Joshua 19

Notes

Ver. 1-48. From this, and the seven preceding chapters, it appears that the land of Canaan, into the possession of which Moses and Joshua put the Israelites, was pleasantly diversified with mountains and valleys, and well watered with a multitude of small rivers and brooks, which emptied themselves into the Mediterranean Sea on the west; or into Jordan, which, taking its rise in Mount Lebanon, at the north of the promised land, ran southward; and, after forming the two lakes of Merom and Chinnereth or Tiberias in its course, at last emptied itself into the Dead Sea, into which the country about Sodom was transformed, and which had no visible outlet. The length of Canaan, from Beersheba on the south to Dan on the north, was about one hundred and eighty miles. Its greatest breadth, from the Mediterranean Sea to the river Jordan, was about fifty miles; and about thirty more to the eastern boundary of the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites. On the east of Jordan, over against the territory of Benjamin and Ephraim, the Reubenites had their inheritance in a tract, including the mountains of Peor, Nebo, and Pisgah. On their north side lay the inheritance of the Gadites, in a soil more plain and fertile. Northward of Gad was seated the half-tribe of Manasseh, in that which was afterwards called Upper Galilee, or Galilee of the Gentiles, which was almost as large as both the two former portions. On the west side of Jordan, or rather the Dead Sea, lay the extensive inheritance of Judah. On the south-west hereof was the lot of Simeon; and on the north-west the lot of Dan. Eastward of the Danites, and northward of Judah, was the inheritance of Benjamin. The lot of the Ephraimites lay all along on the north of these of Dan and Benjamin. Next was the lot of the other half-tribe of Manasseh; and northward of them the inheritance of Issachar; and next to them was that of Zebulun. Each of these four last portions extended from Jordan on the east to the Mediterranean Sea on the west. Northward of Zebulun the tribe of Asher had their inheritance in the north-west of Canaan. The Naphtalites had their portion between the lot of Asher and the north end of the river Jordan. The Tyrians and Zidonians kept possession of a part of Canaan on the north-west of the Asherites. The Philistines kept possession of a narrow strip of territory on the west of the Simeonites and Danites. Egypt lay to the south-west of Canaan; Idumea on the south border of the lot of Judah; and still more southward was the country of the Amalekites and Arabians. On the east of the Dead Sea, and southward of the Reubenites, was the territory of the Midianites and Moabites. North-east of the Moabites, and eastward of the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites, dwelt the Ammonites and Hagarenes; and still eastward of these, beyond a large desert, and by the river Euphrates, the Chaldeans on the south, and Mesopotamia on the north. Persia was on the east and south-east of Chaldea, and Assyria on the east of Mesopotamia. North-east of Persia lay Media; and north of Assyria were Armenia, Cappadocia, Pontus, &c. On the north-east of Canaan lay Syria; on the north of which was Lesser Asia, which contained Mysia, Lydia, Ionia, and Caria, on the east shore of the Mediterranean Sea; on the east of which were Bithynia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Pamphylia, Lycia; and, still further east, Paphlagonia, Galatia, and Lycaonia, which bordered on the east with Pontus, Cappadocia, and Armenia. To the north-west of Lesser Asia, but on the north side of the Mediterranean Sea, lay the countries of Greece and Rome; the former of which is about 850, and the latter 1200 miles north-west of Jerusalem.—A careful attention to this note will be of use to assist the reader in understanding the parts of Scripture history.

Ver. 16. [The territory of Zebulun stretched across the country from the Sea of Galilee on the east to the maritime plain of Phœnicia on the west, embracing a large strip of Esdraelon, a portion of the plain of Akka, the whole of the rich upland plain of Battauf, with the fertile table-land between it and the basin of the Sea of Galilee. The beautiful wooded hills extending from Tabor by Nazareth westward were also in Zebulun. It touched Carmel on the south-west; and though it did not actually reach to the shore of the Mediterranean, its side joined the narrow maritime plain of Phœnicia, to which Jacob gave the name of its chief city Zidon—'And his side will be to Zidon.' Its opposite extremity resting on the Sea of Galilee, the words of the patriarch were fulfilled—'Zebulun shall dwell on the coast of seas.' P.]

Ver. 21. [En-gannim, 'the fountain of the gardens,' lay at the northern base of the mountains of Ephraim, at the opening of a picturesque valley into the great plain of Esdraelon. It is still a large village, and is called Jenín. P.]

Ver. 22. [Tabor. This city was situate on a famous mountain of the same name. It is a solitary 'cone with the top struck off,' about a mile in height and half a league in diameter. It is richly covered with trees and odoriferous plants, and is ascended by a winding path cut in its sides. The top is covered with ruins of fortresses and palaces, and vast subterraneous cisterns for holding water. It is generally supposed to be the 'high mountain' upon which our Lord was transfigured; but there is no certainty, and the probabilities are rather in favour of some other mountain, of which the country affords many. C.]

Ver. 30. [Twenty and two cities with their villages. The names are twenty-six. But Carmel was a mountain, and Jiphthah-el a valley; and it is probable, according to the interpretation of Michaelis, that Tyre and Sidon were only the boundary landmarks, and not included as cities to be conquered. This opinion seems to be fully sustained by ver. 29, where, after passing Sidon, Tyre, and Hosah, 'the outgoings' of the line are for the first time stated to be 'at the sea from the coast to Achzib.' The chief objection to this view lies in Ju. 1. 31, where the Sidonians are mentioned as a people the Asherites did not expel. But this is not conclusive against the number of cities ceded to Asher, ver. 30; and may be well explained by the very natural supposition, that the Sidonians had colonized within the territory of Asher, from which they should have been expelled. C.]

Ver. 39. [The boundaries of Naphtali on the east were the Jordan and the lakes Merom and Galilee; on the south, Zebulun; on the west, Asher; and on the north, the river Leontes. The tribe possessed a greater variety of soil, scenery, and climate than any of the others. Its northern portions are the highlands of Palestine. The scenery is here rich and beautiful, presenting a marked contrast to the naked rocky hills of Judah and the south. P.]

Ver. 48. [Inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan. The territory allotted to Dan lay on the Mediterranean coast, south of Ephraim, including those strongholds of the Philistines Ashdod, Ekron, Gath, &c. Laish was situate in the extreme north of Canaan, near Mount Lebanon and the springs of the Jordan, and about 140 miles from the Danite settlement in the south. Alas! the moment Providence gave them a goodly land, they forgot the God of their fathers and established idolatry.—Note. While the advantages of emigration and colonization are many to an over-populated and commercial country, it is both the bounden duty and the highest interest of the mother-country to provide religious instruction to her colonies. Not a single Levite seems to have accompanied the emigrants. They accordingly fell from the Mosaic institutions, and commenced that idolatry which was perpetuated by Jeroboam, and extended from one tribe to ten, and finally brought on captivity and the other judgments of an offended God. Let Britain, the fruitful mother of so many colonies, take warning, and learn, that though colonization without religion may enrich a country, it may, and will, in the end ruin a country. C.]

Reflections.—It is useful and becoming when men look upon, and care for, the things of others, as well as their own, and give to such as lack a share of their superfluity, or even sufficiency. And it is a mercy to be connected with those who are in favour with God, and closely devoted to his service, though our outward accommodations should be smaller. For rare is that lot on earth in which there is not somewhat remarkable by an accurate observer of Providence. But it is honourable when rulers who do most for their people, covet least from them, and prefer the happy settlement of their subjects to their own.