Bibelkommentare

Ver. 1. Now—when Adoni-zedec, &c.— Adoni-zedec, signifies lord of righteousness, which is nearly the same as Melchizedec. As these kings were both kings of Salem, or Jerusalem, some suppose, that the successors of Melchi-zedec affected a name like his to give themselves more dignity, by resembling in some measure that famous monarch. But while he assumed a name which called forth so many virtues, Adoni-zedec was not careful to imitate them. Contented to adorn himself with an amiable appellation, he limited his wishes to the being called just, without any endeavour to merit so excellent a sirname by just actions. It is very evident, that Jerusalem retained its ancient name of Salem till the Israelites took possession of it, and called it Jeru-salem. But the Benjamites, to whose lot it fell, being unable entirely to dislodge the Jebusites who occupied it, Jdg 1:21 and the latter having at length driven off the former, the Jebusites continued to call it Jebus, (Judges 19:10.) while the Israelites on their part called it

Jerusalem, says Bishop Patrick. It must, however, be acknowledged, that all this is but conjecture. It is neither proved, that Jerusalem is precisely the same city as the ancient Salem, nor that the Israelites gave it the name of Jerusalem when they made the conquest of it. This latter name did not begin to supplant those of Jebus, Sion, and city of David, till the time of Solomon. Whatever is urged to account for this change is dubious; nor are authors agreed respecting the true signification of the name Jerusalem. The Massoretes pronounce it Jerushalaim; but, according to the method in which the Chaldees pronounce the Hebrew, it should be read Jeroushelem, which come nearer to the Jerousalem of the Greeks, and our Jerusalem. This name is probably composed of Shalum, or Shalem, i.e. peace, and, as many persons think, of jarab, which signifies to fear, or from jarash, to inherit, to possess, (see Reland. Palaest. lib. 3: p. 834.) or from jerus, the same word as jebus, with the change only of a single letter.

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Ver. 3. Adoni-zedec—sent unto Hoham, &c.— Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, were four cities situated south of Jerusalem, and, together with that city, given to the tribe of Judah, as we shall see hereafter.

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Ver. 5. Therefore the five kings, &c.— Hebron belonged to the Hittites, Genesis 23:1-3; Genesis 25:9-10. Jerusalem to the Jebusites, chap. Jos 15:63 and the Gibeonites made a part of the Hivites, chap. Joshua 9:7. But as the Amorites were the most powerful nation in the land of Canaan, Gen 15:16 they held in subjection one part of their neighbours, and had given them kings. Hence it is, that the Gibeonites are particularly called a remnant of the Amorites, 2 Samuel 21:2.

REFLECTIONS.—Alarmed by the capture of Jericho and Ai, and more irritated with the surrender of Gibeon, Adoni-zedec, king of Jerusalem, (as it was afterwards called,) summons his neighbour kings to unite their forces against Gibeon; either to prevent so strong a city, and one so near him, from being occupied by his enemies, or to make an example of those who were accounted betrayers of their country. Note; They, who leave the ways of sin, must not expect to part from the world without persecution. Satan and his servants will prosecute those as deserters who inlist under the banners of Jesus.

Alarmed by their approaching danger, they fly to Joshua for help. Though mighty men, they know themselves unable to cope with these confederate armies, and therefore plead that league which, though fraudulently obtained, they were assured would be religiously observed. They are importunate, because the danger was imminent; and expect protection, not only for the oath's sake, but in honour, as allies suffering for their attachment to Israel; and in interest, as servants, whose destruction would be Israel's loss. Note; (1.) When our souls are sore thrust at by legions of corruptions within and temptations without, we must look up to Jesus, the glorious Captain of our salvation, whose hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. (2.) If we are in fidelity cleaving to God as his servants, we may rest assured of his protection as our Almighty Lord.

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Ver. 10. And chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon— That is, by the way of the mountain on which the town of Beth-horon was raised at the time of writing this book; for that town did not yet exist, nor was it built till the Israelites had taken possession of the land of Canaan. It was founded by Sherah, the daughter or granddaughter of Ephraim. See 1 Chronicles 7:24. But it should be remarked, that she built Beth-horon the nether and the upper; these are the expressions of the historian. We do not exactly know the situation of these two towns; both of them were in the tribe of Ephraim, one to the south, the other to the north. It is certain, that that of which we are now speaking is Beth-horon the nether, or the southern, which was upon the frontiers of Ephraim, near the mountains. See Wells's Geog. vol. 2: p. 200.

And smote them to Azekah and unto Makkedah— The towns of Azekah and Makkedah are afterwards reckoned among the cities of Judah, chap. Joshua 15:35; Joshua 15:41. They are both placed in the northern part of that tribe. Azekah could not be a great way from Jarmuth, so far as one may judge from chap. Jos 15:35 and consequently must be less northerly than Makkedah.

