19 Who answered, Give me a blessing; for 12, And the west border was to the great thou hast given me a south land; give me also. sea, and the coasts thereof. This is the coast springs of water. And he gave her the upper of the children of Judah round about accord-springs, and the nether springs., ing to their families.

years after it was sent back by the Philistines; see 1 occasion to him who should take Kirjath-sepher. ProSam. v., vi., and vii: 1, 2.

Cities of the tribe of

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B. C. 1443.

24 Ziph, and Telem, and 35 Jarmuth, and Adullam,
Socoh, and Azekah,

An. Exod. Isr. Bealoth,

48.

Anno ante

1. Olymp. 667, Hazor,

25 And Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is

26 Amam, and Shema, and Moladah, 27 And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-palet,

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36 And Sharaim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; I. Olymp. 667. fourteen cities with their villages;

37 Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad, 38 And Dilean, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel, 39 Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon,

28 And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and 40 And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish, Bizjothjah,

41 And Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages:

42 Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan,

43 And Jiphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib, 44 And Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages:

45 Ekron, with her towns and her villages:

33 And in the valley, h Eshtaol, and Zoreah, 46 From Ekron even unto the sea, all that and Ashnah, laynear Ashdod, with their villages: 47 Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto Heb. by the place of.

34 And Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam,

1 Sam. xxvii. 6.

h Num. xiii. 23.- i Or, or. Verse 24. Ziph] There were two cities of this name in the tribe of Judah, that mentioned here, and another ver. 55. One of these two is noted for the refuge of David when persecuted by Saul; and the attempts made by its inhabitants to deliver him into the hands of his persecutor. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 14-24.

Verse 28. Beer-sheba] A city, famous in the book of Genesis as the residence of the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, chap. xxii. 19; xxviii. 10; xlvi. 1. See the note on Gen. xxi. 31. It lay on the way between Canaan and Egypt, about forty. miles from Jerusalem. Verse 30. Hormah] A place rendered famous by the defeat of the Hebrews by the Canaanites. See Num. xiv. 45; Deut. i. 44.

Verse 31. Ziklag] The Philistines seem to have kept possession of this city till the time of David, who received it from Achish, king of Gath, 1 Sam. xxvii. 6; after which time it remained in the possession of the kings of Judah. Verse 32. All the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages] But on a careful examination we shall find thirty-eight; but it is supposed that nine of these are excepted; viz. Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazarshual, Baalah, Azem, Hormah, Ziklag, Ain, and Rimmon, which were afterwards given to the tribe of Simeon. This may appear satisfactory, but perhaps the truth will be found to be this: Several cities in the promised land are expressed by compound terms; not knowing the places, different translations combine what should be separated, and in many cases separate what should be combined. Through this we have cities formed out of epithets. On this ground we have thirty-eight cities as the sum here, instead of twenty-nine.

k2 Kings xiv. 7.

Verse 35. Jarmuth] See the note on chap. x. 3.
Adullam] See the note on chap. xii. 15.

Socoh] It was near this place that David fought with and slew Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, 1 Sam. xvii. 1.

Verse 36. Gederah]. See the note on chap. xii. 13. -Fourteen cities] Well reckoned, we shall find fifteen cities here; but probably Gederah and Gederothaim (ver. 36) are the same. See the note on ver. 32.

Verse 39. Lachish-and Eglon] See on chap. x. 3. Verse 41. Beth-dagon] The house or temple of Dagon. This is a well known idol of the Philistines, and probably the place mentioned here was in some part of their territories; but the situation at present is

unknown.

Verse 42. Libriah] See the note on chap. x. 29. Ether] From chap. xix. 7 we learn that this city was afterwards given to the tribe of Simeon.

Verse 44. Keilah] This town was near Hebron, and is said to have been the burying-place of the prophet Habakkuk. David obliged the Philistines to raise the siege of it; (see 1 Sam. xxiii. 1-13;) but finding that its inhabitants had purposed to deliver him into the hands of Saul, who was coming in pursuit of him, he made his escape. See this remarkable case explained in the note on Deut. xxxii. 15.

