PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua
Alfred Plummer [1841-1926] · 388,731 words · 426 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 1
THE PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BY THE VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN or GLOUOEBTEB; AND BY THII REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A. WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY TIIE VERY REV. F. W. FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S., DEAN OF CANTERBURY RIGHT REV. H. COTTERILL, D.D., F.R.S.E. VERY REV. PRINCIPAL J. TULLOCH, D.D. REV. CANON G. RAW…
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t)'Jlfro1 nntions of the world I The remark, therefore, which was made 11,t the out• set seems t-0 be justified ; that in tragic interest alone the history of the Israelites from JoRlma to Nehemiah is unique. And of com·se for the philosophic student, and still more for the Christian student, the dramatic element in th…
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wiLh 11ssur11nco of perfect certainty. Moses was dee.cl- just at the very moment, it would seom, when his people and those who he.cl helped him to lee.cl them needed his guidance most. The ascent of Pisg11h was not to be, like the ascent of Mount Sinai, followed by 11 return, after which their leader was even more divi…
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took place in fulfilment of a threatened punishment, it was the fulfilment of 11, promised blessing. And the victories of Joshua were not only the subject of prophecy, they were a prophecy themselves-a type and an earnest of the blessings which Jehovah had in store for His people, and on their darker side a type and…
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How long he enjoyed the reRt which something like a century of toil he,d earned, we do not know, for there is no clear indication of the number of yenrs occupied by the conquest and diYision of the laud. But he reached the age of a hundred e.nd ten, and the end of his life was in harmony with the rest of it. His last p…
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17) Uncler Joshua the passage of Jorclo.n o.s the road to the Land of PromiAe was freed from difficulty and danger. The river of death by which we must enter into our rest Ima been robbed of its terrors by Christ. (8) The twelve stones taken from the becl of J ordo.n ancl set up as witnesses to the people of their deli…
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THE AGE OF THE J UDGEB. Although, in one sense, we are still in the same period of Jewish history, that which is commonly called the Theocracy, yet we feel that we have passed into a dif. ferent atmosphere when we pass from the rule of Joshua to the rule of the Judges. It is something like passing from the age of hero…
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element is specially strong in the history of Samson, whose exploits have o, rollick- ing air about them, "'hich appeals at once to the spirit of adventure and mischief with which we all of us have more or less sympathy, Note especia,Jly the grim hnmom with which, in the last terrible scene, he prays to be avenged '' f…
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During their long halts in the wilderness there had been some preparation for it; and a fertile tract will tempt even permanently noma,lic tribes to settle long enough to sow ELnd reap a harvest. And now that the Israelites had reached their goal, and looked forward to no more wandering, we need not suppose that the…
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among the chief forces which are at work dming the period of the Judges to mould the netion into the form in which we find it under the early kiugR, And indeed, other seed is being sown to bear fruit in a still more distant future. In the selfish indifference with which one tribe rega.rds the cala.mities of another, in…
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most rem11ined 11loof. But the isolation of Reuben was far less honourable than that of Jud11h. Reuben, the first-born, sinks down into an obscurity from which it never emerges. Out of Reuben 11rises no judge, no hero, no prophet. Deborah singles it out for scornful reproach, 11nd this is almost the 111st mention of th…
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nation was rapidly changing from the pastoral to the e.gricnltural state; an advance wiUiout which the future development of the nation would have been impossible. (3) Both inside and outside Palestine the Israelites were abe.ndoning a condition of isolation for one of contact and intercourse with a variety of nation…
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11s of old, the forbidden fruit seemed "good for food," and "pleasant to the eyes," and rt thing " to be desired to me.ke one wise ; " and when once it was tasred the mischief we.s done. The whole Jewish race from that day to this has paid the pona,Hy; just as the whole human race he.a paid the penalty of Adam's trans-…
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compiler are both unlmown. In its present form it must be comparatively late for in wha.t. is ~ometimes called the Appendix (chs. xvii.-xxi.) the w1iter shows that not ouly Shiloh has ceased to be the seat of the tabernacle (eh. xviii. 31), and that there have been kings in Israel (chs. xvii. 6; xviii. 1; xix. 1; xxi. …
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Boolts being filled with the reigns of Saul and David. The including of Eli and Samuel in this series rather than in the Book of Judges would seem all the more strange, if (as some suppose) all these five books were compiled about the same !ime, and possibly by the same hand. And yet the arrangement is perhaps not only…