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Ver. 11. And—as they—were in the going down to Beth-horon— First, the kings in league fled towards Beth-horon, which was situate upon a little hill to the north of Gibeon. Their design evidently was to throw themselves into the place, and to occupy the heights of the mountains; but they were yet only on the declivity of the hill which led to Beth-horon, when the power of God armed nature to complete their overthrow. Hence, probably, the name Beth-horon, which signifies literally the house of anger.

And—the Lord cast down great stones—upon them unto Azekah, and they died, &c.— I. Some able commentators understand these words of a real shower of stones. This is the opinion of Grotius, Masius, Bonfrere, Vossius, and some others, particularly Calmet; see his learned Dissertation before his Commentary on Joshua. The substance of their arguments is here subjoined. I. The text expressly signifies, that the Lord cast upon the army of the Amoritish kings great stones; and, though these stones are immediately after called hail-stones, yet that is only to denote the swiftness, quantity, and size of these stones. Indeed, the expression to fall like hail is not only common to all the ancient, but has also been preserved in most modern languages. 2. History makes mention of divers showers of stones having fallen in the course of time at divers places, and even speaks of enormous masses falling from heaven; witness that which Calmet attests to have been seen in the parochial church of Ensishem in Alsace, and which, we are assured, fell among the hail on the 7th Nov. 1492. It is like a blackish flint which had been in the fire, and whose circumference had been broken into several pieces; it is said to have weighed about three hundred pounds. These facts, say some, are so well attested, that one cannot entertain a doubt of them without being guilty of manifest temerity. 3. No one can deny that dust, sand, earth, and other materials, may be carried to a considerable height into the air by a whirlwind: now what can hinder these matters from mixing with sulphureous, bituminous, or oily exhalations, and with the moisture of the clouds, hardening together through their own weight, and the pressure of the air and clouds, so as to fall afterwards, when they can be no longer kept up? Or, the shower of stones mentioned by Joshua might happen thus: Flints might have been raised into the air by a blast or whirlwind from without, or by a fire and compressed air from within. The wisdom of the Almighty might so manage these causes, and so determine them, as to produce their effects at the time and in the circumstances proper for destroying the enemies of his people. Nothing, in one sense, is more natural than all this; nothing, in another sense, more miraculous. It is by no means necessary, therefore, to have recourse to a figurative sense, nor, as others have done, to the assistance of angels, to account for this miracle, since all that was supernatural in this event consisted merely in the directing of the tempest in such a manner as to make it fall on the heads of the Canaanites.

II. Such, in substance, are the arguments urged in support of the literal sense. But to most commentators they seem very insubstantial; and not without reason. For, 1. That which Joshua calls stones, he himself explains by hail-stones. 2. It is so understood by the LXX, Josephus, (Hist. Jud. lib. 5: cap. 1.) and the author of Sir 46:6; Sir 46:3. The showers of stones spoken of by so many writers have the appearance of fable, and merit little or no credit. See Scheuchzer, tom. iv. p. 106. 4. On the contrary, the fearful devastations of hail are determined by Scripture, Exodus 9:23; Exodus 9:35.Ezekiel 13:13; Ezekiel 13:13; Ezekiel 22:5. They are no less so by facts drawn from ancient and modern history, all absolutely incontestable. Let any one but open the Philosophical Transactions of our Royal Society, and he will see examples, taken not only from past ages, but almost from our own time, of hail-stones nearly half a pound in weight, which have ruined countries, and killed great numbers of men and beasts for seventy miles round. Such was the hail which fell in Suffolk the 17th of July 1666; that which oppressed the country about Lisle in 1686; that which happened in Wales in 1697; and, particularly, that which did so much damage in Staffordshire in the same year. We have, moreover, an account of the hail which in 1717 desolated Namur, and the whole country round it, the smallest pieces of which weighed a quarter of a pound, others a pound, others three, and some eight. All these events prove, that hail-stones alone are sufficient to have done that damage to the army of the Amorites which is mentioned by the sacred historian; so that nothing obliges us to have recourse to another explanation. 6. If then it be asked, wherein confirms the miracle? It is easily answered, that it is in the circumstances of the event, which happened in the very instant proper for assisting those to whom God had promised victory; and which, without doing any hurt to God's protected people, destroyed his enemies, and was more fatal to them than the sword of the conquerors: an event that will always be considered as a miracle by every unprejudiced mind. God, for the working of miracles, has frequently employed the agency of second causes and natural phaenomena: frequently, without producing new beings, he only employs in a manner extraordinary, and impossible to any but himself, those beings which his hand has already formed. In the present case, perhaps, he might not form the hail by an immediate effort of his Omnipotence, and perhaps the impetuous wind which caused it to fall with full force from Beth-horon to Azekah, i.e. twelve or fourteen miles in extent, had nothing in it but what was natural; but the time when the thing happened, and the persons who suffered it, shew his hand too visibly for us to be able to overlook it. To conclude, fabulous story has imitated, or rather disfigured this wonderful event, by assuring us, that, at the prayer of Hercules, Jupiter sent a shower of hail upon Albion and Bergion. See Pomp. Mela. lib. 2: cap. 5. Calmet and Bibliotheque Raisonnee, tom. 29: p. 2 art. 8.

