Synopsis of the Chapter
Joshua defeats in battle Jabin the powerful king of Hazor with the kings allied to him, and subjugates nearly all of Canaan, and so ceases from battles. Up to this point we have heard of Joshua's southern war; now we will hear of the northern one; for having subdued southern Canaan, he now turned his arms to the north.
Verse 1: Jabin King of Hazor ¶
1. JABIN KING OF HAZOR. — Hazor was the metropolis of all Canaan, holding the leadership among all its kingdoms: it fell to the tribe of Naphtali: it is distant from Caesarea Philippi by six miles, from the Mediterranean Sea by nine. So from Josephus and others, Adrichomius. So Masius.
Verse 2: South of Chinneroth ¶
2. SOUTH OF CHINNEROTH — that is, south of the lake of Gennesaret, which by another name is called the Sea of Tiberias or of Galilee.
Verse 4: Like the Sand on the Seashore ¶
4. A PEOPLE VERY NUMEROUS, LIKE THE SAND ON THE SEASHORE — that is, a great and innumerable multitude of men. This is a hyperbole common in Scripture, intended to magnify the victory and at the same time to commend the fertility of the promised land (since it could feed such a multitude). Josephus, Book V of Antiquities, chapter 2, asserts there were three hundred thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry, and two thousand chariots.
Verse 6: You Shall Hamstring Their Horses ¶
6. TO BE WOUNDED. — Others translate: to be killed: the Hebrew chalalim means both, and both happened here; for God had commanded all Canaanites to be killed.
YOU SHALL HAMSTRING THEIR HORSES — that is, you shall cut the sinews or tendons or legs of the horses, so that they are rendered useless, lest you afterwards use them in war and place your trust in them while neglecting Me. For this reason the abundance of horses was disapproved and forbidden to the Hebrews by God, Deuteronomy 17:16; Psalm 147:10; Psalm 20:8. See what was said on Exodus 13:13. For the same reason He commanded the chariots to be burned as well: but the remaining spoil of camels, donkeys, oxen, sheep, etc., He permitted the Hebrews to enjoy. So Abulensis, Masius, Arias, Vatablus.
Tropologically Origen says: When fighting with the devil, we must seize his weapons: we therefore hamstring the horse when we break the wanton body by fasting: for the body is like a wanton horse, upon which the soul sits and presides like a rider, to tame it, and to moderate and govern it with the whip of discipline like a charioteer.
Verse 8: As Far as Great Sidon ¶
8. AS FAR AS GREAT SIDON — not because there was another lesser Sidon, but because Sidon near Tyre had the surname "great." For Sidon was celebrated by all for the industry of its craftsmen, the abundance of ships and sailors, and especially the convenience of its harbor. It was called Sidon from Sidon son of Canaan, its founder, as Josephus holds, Book I of Antiquities, chapter 6, and St. Jerome in Questions on Genesis; or, as Justin, Book XVIII of History, Strabo, Book XII, and others say, from the abundance of fish. For the Phoenicians call a fish said (which in Hebrew means "to hunt"); hence even today Sidon is commonly called by the Turks and Syrians Soid or Saida. This city is in Phoenicia, and therefore seems once to have been the metropolis of Phoenicia. Hence in Isaiah 23:12, Tyre, famous for its merchandise, wealth, and power, is called the daughter of Sidon. It is situated on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea below the Anti-Lebanon.
AND THE WATERS OF MISREPHOTH. — And misrephoth of waters, that is, "the furnaces of waters," as Masius translates; or, as others say, "the burnings" or "fires of waters;" the Zurich Bible: "the heating of waters:" by which Vatablus and R. David understand hot springs, such as those at Aachen used for baths. Others understand salt works, because water was drawn from the sea through channels, dried out by the sun's rays, and as it were burned into salt there. So the Chaldean, Lyra, R. Solomon, Adrichomius, and others. Third, Masius understands glass furnaces: for sand that has been fired and liquefied by the force of fire, from which glass is made, is here called water: for every liquid is sometimes called water.
Verse 10: Hazor Held the Leadership ¶
10. FOR HAZOR ANCIENTLY HELD THE LEADERSHIP AMONG ALL THESE KINGDOMS. — From this it is clear that Hazor was the metropolis of Canaan, as I said at verse 1, and therefore Jabin king of Hazor had not only all these kings and cities of Canaan that are named here as allies, but also as subjects to him as their chief.
