The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 271

by the Philistines. Keil, however, dis- (Delitzsch), "on the north.west slopes of putes this view, and holds that we have Lebanon,' amid exquisite groves (Conder). 110 eYidence that any but 1t CanMnitish Here the Syrinn Astarte was worshipped, people dwelt in south-western Palestine. and the ruins of her temple, dedicated to This Cane.11.uitish tribe, be thinks, was her as mourning for Te.mmuz, or Adonis, driven out by the Philistines. Some few of may still be seeu. See Kenrick,' Pho:micia,' the Avites, or rather An:ites, continued to 310,311, and Mover's• Die Phiinizier,' i. 192. dwell among their conquerors. But the Perhaps it was never a.ctuelly occupied by coincidence between Dcut. ii. 22, 23, and the Asherites, but remained in the hands l Sam. xx,-ii. 8, makes strongly for Ewald's of Syria, and :is a pie.co of great resort ,~ew above. And Keil a.ud Delitzsch, in wa.s the natural point to which the attacks their later joint work, incline to it. See of Israel would be directed. Vandevelde, Introduction III. The word Avvim, like ho,vever, believes in four and Conder in Havoth, or Havvoth (see ver. 30), is sup- seven cities of this name, and they suppose posed to mean villa.gas, or inhabited Hll- the Aphek which was the scene of the battle closures. with the Syrians to have been on the east Yer. 4.-From the south. The LXX. and of Jorde.u, from the occurrence of the word the best modern commenta.tors connect these " Mishor" in the narrative in 1 Kings xx. words with wha,t precedes. This gives a The te1,n " Mishor" is, however, applied to better sense than joining it to wha,t follows. other places beside the territory east of For the south wa,s not " all the land of the Jordan (see Gesenius, s.v. Mishor). The Canaanites," but a large pa.rt of it belonged, Aphek in l Sam. xxix. 1 cannot be identified as we have just seen, to a, tribe not of with any that have been named. To the Canaanitish origin, while the land of the borders of the Amorttes. This ·can hardly Canaanites (see note on eh. iii 10) extended be anything but the northern. border of the for to the northwa.rd. Therefore we must kingdom of Be.she.n, in the neighbourhood understand the words " a.II the land _of the of Mollilt Hermon. • Canaanites " to begin a, fresh section, and Ver. 5.-The Glblltes. The inhabitants to be descriptive of the territory extending of Gebo.I, called Jebe.il (i.e., hill-city, from from Philistia northward towa,rds Sidon. Jebel) by the Arabs, and. Byblus by the So the Ch.&ldee, Syriae, and Ara.hie. Mea.ra.11. Greeks. This is Masius's idea, and other The ma.rgin ha.s "the cave." But there is commentators ha.ve il.gcepted it (see 1 Kings uo article in the original. The LXX. reads v. 32 ; Psa. lxxxiii. 7 ; and Ezek. xxvii. 9, <irro r<i2;11t for Meare.h, having clearly, as where the LXX. translates by Byblus). In Me.sius observes, substituted Zain for Resh. the first-named passage tlie word is trans- But this mistaken reading compels a, mis- lated ". stone squarere," in our version translation of the passage. Ve.ndevelde (where it is the 18th and not the 32nd supposes it to be e. remarkable cave still verse). All the other versions render existing near Sidon, which is mentioned by " Giblites " as here, and no doubt the in- William of Tyre as having been fortified by habitants of t_he Phcenician city of Jebe.il are the Crusaders. He spea,ks of it as muni- meant, since in the ruins of Jebail the same cipium quoddam, and states that it was kind of masonry is found as is seen in co=only known as the "cave of Tyre." Solomon's temple. Byblus (Kenrick,' Phce- "spelunca inexpugne.bilis." It was after- nicie.,' I.e. Movers, I.e. Lenormant, 'Manual wards " the last retreat of the Emir Fe.kkr- of the History of the Ee.et,' ii. 223) was the ed-Din" (Vandevelde, s.v. Mee.re.h). There great scat of the worship of Te.mmuz, or is e. nlle.ge now, north of Sidon, called Mog- Adonis. Here hie father Cinyre.s was sup- heiriych, or the village of the cave. So also posed to have been king, and the licentious Knobel. Beside the Sldonia.na. Rather, worship, with its corrupting influences, was near, or in the direction of, or which be- spread over the whole region of Lebanon longsto, the Sidonians. Aphek. Or Aphekah. and even Damascus. This territory was This (Knobel) was the northern Aphek (eh. never actually occupied by the lsmelites (sea ,:i,:. 30; Judg. i. 31), in the tribe of Asher, for this passage alno eh. xi. 8, 17 ; u.nd xii. 7), known later as Aphaca, and now as Afka. Bama.th. The spies penetrated nearly as Not the Aphekah of eh. xv. 53, probably the far as this (Num. xiii. 21), and David Aphck of 1 Sam. iv. l. It is the same reduced the land into subjection as far as Aphek which in later times was captured by the borders of this territory. But the the Syrians, and was the scene of several Israelites never subdued it. Toi, king of decisive victories of Israel (1 Kings xx. 26, Hamath, was an ally, not e. tributary of 30; 2 Kings xiii. 17). It is doubtful which David (2 Barn. viii. 9). The border of Aµhek is meant in eh. xii. 18, though it is Israel is always described as extending " to probauly the southern Aphek. The situa.- the entering in of Ha.me.th" (1 King• viii, tion is described as one of " rare beauty " 65; 2 Kings xiv. 26), though Jeroboam U. CH, XIU. 1-88.) THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 215