Commentaria in Josue
Chapter 11. Synopsis of the Chapter
Josue overcomes in battle Jabin, the most powerful king of Asor, with the kings confederate with him, and subjugates almost the whole of Chanaan, and so ceases from battles. Thus far we have heard of Josue’s southern war; now we shall hear of the northern; for having subdued the southern Chanaan, he now turns his arms to the northern.
1. Now when Jabin king of Asor had heard these things, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Semeron, and to the king of Achsaph, 2. and to the kings of the north, that dwelt in the mountains, and in the plain over against the south side of Ceneroth, and in the flats, and the countries of Dor by the sea side; 3. to the Chanaanite also on the east and on the west, and the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Jebusite in the mountains: and to the Hevite that dwelt at the foot of Hermon in the land of Maspha. 4. And they came out with all their troops, a people exceeding numerous as the sand that is on the sea shore, and horses and chariots a very great multitude: 5. and all these kings met together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. 6. And the Lord said to Josue: Fear them not: for to morrow at this same hour I will deliver all these to be slain in the sight of Israel: thou shalt hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. 7. And Josue came, and all the army with him, against them suddenly to the waters of Merom, and they fell upon them. 8. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel. And they smote them, and chased them as far as the great Sidon, and the waters of Maserephoth, and the plain of Masphe, which is on the east side thereof: he so smote them all as to leave no remains of them: 9. and he did as the Lord had commanded him: he hamstrung their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire. 10. And turning back at once, he took Asor, and slew the king thereof with the sword: for Asor of old was the head of all these kingdoms. 11. And he cut off all the souls that abode there: he left not in it any remains, but utterly destroyed all, and the city itself he consumed with fire. 12. And all the cities round about, and the kings of them he took, and smote, and destroyed, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded him. 13. Except the cities that were situate on hills and tops, the rest Israel burnt: only Asor, that was very strong, was consumed with flames. 14. And the children of Israel divided among themselves all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, all the men being slain. 15. As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Josue, and he accomplished all: he omitted nothing of all the commandments, not so much as one word, which the Lord had commanded Moses. 16. So Josue took all the hill country, and the south, and the land of Gosen, and the plains, and the west quarter, and the mountain of Israel, and the plains thereof: 17. and part of the mountain that goeth up to Seir, as far as Baalgad, by the plain of Libanus under mount Hermon: all their kings he took, smote, and slew. 18. Josue made war a long time against these kings. 19. There was not a city that delivered itself to the children of Israel, except the Hevite who dwelt in Gabaon: for he took all by fighting. 20. For it was the sentence of the Lord that their hearts should be hardened, and they should fight against Israel, and fall, and not deserve any clemency, and be destroyed, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 21. At that time Josue came, and cut off the Enacims from the mountains, from Hebron, and Dabir, and Anab, and from all the mountain of Juda and Israel, and destroyed their cities. 22. He left not any of the race of the Enacims in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, and Geth, and Azotus were they left. 23. So Josue took the whole land, as the Lord spoke to Moses, and gave it in possession to the children of Israel, according to their divisions and tribes: and the land rested from wars.
1. JABIN KING OF ASOR.—Asor was the metropolis of all Chanaan, holding the primacy among all its kingdoms: it fell to the tribe of Nephthali: it is distant from Caesarea Philippi six miles, from the Mediterranean sea nine. So Adrichomius, from Josephus and others.
2. OVER AGAINST THE SOUTH SIDE OF CENEROTH,—that is, to the south of the lake of Genesareth, which by another name is called the sea of Tiberias or of Galilee.
4. A PEOPLE EXCEEDING NUMEROUS, AS THE SAND THAT IS ON THE SEA SHORE,—that is, a great and innumerable multitude of men. For it is a hyperbole common in Scripture, serving to amplify the victory and at the same time to commend the fruitfulness of the promised land (as one that could feed so great a multitude). Josephus, book 5 of the Antiquities, chapter 1, asserts that there were three hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse and two thousand chariots.
