Bibelkommentare

Ch. Joshua 11:1-15. Confederacy of the Kings of Northern Canaan

1. And it came to pass] We now enter upon a different scene in the conquests of Joshua. Just as before Adoni-Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, had summoned the five kings of southern Canaan, so now Jabin, the king of Hazor, summons the chiefs of the north against the Israelitish leader.

Jabin] This was an hereditary and official title of the chief of Hazor. It denotes “the wise” or “intelligent” Here we find a king of the same name at a considerably later date (Jdg 4:2).

Hazor]= “enclosed,” “fortified” was an important, and apparently almost impregnable, stronghold of the Canaanites of the north, situated in the mountains, north of the waters of Merom. We find it afterwards fortified by Solomon (1 Kings 9:15), and its inhabitants were carried away captive by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 15:29). The most probable site is Tell Khuraibeh. It lay apparently between Ramah and Kedesh, on the high ground overlooking the Lake of Merom.

Jobab king of Madon] The three places here mentioned, Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph, were probably in the neighbourhood of Hazor, but their sites cannot be determined. Schwarz on very slight grounds proposes to identify Madon with Kefr Menda, a village at the western end of the Plain of Buttauf, four or five miles N. of Sepphoris.

the king of Shimron] Its full name appears to have been Shimron-Meron. It was afterwards included in the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 19:15).

the king of Achshaph] This place was afterwards included within the territory of Asher (Joshua 12:20; Joshua 19:25). It has been identified with Chaifa, a place which, from its situation, must always have been of great importance.

2. that were on the north] Or, that were “northwards in the mountains,” i.e. “the mountains of Naphtali” (Joshua 20:7), the mountainous region of Galilee.

the plains south of Cinneroth] Literally, “in the Arabah, south of Chinneroth,” i.e. the “Ghôr” of the Jordan, the northern portion of the depressed tract which extends along the Jordan from the Lake of Gennesareth southwards.

Cinneroth] or Chinnereth, or Chinneroth, was the name of a fortified town in Naphtali (Joshua 19:35), situated on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and giving its earliest name to that lake (Numbers 34:11).

and in the valley] “In the wild feeldis,” Wyclif; i.e. “the lowlands,” the level plain bordering the sea between Akko and Sidon.

in the borders of Dor] Rather, the highlands of Dor. Dor was an ancient royal city of the Canaanites (Joshua 12:23), situated on the coast of the Mediterranean, 14 miles south of the promontory of Carmel, and 7 north of Cæsarea. The district, of which it was the capital, was afterwards within the allotted territory of Asher, but was assigned to Manasseh (Joshua 17:11), but the Israelites could never obtain possession of this strong city (Joshua 17:12; Jdg 1:27), though they made the inhabitants pay tribute in the days of Solomon (1 Kings 4:11). What is here rendered “the borders of Dor,” is rendered “the coast of Dor” Joshua 12:23, and the “region of Dor” 1 Kings 4:11. The original word Napheth, thus variously translated, means an “elevated tract,” and hence a coast as being raised above the water. Dor stood on a rocky promontory, behind which lies a beautiful and fertile plain, extending southward to Sharon, and northward to Carmel. This plain is the “coast” or “region” of Dor. Dor was one of the Phœnician seats of commerce, deriving its importance from (i) its well-sheltered haven, (ii) the abundance amidst its rocks of the murex, a shell-fish yielding the famous purple dye. It was still a flourishing town in the Roman age, and afterwards became the seat of a bishop, who was, in the days of the Crusades, a suffragan in the province of Cæsarea. The modern Tantûra or Dandora is a corruption of the ancient name. It is now represented by a little fishing village, consisting of some thirty houses, while the site of the old city lies to the north of it, covered for a space of half a mile with massive ruins.

3. and to the Canaanite] Not satisfied with summoning to his banner the tribes of the north, Jabin extended his “war-token” to the remnants of the defeated tribes of the south too; (a) the Canaanites, or “lowlanders” of the east and west; (b) the Amorites, or “highlanders” of the south; (c) the Hittites; (d) the Perizzites; (e) the Jebusites, from the still unconquered Jebus; (f) the Hivites under the snowy heights of Hermon, the most beautiful and conspicuous mountain in Palestine or Syria. For the distribution of these various nations see note above, ch. Joshua 3:10.

in the land of Mizpeh] Mizpeh means “prospect” or “watch-tower.” It has the article here = “the Land of the Watch-Tower.” There were several places in Palestine bearing this name. This Mizpeh was probably in a plain stretching south-west at the foot of Hermon, where now is situated the village of Metullah, which also means “the look-out,” or “look-down,” perched on a hill 200 feet high, south of Lake Merom, and commanding a splendid view. This Mizpeh (= “Belle Vue” amongst ourselves) must not be confounded with the Mizpeh of Gilead (Joshua 13:26); nor with the Mizpeh of Judah (Joshua 15:38); nor yet with that of Moab (1 Samuel 22:3).

