Joshua 13:4

Jos 13:4 From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that [is] beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites:

Ver. 4. All the land of the Canaanites.] Who yet held out against the Israelites, but hindered them not from dividing the land. No more shall those remnants of corruption hinder the saints from possession of their mansions prepared for them by Christ. {Joh 14:2}

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.

Jos 13:4. From the south — That is, from those southern parts of the sea- coast now possessed by the Philistines, all the more northern parts of the sea-coast being yet inhabited by the Canaanites, almost as far as Sidon. The Amorites — The Amorites were a very strong and numerous people, and we find them dispersed in several parts, some within Jordan, and some without it, some in the south, and others in the north, of whom he speaks here.

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

4. [From the south — This is to be connected with the Avites in the preceding verse, and stands in contrast with northward in the same verse. The Masoretic pointing is here noticeably wrong. Jos_13:2-3 describe the unconquered territory in the south, from its northern limit, Ekron, to its southern, the land occupied by the Avites; Jos_13:4-6 describe the northern lands.] Mearah belonged to the Sidonians. The word beside is a mis-translation. Mearah signifies a cavern. Its location is a matter of conjecture. Aphek is identified by Gesenius with Aphaca of classical times, famous for its temple of Venus. Its modern name is Afka, situated some eighteen miles northeast of Beyroot. It was assigned to the tribe of Asher. Jos_19:30.

To the borders of the Amorites — This is taken by most interpreters to refer to the land of Bashan, which formerly belonged to the Amorites and was ruled by Og.

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

13:4-6a The Sidonians (that is, Phoenicians; see Isa 23:11; Obad 1:20; Acts 11:19) lived in the north along the coast, from north of Mount Carmel to above Gebal (Byblos). They also apparently occupied the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountain ranges. Sidon was the dominant Phoenician city when Israel entered Canaan.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, Mearah.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah--("the cave")

that is beside the Sidonians--a mountainous region of Upper Galilee, remarkable for its caves and fastnesses.

unto Aphek--now Afka; eastward, in Lebanon.

to the borders of the Amorites--a portion of the northeastern territory that had belonged to Og. The third district that remained unsubdued:

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. The land of the Canaanites] This lay on the south of the country of the Philistines, towards the sea-coast.

Mearah] Supposed to be the city Maratha, on the Mediterranean Sea. - Calmet. Or the river Majora, which falls into the Mediterranean Sea, between Sidon and Berytus. See PLINY, Hist. Nat. lib. v., c. 20.

Aphek] See Clarke on Jos 12:18.

To the borders of the Amorites] Though the term Amorite is sometimes used to designate the inhabitants in general of the land of Canaan, yet it must be considered in a much more restricted sense in this place. As no Amorites are known to have dwelt in this quarter, Calmet supposes we should read Aramites or Syrians. Joshua, says he, proceeds from Sidon to Aphek, a city of Syria, between Heliopolis and Babylon where was the temple of the Venus of Aphek, and which is spoken of in 1Kg 20:26; 2Kg 13:17, as the capital of the kings of Syria. From this Joshua passes on to the frontiers of the Syrians, towards Gebal or Gabala, which, according to Ptolemy, was situated in Phoenicia. This conjecture of Calmet is not supported by any authority either from the ancient versions or MSS. Houbigant, however, approves of it: the emendation is simple as it consists in the interchange of only two letters in the same word, הארמי haarammi, for האמרי haemori.

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

4. from the south] The LXX. here gives a proper name, “from Teman.” This was the former southern limit of the Avites’ territory.

all the land of the Canaanites] Here some would insert a full stop, as though the words summed up what had gone before.

and Mearah] “Mara of Sydonys,” Wyclif. This place is only mentioned in this passage. The word meârâh means in Hebrew “a cave” (see margin), and it has been commonly supposed that the reference is to a remarkable cavern near Zidon. A village called el-Mughâr has been found in the mountains of Naphtali some 10 miles west of the northern extremity of the Sea of Galilee, which it has been thought may possibly represent the ancient Mearab. See Menke’s Bible Atlas, Plate iii.

unto Aphek] A city in the extreme north of Asher, now Afka, N. E. of Beyrout, and apparently beyond Sidon. It was called by the Greeks Aphaca, and was noted for a temple of Venus destroyed by Constantine.

to the borders of the Amorites] i.e. on the extreme north border of the Amorites, or the land once inhabited by them, and which afterwards passed to Og, king of Bashan.

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.

From the south, all the land of the Canaanites,.... That is, of those Canaanites who were particularly so called, in distinction from those of the other nations or tribes, and who dwelt in several parts of the land, some in the east and others in the west, see Jos 11:3; and, as it seems here, some in the south: now on the side of the south, as Kimchi interprets it, all the land of the Canaanites was left, that is, remained unconquered and not possessed:

and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians; the inhabitants of Sidon, and parts adjacent: what this place was, which belonged to the Sidonians, for so it may better be rendered, is not certain; some take it to be a cave belonging to them: Sandys (b) speaks of a number of caves cut out of the rock in those parts, called the caves of the Sidonians, and afterwards the caves of Tyre; so it is interpreted by the Targum, and in the Syriac and Arabic versions others take it to be the river Magoras, Pliny (c) makes mention of as on the borders of Lebanon near Zidon and Berytus: mention is made of the waters of Mearah along with the waters of Tiberias in Jewish writings (d); but rather something of more importance than a cave or a river is meant; most likely a tract of land near Sidon, and which belonged to it, and reached

unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites; of this place; see Gill on Jos 12:18.

