Commentari biblici

Ver. 1. And—when Jabin king of Hazor had heard, &c.— No sooner was this king of Hazor informed of the conquests of Joshua, than he took a resolution to stop, if possible, the progress of his victorious arms, by covering the north part of the country of Canaan, of which Hazor, afterwards given to the tribe of Naphtali, was the principal city. Jabin, in all probability, was the common name of all the kings of Hazor. What inclines to this belief is, that the prince, who was subject to the Israelites for twenty years in the time of the Judges, and who was defeated by Deborah, went by this name of Jabin.

He sent to Jobab, king of Madon, &c.— This is the only place where mention is made of a king of Madon, excepting ch. Joshua 12:19. This city is entirely unknown. It was formerly held by the king of Hazor, see ver. 10. Calmet observes, that if, with the Roman edition of the LXX, we read Maron, we might find the city of Maronia or Marath, north of mount Lebanon. The name Maron is preserved ch. Joshua 12:19. I know not, says he, whether the land of Meroz, mentioned Jdg 5:23 might not be the country of Maron. Shimron is the same as that called Shimron-Meron, ch. Joshua 12:20. This city afterwards belonged to the tribe of Zebulun, south of that of Naphtali. Calmet takes Shimron to be the Symira of Pliny, which lay in Caelo-Syria. It cannot be Samaria, for this city was not then in being; and its name was given it by Omri, king of Israel, 1 Kings 16:24. Achshaph afterwards belonged to the tribe of Asher, and lay north-west, towards the extremity of that tribe, ch. Joshua 19:25. Calmet is of opinion, that Achshaph was the Eedippe of Pliny, Ptolemy, Josephus, and Eusebius.

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Ver. 2. And in the borders of Dor on the west— The Vulgate, and other versions, render it, and in the country of Dor. Naphoth signifies the environs of a place, a quarter, a canton, or district: Dor was situate near the Mediterranean, in the lot of the half tribe of Manasseh. Eusebius and St. Jerome place it between Tyre and Cesarea, about nine miles from the latter. Josephus, contr. Ap. lib. 2. speaks of a city of Dora, situate near mount Carmel. See Bochart, l. i. c. 41.

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Ver. 3. And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west— Among the Canaanites, properly so called, those of the east are they who dwelt along-side of the Jordan, south of the lake of Gennesareth; and the Canaanites of the west, those who dwelt on the Mediterranean coast. See Numbers 13:29. Bishop Clayton, in his Chronology of the Hebrew text, p. 66, &c. shews, that the land of the Canaanites, properly so called, was the country where Canaan had settled, from the territories of Hazor on the north, even unto Sichem on the south; Gen 12:6 and, according to this writer, it was bounded on the east by the Jordan, with the lakes Semechon and Gennesareth; on the west by the Mediterranean from Sidon to Dor; on the north by a line which crossed from Sidon to Jordan, by Hamath; and on the south by the mountains which lay south of Cinneroth, or Gennesareth. Perhaps Jabin was the chief king of the whole country; at least, in Jdg 4:24 he is called king of Canaan.

And to the Hivite under Hermon, &c.— The Hivites dwelt at the foot of mount Hermon, which lay to the north-east of the land of Canaan. Hence, as Bochart observes, they are called Kadmonites, Gen 15:19 that is to say, Orientals. See Phaleg. l. iv. c. 36. and Canaan, l. i. c. 19. There were several cities of the name of Mizpeh. We meet with one in the tribe of Judah, ch. Joshua 15:38 a second in the tribe of Benjamin, ch. Joshua 18:26 a third beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Gad; and a fourth also beyond that river, in the half tribe of Manasseh. The last gave its name to the adjacent territories; and it is that, and the country about it, of which we are now speaking. See Wells's Geog. vol. 2: p. 215.

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Ver. 4. And they went out,—and all their hosts, &c.— Entering the field with so numerous an army, that the sacred writer does not scruple to express it by an hyperbole very familiar in Scripture, even as the sand upon the sea shore in multitude. The allied army was so much the more formidable, in that, as the host of the Israelites was wholly composed of foot-soldiers, in this there were not only cavalry, but armed chariots, in great numbers. Josephus makes it amount to 300,000 infantry, 10,000 horse, and 20,000 chariots. Hist. Jud. l. v. c. 1. Bochart, in his Hieroz. l. ii. c. 9. informs us, that Egypt supplied the Canaanites with all these horses. God forbad his people the use of them in their armies. See on Deuteronomy 17:16; Deuteronomy 20:1. With respect to the chariots of the Canaanites, they were, in all probability, armed with iron, such as were anciently used to break the enemies' battalions, and which, in fact, made the most terrible havoc in armies. They are described by the ancients as follows: "The pole to which the horses were fastened, was armed with spikes, or iron points, which advanced forward; the yokes also of the horses had points, three cubits in length; to the axletree were fixed iron spits, armed at the ends with scythes; the spokes of the wheels were armed with javelins, sticking out, and the very fellies with scythes, which tore to pieces every thing they met with; the axletree was longer, and the wheels stronger than usual, that they might be the better able to bear a shock, and the chariot be less liable so be overturned." The charioteer, who was covered all over with armour, sat in a kind of tower, made of very solid wood, about breast high, and sometimes men well armed were put into the chariot and fought from thence with darts and arrows. Hence we may judge that these machines must have made dreadful slaughter at first, when they met with the enemy's troops: but in time, when men came to find out the way of opposing them, they did not so much execution, and were of course disused. See Diod. Sic. l. ii. c. 93. Q. Curt. l. iv. c. 15. Xenoph. Cyr. l. vi. Lucret. l. vi. ver. 635. 641, &c. God Almighty forbad the Israelites the use of chariots, for the same reasons that he had prohibited that of cavalry; see Isaiah 31:1.Psalms 20:7; Psalms 20:7. Proverbs 21:31.Hosea 1:7; Hosea 1:7.

