shall 
 perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 p Ve-r. 12. The idea is that of general intercourse. The verb "come" is used for brevity's sake, instead of flaying 
 laUy : " and you go among them and they come among you." — Tr.] 
 
 b. The Second Parting Address. Renewal of the Covenant. Conclusion. 
 Chapter XXIV. 
 a. The Second Parting Address. 
 Chapter XXIV. 1-15. 
 
 1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for Lomit . 
 for 1 ] the elders of Israel, and for their heads and for their judges, and for their 
 
 2 officers [overseers] ; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said 
 unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, Your fathers 
 dwelt on the other side of the flood [river] in old time, even [omit : even] Terah, the 
 
 3 father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor ; and they served other gods. And 
 I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood [river], and led him 
 throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 
 
 4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau : and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to pos- 
 
 5 sess it ; but [and] Jacob and his children [sons] went down into Egypt. I sent [And 
 I sent] Moses also [omit : also] and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that 
 
 6 which I did among them : and afterward I brought you out. And I brought your 
 fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea ; and the Egyptians pursued after 
 
 7 your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea. And when they cried 
 unto the Lord [Jehovah], he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and 
 brought the sea upon them, and covered them ; and your eyes have seen [saw] what 
 I have done [did] in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season [many 
 
 8 days]. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites [Amorite], which [who] 
 dwelt on the other side [of the] Jordan ; and they fought with you : and I gave them 
 into your hand, that ye might possess [or, and ye possessed] their land ; and I de- 
 
 9 stroyed them from before you. Then [And] Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, 
 arose and warred [fought 2 ] against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of 
 
 1 Beor to curse you : But I would not hearken unto Balaam ; therefore [and] he 
 
 1 1 blessed you still : 3 so [and] I delivered you out of his hand. And ye went over 
 [the] Jordan, and came unto Jericho : and the men of Jericho fought against you, 
 the Amorites, 4 and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the 
 Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I delivered [gave] them into youi 
 
CHAPTERS XXIII., XXIV 181 
 
 12 hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which [and it] drave them out from be 
 fore you, even the [omit : even the] two kings of the Amorites : but [omit : but 
 
 13 not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. And I have given you a land for [or, uf 
 which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them ; of the 
 
 14 [omit : the] vineyards and olive-yards [trees] which ye planted not do ye eat. Now 
 therefore [And now] fear the Lord [Jehovah], and serve him in sincerity and in 
 truth ; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood 
 
 15 [river], and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord [Jehovah]. And if it seem evil unto 
 you to serve the Lord [Jehovah], choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether 
 the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood [river] 
 or the gods of the Amorites [Amorite] in whose land ye dwell : but as for me [and 
 I] and my house, we [omit : we] will serve the Lord [Jehovah]. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 [1 Ver. 1. Omit "for" throughout this verse as ch. xxiii. 2. — Tr.] 
 
 T2 Ver. 9. Cr"03 although capable of meauiDg " to war," " wage war," is, with one exception, translated through. 
 t : • " 
 out our book, " to fight." — Tr.] 
 
 [8 Ver. 10. The emphatic force of the infin. abs. here might be variously expressed : " he kept blessing you ; " ,( 1m 
 nust fain bless you ; " "he did nothing but bless you." Equivalent is the intent of "he blessed you still." 
 
 [i Ver. 11 These names are all singular in the Hebrew throughout the verse, and are best so read in English. 
 
 8. The Renewal of the Covenant. 
 Chapter XXIV. 16-28. 
 
 16 And the people answered and said, God forbid [Far be it from us] that we 
 
 17 should forsake the Lord [Jehovah], to serve other gods ; For the Lord [Jehovah] 
 our God, he it is that brought us up, and our fathers, out of the land of Egypt, from 
 [out of] the house of bondage [lit. of bondmen], and which [who] did those great 
 signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all 
 
 18 the people [peoples] through whom we passed : And the Lord [Jehovah] drave 
 out from before us all the people [peoples], even [and] the Amorites [Amorite] 
 which [who] dwelt in the land : therefore [omit : therefore] will we also [we also 
 will] serve the Lord [Jehovah] ; for he is our God. 
 
 19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord [Jehovah] : for he 
 is an holy God : he is a jealous God ; he will not forgive your transgressions, nor 
 
 20 [and] your sins. If [when] ye forsake the Lord [Jehovah], and serve strange 
 gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done 
 you good. 
 
 21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay ; but we will serve the Lord [Jehovah]. 
 
 22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have 
 chosen you the Lord [Jehovah], to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 
 
 23 Now therefore [And now], said he, put away the strange gods which are among you, 
 
 24 and incline your heart unto the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel. And the people 
 said unto Joshua, The Lord [Jehovah] our God will we serve, and [to] his voice 
 will we obey [hearken]. 
 
 25 So [And so] Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a 
 
 26 statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book 
 of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an [the] oak 
 
 27 that was by [in] the sanctuary of the Lord [Jehovah]. And Joshua said unto all 
 the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness [for witness rnj?/] unto [against 
 ver. 22] us ; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord [Jehovah] which he spake 
 [hath spoken] unto [with] us : it shall be therefore [, and shall be] a witness unto 
 
 i& [against] you, lest ye deny your God. So [And] Joshua let the people depart, 
 eve'y man [one] unto his inheritance [possession]. 
 
182 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 y. Death of Joihua and Eleazar. The Bones ofJoieph. 
 Chapter XXIV. 29-33. 
 
 29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun the servant 
 
 30 of the Lord [Jehovah] died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried 
 him in the border of his inheritance [possession] in Timnath-serah, which is in 
 
 31 mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of [of mount] Gaash. And Israel 
 served the Lord [Jehovah] all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that 
 over-lived [lit. prolonged days after] Joshua, and which [who] had known [knew] 
 all the works of the Lord [Jehovah] that he had done for Israel. 
 
 32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children [sons] of Israel brought up out 
 of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground [portion of the field] 
 which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred 
 pieces of silver [kesita] ; and it became the inheritance of [they were for a pos- 
 session to] the children [sons] of Joseph. 
 
 33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died ; and they buried him in a hill that pertained 
 to [in Gibeah of] Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 These two closing chapters of the book are inti- 
 mately related, containing the two farewell ad- 
 dresses of Joshua to the people, an account of the 
 renewal of the covenant in connection with the 
 latter of those addresses, and the report of the death 
 of Joshua and Eleazar. They give information 
 also concerning the last transactions of Joshua, and 
 the closing circumstances of his life so full of ac- 
 tivity, and so significant with reference to the es- 
 tablishment of the religious character of the people 
 of Israel. 
 
