Joshua 10:33

Jos 10:33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.

Ver. 33. Then Horam king of Gezer.] Whereof read 1Ch 14:16. It lay near to Lachish, and sped the worse for its neighbourhood: as did Hamath for Damascus. {Zec 9:2}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 33. Horam king of Gezer] It is likely that Horam was in a state of alliance with the king of Lachish, and therefore came to his assistance as soon as it appeared that he was likely to be attacked. Joshua probably sent a detachment against him, before he was able to form a junction with the forces of Lachish; and utterly destroyed him and his army.

Gezer is supposed to have been situated near Azotus. See 1Mac 16:34. It fell to the tribe of Ephraim, Jos 16:3, but was probably taken afterwards by some of the remnant of the Canaanitish nations; for we find it was given by Pharaoh to his son-in-law Solomon, 1Kg 9:16, which proves that it had got out of the possession of the Israelites previously to the days of Solomon.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(33) Gezer is identified as Tell-Jezer or Tel-el-Jezar, about four miles from Amwâs or Emmaus.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. Then Horam] His city lay at no great distance from Lachish.

Gezer] or, as it is called later, Gazara (2Ma_10:32), Gadara (Jos. Ant. 5:1:22), was an ancient city of Canaan. It was afterwards allotted with its suburbs to the Kohathite Levites (Jos_21:21; 1Ch_6:67); but the original inhabitants were not dispossessed (Jdg_1:29), and even down to the reign of Solomon the Canaanites were still dwelling there, and paying tribute to Israel (1Ki_9:16). Its site has lately been identified with Tel el Jezar, about four miles from Amwâs, on the road to Ramlah and Lydd. “The position of the Levitical city of Gezer (Jos_12:12; 1Ch_6:67; Jdg_1:29), which Pharaoh gave to his daughter—Solomon’s queen—as a dowry, has been a subject of prolonged controversy. M. Clermont Ganneau discovered the ancient site, with the very name itself still lingering on the spot. Not only that, but he found the Levitical boundaries. In no other case have these been found. They were cut in the rock itself—not on movable stones—in two separate places, in Greek and square Hebrew characters, signifying the ‘boundary of Gezer.’ The date seems to be Maccabean.” (Quarterly Statement of the “Palestine Exploration Fund,” 1874.)

and Joshua smote him] Joshua seems to have been content with repulsing his attack, slaying the king, and inflicting a severe defeat upon his people. Gezer itself lay too far northward of his present line of operations to justify its capture.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon,.... Which, according to Bunting (f), was eight miles from Lachish, and twelve from Jerusalem southward, of which see Jos 10:5,

and all Israel with him, and they encamped against it, and fought against it; it not surrendering at once, but attempted to hold out a siege.

(f) Ut supra. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 96.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Gezer lies on the southern border of the tribe of Ephraim Jos 16:3. It was considerably to the northward of Joshua’s present line of operations, and does not appear to have been captured at this time. He contented himself for the present with repulsing the attack made upon him, killed Horam (compare Jos 12:12), inflicting a severe defeat upon his people, and then continued to pursue his conquests over the confederated kings and their allies in south Canaan.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Gazer, near Azotus, in the country of the Philistines. It is not said that Josue took this city. It was given long after to Solomon by the king of Egypt, 3 Kings ix. 15., and Josue xvi. 10. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Gezer; either that in Ephraim, of which Jos 16:3; Jdg 1:29; but that seems too remote from the other places; or rather, that in Judah, which was near Lachish, 1Ch 14:16, whose king therefore was more capable, and more obliged to help them for his own sake.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

33. Horam, like the other ill-fated kings mentioned in this chapter, has left no other record. Gezer must have been between the Lower Beth-horon and the sea. It does not seem to have been destroyed by Joshua. Some identify it with the village Jazur, four or five miles east of Joppa, but this is uncertain. [It was an important city of the Caaaanites, and fell within the borders of Ephraim, (Jos_16:3,) but that tribe failed to drive out the original inhabitants. Jdg_1:19. Subsequently Pharaoh, king of Egypt, captured it, slew its Canaanitish inhabitants, and presented it to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. Pharaoh burned the city, but Solomon rebuilt and fortified Joshua 2 :1Ki_9:16-17.]

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Horam king of Gezer. It is remarkable that, as Gezer lay somewhat out of the line of march, Joshua did not capture it. Accordingly, in spite of the alleged carelessness of our compiler, who is credited with having put together shreds of the various narratives in the most perfunctory manner, he takes care to add (Jos_16:10) that the inhabitants of Gezer were not driven out. In like manner, with the single exception of Hebron, the people of which must have at once chosen another king, he carefully omits the mention of the king in the cities which had lost their kings in the battle before Gibeon. See also note on ver. 32. Thus a careful examination of the narrative puts the care and accuracy of the history very carefully before us. With regard to the situation of Gezer, it has been accurately determined by the Palestine Exploration Society. The Levitical boundaries, with Greek and Hebrew inscriptions, signifying the boundary of Gezer, have been discovered by M. Ganneau (see "Quarterly Paper" for October, 1874). Tell el Jezer was first identified by M. Ganneau with Gezer. Continuing his researches, he found on a slab of rock nearly horizontal and very nearly two inches in length a bilingual inscription, in Greek and Hebrew, signifying the limit of Gezer (rzg Since the inscription is Greek and Talmudical in its character (the word has not the signification of "limit" in the Hebrew Scriptures) it must, in spite of the early form of the letters, belong to a period long subsequent to the Babylonish captivity. M. Ganneau suggests the Maccabean period. (See below) But it is, no doubt, the result of a remeasurement in accordance with the rules laid down in Num_35:5. Some have supposed the above to have been designed to fix the limit of the sabbath day"s journey. But it is more probable that it served as a boundary between the Levitical and the tribal territory, the more especially as the words are so placed as to be read by one entering the town. It was a Levitical city, (Jos_21:21 1Ch_6:67) or at least assigned to the Levites; but Jud 1:29 shows that the Canaanitish population lived on with the Levites. It may have been the nondescript character of the population that caused it to fall an easy prey to Pharaoh; (1Ki_9:16, where note that the Canaanites had never been driven out) but when Solomon espoused his daughter he restored Gezer to Israel. Under the same name Gazara it plays a conspicuous part in the wars of the Maccabees. (RAPC 1Ma 9:52 2Ma 10:32) From the latter passage we learn that it was "a very strong hold." It retains its old name, being now known as Tell el Jezer.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Horam

This is the name of a man who is an important king. (See: How to Translate Names)

Gezer ... Lachish

These are the names of cities. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

king

Joshua

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.