z 20 And they gave Hebron | busites that inhabited Jerusalem; unto Caleb, as Moses said: and but the Jebusites dwell with the he expelled thence the three children of Benjamin in Jerusasons of Anak. lem unto this day. 21 a And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Je 22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with b Z Num. 14. 24. Deut. 1. 36. Josh. 14. 9, 13, and 15. 13, 14. a See Josh. 15. 63, and them. 18. 28. b ver. 19. achievement of a conquest equally easy. Understood in this sense, the words, instead of being an unmeaning repetition of an incident frequently mentioned before, are in fact a tacit but severe rebuke of the cowardice and pusillanimity of the nation. sense, and forget the almighty power of God; their hearts grow discouraged, their expectations feeble, and their attempts timid and wavering; and then no wonder they do not prosper, for in proportion to our faith will be our vigor, zeal, and success. The Chal. paraphrast renders the verse; And the Word of Jehovah was in the support of the house of Judah, and they extirpated the inhabitants of the mountains; but afterwards, when they sinned, they were not able to extirpate the inhab- former. This will account for the itants of the plain country, because | fact, that what is here said of Benthey had chariots of iron.' 20. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, &c. We have little doubt that the true design of inserting this verse in this connexion is lost sight of, by the present mode of rendering. Let the verb be translated in the pluperfect tense, 'had given,' and the drift is obvious. It is as if the writer had said, ' Although they had some time before given Hebron to Caleb, and he had expelled thence the three gigantic sons of Anak, who were deemed the most formidable and invinci- | ble of all the old inhabitants of Canaan, and though his success ought to have been regarded as a pledge and earnest of their own, let the opposing power have been what it might, yet notwithstanding this precedent, they ignobly failed in the 21. The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites. Jerusalem was situated partly in the tribe of Judah, and partly in that of Benjamin; the northern part belonging to the latter tribe, the southern to the jamin, is, in Josh. 15. 63, said of Judah. It was owing to the most culpable remissness on the part of the tribe of Benjamin that these Jebusites were not expelled from their strong-hold. As the Jebusites dwelt in Jerusalem till the days of David, and the author of this book states them to have been in possession of Jerusalem when he wrote, therefore this book was certainly written before the reign of David, or before the date of his capture of that part of the city. 22. The house of Joseph-went up. That is, the tribe of Ephraim, as ap pears from the contrary affirmation respecting Manasseh.- ¶ The Lord was with them. Another mode of saying that they were eminently successful in the expedition. The pre d mercy. 23 And the house of Joseph the city, and we will show thee sent to descry Beth-el. Now the name of the city before was Luz. 24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into c Josh. 2. 1, and 7. 2. ch. 18. 2. d Gen. 28. 19. sence of God with us in our conflicts is the strongest assurance of triumph. Chal. The Word of the Lord was their Helper;' i. e. Christ. The 25 And when he showed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword: but they let go the man and all his family. e Josh. 2. 12, 14. This confirms the opinion that the Israelites might spare the lives of such Canaanites as either submitted to become bondmen and renounced idolatry, or emigrated into other regions, as was the case with this inSee on 23. Sent to descry Bethel. Heb. sent to descry, or explore in Bethel.' That is, in the region or tract imme- | dividual and his family. diately surrounding the city. Josh. 11. 19. primary sense of the original is to 25. And when he showed them the enmake a circuit, especially with a view trance, &c. We do not feel preparto spy, explore, or reconnoitre. From ed with Adam Clarke to pronounce this the native import of the word, the conduct of this man ‘execrable, and from the term made use of in taken in whatever light we choose,' the next verse to designate the per- without knowing more of the real sons in question, there is little doubt motives by which he was actuated that the language implies the con- in giving the intelligence he did. It stant employment of a number of per- is possible he might have done it sons in this service, their being ap- from the conviction that 'the Lord pointed to keep steadily on the watch. was with them,' and that by his gift We cannot otherwise account for the the land was theirs of right, and then use of the particle in.' T Luz. the same reasons which justified RaSee on Gen. 28. 19. hab in entertaining those whom she 24. And the spies saw a man, &c. | knew to be the enemies of her counHeb. 2 hashshomerim, the guards, the watchmen; implying that there was a stationary watch placed in the vicinity of the city to observe its movements, to note if any came out, and to apprehend them. - Show us—the entrance into the city. Not the gate, the common avenue, which there could be no difficulty in finding, but some weak point, where an entrance could be effected with least danger and difficulty. We will show thee mercy. try, but the friends of God, would justify him. Yet the fact that he did not, when set at liberty, like Rahab, unite his interests with the worshippers of Jehovah, but retired to his countrymen in another region, argues against him, and leads us rather to infer, that he was influenced more by fear than by faith in acting the part of an informer. In that case we are not called to pass judgment on his conduct at all, but leave him in the hands of Him who knows bet 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day. 27 ¶ Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. 29 T Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 T Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among i them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of 28 And it came to pass when Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Israel was strong, that they put | Rehob: f Josh. 17. 