 Particularly to be considered here, from the first, 
 is the relation between the two farewell addresses 
 in respect to differences and agreement of their 
 subject-matter ; and manifestly, the first presents to 
 (he Israelites what Jehovah will do for them to bring 
 them into full possession of the land, while the second 
 in powerful words calls to mind in detail what Jeho- 
 vah, since the time of the patriarchs, has already done 
 for them. Admonitions to fidelity towards Jeho- 
 vah, warnings against backsliding from him, are 
 found in both addresses (ch. xxiii. 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 
 13, 15, 16 ; xxiv. 14, 15), and are repeated, at the 
 renewal of the covenant, in a lively dialogue be- 
 tween Joshua and the people (eh. xxiv. 19, 20, 27). 
 
 a. Ch. xxiii. The First Farewell Discourse. This, 
 after the introduction, vers. 1, 2, falls into two sec- 
 tions, vers. .1-11 and 12-16. a. In the first section 
 Joshua announces that Jehovah will continue to 
 tight for his people, and help them to the entire 
 possession of their land ; /3. in the second he warns 
 them vehemently against apostasy from him, lest, 
 instead of help, the judgment of God, consisting 
 in their expulsion from Canaan, shall come upon 
 them. 
 
 Vers. 1, 2. Introduction, recalling ch. xiii. 1, 
 as well as ch. xxi. 42. Where Joshua held this 
 discourse, is not said ; perhaps at his residence in 
 Timnath-serah (ch. xix. 50), perhaps, and this is 
 more probable, at Shiloh. He first begins by re- 
 minding them that he is become old, but that 
 ihey have seen all that Jehovah has done to 
 ill these nations before them, for he has fought 
 i>r them. Of his own merits toward Israel the 
 modest hero boasts not a word. He only remarks 
 (ver. 4) that he has divided by lot for them the 
 remaining nations also, from the Jordan, and all 
 
 the nations which I have cut off, and the great 
 sea toward the going down of the sun. The 
 sense is, In the country lying between the Jordan 
 on the east and the great sea on the west, have I 
 distributed to you by lot as well the still remaining 
 peoples, therefore to be driven out (comp. ch. xvii. 
 15), as those already destroyed (comp. ch. xi. 12), 
 that you may possess their land. 
 
 Ver. 5. These nations, viz., the D^tTan 0^2, 
 
 will Jehovah himself expel, thrust out (D?^?"'.''., 
 comp. Deut. vi. 19; ix. 14, likewise used of the 
 expulsion of the Canaanites) before them, and 
 
 drive them off (tCHirP), an d they (the Israelites) 
 shall possess the land (ch. i. 15) as Jehovah has 
 spoken (ch. xiii. 6; Ex. xxiii. 23 ff.). That will 
 Jehovah do, as is afterward repeated in ver. 10. 
 But they must, as Joshua admonishes, ver. 8, be 
 very strong to keep and to do all that is written 
 in the book of the law of Moses, etc., comp. ch. 
 i. 7. 
 
 Vers. 7, 8. Especially they are warned against 
 all intercourse with those nations, and above all, 
 
 against participation in their idolatry. " On ^??H 
 
 CIl'2, to mention any one by his name, ;'. «., to 
 make him the object of a call and proclamation, 
 
 comp. Is. xlviii. 1 ; Ps. xx. S ; ~t? 2 W^i?, Is. xii. 
 4; xli. 25" (Knobel). Keil appositely remarks 
 further, that, " to mention the names of the gods 
 (Ex. xxiii. 13), to swear by them, to serve them 
 (by offerings), and to bow down to them (call upon 
 them in prayer), are the four expressions of divine 
 worship," see Deut. vi. 13 ; x. 20. 
 
 Ver. 9. A fresh reminiscence of God's help, who 
 has driven out before them great and strong na- 
 tions, cf. ver. 3. And you — no man hath stood 
 before you unto this day. Meaning : and you 
 were so powerful through his assistance that you 
 conquered everything before you, comp. ch. xxi. 
 44. 
 
 Ver. 10. To be understood neither with the 
 
 LXX., who render H.:?|?"' : l'7"7'! by e8ico£e x'^- im *> 
 of the past, nor with the Vulg., which translates 
 persequetur, of the future, but rather of the present ; 
 one man of you chaseth a thousand, for Jeho- 
 vah your God, he it is who fighteth for you at 
 
CHAPTERS XXm., XXIV. 
 
 183 
 
 be hath spoken to you. So De Wette rightly 
 translates, for it must be the actual present state 
 of the people, and their actual present relation to 
 Jehovah, in which the sure guarantee of their 
 future complete extirpation of the Canaanitcs will 
 consist. Deut. xxxii. 30 ; Num. xxvi. 8, should 
 be compared. 
 
 Ver. 11. A repeated admonition to love Jehovah 
 their God. There follows 0, in vers. 12-16, the 
 warning against apostasy from God, which is 
 
 closely connected by ^3 with the last words of the 
 admonition. 
 
 Vers. 1 2, 1 3. For if ye do in any wise turn back 
 pnitWJI), and cleave (DlpipTl) to the rem- 
 nant of these nations, these that remain with 
 you, and make marriages with them (contrary 
 
 to the prohibition, Ex. xxxiv. 16; D^J.Finrin'!, 
 from l^n, prop, to cut off, then = ^Hn, to de- 
 termine, make fast ; to betroth, as in old Lat. 
 festa for bridegroom [1^"7] or the father of the 
 
 bride [10'n], Ex. xviii. 1 ff.; Judg. xix. 4 ff. 
 Hithpael : to intermarry, to contract affinities by 
 marriage, and that either by taking another's daugh- 
 ter, or giving him one's own, with ? as here (Deut. 
 vii. 3 ; 1 Sam. xviii. 22, 23, 26, 27 ; Ezra ix. 14. 
 Gesen.), and ye come among them and they 
 
 among you, know for a certainty (WW Pl"Tp 
 that Jehovah your God mil no more drive out 
 these nations from before you, and they will 
 
 be for you a trap (nSy, in the same tragic sense 
 
 as in Ps. Ixix. 23 and Is. viii. 15, where also n3 
 
 is connected with 2?i?.1S3| as likewise in the N. T., 
 Luke xxi. 35, irayis), and a snare and a scourge 
 
 (tStatB 1 ?, commonly tsittf, e. g., Prov. xxvi. 3 : 
 
 1 K. xii. 11) in your sides, and thorns (D , 3" , 3!£, 
 
 Num. xxxiii. 55, from *?2, in the signif. to be in- 
 terwoven, entangled) in your eyes, until ye per- 
 ish from off this good ground (i"* y?-'? which 
 Jehovah your God hath given you. The decla- 
 ration of Joshua is much more severe than that 
 of Moses, Num. xxxiii. 55, which speaks only of 
 
 0"3ti7 (thorns), parallel to a > : > 3?. But here 
 Joshua threatens that the Canaanites shall be to 
 them a trap and snare for their feet ; a scourge — 
 in their sides ; thorns — in their eyes, so that they 
 shall be endangered by them and plagued on every 
 side of the body, as it were. Ken: Joshua multi- 
 plies the figures to picture the inconvenience and 
 distress which will arise from their intercourse 
 with the Canaanites, because, knowing the fickle- 
 ness of the people, and the pride of the human 
 heart, he foresaw that the falling away from God, 
 which Moses had in his day predicted, will onlv 
 too soon take place ; as indeed it did, according to 
 Judg. ii. 3 ff., in the next generation. The words 
 
 "^l E572S""T>', repeat the threat of Moses, Deut. 
 xi. 17 ; comp. ch. xxviii. 21 if." 
 
