--- title: "Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah" author: "Adam Clarke" languages: [en] shelf: "Commentaries" section: 230 of 914 url: https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/230/ cite: "Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah, section 230. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/230/" --- # Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible · Volume 1: Genesis to Jeremiah *Adam Clarke* Clarke's learned notes on the Hebrew and Greek, verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation: volume 1 of 2. ## 230. Joshua · 16 of 30 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/230/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/adam-clarke-commentary-volume-1-genesis-to-jeremiah/230/#p-N ### Verse 4 [¶1] Coast of Og king of Bashan - Concerning this person see the notes on [Deu 3:11], and on [Num 21:35], etc. [¶2] The remnant or the giants - Or, Rephaim. See the notes on [Gen 6:4]; [Gen 14:5], and [Deu 2:7], [Deu 2:11]. ### Verse 5 [¶4] The border of the Geshurites - The country of Bashan, in the days of Moses and Joshua, extended from the river Jabbok on the south to the frontiers of the Geshurites and Maachathites on the north, to the foot of the mountains of Hermon. ### Verse 7 [¶6] From Baal-gad - A repetition of what is mentioned [Jos 11:17]. ### Verse 9 [¶8] The king of Jericho, etc. - On this and the following verses see the notes on [Jos 10:1-3] (note). ### Verse 13 [¶10] The king of Geder - Probably the same with Gedor, [Jos 15:58]; it was situated in the tribe of Judah. ### Verse 14 [¶12] The king of Hormah - Supposed to be the place where the Israelites were defeated by the Canaanites see [Num 14:45]; and which probably was called Hormah, הרמה chormah, or destruction, from this circumstance. ### Verse 15 [¶14] Adullam - A city belonging to the tribe of Judah, [Jos 15:35]. In a cave at this place David often secreted himself during his persecution by Saul; [1Sam 22:1]. ### Verse 17 [¶16] Tappuah - There were two places of this name: one in the tribe of Judah, [Jos 15:34], and another in the tribe of Ephraim on the borders of Manasseh; but which of the two is meant here cannot be ascertained. See the note on [Jos 15:53]. [¶17] Hepher - The same, according to Calmet, as Ophrah in the tribe of Benjamin, [Jos 18:23]. ### Verse 18 [¶19] Aphek - There were several cities of this name: one in the tribe of Asher, [Jos 19:30], another in the tribe of Judah, [1Sam 4:1]; [1Sam 29:1]; and a third in Syria, [1Kgs 20:26], and [2Kgs 13:17]. Which of the two former is here intended cannot be ascertained. [¶20] Lasharon - There is no city of this name known. Some consider the ל lamed in the word לשרון lashsharon to be the sign of the genitive case, and in this sense it appears to have been understood by the Vulgate, which translates rex Saron, the king of Sharon. This was rather a district than a city, and is celebrated in the Scriptures for its fertility; [Isa 33:9]; [Isa 35:2]. Some suppose it was the same with Saron, near Lydda, mentioned [Act 9:35]. ### Verse 20 [¶22] Shimron-meron - See on [Jos 11:1] (note). ### Verse 21 [¶24] Taanach - A city in the half tribe of Manasseh, to the west of Jordan, not far from the frontiers of Zebulun, [Jos 17:11]. This city was assigned to the Levites, [Jos 21:25]. ### Verse 22 [¶26] Kedesh - There was a city of this name in the tribe of Naphtali, [Jos 19:37]. It was given to the Levites, and was one of the cities of refuge, [Jos 20:7]. [¶27] Jokneam of Carmel - This city is said to have been at the foot of Mount Carmel, near the river Belus, in the tribe of Zebulun, [Jos 19:11]. It was given to the Levites, [Jos 21:34]. ### Verse 23 [¶29] The king of Dor - The city of this name fell to the lot of the children of Manasseh, [Jos 17:11]. Bochart observes that it was one of the oldest royal cities in Phoenicia. The Canaanites held it, [Jdg 1:27]. Antiochus Sydetes besieged it in aftertimes, but could not make himself master of it. See Bochart, Canaan, lib. i., c. 28, and Dodd. [¶30] The king of the nations of Gilgal - This is supposed to mean the higher Galilee, surnamed Galilee of the Gentiles or, nations, as the Hebrew word גוים goyim means. On this ground it should be read king of Galilee of the nations. Others suppose it is the same country with that of which Tidal was king, see [Gen 14:1]. The place is very uncertain, and commentators have rendered it more so by their conjectures. ### Verse 24 [¶32] King of Tirzah - This city appears to have been for a long time the capital of the kingdom of Israel, and the residence of its kings. See [1Kgs 14:17]; [1Kgs 15:21], [1Kgs 15:33]. Its situation cannot be exactly ascertained; but it is supposed to have been situated on a mountain about three leagues south of Samaria. [¶33] All the kings thirty and one - The Septuagint say εικοσι εννεα, twenty-nine, and yet set down but twenty-eight, as they confound or omit the kings of Beth-el, Lasharon, and Madon. [¶34] So many kings in so small a territory, shows that their kingdoms must have been very small indeed. The kings of Beth-el and Ai had but about 12,000 subjects in the