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r<'sorl to this mat.erinl emblem as a means of inspiriting the dishee.rtened troop~. The bat!lc·field of Aphek, close to the scene of happier auspices, Deth-horon, a.ncl itself the scene of a nctory a few years later (1 Sam. vii. 12), was to decicle whether the Philistines should be the slaves of the Hebrews, oc the …
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ra.ther tlmn from· that which they are, or do, themselves. Samuel haR this further cha.mcteristic peculiar to himself; he inaugurated the new system against his own previous convictions. He him.self regarded the new departure as a lamentable abandonment of wha,t ha,d hitherto been the ideal, the ideal of Sinai and o…
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who was, like him, both Nazarite and judge, Samson. The birth of both wns promised beforehand. Both were dedicated as Nazarites from their birth; not (11ccording to the common Nazarite vow) for a limited period, but for life. Both, in their way, prevailed. But here the likeness ends. Samsouwas a Nazarite in tho let…
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them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them,'' and "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luke ii. 51, 52), iR all that we know of the Measio.h'e life during e.n interve.l of a.bout seventeen years, so here, " Se.muel judged Israel" covers o.n interval of perhaps nearly double tho.…
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10) ; and t.lie Law itself expressly provided for the possibility of a, regal form of government (Deut. xvii. 14-20). But the spirit in which it was demnnded wea faulty. It implied that their im'isible King was unable to go out before them and fight their battles, to free them from the Philistines, and protect them …
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THE MONARCHY. THE FIRST KING. SAUL. It w11s by a Divine revelation that Se.u1, the son of Kish, a benjamite, was pointecl out to Samuel as the future captain over Israel, to save the people out of tile ltancl of tlte Philistines ; but we may reverently notice tile wisclom of the choice. The danger being from the Phili…
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(eh. iii. 1, 19). There has been no sudden change, but a steetdy growth in holiness. Hence the cahn stee,dfastness, the " sweet reasonableness" of all his conduct, even under the grayest proYocation. He can be tender, and he can be severe, but he is never fanatical. With Saul it is otherwise. A novice in religion, h…
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(1) Although there hacl been prophets, ancl at least one great one before Samuel -Moses, Miriam, Balaam, Deborah, ancl others (Num. xi. 25; Judg. vi. 8)-yet he was the first of the regular succession of prophets, which extends throughout the whole period of monarchy. St. Peter seems to express this fact in his address …
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THE FIRST K.lNG OF THE LINE OF JUDAH. DAVID. We once more have to admire the infinite variety of Scripture. It has been noticed as one of the various ways in which " the Spirit bloweth where it listeth," that we have this wonderful variety in the Bible. Had the Bible (which, be it remembered, is an inspired library ra…
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solitary life which he lived, tending the flocks apart from them, much of the foundation of his future life was laid. The impress which this period left upon his mind is clearly traceaule in the Psalms (viii., xix., xxiii., xxix., Ixxviii. 70, 72, &c.); and the devotion with which he guarded his sheep 11,t the risk …
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vii. 8-li). The ~a.me pee.Im opens with a declaration of trust in God: ",Jehovah, my God, in Thee have I found my refuge." The hunted outcast, seeking shelter among the cre.gs and rocks, and sometimes only escaping through his nimbleness and fleetness of foot, singA how Jehovah had "made his feet like binds' feet, a…
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Thr victory of tl1e Philistines had given them the central part of western Palrstinc, and they very possibly conquered the north 111~0: but in any c11se the north was cut off from David's kingdom in the south. In eastern Palestine, Abner, Saul's cousin and commander-in-chief, seems to have est11blisbed himself with …
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political aml military experience by service abrMd; and David probably learned much from the excellent military system of the Philistines. One more point of resemblance, and it is the highest of all. Both kings were qualified for doing far more than restoring unity and energy to a disorganized and disheartened peopl…
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mo,ed by the capture of Zion, and did not wait to be attacked, but invaded the land and were twice utterly routed. The friendship of Hiram and the defeat of the Philistines seclU'ed peace for Israel along the whole of the sea-coast. Thus far Dand had been urged on by political necessity: it was impossible to undert…
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bold schemes of self-advancement, and after four years of skilfnl prepa,ration, flung himself into civil war with a light heart. His complete success, especially in J udo.h, pointR to some falling off in David's popularity, the result, perlmps, of his conduct in the Ammonite war, especially in the matter of Uriah_ B…