6. TO BE SLAIN.—Others translate: to be killed; the Hebrew challim signifies both, and both were done here; for God had commanded all the Chanaanites to be slain.
THOU SHALT HAMSTRING THEIR HORSES,—that is, thou shalt cut the sinews of the horses, or the hocks or legs, so that they may be rendered useless, lest thou use them hereafter in war, and place confidence in them, neglecting me. For on this account the abundance of horses was disapproved by God and forbidden to the Hebrews, Deuteronomy 17:16; Psalm 146:10; Psalm 19:8. See what is said on Exodus 14:13. For the same reason he commanded the chariots to be burnt: but the rest of the spoil, of camels, asses, oxen, sheep, etc., he permitted the Hebrews to enjoy. So Abulensis, Masius, Arias, Vatablus. See what is said on Exodus 14:13.
Tropologically Origen: When fighting with the demon, he says, we must needs snatch his arms from him: we hamstring the horse, therefore, when we break the wanton body by fasting: for the body is as a wanton horse, on which the mind sits as rider and presides, to tame it, and with the whip of discipline, as a charioteer, to guide and rule it.
8. AS FAR AS THE GREAT SIDON,—not that there was another, lesser Sidon; but that Sidon, neighbouring Tyre, had the surname great. For Sidon was celebrated by all for the industry of its artisans, the abundance of ships and sailors, and above all the convenience of its harbour. It was called Sidon from Sidon, the son of Chanaan, its founder, as Josephus will have it, book 1 of the Antiquities, chapter 6, and St. Jerome in the Questions on Genesis; or, as Justin, book 18 of the History, Strabo, book 12, and others say, from the abundance of fish. For the Phoenicians call a fish sid (which in Hebrew signifies to hunt); whence today also Sidon is commonly called by the Turks and Syrians Said, or Saida. This is a city in Phoenicia, and so seems once to have been the metropolis of Phoenicia: whence in Isaias 23:12, Tyre, so renowned for merchandise, wealth and power, is called the daughter of Sidon. It is situated on the shore of the Mediterranean sea under Antilibanus. So Masius.
AND THE WATERS OF MASEREPHOTH.—In Hebrew misrephot mayim, that is, the burnings of waters, or, as Masius translates, the smelting-houses of waters; or, as others, burnings or fires of waters; the Zurich version, heatings of waters: by which Vatablus and R. David understand hot waters, such as are at Aachen at the baths. Others understand salt-works, because there the water drawn from the sea through channels, boiled by the rays of the sun and as it were burnt up, hardened into salt. So the Chaldean, Lyranus, R. Solomon, Adrichomius and others. Third, Masius understands glass-furnaces: for the sand, baked and melted by the force of fire, from which glass is made, is here called water: for anything liquid is at times called water.
10. FOR ASOR OF OLD WAS THE HEAD OF ALL THESE KINGDOMS.
Hence it is clear that Asor was the metropolis of Chanaan, as I said on verse 1, and therefore that Jabin, king of Asor, had not only as confederates all these kings and cities of Chanaan that are here named, but also as subject to himself as to a prince.
11. HE LEFT NOT ANY REMAINS.—That some, however, escaped by flight, either then or before, who, a little after the death of Josue, recovered strength, restored cities, and made new kings for themselves, who vexed and afflicted the Hebrews, is plain from Judges 4:2, where after 130 years Jabin, king of Asor, is said to have ruled over the Hebrews for twenty years. Whence it is probable that Jabin was a common name of the kings of Asor, as the common name of the kings of Egypt was Pharao, then Ptolemy, and the name of the kings of Syria was Antiochus. So Masius. A like thing happened in the case of the Madianites, who, cut off by Moses, Numbers 31, grew up again, and again made war on the Israelites. Whence they were laid low by Gedeon, Judges 6. So also the Hebronites, cut off by Josue, recovered strength and the city of Hebron, and were conquered by Caleb, as is plain from verse 21, comparing Judges 1:10.
