The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 225

eye could reo.ch. Upon the side of the no infreciuent occurrence. E,ery treatise long hill that ekirLs the valley on the south, on physical geography teems with instances. we could perceive a small village on the Masi us refers to the well-known story of the W.S.W. called Yalo." To Azeka.11. Sec eh. relief 1tfforded by a sudden shower to ;\,Iarcus xv. 36; cf. 1 Sam. xvii. 1. Th.is place is Aurelius and his army, which he follows known to after Jewish history, having been Eusebius in thinking attributable to Chris- fortified by Rehoboarn (2 Chron. xi. 9), be- tian prayers, but which the emperor, in a sieged by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. xxxiv. 7), medal struck on the occasion, attributed to which shows it to have been a place of some Jupiter Pluvius (see Neander, ' Hist. of importance. It continued to be inhabited Christian Church,' vol. i.). He also cites after the captivity (Neh. xi. 30), and has the verses of Claudian on a similar victory been identified by Vandevelde with Ahbek, of Theodosius : a place standing upon a mountain. He supposes it to have been identical with "0 nimium dilecte Deo, tibi milita.t mther the Aphek in Judah (1 Samuel iv. 1). Et conj111ati veniant ad pr~lia. venU." But this would be better identified with They were more which died with hail- Aphekah (eh. xv. 58). Lieut. Conder stones. A conclusive proof, both to the (' Palest, Exp!. Quart. Paper,' Oct., 1875) Israelites and their antagonists, that the identifies it with a place called Deir el victory was owing rather to the favour of Aashek, eight miles north of Shochoh. God than to the power of man, and suggest- But apparently in the 'Handbook' he has ing the exclamation of the Psalmist, "Not abandoned this idea, though he makes no unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but to Thy reference to this passage. And unto Mak- Na.me give glory" (Psa. exv. 1). See also kedah. One of the lowland cities of Judah Deut. ix. 4, 5. It is, perhaps, worth while (see eh. xv. 41). Vandevelde identifies it to remark that the printers have modern- with Summeil, a place where there are the ized this passage. For more the original ruins of a very ancient city (see ver. 28), edition has moe; cf. Sha.kspeare's 'Lover's built of large uncemented stones, a sign of Complaint,' line 47-" Found yet mo letters great antiquity, and a large cave, such as sadly penned in blood." '' Faith and troth that described in ver. 16. See Robinson, vol. they would no mo " (Greene, ' Shepherd's ii. p. 368, who gives not a hint, however, Ode'). that it is to be identified with Makkedah, Ver. 12.-Then, It;'. See eh. viii. 30. nor does he mention a cave. Lieut. Conder (' Palest. Exp!. Quart. Paper,' July, 1875) The period is here more strictly defined by identifies it with the present El Moghar the addition of the words, "on the day when (The Caves), twenty-five miles from Gibeon the Lord delivered up the Amorites before along the valley of Ajalon, where several the children of Israel." Spake Joshua. to caves are found, the only ones, apparently, the Lord. The preposition ~ (literally, in the district. Summeil is a very long "to") used here, has a variety of meanings distance from Gibeon, and if we are to in Hebrew. It is employed in such a phro.se identify this with Makkedah, which there as " a Psalm of David " (litero,lly, " to appears no ground for doing, supernatural David"), but the sense requires "by.'' So assistance would have been required in more in Pso,. iii. 9 (8 in our version) ; Isa. xxii. 5, than one way for so protracted a pursuit &c. It has the sense "on account of" during the same day. in Gen. iv. 23 (where it is rendered " to " Ver. 11.--Great stones from heaven. in our version) ; but the sense 1'8quires Calmet has taken great trouble to collect "in return for," 11 on account of." So evidence for showers of actual stones from also in Joshua ix. 9, where our version heaven upon the enemies of Israel. But renders " because of." In the latter part the next sentence of the verse states that of this verse it signifies "before" (see they were hailstones, i~::;i •;i:;i~. And even note there). In a. passage so much disputed if there were not sufficient evidence of the as this it is necessn.ry to remember the in- fall of hailstones large enough to do great definiteness of the origina.l. Though the destruction to man and beast, we might fall rendering, "to the Lord," is the natural back upon the theory tho,t th.is was a mirncu- and obvious one, the other meanings cannot lous ho,ilstorm, since the whole history be excluded. The more probable rendering teems with miraculous intervention. But is that in the text. Yet, a.s no address to in point of fact this is unnecessary. We God is afterwards recorded, the meaning need not go further back tho,n the famous may be "by,'' ;,e., by the inspiration of, or storm of August 2ncl, 1879, for an account "because of," i.e., on account of the great of hailstones of enormous size foiling within success God had vouchsafe,! to him, a.rnl fifty miles of London. And in tropio1tl which he earnestly desired to corupleto; or climates still more destructive storms are of "before,'' as though Joshua spoke with a  166 TlIE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [cu. x. 1-48,