whole; but in ancient times all kings had very small territories. Every village or town had its chief; and this chief was independent of his neighbors, and exercised regal power in his own district. In reading all ancient histories, as well as the Bible, this circumstance must be kept constantly in view; for we ought to consider that in those times both kings and kingdoms were but a faint resemblance of those now. [¶35] Great Britain, in ancient times, was divided into many kingdoms: in the time of the Saxons it was divided into seven, hence called the Saxon heptarchy. But when Julius Caesar first entered this island, he found four kings in Kent alone; Cingetorix, Carnilius, Taximagulus, and Segonax. Hence we need not wonder at the numbers we read of in the land of Canaan. Ancient Gaul was thus divided; and the great number of sovereign princes, secular bishops, landgraves, dukes, etc., etc., in Germany, are the modern remains of those ancient divisions. ### Introduction [¶37] Joshua being old, the Lord informs him of the land yet remaining to be possessed, [Jos 13:1]. Of the unconquered land among the Philistines, [Jos 13:2], [Jos 13:3]. Among the Canaanites, Sidonians, and Amorites, [Jos 13:4], [Jos 13:5]. The inhabitants of the hill country and the Sidonians to be driven out, [Jos 13:6]. The land on the east side of Jordan, that was to be divided among the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, [Jos 13:7-12]. The Geshurites and the Maachathites not expelled, [Jos 13:13]. The tribe of Levi receive no inheritance, [Jos 13:14]. The possessions of Reuben described, [Jos 13:15-23]. The possessions of Gad, [Jos 13:24-28]. The possessions of the half tribe of Manasseh, [Jos 13:29-31]. Recapitulation of the subjects contained in this chapter, [Jos 13:32], [Jos 13:33]. ### Verse 1 [¶39] Joshua was old - He is generally reputed to have been at this time about a hundred years of age: he had spent about seven years in the conquest of the land, and is supposed to have employed about one year in dividing it; and he died about ten years after, aged one hundred and ten years. It is very likely that he intended to subdue the whole land before he made the division of it among the tribes; but God did not think proper to have this done. So unfaithful were the Israelites that he appears to have purposed that some of the ancient inhabitants should still remain to keep them in check, and that the respective tribes should have some labor to drive out from their allotted borders the remains of the Canaanitish nations. [¶40] There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed - That is, very much when compared with that on the other side Jordan, which was all that could as yet be said to be in the hands of the Israelites. ### Verse 2 [¶42] The borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri - The borders of the Philistines may mean the land which they possessed on the sea-coast, southwest of the land of Canaan. There were several places named Geshuri, but that spoken of here was probably the region on the south of Canaan, towards Arabia, or towards Egypt. - Calmet. Cellarius supposes it to have been a country in the vicinity of the Amalekites. ### Verse 3 [¶44] From Sihor, which is before Egypt - Supposed by some to be the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, near to the Arabian Desert; called also the river of Egypt, [Num 34:5]; [Jer 2:18]. On this subject an intelligent friend favors me with the following opinion: - "The river Sihor is supposed by some to be the Nile, or a branch of it. Others think it the same as what is frequently called the river of Egypt, which lay before or towards the borders of Egypt; which arose out of the mountains of Paran, and ran westward, falling into that bay of the Mediterranean which lies south of the land of the Philistines. This river is often mentioned as the boundary of the Israelites to the southwest, as Euphrates, the great river, was on the northeast. "There was a desert of considerable distance between what is called the river of Egypt and the isthmus of Suez. Solomon reigned to the borders of Egypt, i.e., to this desert; but not in Egypt, nor to the river Nile. "Upon the whole, (though there are difficulties in the matter), I incline to think that the river in question was not the Nile. Sihor (black) might, from some circumstances, be applied to another river as well as the Nile; though some places in Isaiah and Jeremiah seem to restrict it to the Nile." - J. C. [¶45] Ekron northward - Ekron was one of the five lordships of the Philistines, and the most northern of all the districts they possessed. Baal-zebub, its idol, is famous in Scripture; see [2Kgs 1:2], etc. The five lordships of the Philistines were Gaza, Ashdod, Askalon, Gath, and Ekron. There is no proof that ever the Israelites possessed Ekron; though, from [Jos 15:11], some think it was originally given to Judah, but the text does not say so; it only states that the border of the tribe of Judah went out Unto the Side of Ekron. From [Jos 19:43], we learn that it was a part of the lot of Dan, but it does not appear to have been possessed by any of those tribes.