 Ver. 14. Joshua, as in ver. 3, calls to mind his 
 approaching end : I am going the way of all the 
 earth, i.e., on the way to death, which a man 
 toes and returns not, into the land of darkness 
 *nd the shadow of death (Job x. 21 ; 1 K. ii. 2). 
 This way all the earth, the whole world must take. 
 
 The lesson which he connects with these words 
 teaches them to perceive that, as was said ch. xxi. 
 45, God has fulfilled to them all his promises, in 
 which Joshua thinks part cularly of the conquest 
 of Canaan. 
 
 Vers. 15, 16. Reiterated warning against back- 
 sliding (comp. ver. 13J. As God has fulfilled the 
 good words concerning them, so will Jehovah bring 
 
 v^ > ?^) upon them also every evil word (Lev. xxvi 
 14-33; Deut. xxviii. 15-68; xxix. 14-28; xxx. 1, 
 15 ; comp. Josh. viii. 34, 35), until he destroys them 
 
 CiTD^rr-TV, as Dent. vii. 34 ; xxviii. 48, Keil). 
 Nay, if they transgress the covenant of Jehovah, 
 to serve other gods and worship them, then his 
 anger will burn against them, and they will quickly 
 
 (f^np) perish out of the good land, which he has 
 given them. The second part of ver. 16 occurs 
 word for word in Deut. xi. 17, the first in part. 
 
 b. Ch. xxiv. The Second Farewell. Renewal of 
 the Covenant. Conclusion, a. Vers. 1—15. The dis- 
 course, the general character of which has been 
 described, falls, after the exordium, into two divis- 
 ions ; vers. 2-13 a recapitulation of what God, 
 since the time of the patriarchs, has done for his 
 people; vers. 14-16, a demand to abstain entirely 
 from idolatry, and to cleave to Jehovah, whom 
 Joshua, at all events, and his family, will serve. 
 
 Ver. 1. The assembly gathered not in Shiloh but 
 in Shechem, where the solemn transaction related 
 ch. viii. 30-35, had taken place. On this account 
 particularly, to recall that transaction, were the peo- 
 ple summoned thither. A second reason is found 
 by Hengstenberg (Beitrage, iii. p. 14 ff.) and Keil, 
 in the fact that Jacob had dwelt here after his re- 
 turn from Mesopotamia, here purified his house 
 of strange gods and buried their images under the 
 oak at Shechem (Gen. xxxiii. 19; xxxv. 2, 4). 
 An opinion intrinsically probable, but neither in 
 the context of our chapter nor elsewhere in the 
 
 book is it mentioned. The D^tptD, as ch. i. 10; 
 iii. 2 ; viii. 33 ; xxiii. 2. 
 
 And they presented themselves before God 
 ['Sn \3?b ta$V$, as in Job i. 6 ; ii. 1, ■DSVin 
 
 , "' ^3?i. Joshua had, ch. viii. 31, raised an altar 
 on Mount Ebal, on which at that time, before the 
 building of the tabernacle, sacrifices were offered. 
 Of offerings there is no mention here. 
 
 Ver. 2. God of Israel ; significant, so ver. 23. In 
 this verse, as in vers. 3, 4, Joshua, in the name of Je- 
 hovah, holds up to the people what He has done for 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; the first proof of his 
 
 divine grace. The fathers dwelt of old (obiEZ?) 
 beyond the stream, i. e., the Euphrates, namely, in 
 Ur in Chaldea, and then in Haran (Gen. xi. 28, 
 31). 
 
 Terah (rn£l, LXX. : 0<itfa, from TJf), in 
 Chald. to delay, comp. also Num. xxxiii. 27) the 
 father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, 
 and served other gods. And I took your father 
 Abraham .... Isaac. The gods which Terah 
 reverenced were, as appears from Gen. xxxi. 19, 
 34, Teraphim, Penates (see Winer, Realw. s. v. 
 Theraphim, [Smith's Diet, of Bible, art. "Tera- 
 phim."] It is worthy of notice that it is not said 
 distinctly of Abraham that he served other gods, 
 on which account we agree with Knobel, who says : 
 " Whether, according to our author, Abralam also 
 was originally an idolater, is rather to be denied 
 than affirmed, comp. Gen. xxxi. 53." Dangeroui 
 
184 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 even for him certainly were the idolatrous sur- 1 
 roundings, wherefore God took him (Hpv) and 
 caused him to wander through Canaan. Accord- 
 ing to a tradition preserved in the Targum Jona- 
 than (Keil, Com- 5b. Jos. 169, Anm. 1), and which 
 recurs in the latter Rabbins, Abraham had to suffer 
 persecution on account of his aversion to idolatry, 
 and to forsake his native country ; while an. Arabic 
 story ( Hottinger, Hist. or. 50 ap. Winer, Realw. 
 s. v. Abraham) makes him wander as far as Mecca, 
 and there lay the first foundation of the Caaba. 
 According to this, therefore, it must be assumed 
 that he was a Sabrean. 
 
 Of Abraham's life nothing further is mentioned, 
 ver. 3, than that Jehovah caused him to wander 
 through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his 
 seed and gave him Isaac. 
 
 Ver. 4. To Isaac gave Jehovah Jacob, and Esau, 
 who recf'ved Mount Seir (Gen. xxvi. 6 ff.) for a 
 possession. Jacob alone was to have Canaan for 
 himself and his posterity, of which, however, noth- 
 ing further is here said. Rather, there is added 
 only the remark, which leads to ver. 5, that Jacob 
 and his sons went down into Egypt, as is told Gen. 
 xlvi. 1 E 
 
 Vers. 5-7. The second proof of the Divine 
 favor : Israel's deliverance out of Egypt, the chief 
 incidents of which are succinctly enumerated, 
 namely, (1) the sending of Moses and Aaron and 
 the infliction of the plagues upon Egypt (Ex. iii- 
 xii.) ; (2) the destruction of the Egyptians in the 
 Red Sea (Ex. xiv.). 
 
 Vers. 5, 6. The words in ver. 5, according to 
 
 that which. I did in the midst of them P!?*?? 
 
