Joshua 12:24

Jos 12:24. All the kings, thirty and one — It may seem strange to us that in so small a country there were so many kings; but in those ages kings were only petty princes, or lords of cities, which had a few villages depending on them. This appears by Jos 12:9, where we read of the king of Beth-el; which was so small a place, that he and the king of Ai, joined together, had but twelve thousand subjects, Jos 8:25. However, the conquering of so many cities and places, within so short a space of time, and with so little loss, showed that the Israelites were marvellously protected and assisted, and was an evidence to them, as it is to us all, of the truth of all God’s promises; and that they will certainly be accomplished, what obstacles soever there may be in the way of them. We here see the Israelites put in possession of that very country, and those very places, which God had promised ages before, to their pious ancestors, to give to their posterity, when they had not so much as a foot of land in any of these countries, and wandered about from place to place, having no possessions anywhere. This promise is not only once, but many times repeated, in books which we are certain were written many years before the Israelites came into possession of any part of the land, and when there was little likelihood of their obtaining it. And, therefore, their coming into actual possession of it, and with so little loss, is a very corroborating proof of the truth of those books which record the promises of God on this occasion; as the event so fully justified what they had recorded.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 24. King of Tirzah] This city appears to have been for a long time the capital of the kingdom of Israel, and the residence of its kings. See 1Kg 14:17; 1Kg 15:21; 1Kg 15:33. Its situation cannot be exactly ascertained; but it is supposed to have been situated on a mountain about three leagues south of Samaria.

All the kings thirty and one.] The Septuagint say εικοσι εννεα, twenty-nine, and yet set down but twenty-eight, as they confound or omit the kings of Beth-el, Lasharon, and Madon.

So many kings in so small a territory, shows that their kingdoms must have been very small indeed. The kings of Beth-el and Ai had but about 12,000 subjects in the whole; but in ancient times all kings had very small territories. Every village or town had its chief; and this chief was independent of his neighbours, and exercised regal power in his own district. In reading all ancient histories, as well as the Bible, this circumstance must be kept constantly in view; for we ought to consider that in those times both kings and kingdoms were but a faint resemblance of those now.

Great Britain, in ancient times, was divided into many kingdoms: in the time of the Saxons it was divided into seven, hence called the Saxon heptarchy. But when Julius Caesar first entered this island, he found four kings in Kent alone; Cingetorix, Carnilius, Taximagulus, and Segonax. Hence we need not wonder at the numbers we read of in the land of Canaan. Ancient Gaul was thus divided; and the great number of sovereign princes, secular bishops, landgraves, dukes, &c., &c., in Germany, are the modern remains of those ancient divisions.

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

24. Tirzah] Three miles from the city of Samaria, now called Tellûzah, of proverbial beauty. Son_6:4, “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah.” It was to Shechem afterwards “what Windsor is to London,” and became the residence of Jeroboam and his successors (1Ki_14:17). Here Zimri was besieged by Omri, and perished in the flames of his palace (1Ki_16:18).

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.

The king of Tirzah, one,.... To what tribe this place fell is nowhere said: Adrichomius (u) places it in the tribe of Manasseh; and so does Bunting (w), who says of it, that it was a fair and beautiful city, situated on a high and pleasant mountain, in the tribe of Manasseh, twenty four miles from Jerusalem to the north: here Jeroboam had his royal seat, and so his successors unto Omri, Kg1 14:17; and Dr Lightfoot (x) seems to suspect as if Shechem in Mount Ephraim and Tirzah were the same; for, he says, if Shechem and Tirzah were not one and the same town, it appears that Jeroboam had removed his court, when his son died, from where it was when he first erected his idols; compare Kg1 12:25, with Kg1 14:17; and so it may argue that there was some space between: it was, no doubt, a very pleasant and beautiful city, as not only appears from its name, but from the allusion to it in Sol 6:4,

all the kings thirty and one: it may seem strange that, in so small a country as Canaan was, there should be so many kings in it, since the length of it from Dan to Beersheba was scarce an hundred sixty miles, as Jerom (y) says; who further observes, that he was ashamed to give the breadth of it, lest it should give occasion to Heathens to blaspheme; for, adds he, from Joppa to our little village Bethlehem (where they then were) were forty six miles, to which succeeded only a vast desert: but it may be observed, that in ancient times, in other countries, there were a great many kings, as here in Britain, and in France, Spain, and Germany, as Bishop Patrick has observed from several writers; and Strabo (z) testifies the same of the cities of Phoenicia or Canaan, that they had each of them separate kings, as Joshua here describes them.

(u) Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 74. (w) Travels, &c. p. 160. (x) Works, vol. 1. p. 78. (y) Epist. Dardano, tom. 3. p. 22. I. K. (z) Geograph. l. 16. p. 519.

Next: Joshua Chapter 13

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

Thersa. Here the kings of Israel kept their court, till Amri built Samaria, (Calmet) about nine miles more to the north. (Brocard.) --- One. The two kings slain by Moses (Worthington) are not included. (Menochius)

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).

Each being confined to a narrow compass, and being king only of one city, or small province belonging to it, which was by the wise and singular providence of God, that they might be more easily and successively conquered by the Israelites one after another, as they were.

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

24. Tirzah is chiefly famous for having become at a later period the royal residence of the first kings of Israel. See 1Ki_14:17, note. Robinson identifies it with the modern Telluzah, a large village a few miles north of Shechem, in a sightly and commanding position, and surrounded by immense groves of olive trees.

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

Tirzah meets us as the residence of the kings of Israel for a time in the narrative in 1 Kings. Jeroboam"s wife went thither after her interview with Ahijah. (Jos_14:1-7) Baasha dwelt there, (Jos_15:21, 33 16:6) Elah was slain there by Zimri, (Jos_16:9, Jos_16:10) and it remained the capital until Omri built Samaria. (Jos_16:2-3)

Thenceforward we hear no more of it till the time of Menahem, (2Ki_15:14, 2Ki_15:16) when it disappears from history. It has been variously identified by Robinson and Yandevelde (whom Knobel follows) with Talluza, two hours journey north of Shechem; by Conder with Teiasu, where there are numerous rock sepulchres. It was a place of great beauty, if we may judge from Son_6:4, "Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem."

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

Thirty one - Each being king only of one city or small province belonging to it, which was by the wise and singular providence of God, that they might be more easily conquered. But what a fruitful land must Canaan then be, which could subsist so many kingdoms! And yet at this day it is one of the most barren and despicable countries in the world. Such is the effect of the curse it lies under, since its inhabitants rejected the Lord of glory!

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.