Near

Mareshah] Called also Maresheth and Marasthi; it was the birth-place of the prophet Micah. this place was the famous battle between Asa, king of Judah, and Zera, king of Cush or Ethiopia, who was at the head of one thousand thousand men, and three hundred chariots. Asa defeated this immense host, and took much spoil; 2 Chron. xiv. 9-15.

Verse 33. Eshtaol, and Zoreah] Here Samson was buried, it being the burial-place of his fathers; see Judges xvi. 31. These places, though first given to Ju-ships; see the note on chap. xiii. 3. dah, afterwards fell to the lot of Dan, chap. xix. 41.

Verse 46. Ekron] One of the five Philistine lord

Verse 47. Ashdod] Called also Azotus, Acts viii. 40.

Cities of the tribe of

A. M. 2561.
B. C. 1443.

An. Exod. Isr.

48. Anno ante

I. Olymp. 667.

m the river of Egypt, and the 57 Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah;

great sea, and the border thereof:

48 And in the mountains, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh,

49 And Dannah, and Kirjath-sannah, which is Debir,

50 And Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim, 51 And Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh;

eleven cities with their villages:

52 Arab, and Dumah, and Eshean,

53 And Janum, and Beth-tappual, and Aphekah,

ten cities with their villages:

58 Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor,..

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48. Anno ante I. Olymp. 667.

60 Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, and. Rabbah; two cities with their villages: 61 In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, and Secaeah,

62 And Nibshan, and the city of Salt, and En-gedi; six cities with their villages.

63 As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.

Unto the river of Egypt] The Pelusiac branch of reyhen, and their villages, occurring immediately before the Nile, or Sihor But see on ver. 4..

The great sea] The Mediterranean.
Verse 48. Socoh] See a town of this name, ver. 35.
Verse 49. Kirjath-sannah] See the note on ver. 15.
Verse 51. Goshen] See the note on chap. x. 41.
Giloh] The country of the traitor Ahithophel, 2
Sam. xv. 12.

Verse 53. Beth-tappuah] The house of the apple or citron tree. Probably a place where these grew in great abundance and perfection.

Aphekah] See the note on chap. xii. 18.
Verse 54. Kirjath-arba] See the note on chap.

xiv. 15.

Verse 55. Maon] In a desert to which this town gave name, David took refuge for a considerable timé from the persecution of Saul; .and in this place Nabal the Carmelite had great possessions. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 24, 25; xxv. 2:

Carmel] Not the celebrated mount of that name, but a village, the residence of Nabal. See 1 Sam. xxv. 2. It was near Maon, mentioned above, and was about ten miles eastward of Hebron. It is the place where Saul erected a trophy to himself after the defeat of the Amalekites; see 1 Sam. xv. 12.

Ziph] See on ver. 24.

Verse 57. Timnah] A frontier town of the Philistines; it was in this place that Samson got his wife, see Judg. xiv. and xv.

this passage and at the end of it, the transcriber's eye passed from one to the other by mistake. A similar accident has caused the omission of two whole verses, the 35th and 36th of chap. xxi." See the note there..

Verse 60. Kirjath-baalf The same as Baalah.

See on ver. 9.

Verse 62. The city of Salt] Or of Melach. This city was somewhere in the vicinity of the lake Asphaltites; the waters of which are the saltest perhaps in the world. The whole country abounds with salt : see the note on Gen, xix. 25. Some suppose that it is the same as Zoar, the place to which Lot escaped after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

En-gedi] The well of the kid it was situated between Jericho and the lake of Sodom or Dead Sea.

Verse 63. The Jebusites dwell-at Jerusalem unto this day.] The whole history of Jerusalem, previously to the time of David, is encumbered with many difficulties. Sometimes it is attributed to Judah, sometimes to Benjamin; and it is probable that, being on the frontiers of both those tribes, each possessed a part of it. If the Jebusites were ever driven out before the time of David, it is certain they recovered it again, or at least a part of it-what is called the citadel or strong hold of Zion, (see 2 Sam. v. 7,) which he took from them; after which the city fell wholly into the hands of the Israelites. This verse is an additional proof that, the book of Joshua was not written after the times of the Jewish kings, as some have endeavoured to prove; for when this verse was written, the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Judah, which they did not after the days of David; therefore the book was written before there were any kings in Judea.