Moreover Procopius, book 4 On the Vandal War, and from him Evagrius, book 4 of the History, chapter 17, assert that many of the Chanaanites, seeing that they could not resist Josue, fled from Chanaan into Egypt, Libya and Africa, and there built new cities; and some also, the Rabbis relate, and especially Aben Ezra, reached Germany and other provinces of Europe, and from them Genebrard in his Chronicle.
13. EXCEPT THE CITIES THAT WERE SITUATE ON HILLS, THE REST ISRAEL BURNT.—In Hebrew, only the cities which were on their hills, he did not burn. Whence our interpreter rightly infers, and asserts, that the other cities, which were not on hills, were burnt by Josue. Cities are said to be situate on hills which are in a more eminent place, or on hillocks, and are therefore fortified by the nature of the place. Whence Theodoret, the Chaldean and Vatablus translate, strong cities; Masius, fortified with mounds. The sense is as if to say: Josue burnt the unfortified cities, because he feared lest, when he departed, they should be again occupied by the Chanaanite enemies, since he had too few soldiers to secure with a strong garrison all the cities he captured; but he did not burn the cities fortified on hills, as those which he could easily hold and defend with a small garrison, except, however, the city of Asor, which was the head and metropolis of the others; this he burnt up, because if it had remained whole it would have been a continual occasion of war, the Chanaanites being perpetually intent and on watch to recover this royal city and claim it for themselves. So Abulensis.
16. AND THE MOUNTAIN OF ISRAEL.—You will ask, what mountain is this? Masius and Arias think that the mountainous places about Samaria are here called the mountain. For the mountain of Samaria was called the mountain of Israel, after the ten tribes, making a schism from Juda and King Roboam, appropriated to themselves the name of Israel, and made Samaria the head of their kingdom, and created Jeroboam their king. Hence Masius gathers that this book was written not by Josue, but long after him, from the diaries left by Josue.
Others by the mountain of Israel understand Mount Sion, on which the temple was built, so that on account of the temple it is by antonomasia called the mountain of Israel. Others take Mount Bethel, where Jacob, who by another name was called Israel, saw the ladder stretching from earth to heaven, and God leaning on the ladder, and received from him the promise of Chanaan to be possessed by his descendants, Genesis 28:12. Others with Cajetan and Salianus understand Mount Garizim, or one like it near Sichem, situated in the field which Jacob had bought there, Genesis 33:19.
17. AND PART OF THE MOUNTAIN THAT GOETH UP TO SEIR,—that is, into Idumea. Our interpreter translates rightly, if in the Hebrew you change the modern points substituted by the Rabbis, and instead of he-halak read ha-heleq, that is, this part. Aquila also, the Chaldean and Vatablus translate the mountain of division, that is, divided and dividing, because it divides Chanaan and separates it from Idumea. More recent writers with Symmachus and Masius translate halaq, that is smooth, polished, bald, that is, bare and without trees. The Septuagint retained the Hebrew name as a proper name.
18. JOSUE MADE WAR A LONG TIME AGAINST THESE KINGS.—Josephus, book 5 of the Antiquities, chapter 1, asserts that Josue subdued Chanaan in five years. It is truer that he did so in seven years, at least begun. For the chronologers of the Hebrews expressly relate this in the Seder Olam, and also Theodoret, Abulensis, Masius, Serarius, Tornielli and others, and it is sufficiently gathered from the years of Caleb, chapter 14:7, as I shall show there.
19. THERE WAS NOT A CITY THAT WOULD NOT DELIVER ITSELF,—Correct this with the Roman text: that delivered itself. For in Hebrew it is: that made peace, or offered it, or accepted it when offered. For the Rabbis relate, and Masius follows them, that Josue offered peace to each city of Chanaan, but all refused peace, because they would not undergo the condition of peace, namely subjection and servitude to the Hebrews. Others, however, deny that Josue offered them peace, because God willed all to be slain. For the place Deuteronomy 20:10, where it is commanded that peace be offered to hostile cities, is ambiguous and doubtful, as to whether it pertains only to foreigners or also to the Chanaanites.