 12"ipa ""."VipS), occasion some difficulty. The 
 
 LXX, without doubt, read "lEt'SH, for they trans- 
 late the whole verse, " freely it is true : " no! i-rra- 
 ra£a t^jv JKlyvrrov iv trv^eiois, ols eiroiqaa eV au- 
 ral, «al firra toCto 4&yayov. The Vulgate also, 
 following them, offers no sure standing ground 
 when it renders : " Et percussi ^Egyptum multis sig- 
 nis atque portentis eduxique vos." Knobel, appeal- 
 ing to the translation of the LXX., would read 
 
 ~ltt?S2 instead of ~IB?S3 ; but even "Itpt??, gives 
 not a bad sense, if we paraphrase the very curtly 
 spoken sentence thus : " As you, according to all 
 that which I did in the midst of them, sc. the 
 Egyptians, perfectly well know." Bunsen : " So 
 as you know that I did among them." We retain 
 
 "ltTSS, therefore, because it is the more difficult 
 reading. 
 
 Red sea, see on ch. ii. 10. 
 
 Ver. 7. A poetical, noble description. The Is- 
 raelites cried to Jehovah. Then he placed dark- 
 ness ( 'r^?i LXX. : vetps\-nv nal yi>6<pov, from 
 
 - , ?*?i to go down [of the sun], to become dark, 
 Sir. hey. In Jer. ii. 21, we meet again with the 
 compound n s 72S!3, as a designation of the wil- 
 derness*, i. •■■ . the pillar of cloud (Ex. xiu ~1 ff . ; 
 xiv. 19 ff.) between them and the Egyptians, 
 brought the lea upon the latter and covered them. 
 But the eyes of the Israelites saw what Jehovah 
 did to the Egyptians. The change between the third 
 and the first person is to be noticed. While we 
 find the first person in vers. 5, 6, Jehovah is spoken 
 of at the beginning of ver. 7 in the third person, 
 and then proceeds in the first. Ye dwelt in the 
 wilderness many days. Transition to ' er. 8 
 romp. ver. 5 b. 
 
 Vers. 8-10. The third proof of God's favor 
 Victory over the Amorites (Num. xxi. 23), and turn 
 ing away of Balaam s purposed curse from Israel. 
 (Num. xxi'i. 22-24). 
 
 Ver. 8. They fought with you, namely, under 
 the command of their kings, Sihon, who was slain 
 at Jahaz (Num. xxi. 23), and Og, who was slain 
 at Edrei (Num. xxi. 33). 
 
 Ver. 9. When it is said of Balak that he, the 
 king of the Moabites, warred against Israel, we 
 learn from the following words, and sent and 
 called Balaam the son of Beor to come and 
 curse you, how this is meant by the author. 
 Balak contended not with arms against the Israel- 
 ites, but would have them cursed by the false 
 
 prophet Balaam, the ODp (ch. xiii. 22), in which 
 the terrified king at least staked his ^old (Num. 
 xxii. 7), although it did not win. He lacked the 
 courage for warfare with arms. 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . The fourth proof of God's favor : The 
 passage of the Jordan, capture of Jericho, victory over 
 
 the Canaanites. The 'in' , "; > \?53 are not, as 
 Knobel supposes, appealing to ch. vi. 2, the king 
 and his heroes, since the author in this case would 
 have chosen the same expression ; but, according 
 to the example of 2 Sam. xxi. 1 2 ; 1 Sam. xxiii. 
 1 1 ; Judg. ix. 6, the citizens of Jericho. 
 
 Vers. 12, 13. Summary conclusion of the first 
 division of Joshua's speech, in which he again 
 emphasizes the fact, that it was God who inspired 
 the Canaanites, particularly Sihon and Og, with 
 terror, and who has given the Israelites a rich and 
 well cultivated land. 
 
 Ver. 12. And I sent the hornet (n37"]S) be- 
 fore you. (So had it been promised by God, Ex. 
 xxiii. 28 ; Deut. vii. 20, and now also fulfilled, 
 
 comp. Wisd. xii. 8). HI? - )" is not to be under- 
 stood literally, nor of plagues generally, but with 
 Knobel and Keil, and most of the recent author- 
 ities, in such figurative sense as to be compared 
 with Deut. ii. 25 ; Josh. ii. 11, where it is stated 
 that Jehovah began, on the day of the victory over 
 Sihon, to spread among all peoples, fear and terror, 
 trembling and quaking and anguish, on account 
 of Israel. The swarm of hornets is a terror and 
 consternation to those against whom it turns, to 
 fall upon them ; before it they cannot stand but 
 hurry away in distress. Like this is the conster- 
 nation which, after their first great battle, preceded 
 the Hebrews, and, like a heaven-sent spiritual 
 plague, fell upon the peoples so that they fainted 
 before Israel. Elsewhere the bees appear as an 
 image of terrible foes (Deut. i. 44; Ps. cxviii. 12; 
 Knobel, on Ex. xxiii. 28). It ought also to be con- 
 sidered that in Ex. xxiii. 27, the next preceding 
 
 verse, terror is spoken of (n.v tt?S ' , nQ' , S"n^ 
 
 ?p3D7). The same conclusion follows if we com- 
 pare Deut. vii. 20 with ver. 19, ver. 21 (end), vers 
 23, 24. 
 
 Not by thy sword and not by thy bow. The 
 same thought as in Ps. xliv. 4. 
 
 Ver. 13. Thus Israel has, through God's good, 
 ness, without merit on his part, received a glorious 
 land, a land which he has not worked with the 
 
 sweat of his brow (P>3 P??'"rf .), i. e., made pro- 
 ductive, cities which he has not built, vineyards 
 and olive-trees which he has not planted, but of 
 which he shall eat. The LXX. render DVH 
 by i^tiUvas, the Vulgate, by oliveta = olive plan 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 185 
 
 rations, olive-yards, as Luther and De Wette trans- 
 late; rightly, no doubt, for the sense. If the He- 
 brew language had a special word for this, as it 
 
 had in D7! 1 ? for vineyard, it would certainly have 
 made use of it here. This all happened as Jeho- 
 vah had promised, Deut. vi. 10. 
 
 Vers. 14-16. A demand to forsake idolatry en- 
 tirely, and cleave to Jehovah alone, whom Joshua 
 at least with his house will serve. 
 
 Ver. 14. And now fear Jehovah (cf. Ps. ii. 
 11; v. 8 ; especially Prov. i. 7; Job xxviii. 28) 
 
 and serve him ("lHS ^1*7237, LXX. ; AarpeuiraTe, 
 comp. Rom. i. 25) in sincerity and in truth 
 (npS.; 1 ! D^On?, cf. Judg. ix. 16, 19, and on 
 
 ffJpna, in the N. T. u\mpiveia, 1 Cor. v. 8 ; 2 
 Cor. i. 12 ; ii. 17), and put away the gods which 
 your fathers served on the other side of the 
 river and in Egypt (comp. Lev. xvii. 7 ; Amos v. 
 26; as well as Ezek. xx. 7 ff. ; xxiii. 3, 8), and 
 serve Jehovah. 
 
