Joshua 12:12
Ver. 12. The king of Eglon, one,.... The last of the five kings, and his name was Debir, Jos 10:3;
the king of Gezer, one; who came up to help Lachish, and his name was Horam, Jos 10:33. Joshua 12:13Ver. 13. The king of Debir, one,.... The same with Kirjathsepher, of which place, See Gill on "Jos 10:38";the king of Geder, one: Jerom {h} seems to confound this with the tower of Eder, beyond which Jacob pitched his tent, Ge 35:21; and he speaks of a Gaddera in the tribe of Judah, in his time a village belonging to the country about Aelia or Jerusalem, and of Gahedur in the tribe of Judah, a large village, ten miles from Diospolis or Lydda, as you go to Eleutheropolis: it seems to be the same with Gederah, Jos 15:36, or Gedor, Jos 15:58.{h} De loc. Heb. fol. 92. A. B. Joshua 12:14Ver. 14. The king of Hormah, one,.... Which was formerly called Zephath, Jud 1:17; see Jos 15:3;the king of Arad, one; perhaps the same with Arath, which, Jerom {i} says, is the border of the land of Judah, and is twenty miles distant from Hebron to the south; see Nu 21:1.{i} De Loc. Heb. fol. 92. L. Joshua 12:15Ver. 15. The king of Libnah, one,.... Taken at the same time as the kings of Makkedah, Debir, and of other places were, Jos 10:29;the king of Adullam, one; a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:35; Jerom says {k} there was a village in his time, not a small one, called by this name, ten miles to the east of Eleutheropolis: near to this place was a cave where David hid himself when he fled from Saul, 1Sa 22:1;See Gill on "Mic 1:15".{k} De loc. Heb. fol. 88. F. Joshua 12:16Ver. 16. The king of Makkedah, one,.... In a cave near to which five kings hid themselves, and were taken out and hanged, and the city afterwards was taken by Joshua, Jos 10:16; which fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:41;the king of Bethel, one; a city near to Ai, about a mile from it, and yet had a king over it: it was taken at the same time that Ai was, Jos 7:2; and fell to the lot of Benjamin, Jos 18:22. Joshua 12:17Ver. 17. The king of Tappuah, one,.... Which Jerom calls {l} Thaffu; it signifies an apple, and perhaps had its name from plenty of that fruit that grew there: a city of this name fell to the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:34; where also was another place called Bethtappuah, Jos 15:53; and both different from another Tappuah on the border of Manasseh, which belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, Jos 17:8; by some thought to be meant here:the king of Hepher, one; mention is made of Gittahhepher as on the border of Zebulun, Jos 19:13; the same with Gathhepher, of which place was the Prophet Jonah, 2Ki 14:25; and of the land of Hepher in 1Ki 4:10; which is said by Jerom to be in the same tribe, and not far from Diocaesarea or Zippore; and we read of a Chepher or Hepher in the Jewish writings {m}, which, according to the account of it there given, could not be far from the same place, at least it must be less than twelve miles from it.{l} De loc. Heb. fol. 95. C. {m} T. Hieros. Sheviith, fol. 37. 3. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 161. 4. Joshua 12:18Ver. 18. The king of Aphek, one,.... There was a place called Aphekah in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:53; and an Aphek that was on the border of the Amorites, Jos 13:4; and another in the tribe of Asher, Jos 19:30; but Adrichomius {n} places this Aphek in the tribe of Issachar, whose king Joshua smote, and takes it to be the same place where the Philistines in the times of Samuel and David brought their armies against Israel, 1Sa 4:1; and where the king of Syria fought against Israel, 1Ki 20:26; and says that its ruins were now shown in the great plain not far from Gilboa to the east of Mount Carmel, and five miles from Tabor:the king of Lasharon, one; which, according to the Vulgate Latin version, is the same with Saron, which, in Ac 9:35, in some copies is called Assaron; so Adrichomius {o}, who places it in the tribe of Ephraim, and takes it to be the same Sharon Isaiah speaks of, Isa 33:9; and of which Jerom says {p}, to this day there is a country between Tabor and the lake of Tiberias called Saronas, and also that from Caesarea of Palestine to the town of Joppa, all the land that is seen bears that name.