Verse 11: He Left No Remnants ¶
11. HE LEFT NO REMNANTS. — However, that some escaped by flight, either then or before, who shortly after the death of Joshua recovered their strength, restored cities, and created new kings for themselves who harassed and afflicted the Hebrews, is clear from Judges 4:2, where 130 years later a Jabin king of Hazor is said to have dominated the Hebrews for twenty years. Hence it is likely that Jabin was a common name for the kings of Hazor, just as Pharaoh was a common name for the kings of Egypt, then Ptolemy, and the name of the kings of Syria was Antiochus. So Masius. A similar thing happened with the Midianites, who after being destroyed by Moses, Numbers 31, grew again, and again waged war on the Israelites. Hence they were overthrown by Gideon in Judges 6. Likewise the Hebronites, struck down by Joshua, again recovered their strength and the city of Hebron, and were defeated by Caleb, as is clear from verse 21, compared with Judges 1:10.
Furthermore, Procopius, Book IV of The Vandal War, and from him Evagrius, Book IV of History, chapter 18, assert that many of the Canaanites, seeing that they could not resist Joshua, fled from Canaan to Egypt, Libya, and Africa, and built new cities there, and the Rabbis report that some also reached Germany and other provinces of Europe, especially Aben Ezra, and from them Genebrardus in his Chronicle.
Verse 13: Cities on Hills and Mounds ¶
13. EXCEPT THE CITIES THAT WERE ON HILLS AND MOUNDS, ISRAEL BURNED THE REST. — In Hebrew: only the cities that were on their mounds, he did not burn. Hence our translator rightly infers and asserts that the other cities, which were not on hills, were burned by Joshua. Cities situated on mounds are said to be those in a more elevated location, or on hills, and therefore fortified by the nature of the place. Hence Theodoret, the Chaldean, and Vatablus translate: strong cities; Masius: fortified with ramparts. The sense is, as if to say: Joshua burned the unfortified cities, because he feared that after he departed they would again be occupied by the Canaanite enemies, since he had fewer soldiers than would be needed to secure all the cities he captured with a strong garrison: but the cities fortified on hills he did not burn, since he could easily hold and protect them with a small garrison, except the city of Hazor, which was the capital and metropolis of the others; for he burned that one down: because if it had remained intact, it would have been a constant cause of war, with the Canaanites always intent on and watchful for recapturing and claiming for themselves this royal city. So Abulensis.
Verse 16: Mount Israel ¶
AND MOUNT ISRAEL. — You will ask, what is this mountain? Masius and Arias think that the mountain here means the mountainous areas around Samaria. For the mountain of Samaria was called the mountain of Israel, after the ten tribes, making a schism from Judah and King Rehoboam, appropriated the name of Israel for themselves and made Samaria the capital of their kingdom and created Jeroboam as their king. Hence Masius concludes that this book was written not by Joshua, but long after him from diaries left by Joshua.
Others by "the mountain of Israel" understand Mount Zion, on which the temple was built, so that it is called par excellence the mountain of Israel because of the temple. Others understand the mountain of Bethel, where Jacob, who was called by another name Israel, saw a ladder extending from earth to heaven and God leaning upon the ladder, and received from Him the promise that Canaan would be possessed by his descendants, Genesis 28:12. Others with Cajetan and Salian understand Mount Gerizim, or a similar mountain near Shechem, situated in the field that Jacob had purchased there, Genesis 33:19.
Verse 17: The Mountain That Ascends to Seir ¶
17. AND THE PART OF THE MOUNTAIN THAT ASCENDS TO SEIR — that is, toward Idumea. Our translator renders correctly, if in the Hebrew you change the modern vowel points substituted by the Rabbis. Aquila also, the Chaldean, and Vatablus translate "the mountain of division," that is, divided and dividing, because it divides and separates Canaan from Idumea. More recent scholars with Symmachus and Masius translate it as smooth, polished, bare, that is, naked and devoid of trees. The Septuagint retained the Hebrew name as a proper noun.
Verse 18: Joshua Fought a Long Time ¶
18. JOSHUA FOUGHT A LONG TIME AGAINST THESE KINGS. — Josephus, Book V of Antiquities, chapter 2, asserts that Joshua subjugated Canaan in five years. It is more accurate that he did so in seven years, at least in the beginning of the seventh. For the Hebrew Chronologists in the Seder Olam expressly record this, as do Theodoret, Abulensis, Masius, Serarius, Torniellus, and others, and it is sufficiently gathered from the years of Caleb, chapter 14:7, as I will show there.