Verse 58. Gedor] See the note on chap. xii. 13. In this place the Alexandrian MS. of the Septuagint and the Codex Vaticanus add the eleven following towns: Theca, and Ephratha, (that is, Bethlehem,) ■ and Phagor, and Etan, and Kulon, and Tatam, and Thebes, and Karam, and Galam, and Thether, and Manocho; eleven cities and their villages. St. Jerome, on Mic. v. 1, mentions them, so that we find they were It is very likely, not only that many cities have by in the copies he used. Dr. Kennicott contends that the lapse of time changed their names or been totally they should be restored to the text, and accounts thus destroyed, (see the note on ver. 1,) but that the names for their omission: "The same word "gm vechals- | of those in the preceding catalogue have been changed

Borders of the tribe of Joseph

JOSHUA.

and of the Ephraimites.

also, several of them repeated that should have been | which afterwards appear to have been in another tribe. mentioned but once, and not a few confounded with The reason appears to be this: many towns are menthe terms by which they are described. But we must tioned which were frontier towns, and when the limits not suppose that every repetition of the name is through of a tribe are pointed out, such places must necessathe carelessness of copyists;, for there are often two rily be mentioned, though allotted to a different tribe. places which bear the same name, which is frequently This consideration will serve to remove several diffithe case in England. But besides this, villages are culties which occur in the reading of this and the folmentioned as being apparently in the tribe of Judah, |lowing chapters.

Borders of the children of Joseph, 1–4.

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CHAPTER XVI.

The borders of the Ephraimites, 5-9. The Canaanites dwell tributary among them, 10.

A. M. 2563 AND the lot of the children of to Michmethah on the north side; and the border went about eastward unto Taanath-shiloh, and passed by it on the east to Janohah;

48. Anno ante I. Olymp. 667.

Joseph ⚫ fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout Mount Beth-el,

2 And goeth out from Beth-el to b Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi. to Ataroth,

3 And goeth down westward to the coast of Japhleti, unto the coast of Beth-horon the nether, and to Gezer: and the goings out thereof are at the sea.

4 So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.

5 And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon the upper; 6 And the border went out toward the sea

B. C. 144 3.

An. Exod. Isr.

48. Anno ante

I. Olymp. 667.

a Heb. went forth.- - Chap. xviii. 13; Judg. i. 26. Ch. xviii. 13; 2 Chron. viii. 5.- 1 Chron. vii, 28; 1 Kings ix. 15.1 Chron. vii. 28. Chap. xvii. 14,

NOTES ON CHAP. XVI. Verse 1. The children of Joseph] Ephraim and Manasseh, and their descendants. The limits of the tribe of Ephraim extended along the borders of Benjamin and Dan, from Jordan on the east to the Mediterranean on the west.

Verse 2. From Bethel to Luz] From Gen. xxviii. 19 it appears that the place which Jacob called Beth-el was formerly called Luz; see the note there: but here they seem to be two distinct places. It is very likely that the place where Jacob had the vision was not in Luz, but in some place within a small distance of that city or village, (see the note on Gen. xxviii. 12,) and that sometimes the whole place was called Beth-el, at other times Luz, and sometimes, as in the case above, the two places were distinguished. As we find the term London comprises, not only London, but also the city of Westminster and the borough of Southwark; though at other times all three are distinctly mentioned. Archi to Ataroth] Archi was the country of Hushai,

h

Chap. xviii. 13.-52 Chron. viii. 5. Chap. xvii. 7. Chap. xvii. 9. Chap. xvii. 9. Judg i. 29; see 1 Kings ix. 16. the friend of David, 2 Sam. xv. 32, who is called Hushai the Archite. Ataroth, called Ataroth-addar, Ataroth the illustrious, ver. 5, and simply Ataroth, ver. 7, is supposed to have been about fifteen miles from Jerusalem.

Verse 3. Beth-horon the nether] This city was about twelve miles from Jerusalem, on the side of Nicopolis, formerly Emmaus.-CALMET. See the note on chap. x. 10.

