Matthew Henry on Joshua 12:7–end
We have here a breviate of Joshua's conquests.
I. The limits of the country he conquered. It lay between Jordan on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and extended from Baal-gad near Lebanon in the north to Halak, which lay upon the country of Edom in the south, v. 7. The boundaries are more largely described, Num 34:2, etc. But what is here said is enough to show that God had been as good as his word, and had given them possession of all he had promised them by Moses, if they would but have kept it.
II. The various kinds of land that were found in this country, which contributed both to its pleasantness and to its fruitfulness, Jos 12:8. There were mountains, not craggy, and roc…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 12:7
THE ONE AND THIRTY KINGS ON THE WEST SIDE OF JORDAN, WHICH JOSHUA SMOTE. (Jos. 12:7-24)
Baal-gad . . . even unto . . . Halak--(See on Jos 11:17). A list of thirty-one chief towns is here given; and, as the whole land contained a superficial extent of only fifteen miles in length by fifty in breadth, it is evident that these capital cities belonged to petty and insignificant kingdoms. With a few exceptions, they were not the scenes of any important events recorded in the sacred history, and therefore do not require a particular notice.
Next: Joshua Chapter 13
Adam Clarke on Joshua 12:21
Taanach - A city in the half tribe of Manasseh, to the west of Jordan, not far from the frontiers of Zebulun, Jos 17:11. This city was assigned to the Levites, Jos 21:25.
John Gill on Joshua 12:21
The king of Taanach, one,.... It was in the tribe of Manasseh, Joshua 17:11; Jerom says (q), in his time it was a large village, distant from Legion on the plain of Esdraelon three miles:
the king of Megiddo, one; which belonged to the same tribe, Joshua 17:11; near this place were some waters where the Canaanites fought with the Israelites, Judges 5:19; and a valley where Josiah was slain, 2 Chronicles 35:22.
(q) De Loc. Heb. fol. 95. D.