 Ver. 15. Finally, Joshua challenges the people 
 to decide with the utmost freedom : " if it seem 
 evil in your eyes, if it please you not (LXX. : ei 
 (i7) apiuKei), he calls to them, to serve Jehovah, 
 
 then choose you (for yourselves, 237 Tirj?) 
 this day whom ye will serve ; whether the 
 gods which your fathers served on the other 
 side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, 
 in whose land ye dwell." He gives them the 
 choice, therefore, between the old worship of the 
 Penates practiced by their fathers and the Baal- 
 worship of the inhabitants of the land, if they 
 will not serve Jehovah. The latter will he fur his 
 part and his family do, in any case, for he adds : 
 but I and my house will serve Jehovah. 
 
 3. Ch. xxiv. 16-28. The Renewal of the Cov- 
 enant. Struck by the words of Joshua the whole 
 people with one consent reply, that they will not 
 forsake Jehovah : " We also will serve Jehovah, 
 for he is our God" (vers. 16-18). Being reminded 
 further by Joshua how hard this is, since Jehovah 
 is a holy and a jealous God (vers. 19, 20), the peo- 
 ple persist in their former declaration (ver. 21) 
 thereupon the choice of Jehovah is, solemnly made 
 Vers. 22-24), and the covenant renewed (ver. 25). 
 All these things Joshua writes in the law-book of 
 God (veT. 26), raises a monument of stone as a 
 witness of what has taken place (ver. 27), and then 
 dismisses the people (ver. 28) each to his posses- 
 sion. 
 
 Vers. 16-18. The People's Reply to Joshua's 
 Speech. Ver. 16. The idea of forsaking Jehovah 
 and serving other gods, is rejected with expres- 
 sions of the deepest aversion (121 ^3^ PO^n) 
 to idolatry, comp. ch. xxii. 29. 
 
 Ver. 17. The reason: Jehovah was their God, 
 
 he who had brought them up (i"l^3?0, for which, 
 
 in Ex. xx. 2, we have ^THS'-Jin) out of the land 
 
 of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (i"V2 
 
 D""T3]J, as Ex. xx. 2), and had done these great 
 signs, i. e., the wonders mentioned by Joshua 
 (vers. 8-12) before their eyes, and had kept them 
 in all the way wherein they went, etc. 
 
 Ver. 1 8. Among the deeds of Jehovah they re- 
 iall especially the expulsion of the original inhab- 
 .tants of the land, and then add, in allusion to 
 Joshua's last word, " we also will serve Jeho 
 rah, for he is our God." 
 
 Vers. 19, 20. Joshua still calls the people to 
 notice how difficult it was to serve Jehovah, by 
 
 showing that he was a holy God (CKnj? DYl^?, 
 
 as 1 Sam. xvii. 26 ; E^n CH ,it, where also the 
 adject, is in the plural ; in respect to the sense, 
 comp. Ex. xix. 6; Lev. xxi. 6, 7, 8; 1 Pet. ii. 9, 
 
 as well as the numerous passages in Isaiah, where 
 
 God is designated as the ^"Jtp'! H^i?. «• g-, ch. 
 v. 19, 24; xii. 6; xxx. 11, 12;'xli. 14, 43, etc.), a 
 jealous God (Si:;? b«; Ex. xx. 5, K|0 bw ; 
 
 Nah. i. 2, Si2|7 7S, as here), who will not forgive 
 
 transgressions (i?K , 5) and sins. " ^^J, spoken 
 of the forgiveness of sins, is commonly construed 
 with ace. rei; less frequently with ? rei, besides 
 this passage in Ex. xxiii. 21 ; Ps. xxv. 18, with 
 slight modification of meaning — to award forgive- 
 ness to sin" (Keil). 
 
 Ver. 20. This jealousy of the holy God will show 
 itself in this, that if they should forsake him and 
 
 serve strange gods ("2.: T7 <S?» as Gen. xxxv. 4, 
 while in ver. 16, as in ch. xxiii. 16, we found 
 ^inS ^) he will turn (2K71) and do them harm 
 
 and consume (i - ^?) finish, abolish) them, after 
 that he has done them good, ;'. e., without any 
 regard to the fact that he had done them good. 
 
 Ver. 21. The people adhere to their resolution 
 to serve Jehovah. On S /, minime, comp. ch. v. 
 14. 
 
 Ver. 22. Joshua calls them now to witness 
 against themselves, that they have chosen Jehovah 
 as their God, to serve him, ;'. e., they will, if they 
 ever fall away, be obliged to admit that they once 
 chose Jehovah, and that he now has a right also 
 to punish them for their unfaithfulness. To this, 
 too, they assent, replying, as with one mouth : 
 witnesses (are we). 
 
 Ver. 23. Still another exhortation of Joshua, 
 resting on that assent, to put away the strange 
 
 gods (as ver. 20, "'P? ^H/S) which were in the 
 midst of them, and incline their heart to Jehovab 
 the God of Israel (as ver. 2). Keil, following the 
 example of R. Levi ben Gerson, Augustine, and 
 
 Calvin, takes D32"ir?3, figuratively = in your 
 hearts, because the people, with all their willing 
 ness to renounce idolatry, yet deliver to Joshua no 
 images to be destroyed, as was done in the similar 
 cases, Gen. xxxv. 4 ; 1 Sam. vii. 4. He thinks 
 further, that although the people, as Amos repre 
 sents to his generation (Am. v. 26, comp. Acts vii 
 43), carried about with them idols in the wilder- 
 ness, yet with the dying out of the generation con- 
 demned at Kadesh, 'gross idolatry would have dis- 
 appeared from Israel. We may grant that so long 
 as Joshua lived, Israel publicly served the true 
 God, but hold it very probable that, as he might 
 full well know, many a one in secret worshipped 
 the idols which he now demanded that they should 
 
 put away, using the same word (WDm which 
 Jacob had used before, and Samuel used after him. 
 As regards the actual removal of the images, this 
 may have followed, although we are not so in- 
 formed. Finally, E32^i72 here certainly is used 
 precisely as much in the proper sense as in Gen 
 xxxv. 2, D3?Pi2, and 1 Sam. vii. 8, D33P.J3. 
 
186 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 Ver. 24. For the third time (vers. 16, 21) the 
 people aver that they will serve Jehovah and 
 hearken to his voice. 
 
 Ver. 25. Upon this, Joshua made a covenant 
 Ivith them that day, i. c, he renewed the covenant 
 concluded on Sinai by God with Israel (Ex. xix. 
 20), in like manner as Moses had done (Deut. 
 xxviii. 69) in the field of Moab. When it is said 
 further concerning Joshua, that he set them a 
 statute and an ordinance (or judgment) in Is- 
 rael, these words are in allusion to Ex. xv. 25, 
 where, in connection with the change (not by this, 
 Keil) of the bitter water into sweet, God himself 
 established for Israel a statute and right. Here, 
 it was precisely through the renewal of the cov- 
 enant that statute and right for the people were 
 established and determined, — " what in matters of 
 religion should be with Israel law and right " 
 (Knobel). 
 