Verse 5. Ataroth-addar] See the note on ver. 2. Beth-horon the upper] The situation of this town is little known. It was eastward of Beth-horon the nether, and consequently not far from it.

Verse 8. Tappuah] This was a city in the tribe of Manasseh, and gave name to a certain district called the land of Tappuah. See chap. xvii. 8.

The sea] The Mediterranean, as before. Verse 9. And the separate cities] That is, the cities that were separated from the tribe of Manasseh to be given to Ephraim; see chap. xvii. 9.

Verse 10, The Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer] It

appears that the Canaanites were not expelled from this city fill the days of Solomon, when it was taken by the king of Egypt his father-in-law, who made it a present to his daughter, Solomon's queen. See 1 Kings ix. 16. And see the note on Josh. x. 33. The Ephraimites, however, had so far succeeded in subjecting these people as to oblige them to pay tribute, though they could not, or at least did not, totally expel

them.

Or the names and places in this chapter, we may say the same as of others already mentioned. See the note on chap. xv. 1., Many of those towns were small, and, we may rationally conclude, slightly built, and

tribe of Manasseh.

consequently have perished perhaps more than a thousand years ago. It would be therefore useless to look for such places now. Several of the towns in England, a land not exposed to such revolutions as that of Palestine has ever been, mentioned by Cæsar and other ancient writers, are no longer discernible. Several have changed their names, and not a few their situation. Tradition states that the city of Norwich anciently stood some miles from its present situation; and we have the fullest proof that this was the case with the city of Salisbury. Such changes do not affect the truth of the ancient geography of our own country; nor can they impeach that of the sacred historian before us.

CHAPTER XVII.

The borders of

The lot of the half tribe of Manasseh, 1, 2. Case of the daughters of Zelophehad, 3–6. Manasseh described, 7-11. The Canaanites dwell among them, but are laid under tribute, 12, 13. The children of Joseph complain of the scantiness of their lat,, 14-16. Joshua authorizes them to possess the mountainous wood country of the Perizzites, and gives them encouragement to expel them, though they were strong and had chariots of iron, 17, 18.

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THERE was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the first-born of Joseph; 1. Olymp. 667. to wit, for Machir, the first-born of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war; therefore he had • Gilead and Bashan.

e

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B. C. 1443.
An. Exod. Ist.
48.
Anno ante

son of Gilead, the son of Machir,
the son of Manasseh, had no sons,
but daughters: and these are the
names of his daughters, Mahlah, I. Olymp. 667.
and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

4 And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore, according to the commandment of the LORD, he gave them. an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

2 There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children off Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of of 5 And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which 3 But i Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the

NOTES ON CHAP. XVII Verse 1. There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh] It was necessary to mark this because Jacob, in his blessing, (Gen. xlviii. 19, 20,) did in a certain sense set Ephraim before Manasseh, though the latter was the first-born; but the place here shows that this preference did not affect the rights of primogeniture.

For Machir-because he was a man of war] It is not likely that Machir himself was now alive; if he were, he must have been nearly 200 years old. It is therefore probable that what is spoken here is spoken of his children, who now possessed the lot that was originally designed for their father, who it appears had signalized himself as a man of skill and valour in some of the former wars, though the circumstances are not marked. His descendants, being of a warlike, intrepid

were on the other side Jordan ;

1 Num. xxvi. 30; Jezer: Num. xxvi. 317-
32. Num. xxvi. 33; xxvii. 1; xxxvi. 2.-
i Num. xxvii. 6, 7.

h Num. xxvi, Chap. xiv. 1.

spirit, were well qualified to defend a frontier country, which would be naturally exposed to invasion.

Verse 2. The rest of the children of Manasseh] That is, his grandchildren; for it is contended that Manasseh had no other son than Machir; and these were very probably the children of Gilead, the son of Machir.

Verse 3. Zelophehad—had no sons, but daughters] See this case considered at large in the notes on Num. xxvii. 1-7, and xxxvi. 1, &c.

Verse 5. There fell ten portions to Manasseh] The Hebrew word 'an chabley, which we translate portions, signifies literally cords or cables, and intimates that by means of a cord, cable, or what we call a chain, We have but little account of the land was divided. the arts and sciences of the Hebrews, yet from the