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27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:5
The Giblites. The inhabitants of Gebal, called Jebail (i.e; hill city, from Jebel) by the Arabs, and Byblus by the Greeks. This is Masius's idea, and other commentators have accepted it (see 1 Kings 5:1-18 :32; Psalms 8…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:6
All the Sidonians. The word כֹל here, as elsewhere, must be taken in a restricted sense. A large portion of the Sidonian territory was taken, but Sidon retained its independence (see 1:31, 1:32). It is clear, too, that…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:8
With whom. Literally, with him. The construction is defective, but the meaning is clear enough. To avoid the repetition of the words "the half tribe of Manasseh," the historian writes עִמּוֹ meaning thereby the other ha…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:9
Aroer. Three, or even four, cities of this name were known, and have been identified by modern travellers under names somewhat similar. 1. Aroer upon Aruon, on the north bank of that river, at the extreme south of the t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:11
Geshurltes and Maachathites. See note on Joshua 12:5, of which this passage is little else but a repetition.
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:12
Giants. See note on Joshua 12:4.
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:14
Only unto the tribe of Levi. See Numbers 18:20-24, where the original command is recorded. Like the clergy under the Christian dispensation, it was seen that they could not at once perform the duties of the priesthood,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:15
Reuben. This passage is an expansion of Numbers 32:33-42. We learn from it that the Israelites actually took possession of this land. But in the reigns of the wicked kings Omri and Ahab the power of Israel declined, and…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:17
Bamoth Baal. The high places or altars of Baal. The frequent mention of Baal in this passage shows how common the worship of Baal was in Palestine. The Moabites worshipped him under the name of Chemosh, to whom Mesha, o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:19
Sibmah (see Numbers 32:38). The vine of Sibmah forms a feature in the lament of Isaiah (Isaiah 16:8) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 48:32) over Moab. It was close by Heshbon, on the borders of Reuben and Gad. Zareth-shahar, or…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:21
Cities of the plain. "Mishor" once more. See above, Joshua 13:9, not as in Genesis 19:1-38; where the word is Ciccar. These, therefore, were not Sodom and its neighbours, but cities of the Amorites. Such touches as this…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:22
Balaam. A study of pathetic interest; one of the great "might-have-beens" of the world. One capable of winning an immortal fame, but actually finding only an immortal infamy. The Judas of the Old Testament: one travelli…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:22
The soothsayer. Or diviner, one who pretended to foretell future events. Balaam, it would seem, instead of returning to his own land, went to visit the Midianites, whose elders had joined in the invitation given by Moab…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:22
The fate of Balaam. I. WHEN SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE USED FOR UNSPIRITUAL PURPOSES THEY LOSE THEIR SPIRITUAL VALUE. In the Book of Numbers Balaam appears as a prophet inspired by God. In the Book of Joshua he is only named a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:22
God is patient in the exercise of His justice as well as in His compassions, for He is the Lord, with whom "a thousand years are as one day." He knows that His threatenings, like His promises, cannot fail. Of this we ha…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:23
And the border thereof. These words have been omitted in the Vulgate, which does not understand them. The LXX. translates, "And the borders of Reuben were the Jordan-border." This seems to be the meaning of the original…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:24
Unto the tribe of Gad. The border of Gad extended further eastward than that of Reuben. Westward, of course, its border was the Jordan. Its northern border was nearly coincident with that of the land of Gilead, and pass…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:25
Aroer that is before Rabbah. A different Aroer to that mentioned in Joshua 13:9. This was near (Hebrew, opposite to, the expression being equivalent to the French en face) Rabbah, or the great city of the children of Am…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:26
Ramath-Mizpeh. This is idenitified with Ramoth-Gilead by Vandevelde, and must have been the Mizpeh of Gilead mentioned in 11:29. It is supposed to be identical with the place called Mizpah, Galeed, and Jegar-sahadutha b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:27
The valley. The Emek (see Joshua 8:13). Beth-Nimrah (see Numbers 32:36). Afterwards Nimrim (Isaiah 15:6; Jeremiah 48:34). Now Nimrin. Succoth. i.e; booths. Here Jacob rested after his meeting with Esau (Genesis 33:17).…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:28
This is the inheritance of the children of Gad. The cause of the difference between the Reubenites and the Gadites may perhaps be thus explained. While both inhabited a similar tract of country, a country from its open…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:29
The halftribe of Manasseh. The word used for "tribe" in the first and second half of this verse is not the same. Some German critics have derived an argument for the hypothesis that the historical and geographical porti…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:30
The towns of Jair. Literally, Havoth-Jair, as in Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14. The word חַיִּת is derived from חוה to live, and the word is compared by Gesenius to the names Eisleben and the like in Germany. So we us…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 13:31
The one half of the children of Machir. See this question fully discussed in note on Joshua 17:5, Joshua 17:6.