Joshua 13:25

Jos 13:25 And their coast was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that [is] before Rabbah;

Ver. 25. Half the land of the children of Ammon.] Which Sihon had taken from them. See Jdg 11:15 Num 21:6.

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.

All the cities of Gilead, i.e. all the cities of note and eminency; all cities properly so called, which it seems lay in that part of Gilead; and so this may well agree with Jos 13:25, where half the country of Gilead is said to be given to the Manassites; but there is no mention of any cities there.

Half the land of the children of Ammon; not of that which now was theirs, for that they were forbidden to meddle with, Deu 2:9, but of that which was anciently theirs, but taken from them by the Amorites, Num 21:26, from whom the Israelites took it, Jdg 11:15.

Unto Aroer, the border between them and Moab.

Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, 2Sa 11:1; 12:26,27.

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

Jos 13:25. All the cities of Gilead — All the cities of eminence; all the cities properly so called, which lay in that part of Gilead; and thus what is here assured may well agree with Jos 13:31, where half the country of Gilead is said to be given to the Manassites, for there is no mention of any cities being there. Half the land of the children of Ammon — Not of that which was now theirs, for that the Israelites were forbidden to meddle with; but of that which was anciently theirs, till taken from them by the Amorites, from whom the Israelites took it. Aroer — The border between them and Moab. Rabbah — The chief city of the Ammonites.

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

Verse 25. Half the land on the children of Ammon] This probably was land which had been taken from the Ammonites by Sihon, king of the Amorites, and which the Israelites possessed by right of conquest. For although the Israelites were forbidden to take the land of the Ammonites, De 2:37, yet this part, as having been united to the territories of Sihon, they might possess when they defeated that king and subdued his kingdom.

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

24–28. The Possession of the Tribe of Gad

25. their coast was Jazer] or Jaazer. We first hear of it in possession of the Amorites, and as taken by Israel after Heshbon, and on their way from thence to Bashan (Num_21:32). At present it is identified with Szîr, or Seir, nine Roman miles west of Ammân, and about 12 from Heshbon. For coast see above, Jos_13:16.

all the cities of Gilead] i.e. of the southern part of Gilead, which belonged to the kingdom of Sihon, for the other half, on the north of the Jabbok, which was governed by king Og, was allotted to the half tribe of Manasseh.

half the land of the children of Ammon] i.e. that portion of the land which had been taken from them by the Amorites under Sihon, for the Israelites were not allowed to attack the land of the Ammonites themselves (Deu_2:19; Jdg_11:13 sq.).

unto Aroer] i.e. unto Aroer of Gad (Num_32:34), not the Aroer near the Arnon (of Jos_13:16), that is before Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites, famous (a) in the history of Jephthah (Jdg_11:33), and (b) in the history of David (2Sa_24:5).

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 Heshbon unto Ramathmizpeh, and Betonim,.... This was their coast from the south to the north, and so describes their eastern border, which reached from Heshbon, given to the tribe of Reuben, Jos 13:7; to these places mentioned; Ramathmizpeh, the same with Ramothgilead, which Jerom (o) says was a village in his time, and lay two miles from Philadelphia or Rabbath before mentioned, to the east; it should be to the west; of Betonim we nowhere else read, it seems to have been near to Ramath:

and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir; the former of these was the place where the angels met Jacob, and who gave it the name from thence; and in later times a city of this name was built there, and was near the river Jabbok, Gen 32:2; Debir is different from that in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:15; in the Septuagint version here it is called Daibon, perhaps the same with Dibon, the tribe of Gad rebuilt, and is called Dibongad, Num 32:34; unless Lidbar here should be the same with Lodebar in Gilead, Sa2 17:27.

(o) De loc. Heb. fol. 99. A.

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

Rabba, "the great," being a title of Ar, the capital of the Moabites. The Israelites thought themselves justified in keeping what had been taken from the children of Ammon, by Sehon, (Judges xi. 13.; Calmet) and the Amorrhites. (Worthington)

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).

25. Jazer — Written also Jaazer. It was an important city, having dependent villages, (Num_21:32,) and giving its name to the surrounding country, “the land of Jazer.” Num_32:1. It was one of the four cities of Gad assigned to the Levites. Jos_21:39. Jeremiah (Jer_48:32) speaks of the “sea of Jazer,” which may have been some lake or pool in the vicinity. Burckhardt, Van de Velde, and others, identify it with a ruined town called Seir or Sir, some twelve miles north of Heshbon.

All the cities of Gilead — That is, of the southern portion of Gilead, for the northern was given to Manasseh. Jos_13:31.

Half the land of the children of Ammon — The country between the Arnon and the Jabbok. See Jdg_11:13, note. This ancient possession of the children of Lot Israel captured, not of Ammon, but of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had previously taken it out of the hand of the king of Moab.

Num_21:26. Yet it retained the name of its ancient owners.

Aroer that is before Rabbah — That is, Aroer is before or in front of Rabbah to one who advances towards Rabbah from the Jordan. This Aroeris supposed by many to be identical with the ruined site Ayra, which Burckhardt discovered about seven miles southwest of es-Salt, and nearly half way between the Jordan and Rabbah. Rabbah was the great city and capital of the Ammonites, and is called in Deu_3:11 Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and here Og’s great iron bedstead was preserved. But as Israel was not to meddle with the children of Ammon, (Deu_2:19,) Rabbah was not disturbed, nor included in the territory of Gad. It was afterwards besieged and taken by David. 2Sa_12:29. Its ruins are known under the modern name of Amman, about twenty-two miles east of the Jordan.

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

Aroer that is before Rabbah. A different Aroer to that mentioned in ver. 9. This was near (Hebrew, opposite to, the expression being equivalent to the French en face) Rabbah, or the great city of the children of Ammon. Keil supposes that this territory had been taken from the Ammonites by Sihon, since the Israelites were not permitted to possess themselves of the land of the Ammonites. (Deu_2:19) For Rabbah, see 2Sa_11:1 2Sa_12:26. It is called Rabbath in Deu_3:11.

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

The cities of Gilead - That is, all the cities of eminency; all the cities properly so called, which lay in that part of Gilead; and so this may well agree with ver. 31, where half the country of Gilead is said to be given to the Manassites; but there is no mention of any cities there. The land of the children of Ammon - Not of that which was now theirs, for that they were forbidden to meddle with, but of that which was anciently theirs, 'till taken from them by the Amorites, from whom the Israelites took it. Aroer - The border between them and Moab. Rabbah - The chief city of the Ammonites.

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

And half the land of the Bnei Amon. Half the land they conquered from the Bnei Amon and from Sichon.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.