11, 12, 13. ter than we do how to discriminate between the claims of allegiance to one's country and of the principle of self-preservation. 26. Went into the land of the Hittites. Probably some place without the bounds of the promised land, perhaps in Arabia, where Josephus mentions a city called Lussa (Luz.) Antiq. B. 14. ch. 2. The man himself was perhaps a Hittite, and to perpetuate the name of his city, he called the new one, which he now founded, after the ancient name of Bethel. g Josh. 16. 10. 1 Kings 9. 16. h Josh. 19. 15. i Josh. 19. 24–30. remarkable and very expressive phraseology, see on Josh. 17. 12. 28. When Israel was strong. &c. The fact of their ability aggravated the crime of their neglect, and it is probably with a view to intimate this, that the circumstance of their becoming strong is mentioned. Thus their sin prepared its own punishment, and the love of present ease became the source of perpetual disquiet in after times. Thus shall we ever fare by neglecting present opportunities, through sinful self-indulgence and failing to bring under our enemies when they are in our power. See on Josh. 17. 13. 27. Neither did Manasseh drive out. That is, possess by dispossess ing, the true sense of the original, as 29. The Canaanites dwelt among already remarked, v. 19. On the them. Intimating, perhaps, that they situation of Beth-shean, and the allowed them a quiet settlement and other towns recited here, see on Josh. | indulged them in the privileges of an 17. 11.—¶ And her towns. Heb. unconquered people, not even making them tributary. benothëhâ, her daughters, i. e. her dependent places, her adjacent villages.- - The Canaanites would dwell in that land. On this 32. The Asherites divelt among the Canaanites. As it is not usual to say of a larger number that it dwells k 32 But the Asherites dwelt suffer them to come down to among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land for they the valley: 35 But the 35 But the Amorites would did not drive them out. dwell in mount Heres in Aija33 'Neither did Naphtali drive lon, and Shaalbim: yet the out the inhabitants of Beth-she- hand of the house of Joseph mesh, nor the inhabitants of prevailed, so that they became Beth-anath; but he dwelt tributaries. m among the Canaanites, the in- 36 And the coast of the Amohabitants of the land: neverthe-rites was from the going up to less, the inhabitants of Beth-she- Akrabbim, from the rock, and mesh and of Beth-anath "became upward it was not surprising that the Amorites were such a formidable enemy to Israel, when it is considered that they were a powerful and numerous race, inhabiting a territory that extended from the southern limits of Canaan (Akrabbim, Josh. 15. 3), and even from beyond the city of the Rock (Petra), northwest-ward as far as to Mount Heres.. 34. The Amorites forced the child-verse seems to be to intimate that ren of Dan into the mountain. That is, into the mountainous parts of their lot. Would not suffer them to come down to the valley. To the lower country, or the plains, probably by reason of their iron chariots. 35. Would dwell in mount Heres, &c. Not content with the possession of the valleys, they in three instances at least made themselves for a while masters of the mountains, but this portion of them, by the seasonable assistance of the descendants 1. An angel of the Lord. As the of Joseph, were checked in their pro-word 'angel,' in its primary import, gress, confined within narrower lim- is a term of office equivalent to mesits, and compelled to pay tribute. senger, the Jews for the most part But the Danites, as a whole, were are of the opinion that it here de CHAPTER II. Bochim, and said, I made you | brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and therefore there was a particular propriety in his appearing now to the people, to inquire, Why they had not carried his orders into effect? and to threaten them that he would fight for them no longer. Besides, at Gilgal the people had renewed the ordinance of circumcision and the passover, in which they had consecrated themselves to God afresh, and engaged to serve him as his redeemed people. In coming therefore as from Gilgal, the Angel upbraided them with their base ingratitude, reminded them of their solemn engagements, and humbled them the more for their violation of them.- -T To Bochim. Heb. 'the weepers.' Gr. davoμwves, to go up out of Egypt, and have notes a prophet sent by God as a messenger, and that messenger they suppose to have been Phinehas, the high-priest, who was commissioned on this occasion to deliver the ensuing solemn reproof to Israel. This is indeed possible, but the more probable opinion we take to be, that it was neither a human prophet nor a created angel, but the Son of God himself, he who is so frequently styled, in the Scriptures, the Angel of the covenant.' The evidence of this is found in what he immediately goes on to say of himself;-' I made you to go up out of Egypt,' &c. Who but Jehovah himself could or would adopt such language as this? It was not a creature that brought | bewailings; so called by anticipation the Israelites out of Egypt; but Jehovah. It was not a creature that made a covenant with them; but Jehovah. It was not a creature to whom they were accountable for their disobedience, and whose displeasure they had so much reason to dread; but Jehovah. As to the circumstance of his being said to 'come up' from Gilgal, which is supposed to militate against this interpretation, it rather confirms it; for it was in Gilgal, near to Jericho, that this same divine person had appeared to Joshua as an armed warrior. That he was Jehovah cannot be doubted, because he suffered Joshua to worship him, and even commanded him to put off his shoes from his feet, inasmuch as the ground on which he stood was, by reason of his presence, rendered holy. In his conversation with Joshua he had called himself the 'Captain of the Lord's host,' and from the weeping and lamentation, |