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 12:23
The king of Dor - The city of this name fell to the lot of the children of Manasseh, Jos 17:11. Bochart observes that it was one of the oldest royal cities in Phoenicia. The Canaanites held it, Jdg 1:27. Antiochus Sydetes besieged it in aftertimes, but could not make himself master of it. See Bochart, Canaan, lib. i., c. 28, and Dodd.
The king of the nations of Gilgal - This is supposed to mean the higher Galilee, surnamed Galilee of the Gentiles or, nations, as the Hebrew word גוים goyim means. On this ground it should be read king of Galilee of the nations. Others suppose it is the same country with that of which Tidal was king, see Gen 14:1. The place is very uncertain, and commentators h…
Read the whole note in the console