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Ver. 5. They—pitched—at the waters of Merom— These waters of Merom are generally thought to be nothing but the lake of Semechon, so called from the abundance of fish it contains; Semechon, or Samachon, signifying in the Arabic fishes. Others derive the name of this lake from the word Samaka, which signifies in Arabic, to be elevated. Reland derives it from a word, which, in the Chaldee, denotes muddy waters. See Palaest. Sacr. l. i. c. 40. Joshua calls this lake the waters of Merom, or, the high waters; because, being situated toward the springs of Jordan, it was higher than the lake of Gennesareth, and much more so than the Asphaltic lake, otherwise called the Dead Sea. The general quarters of the confederate kings were there marked out, this whole district being in the kingdom of Jabin; and, according to Josephus, Hazor, his capital, bordered on the lake Semechon. See Hist. Jud. l. v. c. 6. and Calmet. However, this opinion, it must be confessed, is not without its difficulties: for, 1. It is very probable, that the confederate kings marched forward to the frontiers of their country, and did not suffer the army of the Israelites to advance fifteen or twenty leagues within their territories, and to attack them upon the Semechonite lake. 2. Deborah, in her song, praises the men of Zebulun and Naphtali, for having exposed themselves to danger in fighting against the Canaanites upon Merome, (for so the Hebrew imports,) Judges 5:18. Now this battle was certainly fought near the river Kishon, in Tahanac, by the waters of Megiddo, ver. 19. It seems natural, therefore, to suppose, that the kings in league against Joshua came to the same place, viz. to Kishon, in the country of Merom, to dispute with the Israelites an entrance into their territories. Eusebius places Meron, or Merus, at twelve miles distance from Samaria, near Dothaim; which confirms the opinion just advanced. This place was a famous and important passage. There Barak defeated the Canaanites, and there Josias was beaten. Toward the same place stood the town of Legion, mentioned by Eusebius and St. Jerome, which took its name from the troops that the Romans kept there for the security of the province.

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Ver. 6. And the Lord said unto Joshua— This was spoken in the camp at Gilgal. It is difficult to conceive how this matter could have been literally accomplished; since, from Gilgal to Hazor was sixty or eighty miles; and Josephus says, that Joshua was five days going from Gilgal to the camp of the kings. The word to-morrow, therefore, must be taken in a vague sense, to signify soon, in a day or two; or else we must conclude, that Joshua was already on his march, and near the enemy's camp, when God promised him victory. But for a full discussion of this subject, we refer the reader to an excellent dissertation of Psalmanazar, Essays, p. 215.

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Ver. 8. Israel—smote them, and chased them unto Great Zidon— Zidon is called great; not because there was a smaller, but on account of its extent and opulence. This city was founded by a son of Canaan, and lay northeast of the Holy Land. See Genesis 10:15.

Mizrephoth-maim— Some make this to be a city; others a spot where there arose some hot springs; and others, a place noted for ditches, where the heat of the sun prepared and produced salt. Calmet supposes it was a city, the same with Sarepta, not far from Zidon. Masius conjectures it to have been a place where there stood furnaces for the manufactory of glass, from the sand of the river Belus.

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Ver. 9. And Joshua—houghed their horses, &c.— That is, he hamstrung, or disabled them by cutting the sinews of the ham: the word is derived from the Saxon [A.S.],* the hough, or lower part of the thigh. See Johnson. God would not have the Israelites preserve these animals, lest they should put their confidence in them, instead of glorifying in Him alone; Psalms 20:7. It was in consequence of this divine injunction, that David, when he had subdued Hadadezer, houghed all the chariot-horses of that prince, reserving one hundred chariots for his own use; 2 Samuel 8:4. The Jewish rabbis say, that at the death of a king of Israel, they houghed all the horses which were found in his stables, to prevent his successor from making use of them. See Schickardi Jus. Regium, cap. 6 theor. 19. & Boch. Hieroz. pars 1: lib. 2 cap. 11.

REFLECTIONS.—1. Alarmed by these increasing successes of Israel, the northern kings of Canaan, with Hazor at their head, and at his instigation, collect their forces; those in the east and west join them, so that the association becomes general, and, with these united forces, they hope to crush these cruel invaders. They become hereby the aggressors; and as they first disturb the peace of Israel's camp, they justly fall under the power of Israel's arm. Note; The strongest confederacy of sinners will only make their ruin more notorious.

2. Joshua hereupon receives encouragement from God. Though a brave man, such an army, and so accoutred, strengthened with horse, and chariots armed with scythes, which mowed down ranks of men before them, might beget some solicitude about the event of the battle. But he is commanded to attack them, and God promises to give them up to the sword, as dead men, unable to make resistance. Note; (1.) Vain are multitudes or strength against God. (2.) The greater dangers surround us, the greater supports from God we may expect.

3. Joshua immediately summons the people; and having acquainted them, no doubt, with God's promise, by a sudden march they surprise their enemies, who are broken on the first attack, and fly different ways; some westward to Zidon, others eastward to Mizpeh, leaving their chariots and horses an easy prey to their pursuers, who hewed the one, and burnt the other with fire, according to the command of God, who would not have them trust in these human supports, but on himself alone, for their success. Note; The more we are taken off from every dependance, and the more entirely our hearts are fixed on God as our strength, the more surely shall we find our spiritual enemies subdued before us.

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