{n} Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 35. {o} Ib. p. 30. {p} De loc. Heb. fol. 94. M. Joshua 12:19Ver. 19. The king of Madon, one,.... Whose name was Jobab, Jos 11:1;the king of Hazor, one; whose name was Jabin, and of him and his city,See Gill on "Jos 11:1". Joshua 12:20Ver. 20. The king of Shimronmeron, one,.... See Jos 11:1: this place fell to the tribe of Zebulun, Jos 19:15;the king of Achshaph, one; see Jos 11:1; this city fell to the lot of Asher, Jos 19:25. Joshua 12:21Ver. 21. The king of Taanach, one,.... It was in the tribe of Manasseh, Jos 17:11; Jerom says {q}, in his time it was a large village, distant from Legion on the plain of Esdraelon three miles:the king of Megiddo, one; which belonged to the same tribe, Jos 17:11; near this place were some waters where the Canaanites fought with the Israelites, Jud 5:19; and a valley where Josiah was slain, 2Ch 35:22.{q} De Loc. Heb. fol. 95. D. Joshua 12:22Ver. 22. The king of Kedesh, one,.... Which afterwards fell to the tribe of Naphtali, and was one of the cities of refuge, Jos 19:37; it was situated in upper Galilee on Mount Naphtali, four miles from the city of Sephet, and as many from Capernaum, and twenty miles from Tyre {r}:the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one; a city that came to the lot of the tribe of Zebulun, Jos 19:11; and was given to the Levites, Jos 21:34; it was not far from Mount Carmel, from whence it is described.{r} Adrichom. Theatrum, p. 104. Joshua 12:23Ver. 23. The king of Dor, in the coast of Dor, one,.... Of which see Jos 11:2; it fell to the lot of Manasseh, but never was possessed by them, as were not Taanach and Megiddo, before mentioned, Jos 17:11 Jud 1:27;the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; not the place where Joshua encamped after he had passed Jordan, for that was then no city; the Septuagint version renders it the land of Galilee; and Dr. Lightfoot {s} is of opinion that Galilee is meant, and in the Apocrypha:"Who went forth by the way that leadeth to Galgala, and pitched their tents before Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and after they had won it, they slew much people.'' (1 Maccabees 9:2)Galgala is spoken of as near to Arbel, a city in Galilee: Jerom {t} takes this to be the same with Glagulis, which in his time was a village six miles from Antipatris to the north.{s} Chorograph. Cent. c. 88. {t} De loc. Heb. fol. 92. B. Joshua 12:24Ver. 24. The king of Tirzah, one,.... To what tribe this place fell is nowhere said: Adrichomius {u} places it in the tribe of Manasseh; and so does Bunting {w}, who says of it, that it was a fair and beautiful city, situated on a high and pleasant mountain, in the tribe of Manasseh, twenty four miles from Jerusalem to the north: here Jeroboam had his royal seat, and so his successors unto Omri, 1Ki 14:17; and Dr Lightfoot {x} seems to suspect as if Shechem in Mount Ephraim and Tirzah were the same; for, he says, if Shechem and Tirzah were not one and the same town, it appears that Jeroboam had removed his court, when his son died, from where it was when he first erected his idols; compare 1Ki 12:25, with 1Ki 14:17; and so it may argue that there was some space between: it was, no doubt, a very pleasant and beautiful city, as not only appears from its name, but from the allusion to it in So 6:4;all the kings thirty and one: it may seem strange that, in so small a country as Canaan was, there should be so many kings in it, since the length of it from Dan to Beersheba was scarce an hundred sixty miles, as Jerom {y} says; who further observes, that he was ashamed to give the breadth of it, lest it should give occasion to Heathens to blaspheme; for, adds he, from Joppa to our little village Bethlehem (where they then were) were forty six miles, to which succeeded only a vast desert: but it may be observed, that in ancient times, in other countries, there were a great many kings, as here in Britain, and in France, Spain, and Germany, as Bishop Patrick has observed from several writers; and Strabo {z} testifies the same of the cities of Phoenicia or Canaan, that they had each of them separate kings, as Joshua here describes them.{u} Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 74. {w} Travels, &c. p. 160. {x} Works, vol. 1. p. 78. {y} Epist. Dardano, tom. 3. p. 22. I. K. {z} Geograph. l. 16. p. 519.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.