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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:10
Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan (see Numbers 21:21, Numbers 21:35). Ashtaroth (see Joshua 12:4; Joshua 13:31; also Deuteronomy 1:4). In Numbers 21:1-35. Edrei only is mentioned. This is not the Ashtar…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:11
Our elders. Gibeon and its allied cities did not possess a regal government (see note on Joshua 9:3).
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:14
The Israelites outwitted. A story that bears on its face the evidences of authenticity. A wiliness displayed quite in keeping with our notions of Oriental duplicity. Has lessons appropriate to modern days. Whilst some i…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:14
And the men took of their victuals. Most commentators prefer this rendering to that of the margin, "and they received the men because of their victuals." The natural explanation—though several others are given, for whic…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:14
The oracle neglected. Between Joshua and Eleazer, the ruler and the high priest, a noble heritage was divided. The one has the obedience of Israel, the other the secrets of God. They have at their command respectively h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:15
The princes of the congregation. Literally, the exalted ones, נְשִׂיאֵי of the congregation, "Die obersten der gemeine" (Luther); that is, the heads of the various tribes (see Numbers 1:44; and note on Joshua 7:14).
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:15-23
The Gibeonites. The manner in which Joshua dealt with the Gibeonites shows how inflexible is the respect God requires for truth. That respect is exemplified in two ways in tiffs narrative. First, in the fulfilment of th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:17
On the third day. After the trick was discovered. Keil remarks that we need not suppose that the three days were consumed on the march. Not only did Joshua, when celerity was necessary, perform the journey in a single n…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:18
And the children of Israel smote them not. There is great difference of opinion among the commentators as to whether this oath were binding off the Israelites or not. This difference is to be found among Roman Catholics…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:20
Lest wrath be upon us. The original is not quite so strong: "and wrath will not be upon us ( καὶ οὐκ ἔσται καθ ἡμῶν ὀργή, LXX).
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:21
Said unto them, i.e; to the Israelites. But let them be. Rather, and they were, with Rosenmuller and Keil. See Keil in loc. for the force of the Vau conversive. The LXX. and Vulgate render as our version. Hewers of wood…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:23
There shall none of you be freed from being bondmen. Literally, as margin, there shall not be cut off from you a servant, as in 2 Samuel 3:29, and 1 Kings 2:4. The sense is, "you shall not cease to be servants.'' The te…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:24
The Lord thy God Commanded (see Exodus 23:32; Deuteronomy 7:1, Deuteronomy 7:2). The prophecies of Moses during their sojourn in "the plains of Jordan by Jericho" (see Numbers 22:1-41. sqq). We were sore afraid. Prophes…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:26
That they slew them not. See Joshua 9:18, which attributes the preservation of the Gibeonites to the action of the heads of tribes. Perhaps this should be rendered, and they slew them not.
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:27
And for the altar (see note on Joshua 9:21). In the place which he should choose. This phrase, and especially the use of the imperfect tense, implies that Solomon's temple was not yet built. The ark of God, and the tabe…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:1-23
EXPOSITION THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR.—
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:1
And it came to pass. The political constitution of Palestine was, humanly speaking, the cause of its overthrow. The division of the country into a host of petty states, and the consequent want of cohesion and concert, m…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:1-23
The continuation of the struggle. The same class of thoughts is suggested by this chapter as by the former. We have, as before But the course of the narrative gives a somewhat different form to our reflections. I. JOSHU…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:1-5
Many adversaries. Another league is here. One in the south destroyed; another in the north is formed. A formidable one scattered; one more so gathers. Four kings are mentioned, and probably a dozen others of those menti…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:2
On the north of the mountains. Rather, to the northward, in the mountain district. Not necessarily the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon range, but the mountains of Galilee, which lay within the boundaries of Naphtali. The LXX.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:3
To the Canaanite (see note on Joshua 3:10). This confederacy was yet more formidable than the other (Joshua 11:5), but was as signally defeated by Joshua's promptitude (see verse 7). We are reminded of the swift march o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:4
And they went out. Dean Stanley (Lectures, 1:259) compares this "last struggle" of the Canaanites with the conflict between the Saxons and the British chiefs "driven to the Land's End." The comparison is more picturesqu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:5
The waters of Merom. Robinson and the later travellers generally identify this with the Samochonitis (Joseph, Ant. 5.1; Bell. Jud. 3.9. 7; 4. 1.1), now Huleh. Keil and Delitzseh deny this, but it may be regarded as esta…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 11:6
And the Lord said unto Joshua. The encouragement was not unnecessary. The task before Joshua was harder than any that had yet befallen him. The enemy was far more numerous and better equipped. And it is a well known fac…