Verse 19: No City That Surrendered ¶
19. THERE WAS NO CITY THAT SURRENDERED. — Correct with the Roman edition: that surrendered. For in Hebrew it reads: that made peace, or offered it, or accepted it when offered. For the Rabbis, whom Masius follows, relate that Joshua offered peace to each city of Canaan, but all refused peace, because they were unwilling to accept the condition of peace, namely subjection and servitude to the Hebrews. Others however deny that Joshua offered them peace, because God wanted all to be killed. For the passage in Deuteronomy 20:40, where it is commanded that peace be offered to hostile cities, is ambiguous and uncertain whether it pertains only to foreigners, or also to the Canaanites.
Verse 20: Their Hearts Be Hardened ¶
20. FOR IT WAS THE LORD'S PURPOSE THAT THEIR HEARTS BE HARDENED. — In Hebrew: from the Lord it was that they hardened their heart. So Masius. Therefore the Canaanites themselves hardened themselves so as not to make a treaty with the Hebrews, and it was not, as Calvin says here, God Himself who, having commanded that pardon be denied to the Canaanites, drove them into blind fury lest they give place to mercy. Nevertheless this happened by the Lord's judgment and decision, because of their heinous crimes; it happened, I say, not actively and impulsively, but permissively and objectively: by that very providence, namely, which the most holy majesty of God exercises regarding sins: the nature and extent of which I have explained at Exodus 7:3.
From this it is inferred that if the Canaanites had sought peace from Joshua and the Hebrews, and being penitent had wished to pass over to the pure worship of the one true God with the Hebrews, God would have revoked His decree about killing them, or rather would have declared that it did not include penitent Canaanites, but only the impenitent and those hardened in their impiety. So Abulensis, Masius, and others.
Verse 21: He Killed the Anakim ¶
21. HE KILLED THE ANAKIM — that is, the giant descendants of the giant Anak.
The question arises how Joshua destroyed the giants and their cities Hebron, Debir, and Anab, since after Joshua's death Caleb and Othniel did this, as is said in chapter 14:12, and Judges 1:10, 11, and 12? Abulensis, Question 85, replies that there is an anticipation here, and what Joshua began is here attributed to him, though his successors completed it. Masius replies better that both things happened: the giants were partly slain by Joshua and partly driven from Hebron, Debir, and Anab when he swept victoriously through those cities; but those who were driven out and fled, who escaped Joshua's hands, fled and took refuge in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod, which were Philistine cities. Hence after Joshua's death, having recovered their strength, they recaptured the seats of their ancestors, namely Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and occupied them again until they were finally utterly destroyed by Caleb and Othniel. The following verse suggests this.
Moreover Enacim in Hebrew means the same as "torquati," adorned with torques (neck-rings). So Manlius among the Romans was surnamed Torquatus, because he had taken a torque from a Gaul in battle. Gold torques used to be given by Emperors to soldiers for brave deeds. Thus the Rabbis relate that these warlike giants filled and adorned their vast bodies with torques. For the Anakim were colossal giants and monstrosities of men.
Verse 23: Joshua Took the Whole Land ¶
23. SO JOSHUA TOOK THE WHOLE LAND — of Canaan. "The whole," that is, the greater part and practically all; for he left a few things untouched; or "the whole," namely what he attempted by war, what he wished to approach and conquer: for he approached none that he did not conquer, as God had promised him in chapter 1, verse 3. However, he did not approach some cities in Canaan, and left them untouched, such as Gaza, Gath, Ashdod, and the other cities of the Philistines, as well as Tyre, Sidon, and the other cities of Phoenicia, which were nevertheless contained within the circuit of the land promised by God to the Hebrews. Why he did so, I will present the reasons at Judges 2:21.
ACCORDING TO THEIR PORTIONS AND TRIBES. — In Hebrew: according to their divisions, to their tribes, that is, as the Hebrews were divided and distributed by their tribes.
AND THE LAND RESTED — that is, the inhabitants of the land, either killed by Joshua or suppressed and subdued, waged no war against Israel. So Arias, Vatablus, and others.