4. And they went out] “As the British chiefs were driven to the Land’s End before the advance of the Saxon, so at this Land’s End of Palestine were gathered for this last struggle, not only the kings of the north in the immediate neighbourhood, but from the desert valley of the Jordan south of the Sea of Galilee, from the maritime plain of Philistia, from the heights above Sharon, and from the still unconquered Jebus.” Stanley, Lectures, 1:259.

as the sand] “as the grauel that is in the brenk of the see,” Wyclif. Comp. the description (a) of the hosts of the Midianites and Amalekites in the time of Gideon (Jdg 7:12); and (b) of the Philistines in the time of Saul (1 Samuel 13:5).

with horses and chariots very many] These now for the first time appear in Canaanite warfare, and “it was the use of these which probably fixed the scene of the encampment by the lake, along whose level shores they could have full play for their force.”

5. at the waters of Merom] i.e. “the Upper Waters;” the uppermost of the three lakes in the Jordan valley, called by the Greeks “Semechonitis,” or Samochonitis (Jos. Ant. 5:5. 1), and by the Arabs “Hûleh.” The lake is formed by the expansion of the descending Jordan, about 7 miles long by 5 in breadth, of a triangular shape, the point being at the south, where the Jordan, which enters it on the north, again quits it. It is surrounded by marshes and numberless streams bordered with thickets of papyrus. For the fullest and most graphic description of this lake, and the surrounding morasses, see Macgregor’s Rob Roy on the Jordan, xii.—xvii.

6. And the Lord said] We may believe that Joshua was already some way on the march when these encouraging words were addressed to him. The distance from his encampment to the waters of Merom was too great for him to reach the latter place between one day and the next.

thou shalt hough their horses] So especially formidable to the Israelites, who had none. The word “hough” also occurs in 2 Samuel 8:4, where we read that David “houghed all the chariot horses.” It comes from the A. S. hoh, and means to cut the ham-strings or back sinews of cattle, so as to disable them and render them utterly unfit for use, since the sinew, once severed, can never be healed again, and as a rule the arteries are cut at the same time, so that the horses bleed to death. In the late version of Wyclif the verse is rendered, “Thou shalt hoxe the horsis of hem,” while in the earlier version it runs, “The hors of hem thow shalt kut of the synewis at the knees” “Hox” is the form found in Shakespeare,

“If thou inclin’st that way, thou art a coward;

Which hoxes honesty behind, restraining

From course requir’d”. Winter’s Tale, 1. 2. 243.

The Scotch hoch is used in the same way.

and burn their chariots] of which it is said (Joshua 17:18) that they were iron chariots, i.e. had wheels with iron tires. Scythe-chariots were first introduced by Cyrus: Xen. Cyrop. VI. 1. 30.

7. So Joshua came] With the suddenness and rapidity which characterized all his movements, he did not wait for the northern confederacy to attack him at Gilgal, but marched against them with the intention of coming upon them before their army could be got into order.

against them suddenly] He fell upon them, like a thunderbolt, so the word is to be literally understood as in the corresponding passage in Job 1:15, “the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away.” Without a word of warning he burst upon them in the mountain slopes of the plain, before they had time to rally on the level ground.

8. and chased them] The rout was complete, and the fugitives seem to have divided into three parts—

(a) unto great Zidon] One party took the road north-west over the mountains above the gorge of the Leontes “to Sidon,” or, as it is distinguished here and in Joshua 19:28, “the great Sidon,” as being the metropolis of Phœnicia. This it had ceased to be before the reign of David, by which time its sister city Tyre had eclipsed it in splendour, and taken the first place amongst the cities of Phœnicia. At the present day Sidon, Saida, is again larger than Tyre. The former contains 5000 or 6000 inhabitants and many large houses built of stone, whereas the present Sur is nothing but a market town, the houses of which are little more than huts.

(b) unto Misrephoth-maim] A second party took the road, west, and south-west, to Mizrephoth-maim, which is interpreted either (i) as “the warm springs,” or (ii) “the salt-pits,” or (iii) “the smelting-pits by the waters,” the glass-houses, of which there were several in the neighbourhood of Sidon.

(c) and unto the valley of Mizpeh] A third party fled eastward unto the Buka’a or “valley” of Mizpeh at the foot of Hermon. The eastward direction is spoken of in reference to Sidon.

and they smote them] But wherever they fled, they were hotly pursued by the Israelites, who captured their cities one by one, put the inhabitants to death, and carried away the booty and cattle.