 Vers. 26-28. After this had been done, Joshua 
 
 wrote these things, (prop, words, C^^HTI^), 
 i. e., all which had happened there at Shechem, 
 the whole transaction between him and the people, 
 in the book of the law of God. He wrote a docu- 
 ment — a protocol, so to speak — concerning the 
 matter, and introduced it into the book of the law. 
 At the same time he took a great stone and set it 
 up there under the oak which was in the sanc- 
 tuary of Jehovah C ,< JD^r?Q5). The sanctuary 
 is not the tabernacle (Ex. xxv. 8 ; Lev. xii. 4 ; xix. 
 30 ; xx. 3 ; xxi. 12 ; Num. iii. 38 ; xix. 20 ap. Kno- 
 bel), since this, according to ch. xviii. 1, stood in 
 Shiloh, but a consecrated space, a sacred spot ; and 
 this place, indeed, within whose limits stood the 
 oak, where the great stone was set up bv Joshua (cf. 
 Gen. xxviii. 18; Josh. iv. 20-22; 1 S'am. vii. 12), 
 had been hallowed by the altar which Abraham and 
 Jacob had formerly built there (Gen. xii. 7 ; xxxiii. 
 20). We may add with Knobel, that according to 
 ch. viii. 30, Joshua himself had built an altar on 
 Mount Ebal, therefore in close proximity to She- 
 chem, which, like Gilgal (ch. iv. 20 ff. ; xv. 7), 
 became a holy place. 
 
 Ver. 27. Joshua finally explains the significance 
 of the stone, which is to be a witness against the 
 people in case they deny God, since it has heard 
 all the words of Jehovah (ver. 2). In a vivid 
 imagination the stone is regarded as a person, so 
 to speak, which has seen and heard every thing, 
 comp. ch. xxii. 34. 
 
 Ver. 28 relates the dismissal of the people. 
 Every one returns to his possession. 
 
 y. 'Ch. xxiv. 29-33. Death of Joshua and of Elea- 
 zar. Vers. 29, 30. It is probable that immediately 
 thereafter Joshua died, one hundred and ten years 
 old, at the same age precisely as that which Joseph 
 reached, Gen. 1. 26. He was buried at Timnath- 
 serah (ch. xix. 50). The mountain of Gaash, 
 mentioned here as well as in Judg. ii. 9 ; 2 Sam. 
 xxiii. 30 ; 1 Chr. xi. 32, cannot be identified. Its 
 
 name, tt 1 ?? from B??2, to push, thrust, signifies, 
 according to Gesenius, perhaps the same as fore- 
 thrust, forespring. 
 
 Ver. 31. So long as Joshua and the elders, who 
 frith him had led the people, lived, and those who 
 
 had known OWJ), i. e. experienced, all the works 
 frt ntt?2p-b3) of Jehovah, which he had done 
 for Israel, Israel served Jehovah, as is likewise re- 
 lated Judg. ii. 1 1 ff. 
 
 Ver. 32 contains an additional statement con- 
 wrning the bones of Joseph, which suited the con- 
 
 clusion here, especially as the discourse in vers 
 1-28 had been concerning Shechem, where thej 
 were buried, in the piece of ground which Jacoc 
 had once bought for one hundred kesita ( Geu. xxiii. 
 19) of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem 
 We learn from Ex. xiii. 19, that the Israelites had, 
 in conformity with a last wish of Joseph, recorded 
 Gen. 1. 25, brought these bones out of Egypt, and 
 this circumstance is mentioned by our author in 
 the beginning of this verse. 
 
 Ver. 33. After Joshua, died Eleazar also, the 
 son of Aaron. How long afterward we cannot 
 determine. They buried him at Gibeah-phinehas, 
 the city of his son, which had been given to the 
 latter on Mount Ephraim. Since it is expressly 
 said that this Gibeah-phinehas lay on mount 
 Ephraim, we agree with Robinson, von Raumer 
 (p. 1551, and Knobel, who regarded it as being the 
 present Geeb in Maundrell, p. 87, or Jibia in Rob. 
 iii. 80, 81, or Chirbet Jibia in Ritter, Erdk. xvi. p. 
 559 f., the Ktipri, villa Geba of Euseb. and Jerome. 
 It stood five miles, i. e., two hours, north of Guph- 
 na, toward Neapolis or Shechem. Keil, however, 
 thinks of the Levitical city Geba (ch. xviii. 24), to 
 which view the position " on Mount Ephraim " 
 need not, in his opinion, be an objection, because 
 this mountain, according to Judg. iv. 5 and other 
 passages, reached far into the territory of Benja 
 min (>). 
 
 The Hebrew original of our book closes with 
 this notice of the death of Eleazar. The LXX. 
 have added a supplement, combining Judg. ii. 6, 
 11 ff., and iii. 7, 12 ff, which, however, is nowhere 
 found in the MSS. and editions of Joshua. We 
 give it according to the Polyglott Bible of Stier 
 and Theile : 'Ec tueivri ttJ T\nepa \d&ovT€s ol viol 
 'lapu^K t))v Kifiwrhv rod 8(ov irepiupepoaav 4v eou- 
 to?s, Kal <J>t^€es Itpdrevofv dvrl EAea^ap tov warpbs 
 auToD ews ane$avt, teal Karupvyrj iv VafiadO Tp eou- 
 rov. Oi 5e viol 'ItrpaTjA. dn7]\do(rav €Ka<rros us rbr 
 r6noif avToiv Kal (Is t^)v kairruv tt6\lv. Kal iaf^ovro 
 ol viol 'lapat/X t^v AaTapT7/r Kal 'Aorapoid Kal rovs 
 deovs twv 40vav twv KvK\cp auray. Kal irapsb'oiKtp 
 avToiis Kvpws us x ei P as E-yAau/ fiao~i\4ws Nwa&iruiv, 
 Kal KOTfKvpluiaw ainwv eT7j 5e«o 6ktu. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. Joshua's noble character, his deep insight into 
 God's leadings of his people, his accurate knowl- 
 edge of the inconstancy of the human heart, his 
 beautiful treatment of religious occasions, all ap- 
 pear in his last two addresses at parting with the 
 people. As far as possible he keeps his own per- 
 sonal merit in the background. It is God who has 
 fought for Israel (ch. xxiii. 3) and will still further 
 fight for him (ch. xxiii. 10), the God of Israel (ch. 
 xxiv. 2, 23), who from ancient times (ch. xxiv. 2) 
 to the present day has wonderfully manifested 
 himself to his people, shown them much favor, and 
 finally given them a beautiful dwelling-place (ch. 
 xxiv. 13). Of himself he says repeatedly that he 
 is old and must go the way of all the earth (ch. 
 xxiii. 2, 14), therefore a mortal man subject to the 
 lot of all earthly existence, a man who, having 
 fulfilled his task and distributed the land to the 
 people (ch. xxiii. 4), must now retire from the the- 
 atre of his activity, but who, as long as he lives, 
 will with his family serve Jehovah (ch. xxiv. 15) 
 How nobly, on the other hand, he sketches in large 
 features, particularly in the second discourse, the 
 works of God; Abraham's call (ch. xxiv. 2 ff), 
 the mission of Motes and Israel's de'iveiance ou 
 