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Ver. 14. And there was no day like that, &c.— Some say it was thirty-six hours long: others think, that the sacred author only means, that no other day was ever seen in which the course of the planets was arrested at the prayer of a mortal. Amama has made a full collection of the various opinions of the critics upon the subject. See Anti-barbaro Biblico. lib. 3: p. 381, &c.

For the Lord fought for Israel— Namely, by causing an extraordinary hail to fall upon their enemies; by stopping the sun, to allow them time for conquest; by giving them strength to pursue the confederated kings; and by preserving them from the strokes of that terrible shower which fell on the desecrated Amorites.

REFLECTIONS.—After the taking of Ai, the army seems to have rested awhile in Gilgal, and is now roused up to action by the attack made on their allies; in which the Canaanites being aggressors, the justice of their ruin is more evident, whilst by their confederacy they were brought together for a readier consumption by the sword of Israel.

1. Joshua, animated by divine encouragement, prepares to succour the trembling Gibeonites. They need not fear who have God with them, and never-failing promises for their security. 2. He marches all night with a select body of valiant men, in order to shew his readiness to help his friends, and unexpectedly to surprise his enemies. Note; (1.) In war, a well-judged expeditious march is among the chief proofs of generalship. (2.) They who would serve the Lord Jesus must follow him night and day, and stop at no toil that he may call them to endure. By and by their labours will end, and they shall rest in eternal uninterrupted peace. 3. God's marvellous interposition. Though he might have destroyed them by the sword in battle, he chooses rather immediately to manifest his power, that Israel may know to whom they are indebted for victory, and their enemies be made sensible against whom they lift up themselves. God discomfited them, put terror on their spirits, and gave them up to slaughter as sheep; and from heaven, in their flight, cast down hail-stones of such a size, as slew more than fell by the sword. Note; Upon the ungodly will he shortly rain a more terrible hail, Rev 16:21 and judgments worse than death itself shall overtake them; under which men shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 4. Joshua's prayer. Fearing now lest the darkness should cover the flight of his enemies, and moved by divine impulse to make this strange request, he begs that God would stay the motions of the heavenly bodies, (as to us they appear to move,) or rather the revolution of this earthly globe, that, by prolonging the light of day, they might avenge themselves on their enemies; and being under the influence of miraculous faith, in the hearing of Israel, he commands the sun to stand still now on Gibeon in the west, and the rising moon to rest in the valley of Ajalon. 5. God hears and answers him: the sun, arrested in his steep descent, hastes not to go down, nor the rising moon to advance, during the space of a whole day. Never was such a day before, or since: but God fought for Israel, therefore he granted the prayer of Israel's captain. Note; (1.) Great is the power of effectual fervent prayer. (2.) When God stirs up a spirit of supplication, it is a sure sign of his intention to grant the requests which he teaches us to make. (3.) God will appear for his people's comfort, and his enemies' confusion; and, if need be, all nature shall engage in their quarrel. (4.) When Israel's enemies shall receive their final overthrow, at the appearing of our great God and Saviour in the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men, then shall our sun no more go down, nor our moon withdraw itself for ever.

See commentary on Jos 10:12

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Ver. 15. And Joshua returned, and all Israel—to Gilgal— That is to say, he issued orders for so doing; but from ver. 43 it appears, that he did not, in fact, return till he had forced the five kings to come from the cave where they had taken refuge. It might be rendered, and Joshua was about to return to Gilgal. The Scripture sometimes mentions as done, what was designed to be done. See Genesis 37:21.

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Ver. 16. But these five kings fled— That is, the kings mentioned above, in ver. 3. And hid themselves, &c. escaped from the sword of the conqueror; they had eluded the pursuit and the hail, by taking a different road from that of their main army: perhaps too they had prepared, for any event, beasts to carry them off with all dispatch. Be that as it may, they retired into a cavern near Makkedah, (for so the Hebrew particle should be rendered here and in ver. 10.) and there concluded themselves safe. Caves, it seems, dug in the rocks, are very common in those countries; they are places of retreat, and forts, whither the people retire at the time of war and invasion. We find several accounts of them collected by Reland in his Palaest. Sacr. l. iii. p. 648.

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