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ending his life, not with a Nunc dimittia, but with the charge, "His hoar head bring Thou to the grave with blood." In the varied elements of his life and charo.cter there is no one in the whole of the Bible like David. A life teeming with vicissitudes, with romance, with pathos, and those startling changes of fortune…
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THE LAST R.rNG OF UNITED ISRAEL. SOL9MON. We pass from the deathbed of King David to a scene of almost dazzling splendour. The few detailed narratives that have come down to us of events in the reign of Solomon are enough to show us that : and fresh from the abundance of information preserred for us respecting Davi…
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temple (1 Kings Y, 13, 14) is 0,11 unpleasil1g fe11lnre in the work. The prophecy of Snmnrl (1 Sam. viii. 16) was being nlmndo,ntlyfnlfi\le,l. It has been suggested tho.t it wns prrrt.ly in order to keep out of sight and hearing the misery that he wo.s co.using to these hnge gangs of enslaved Israelites and Canaanit…
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little bolcl over their moral o.ncl spiritue.l life. Of his thousand and five songs (1 Kings iv. 82), not one go.inecl hold enough on the people to Jive; and if they oxpressecl tho life which is lo.mentecl over in the Book of Ecclesiastes, it is as well iho.t they have perished. Of the Psalms, only two by the Hebrew ti…
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wa6 made with hands. The atonement was no perfect atonement, for it needed to be repeated. The sacrifice was no perfect sacrifice, for it was the blood of a brute beast, which can never take away sins. Above all, the priest was no perfect priest, for he had to make atonement for his own sins before he interceded for …
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THE DIVIDED filNODOMS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. We may pass on rapidly now. In a sketch of this kind it would not be possible, nor if possible be worth while, to give a detailed notice of each of the kings that for a time reigned over the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel. It will suffice to state the general cha,racter…
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far too late for a trifling concession of this kind to do much towards soothing o.ngry and ambitious Ephraimites. It might even irritate them by flaunting a pomp before them which they knew was to be paid for by oppressive tnxation : o.nd Reho- boam was the last king of Judah who visited Shechem as part of his own domi…
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balance was on that side. It lost seriously in prestige e.ncl population, but it gained in compactness. It bad the incalculable advantage of preserving the true religion. It poss~ssed the temple, and (thanks to the wicked and shortsighted policy of Jeroboam) it possessed the sympathy and support both of the hierarchy a…
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from Israel shared in the restoration of Judah, but the bulk of them huve been merged in Oriental populations. The astounding fiction that the English n11tion is descended from the lost ten tribes contra.diets the very first principles ofI history, ethnology, and philology ; and even if it were true wonlJ. be worthless…
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Ho is not good, but somewhat Ieee abominable than his predecessors. We are not told in what this diminution of wickedness consisted. We may cenjecture that when the golden calves were carried away, the one at Dan by Tiglath-Pileser, and the one at Bethel by his son Shalmaneser, Hoshea did not set them up again, nor …
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he hacl accepted. To strengthen himself he made an alliance, not with Hezekicth, who also was revolting, but one forbidden by the law, with So king of Egypt, probably the Sa,baco of Herodotus or the Sevechus (Sevichos) of M1111etho. Thus the sRme dark po"-·er which had tried to strangle the Chosen People o.t its birth,…
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prudent o,ccepted the Gospel when it bece,me known to them. Here the wise and prudent diRbelieve, not because things a.re hidden from them, bnt because they are known. It is those who do not know all that their own theory involves who believe. (2) The change of a Semitic race into an Aryan race, of a Semitic language …
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THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH. There was a moment when the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah were in a condition of great prosperity together. The reign of Jeroboam II. was the most prosperous period of the kingdom of Israel. When it was half over, the youthful Uzziah came to the throne of Judah, which he was destined to fill…
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in ,Tndah the persecutor was for the time at least successful (J ei•. ii. 30; Zeph. iii. 41; nnd it may be doubted whether the prophets eye1· regained their former position. They appear 110 more in the history of this long reign. But the truths· to which they had borne witness, both in life and in den,th, were eternal …
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THE RETURN FROM CAPTMTY. It is remarkable that the author of the Book of Ezm makes no mention of Daniel In connexion with the decree of Cy111s for the restoration of the Jewish nation and temple; he simply says, II that the word of the Lord by the month of Jeremiah might be fulfilled." The decree states that Goel h…