CHAPTERS XXIIL, XXIV 
 
 187 
 
 of Egypt (ch. xxiv 5 ff.), the conquest of the 
 Amontes beyond the Jordan, the turning away of 
 the curse of Balaam, the capture of Jericho, the 
 conquest of the land (ch. xxiv. 8 ff. ). Since ht 
 knew, however, the human heart in its fickleness 
 and in particular understood accurately the want 
 of stedfastness on the part of Israel, he repeatedly 
 admonishes them to fidelity towards God (ch. xxiii. 
 6, 7, 11 ; xxiv. 14, 15), warns them likewise, and 
 in part with words of sharp severity, against all 
 apostasy (ch. xxiii. 12-16 ; xxiv. 14, 20), and puts 
 them a third time to the test whether they will 
 really serve Jehovah (ch. xxiv. 15, 19, 20, 22). In 
 this, however, appears at the same time Joshua's 
 excellent understanding of the treatment of relig- 
 ious concerns, for he will employ no constraint, 
 but leaves entirely to their own choice the decision 
 whether Israel will serve Jehovah or the strange 
 gods of whom they had knowledge (ch. xxiv. 15, 
 19, 20). But then, after the people have decided 
 for Jehovah, although Joshua has very emphat- 
 ically pointed out that He is a holy and a jealous 
 God (ch. xxiv. 19), who will not forgive transgres- 
 sions and sins, he demands of them also so much 
 the more pointedly that they shall put away all 
 strange gods. 
 
 2. In respect to this putting away of strange 
 gods, we take the liberty of adding Gerlach's re- 
 mark on ch. xxiv. 23, which still more definitely 
 supports our explanation of the passage. " It is 
 remarkable," he says, "that, after Achan's tres- 
 pass in the matter of things devoted, and after the 
 Israelites had not long before been ready to avenge 
 so signally the supposed crime of their transjor- 
 danic brethren in erecting a rival altar, idolatry 
 could still have been secretly practiced among 
 them. In this, however, we must fairly consider 
 how hard it was for the thought of the one, al- 
 mighty, omnipresent God to find lodgment in the 
 mind of the heathen-spirited people, how, with 
 this faith they stood alone among the nations of 
 the whole contemporary world, how they, there- 
 fore, were continually overcome anew and taken 
 captive by the spirit of the world and of the age, 
 and incessantly turned away to other helpers from 
 the divinely appointed means of grace which seemed 
 not to satisfy their carnal desires ; how, in partic- 
 ular, they still afterwards worshipped partly the 
 true God under images, partly the dinning house- 
 gods (teraphim) in secret; and how the judgment 
 of God might indeed seize upon and hold up one 
 example (Achan, ch. vii.), without, therefore, at a 
 later period, in like manner, extirpating the sin. 
 That in the wilderness the people in secret wor- 
 shipped idols Amos declares (ch. v. 25 ; comp. Acts 
 vii. 43), that there were household gods even in 
 David's house, is shown by 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16. 
 No apostasy from the true God followed from that, 
 but a partial and ever renewed corruption of his 
 service through superstition." Analogous exam- 
 ples are found in Grimm's Mythology, from the his- 
 tory of our German people. 
 
 3. Similar representations of the benefits of God 
 to his people may be read in many passages of the 
 Psalms, partly abridged, partly in more full ac- 
 counts. Thus Ps. xliv. 1—4 ; lxviii. 8 ff. ; lxxviii. ; 
 Ixxx. 9 ff. ; lxxxi. 1 1 ; xcix. 6, 7 ; cv. ; cvi. ; exxxv. 
 8 ff. ; exxxvi. 10, 11, 19. Touching the deliver- 
 ance from Egypt the tenderly winning representa- 
 tion of Hosea (ch. xi. 1 ff. [and of Jeremiah, ch. 
 ti. 1 ff.]) may be compared. 
 
 H051ILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Joshua's first farewell discourse considered in 
 the two sections above given, for comfort and ad- 
 monition (ch. xxiii. 1-15). — As the Lord onca 
 brought Israel into rest, so will He also bring us to 
 rest, for " there remaineth a rest for the people of 
 God" (ch. xxiii. 1). — Joshua, in his humility and 
 modesty, set before us as a pattern, that we should 
 in all things give God alone the honor, while we 
 know and feel ourselves to be weak and dying 
 men. — The Lord has fought also for you. (1) 
 The Lord has fought ; ( 2 ) the Lord has fought for 
 you (ch. xxiii. 3; sermon for victory). — Depart 
 neither to the right hand nor to the left from the 
 commands of God ; a text suitable for confirma- 
 tion addresses. — God gives victory only when the 
 combatants most diligently keep their souls and 
 love him. — Bad men will be, as the heathen were 
 for the Israelites, a trap and a snare and a scourge 
 in the sides, and thorns in the eyes for those who 
 live in intercourse with them. — Ver. 14, a .-err 
 beautiful text for a farewell sermon for a preacher 
 who is obliged to lay down his office from advanced 
 age, also for a funeral discourse when a father, for 
 instance, to whose family God has shown much 
 kindness, is deceased. — Vers. 15, 16. Suitable for 
 a sermon on a day of fasting and prayer. (1) 
 Think to-day of all the good which you have re- 
 ceived, according to what God has spoken to you ; 
 but (2) be warned against the transgression of his 
 covenant, lest his judgment come upon you. 
 
 Joshua's last congress at Shechem. ( 1 ) His dis- 
 course (ch. xxiv. 1-15) ; (2) the answer of the peo- 
 ple (vers. 16-18) ; (3) the final decision and renewal 
 of the covenant (vers. 19-25). — Joshua's second 
 farewell discourse treated by itself, and that as a 
 review of the history of Israel from the days of the 
 patriarchs to his own, in its most important inci- 
 dents as above stated (ch. xxiv. 1-15). — Of the 
 terror of God upon nations doomed to destruction 
 (ver. 12). — Not by thy sword nor by thy bow ! — 
 God's surpassing benefits proved by what He be- 
 stowed upon Israel. — Earnest exhortation to give 
 up all the idolatry still remaining among them. — 
 In matters of religious conviction the decision must 
 be altogether free; all constraint is to be con- 
 demned. That Joshua teaches once for all. — I 
 and my house will serve the Lord ! — A text of 
 inexhaustible richness for weddings ; yet rightly 
 employed only when the individual dispositions 
 correspond, — a thing which in occasional services 
 should never be wanting. That Frederick William 
 IV., king of Prussia, at the opening of the UniMd 
 Diet in 1847, declared this word of Joshua to be 
 his own maxim, is well known. — Such deep hor- 
 ror of all idolatry becomes us also, as it once be- 
 came Israel. Only our aversion must be more 
 permanent than it was with that people. — We also 
 will serve Jehovah, for He is our God. — God a 
 holy, and a jealous God. — How the thought that 
 God is holy, pure from all evil, and jealous, zeal- 
 ously intent on his proper glory, should restrain 
 us from all evil, and especially from all idolatry. — 
 When does God not spare (forgive)? (1) When 
 transgression and sin is wilfully committed, and 
 when (2) forgiveness would, as He foresees, lead to 
 no amendment. — When we forsake the Lord He 
 forsakes us also, and turns away from us although 
 He may have done us ever so much good. — Vei 
 22 also may be employed as a text for discourses 
 