20. FOR IT WAS THE SENTENCE OF THE LORD THAT THEIR HEARTS SHOULD BE HARDENED, THEIR HEARTS.—In Hebrew, it was from the Lord that they should harden their heart. So Masius. The Chanaanites themselves, therefore, hardened themselves so as to refuse to make a pact with the Hebrews; it was not, as Calvin says here, God himself, who had commanded pardon to be denied the Chanaanites, who drove them into blind fury, lest they should give place to mercy. Yet this was done by the sentence and judgment of the Lord, on account of their nefarious crimes; done, I say, not actively and impulsively, but permissively and objectively: by that providence, namely, which the most holy majesty of God has concerning sins: what and how great it is I have explained on Exodus 7:3.
From this it is gathered that, if the Chanaanites had sought peace from Josue and the Hebrews, and being penitent had wished to pass over with the Hebrews into the chaste worship of the one true God, God would have revoked his decree about slaying them, or rather would have declared that it did not include penitent Chanaanites, but only the impenitent and those hardened in their impiety. So Abulensis, Masius and others.
21. HE CUT OFF THE ENACIMS,—that is, the giants, descendants of the giant Enac.
It is asked how Josue destroyed the giants and their cities Hebron, Dabir and Anab, when after the death of Josue Caleb and Othoniel did so, as I have said. Abulensis, Question 85, answers that there is here an anticipation, and that what he began, but his successors completed, is here attributed to Josue. Masius answers better that both happened: that the giants were partly slain and partly driven out by Josue from Hebron, Dabir and Anab when he ran victorious through those cities; but that those driven out and fugitives, who had escaped the hands of Josue, fled and betook themselves to Gaza, Geth and Azotus, which were cities of the Philistines. Whence after the death of Josue, their strength being regained, they recovered the seats of their forefathers, namely Hebron, Dabir and Anab, and occupied them again until at length they were utterly destroyed by Caleb and Othoniel. The following verse hints at this.
Moreover Enacim in Hebrew is the same as torquati, adorned with the torque or collar. So among the Romans Manlius was surnamed Torquatus, because he had taken a torque from a Gaul in battle. Moreover, golden torques were wont to be given to soldiers by the emperors for a deed bravely done: whence those were called torquati who were of two kinds, simple and double. Vegetius, book 2: The torquati, he says, were double or simple, to whom a solid golden torque was the reward of valour: and he who had deserved it sometimes obtained, for his praise, two rations, the double ones two, the simple one. But those knights ought today to be called torquati who are commonly called cochleati, whom our King has distinguished with his own royal badge, and who are said to wear the royal order. So Budaeus. So the Rabbis relate that these warlike giants filled and adorned their vast bodies with torques. For the Enacim were colossal giants and monsters of men.
23. SO JOSUE TOOK THE WHOLE LAND—of Chanaan. “Whole,” that is, the better part and as it were the whole; for he left few things untouched; or “whole,” namely that which he attempted by war, which he wished to approach and storm: for he approached none which he did not storm, as God had promised him, chapter 1, verse 3. Some cities, however, in Chanaan he did not approach, and left untouched, as Gaza, Geth, Azotus and the other cities of the Philistines, and likewise Tyre, Sidon and the other cities of Phoenicia, which nevertheless were contained within the compass of the land promised by God to the Hebrews. Why he did so I shall give the reasons on Judges 1:21.
ACCORDING TO THEIR DIVISIONS AND TRIBES.—The conjunction signifies “that is,” as if to say: According to their parts, that is, according to their tribes. In Hebrew, according to their divisions, by their tribes, that is, as the Hebrews were divided and apportioned by their tribes.
AND THE LAND RESTED,—that is, the inhabitants of the land, being either slain or suppressed and subdued by Josue, made no war upon Israel. So Arias, Vatablus and others.