(b) Travels, l. 3. p. 169. Ed. 5. (c) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 20. (d) Misn. Sabbat. c. 22. sect. 5. T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 6. 1.

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

Read “on the south,” and connect the words with the verse preceding. They indicate the southern limit of the still unconquered territory in this neighborhood, as Jos 13:3 gives the northern one.

Mearah - The “cave” (see the margin) has been referred to “Mugar Jczzin” (“cave of Jezzin”), between Tyre and Sidon, or to a district characterized by deep cave-like ravines near Sidon and Dan-Laish.

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

Chanaan. From the south to Sidon was yet undivided, and thence eastward, (Haydock) to Apheca of Syria, were was the capital of the kings of that country, and a famous temple of Venus, 3 Kings xx. 26. (Sozom. i. 58.) --- Amorrhite, or perhaps Aramean, (Calmet) though we may understand that all the country of the Amorrhite on the south, as well as the northern parts of Chanaan, were to be divided, (Haydock) as far as Emesa. --- Will, &c., provided the Israelites observe their part of the covenant. (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).

i.e. From those southern parts of the sea-coast now possessed by the Philistines, all the more northern parts of the sea-coast being yet inhabited by the Canaanites, almost as far as Sidon, as it here follows; for there is no mention made of any conquests of Joshua upon the sea-coast. The Canaanites, properly so called, are said to

dwell by the sea, Num 13:29, and these are here spoken of, though some of them dwelt in other parts of the land.

Mearah; a strong place; it matters not whether it was a city, or an impregnable cave, which some writers mention to be in those parts.

Aphek; not that of Judah, of which Jos 15:53 but another in the tribe of Asher, of which Jos 12:18; Jdg 1:31.

To the borders of the Amorites: the Amorites were a strong and very numerous people, and we find them dispersed in several parts, some within Jordan, and some without it; some in the south, and others in the north, of whom he speaks there.

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

From the south. The LXX and the best modern commentators connect these words with what precedes. This gives a better sense than joining it to what follows. For the south was not "all the land of the Canaanites," but a large part of it belonged, as we have just seen, to a tribe not of Canaanitish origin, while the land of the Canaanites (see note on Jos_3:10) extended far to the northward. Therefore we must understand the words "all the land of the Canaanites" to begin a fresh section, and to be descriptive of the territory extending from Philistia northward towards Sidon. So the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. Mearah. The margin has "the cave." But there is no article in the original The LXX reads apo Gazhv for Mearah, having clearly, as Masius observes, substituted Zain for Resh. But this mistaken reading compels a mistranslation of the passage. Vandevelde supposes it to be a remarkable cave still existing near Sidon, which is mentioned by William of Tyre as having been fortified by the Crusaders. He speaks of it as municipium quoddam, and states that it was commonly known as the "cave of Tyre." "spelunca inexpugnabilis." It was afterwards "the last retreat of the Emir Fakkr-ed-Din" (Vandevelde, s.v. Mearah). There is a village now, north of Sidon, called Mog-heiriyeh, or the village of the cave. So also Kuobel. Beside the Sidonians. Rather, near, or in the direction of, or which belong to the Sidonians. Aphek. Or Aphekah. This (Knobel) was the northern Aphek, (Jos_19:30 Jud 1:31) in the tribe of Asher, known later as Aphaca, and now as Afka. Not the Aphekah of Jos_15:53, probably the Aphek of 1Sa_4:1. It is the same Aphek which in later times was captured by the Syrians, and was the scene of several decisive victories of Israel. (1Ki_20:26, 30 2Ki_13:17) It is doubtful which Aphek is meant in Jos_12:18, though it is probablythe southern Aphek. The situation is described as one of "rare beauty" (Delitzsch), "on the north.west slopes of Lebanon," amid exquisite groves (Conder). Here the Syrian Astarte was worshipped, and the ruins of her temple, dedicated to her as mourning for Tammuz, or Adonis, may still be seen. See Kenrick, "Phoenicia," 310, 311, and Mover"s "Die Phonizier," 1:192. Perhaps it was never actually occupied by the Asherites, but remained in the hands of Syria, and as a place of great resort was the natural point to which the attacks of Israel would be directed. Vandevelde, however, believes in four and Conder in seven cities of this name, and they suppose the Aphek which was the scene of the battle with the Syrians to have been on the east of Jordan, from the occurrence of the word "Mishor" in the narrative in 1Ki 20. The term "Mishor" is, however, applied to other places beside the territory east of Jordan (see Gesenius, s.v. Mishor). The Aphek in 1Sa_29:1 cannot be identified with any that have been named. To the borders of the Amorites. This can hardly be anything but the northern border of the kingdom of Bashan, in the neighbourhood of Mount Hermon.

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

From the south - That is, from those southern parts of the sea- coast, now possessed by the Philistines, all the more northern parts of the sea-coast being yet inhibited by the Canaanites, almost as far as Sidon. The Amorites - The Amorites were a very strong and numerous people, and we find them dispersed in several parts, some within Jordan, and some without it, some in the south and others in the north, of whom he speaks here.

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

Arah ... Aphek ... Baal Gad ... Mount Hermon

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

Gebalites

This is the name of a people group who lived in Geba. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

Sidon

Amorite

Lebanon

Hamath

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

From the south, all the land of Canaanites. The preceding verse described the southern border going from east to west, and this verse describes the width of that area that remained to be conquered; describing how much there was from south to north.

From the south, all the land of the Canaanites. From the south which is Gaza belonging to the Sidonites, to Apheik, to the Emorites.

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.