183 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 
 
 at confirmation [and at all receptions into the 
 church], in which it is to be impressed upon the 
 candidates that their " yes " will testify against 
 them if they prove unfaithful to the Lord. — In 
 what must the true and sincere conversion (repent- 
 ance) of an entire people consist? (1) In their 
 putting away their strange, often very secretly 
 worshipped gods; (2) in the inclination of their 
 hearts to the Lord God of Israel. — The God of 
 Israel (vers. 2, 23). — The repeated profession of 
 the people that they will serve the Lord, regarded 
 (1) in reference to its import, (2) to the responsi- 
 bility which the people thus took upon them. — It 
 is easily said : I will serve the Lord and obey his 
 voice ; but actually to keep the promise when the 
 world allures to its altars, is quite another thing. — 
 Israel's resolution to serve the Lord was wholly 
 voluntary. So should it be also with us. There 
 should be no compulsion. — Men may well hearken 
 to God's voice, for (1) it always warns against the 
 evil, (2) always admonishes to the good. — O ! how 
 peaceful is it in the heart when we really serve the 
 Lord our God in sincerity, and hear nothing in 
 preference to his friendly voice, that we may joy- 
 fully obey it. — The renewal of the covenant at 
 Shechem; to be treated in such a way that (1) 
 Joshua, (2) the people, (3) the matter of the cov- 
 enant (law and rights of God), (4) the place where 
 it was accomplished — keeping in view the his- 
 torical recollections so richly associated with She- 
 chem, (5) the memorial of the covenant, shall all 
 receive due attention. — Joshua's death, the end 
 of a faithful servant of the Lord who had proved 
 himself such ( 1 ) already in Moses' time ( Num. xiii. ; 
 xxvii. 15-23); (2) in the conquest and partition 
 of the land, in which (a) his trust in God, (b) his 
 bravery, (c) his unselfishness (ch.xvii. 14-18 ; xix. 
 49, 50) are to be signalized; (3) even to the end 
 (cornp. ch. xxiii. 1-11; xxiv. 1-15). — Vers. 29, 
 30. How beneficially the good example of a pious 
 and true leader may influence a whole people, illus- 
 trated by the case of Joshua, Eleazar, Phinehas, 
 and the other elders of Israel. — The burial of 
 Joseph's bones, an act of grateful respect, and the 
 conscientious fulfillment of a dying wish. — Elea- 
 zar's death the end of a priest after God's heart 
 ( Ex. vi. 23, 25 ; xxviii. 1 ; Lev. viii. 24 ; Num. iii. 32 ; 
 xx. 26 ; xxvii. 18 ff. ; xxxiv. 17 ; Josh. xiv. 1 ). 
 
 Starke : Peace and rest is also a favor from 
 God, therefore we may well pray : Graciously grant 
 us peace, etc., and, From war and bloodshed pre- 
 serve us, merciful Lord God, etc. — Although God 
 alone, in all things which happen, deserves the 
 honor, and He it is also who is and remains the 
 one who effects all good, yet we must not leave 
 anything wanting in our own fidelity. — A Chris- 
 tian must not walk in his own way, but order all 
 his conduct by Go l's word. — Soul lost, all lost ! 
 Tner:fore watch, m ike haste and save thy soul ! — 
 God demands not merely an outward but an in- 
 
 ward obedience to his law. — By our might noth- 
 ing is done, by God's might everything. — To serve 
 the true God is the highest propriety and oui 
 duty ; that all might recognize it as such and 
 serve God from the heart ! — The service which one 
 renders to God must be unconstrained. 
 
 Cramer : Faith is an assured confidence and 
 excludes doubt (Heb. xi. 1 ; Jas. i. 6) even where 
 one cannot see (John xx. 29). — The promises of 
 the law are conditioned on obedience (Deut. xxviii. 
 1). — There is, however, none other who could 
 fight for us, etc., Ps. liii. 6 ; lxxix. 10 (ch. xxiii. 
 10). — With the froward God is froward. — Death 
 knows no difference in person, age, sex, condition, 
 or country. — By repeating and meditating on the 
 great deeds of God we should strengthen ourselves 
 in faith, and press on towards obedience to his 
 commands (Ps. xliv. 2 ; lxxxv. 2 ; cv. 5 ; cvi. 6). 
 
 Osiander : Whoever desires to live in accord- 
 ance with the prescribed word of God, so as to add 
 nothing thereto and take nothing therefrom, he is 
 on the right road and walks most safely. — It is 
 not enough to have made a good beginning, but 
 he who perseveres to the end shall be saved, Matt 
 xxiv. 13. — To God must we ascribe the victory 
 and not to our own might and strength. — The 
 church of God is never without hypocrites and 
 apostates. — God can put up with no mixed relig- 
 ion ; with him it is " all mine or let it alone alto- 
 gether," Matt. iv. 10. 
 
 Bibl. Tub. : The precious covenant which we 
 have made with God we should have constantly 
 before our eyes. 
 
 [Matt. Henry ; on ch. xxiii. 1,2: When we see 
 death hastening toward us, that should quicken us 
 to do the work of life with all our might. — On ch. 
 xxiv. 1 : We must never think our work for God 
 done, till our life is done ; and if He lengthen out 
 our days beyond what we thought, we must con- 
 clude it is because He has some further service for 
 us to do. — Ibid. ver. 1 5 : When we cannot bring 
 as many as we would to the service of God, we 
 must bring as many as we can, and extend our 
 endeavors to the utmost sphere of our activity ; if 
 we cannot reform the land, let us put away iniquity 
 far from our own tabernacle. — Those that lead 
 and rule in other things, should be first in the ser- 
 vice of God, and go before in the best things. — 
 Those that resolve to serve God, must not mind 
 being singular in it, nor be drawn by the crowd to 
 forsake his service. — Those that are bound for 
 heaven, must be willing to swim against the stream, 
 and must not do as the most do, but as the best 
 do. — Ibid. vers. 29-33 : This book which began 
 with triumphs here ends with funerals, by which 
 all the glory of man is stained. — How well is it 
 for the Gospel church that Christ our Joshua is 
 still with it, by his Spirit, and will be always, even 
 unto the end of the world t] 
 
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