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no Bhechina,h, Of tho 24 orders of priests only four were there to conduct th~ - services. And compa,re the 712 e,nime,ls offered e,t this dedication with the thou- sa,nds sa,crificed by Solomon I H is here, proba,bly, tha,t we may insert the episode contained in the Book of Esther, the most purely historica,l Book in…
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much work necessary iu the way of reforma.tiou. This wns specially the case with regard to marriageR with the heathen, by which the pure descent not merely of the nation but even of the priests was being contaminated. \Ve could hardly have a stronger proof of the cha.nge wrought by the Captivity, in tuming the people f…
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Hero the historical books of the Old Testament come to an encl. The figures which fill the m1rratives contained in them have passed before us in their mar- vellous variety of offioe and character, of greatness and littleness, of virtue and vice; commanders and judges, priests and prophets, warriors DJJd poets, kings an…
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be t-0 destroy the educations.I progress of man.kind, or, in other words, to eliminate the moral element from hist-Ory. Study of the past is generally our best, sometimes our only, guide to understand- ing and using the prese11t. But the study must be reverent and pCLtient, or it will be misleading. The question is…
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The cutting off of Jordan. Power. . . . . { The wo.lls of Jericho. The destruction of Sennacherib's army. The forgiveness of Do.vid. Mercy. . . . . The respite granted to Ahab. { The sparing of Nineveh. lviii INTRODUCTlON TO THE lUSTORICAL BOOKS. The punishment of Da,vid's sins, Ju.slice ••• ·1 ( The miserable…
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impossible, a postulate which many will be indisposed to grant. But hil3 method is, as he states, "scientific," which seems to mean that he takes everything for granted which is necessary to establish his theory. The many indications of earlier origin and authorship he quietly disposes of by assuming that they were por…
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fold and Knobel, we learn from a note to a later addition, arc" unsatisfactory 1,ud perl'crsc.'' We have already seen what Knobel's opinion of Ewald is. It nrny, therefore, not be entirely unscientific if wo venture to suspend our judgment, and examine the facts anew, with the desire to arrive at a satisfactory conclus…
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will enable us to do this in the case of authors whose works we know, and who "\\Tote in a language we are daily using, how shall such a method be infallible when applied to records written thousands of years ago, in a dead language, and when a million help!! to tho right understanding of the history have irrecoyer…
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would show that they never were said to have been placed in the middle of ,Tor,fa.n, at least as we understand the words. The etymology of the word Gilgal, again, presents some difficulties (see note on eh. v. 9). But it is surely cutting the Gordian knot in a very summary manner to assume that this etymology was inven…
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be said that the inhabitants of Gezer serve under tribute " unto this day'' when Israel was groaning under Canaanitish oppression. Such language could hardly have been used, at least after the time of Othniel. Nor do the other occasions on which the words " unto this day " are used of necessity imply a very remote futu…
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an authentic account, by one every way qualified to write it, of the conquest and occupation by the Israelites of the Promised Land. II. ON DIFFICULTIES IN THE BooK oF JosHUA. The principal objections which have been made against the Divine inspiration of the Book of Joshua are of two kinds, moral and scientific. …
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upon the sins of men? For more than four thousand years men were ignorant of the conception of God with which we are now familiar. 'rhis is nn undeniable fact in the economy of Providence. It is sul'Cly un- reasopable to require men to act upon any other principles than those which God had then permitted to be known. …
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more what used to be considered wonders or portents in nature are brought within the range of nature's ordinary laws, the harder it becomes to believe that on some special occasion, and for special reasons, those laws were altogether set aside. And this view of things derives additional strength from two important …
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But in truth there is the utmost difference possible between the two cae~s. In the Roman Catholic Church we have an nlready existing institution, with n priesthood whose sacerdotal pretensions have received nn altogether abnormal development, who are not entirely beyond the suspicion of pious fraud,,:, who rest mainl…
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pages is the possession of what is unquestionably possessed by man, the power, ~ithout suspending the action of a single force, so to control its operation as to produce the results He desires. If man can drain marshes at his will, and turn them into fruitful field8, why should not God be able, at His mll, to make …
1,149 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.