29 and the border turned to Ramah, and to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah; and the goings out of it were at the sea by the region of Achzib;
Asher didn't drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob;
Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house.
The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. On great waters the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the market of nations. Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins. When the report comes to Egypt, they shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass over to Tarshish; wail, you inhabitants of the coast. Is this your joyous [city], whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her afar off to sojourn? Who has purposed this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? Yahweh of hosts has purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. Pass through your land as the Nile, daughter of Tarshish; there is no restraint any more. He has stretched out his hand over the sea, he has shaken the kingdoms: Yahweh has given commandment concerning Canaan, to destroy the strongholds of it. He said, You shall no more rejoice, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon: arise, pass over to Kittim; even there shall you have no rest. Behold, the land of the Chaldeans: this people was not; the Assyrian founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness; they set up their towers; they overthrew the palaces of it; they made it a ruin. Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste. It shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it shall be to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute. Take a harp, go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered. It shall happen after the end of seventy years, that Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth. Her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to Yahweh: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for those who dwell before Yahweh, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
It happened in the eleventh year, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken: the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste: therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh; and she shall become a spoil to the nations. Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Yahweh. For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people. He shall kill with the sword your daughters in the field; and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you. He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets; he shall kill your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground. They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters. I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard. I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall be built no more: for I Yahweh have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre: shall not the isles shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you? Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at you. They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, How are you destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there! Now shall the isles tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at your departure. For thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you, and the great waters shall cover you; then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living: I will make you a terror, and you shall no more have any being; though you are sought for, yet shall you never be found again, says the Lord Yahweh.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 19
Commentary on Joshua 19 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 19
Jos 19:1-9. The Lot of Simeon.
1. the second lot came forth to Simeon—The next lot that was drawn at Shiloh, gave the tribe of Simeon his inheritance within the territory, which had been assigned to that of Judah. The knowledge of Canaan possessed by the Israelites, when the division of the land commenced, was but very general, being derived from the rapid sweep they had made over it during the course of conquest; and it was on the ground of that rough survey alone that the distribution proceeded, by which Judah received an inheritance. Time showed that this territory was too large (Jos 19:9), either for their numbers, however great, to occupy and their arms to defend, or too large in proportion to the allotments of the other tribes. Justice therefore required (what kind and brotherly feeling readily dictated) a modification of their possession; and a part of it was appropriated to Simeon. By thus establishing it within the original domain of another tribe, the prophecy of Jacob in regard to Simeon was fulfilled (Ge 49:7); for from its boundaries being not traced, there is reason to conclude that its people were divided and dispersed among those of Judah; and though one group of its cities named (Jos 19:2-6), gives the idea of a compact district, as it is usually represented by map makers, the other group (Jos 19:7, 8) were situated, two in the south, and two elsewhere, with tracts of the country around them.
Jos 19:10-16. Of Zebulun.
10-14. the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun—The boundaries of the possession assigned to them extended from the Lake of Chinnereth (Sea of Galilee) on the east, to the Mediterranean on the west. Although they do not seem at first to have touched on the western shore—a part of Manasseh running north into Asher (Jos 17:10)—they afterwards did, according to the prediction of Moses (De 33:19). The extent from north to south cannot be very exactly traced; the sites of many of the places through which the boundary line is drawn being unknown. Some of the cities were of note.
Jos 19:17-23. Of Issachar.
17-20. the fourth lot came out to Issachar—Instead of describing the boundaries of this tribe, the inspired historian gives a list of its principal cities. These cities are all in the eastern part of the plain of Esdraelon.
Jos 19:24-31. Of Asher.
24-31. the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher—The western boundary is traced from north to south through the cities mentioned; the site of them, however, is unknown.
26. to Carmel … and to Shihor-libnath—that is, the "black" or "muddy river"; probably the Nahr Belka, below Dor (Tantoura); for that town belonged to Asher (Jos 17:10). Thence the boundary line turned eastward to Beth-dagon, a town at the junction of Zebulun and Naphtali, and ran northwards as far as Cabul, with other towns, among which is mentioned (Jos 19:28) "great Zidon," so called on account of its being even then the flourishing metropolis of the Phœnicians. Though included in the inheritance of Asher, this town was never possessed by them (Jud 1:31).
29. and then the coast turneth to Ramah—now El-Hamra, which stood where the Leontes (Litany) ends its southern course and flows westward.
and to the strong city Tyre—The original city appears to have stood on the mainland, and was well-fortified. From Tyre the boundary ran to Hosah, an inland town; and then, passing the unconquered district of Achzib (Jud 1:31), terminated at the seacoast.
Jos 19:32-39. Of Naphtali.
32-39. the sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali—Although the cities mentioned have not been discovered, it is evident, from Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh, that is, on the northwest of Lake Merom (Jud 4:11), that the boundary described (Jos 19:34) ran from the southwest towards the northeast, up to the sources of the Jordan.
34. Aznoth-tabor—on the east of Tabor towards the Jordan, for the border ran thence to Hukkok, touching upon that of Zebulun; and as the territory of Zebulun did not extend as far as the Jordan, Aznoth-tabor and Hukkok must have been border towns on the line which separated Naphtali from Issachar.
to Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising—The sixty cities, Havoth-jair, which were on the eastern side of the Jordan, opposite Naphtali, were reckoned as belonging to Judah, because Jair, their possessor, was a descendant of Judah (1Ch 2:4-22) [Keil].
Jos 19:40-48. Of Dan.
40-46. the seventh lot came out for the tribe … Dan—It lay on the west of Benjamin and consisted of portions surrendered by Judah and Ephraim. Its boundaries are not stated, as they were easily distinguishable from the relative position of Dan to the three adjoining tribes.
47. the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem—The Danites, finding their inheritance too small, decided to enlarge its boundaries by the sword; and, having conquered Leshem (Laish), they planted a colony there, calling the new settlement by the name of Dan (see on Jud 18:7).
Jos 19:49-51. The Children of Israel Give an Inheritance to Joshua.
50. According to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked—It was most proper that the great leader should receive an inheritance suited to his dignity, and as a reward for his public services. But the gift was not left to the spontaneous feelings of a grateful people. It was conferred "according to the word of the Lord"—probably an unrecorded promise, similar to what had been made to Caleb (Jos 14:9).
Timnath-serah—or Heres, on Mount Gaash (Jud 2:9). Joshua founded it, and was afterwards buried there (Jos 24:30).
51. These are the inheritances—This verse is the formal close of the section which narrates the history of the land distribution; and to stamp it with due importance, the names of the commissioners are repeated, as well as the spot where so memorable a transaction took place.