Joshua 13:5

5. the land of the Giblites] i.e. the land of the inhabitants of Gebal, a name which occurs in Psa_83:7,

“Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;

The Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;”

and Eze_27:8-9, “The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers.” It was a maritime town of Phœnicia. Its inhabitants are written “Giblians” in the Vulgate, and “Byblians” in the LXX. (while in 1Ki_5:18 the word is rendered “stone-squarers”), whence we may infer the identity of the city with the Byblus of classical literature. Byblus was a seat of the worship of Adonis or Syrian Tammuz. The modern name is Jebail, about 22 miles north of Beyrout. The coins of Byblus have frequently the type of Astarte, also of Isis, who came here in search of the body of Osiris. “At Jebail and in other ancient Phœnician cities there are traces of the same large bevelled stones clamped with iron, which appear in the foundations of Solomon’s temple. These are probably the work of the Giblites.” See Ritter’s Geog. Pal. II. 214, 215.

all Lebanon, toward the sunrising] i.e. Anti-Lebanon.

from Baal-gad] See above, note on Jos_11:17.

the entering into Hamath] The extreme northern boundary point of Palestine whither the spies originally penetrated (Num_13:21), and to which the kingdom of David and Solomon once actually extended (2Sa_8:3-12; 1Ch_13:5; 1Ch_18:3-11; 2Ch_8:3-4). In the time of the Crusades it was called Epiphaneia, a town situated on the western bank of the Orontes, lower down the stream than Emesa. It is called “Hamath the Great” (Amo_6:2), and commanded the whole of the Orontes valley, from the low screen of hills which forms the watershed between the Orontes and the Litâny—“the entrance of Hamath”—to the defile of Daphne below Antioch.

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.

Jos 13:5 And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.

Ver. 5. And the land of the Giblites.] Called Gebal in Psa 83:7 Eze 27:9. Enemies to the Church.

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.

Or, the plain of Gad.

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

all the land of the Giblites--Their capital was Gebal or Bylbos (Greek), on the Mediterranean, forty miles north of Sidon.

all Lebanon, toward the sunrising--that is, Anti-libanus; the eastern ridge, which has its proper termination in Hermon.

entering into Hamath--the valley of Baalbec.

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 5. The land of the Giblites] This people dwelt beyond the precincts of the land of Canaan, on the east of Tyre and Sidon. See Eze 27:9; Ps 83:7; their capital was named Gebal. See Dodd.

All Lebanon] See Clarke on Jos 11:17.

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

And the land of the Giblites,.... This was another country that remained unconquered; the Greeks call it Byblus, and near to which Pliny (e) speaks of a place called Gabale, and is now called Gibyle; it is (f) said to be"pleasantly situated by the seaside, and at present it contains but a little extent of ground, but yet more than enough for the small number of its inhabitants:''it was in greater splendour, and its inhabitants of more fame, in the times of Ezekiel, Eze 27:9,

and all Lebanon toward the sunrising; or east of the land; all that inhabited that mountain remained unconquered, though the conquest was carried as far as the borders thereof:

from Baalgad, under Mount Hermon; of which see Jos 11:17;

unto the entering into Hamath: which was the north border of the land; see Num 34:8.

(e) Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 20.) (f) Maundrel's Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 33.

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

Giblites - The people of Gebal (“Jebail”, 22 miles north of Beyronut). They were “stone-squarers” 1Ki 5:18 and (ship) “caulkers” Eze 27:9.

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

The Gibites; a people dwelling near Sidon in Gebal, of which see 1Ki 5:18; Eze 27:9.

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

[5. Giblites — Inhabitants of Gebal, the Gyblos of the Greeks, the modern Jebail, situated on the seacoast at the foot of the northern slopes of Lebanon, and about seventeen miles north of Beyroot. A multitude of gray granite columns are built into the modern walls and houses, choke up the harbour, and lie scattered over the surrounding fields, and they attest the antiquity of the town. The Giblites were employed in building Solomon’s temple, (1Ki_5:18, note,) and. according to Eze_27:9, were skilled in shipbuilding.

Baal-gad — See on Jos_11:17. Hamath was probably founded by the youngest son of Canaan, (Gen_10:18,) and so was one of the oldest cities in the world. In Amo_6:2, it is called “the great.” Its king Toi made peace with David, (2Sa_8:9,) but Solomon seems to have subjugated the kingdom and made it a part of his own empire. 2Ch_8:3. It early fall into the hands of the great Assyrian conquerors. 2Ki_18:34. It still exists, in the beautiful valley of the Orontes, about sixty miles southeast of Antioch, and has a population of 30,000. It lies on both sides of the river, and is noted for the immense wheels, eighty feet in diameter, which are turned by the rapid current and used for irrigation. The entering into Hamath is a geographical term used to designate the northern border of Israel. Num_34:8; 1Ki_8:65; 2Ki_14:25. It was evidently some great pass connected with the Lebanon mountains, but which one has been a matter of dispute. Robinson and Porter identify it with the depression between the northern end of Lebanon and the Nusairiyeh mountains, which opens westward, towards the coast of the Mediterranean. But as the Israelites never occupied territory so far north as that, most sacred geographers identify this entering with the southern opening into the great valley of Coele-Syria. This is by far the most notable entrance into the ancient kingdom and land of Hamath.]

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

The Giblites. The inhabitants of Gebal, called Jebail (i.e. , hill city, from Jebel) by the Arabs, and Byblus by the Greeks. This is Masius"s idea, and other commentators have accepted it. (see 1Ki 5:32 Psa_83:7; and Eze_27:9, where the LXX translates by Byblus) In the first named passage the word is translated "stone squarers," in our version (where it is the 18th and not the 32nd verse). All the other versions render "Giblites" as here, and no doubt the inhabitants of the Phoenician city of Jebail are meant, since in the ruins of Jebail the same kind of masonry is found as is seen in Solomon"s temple. Byblus (Kenriek, "Phoenicia," l.c. Movers, l.c. Lenormant, "Manual of the History of the East," if. 223) was the great seat of the worship of Tammuz, or Adonis. Here his father Cinyras was supposed to have been king, and the licentious worship, with its corrupting influences, was spread over the whole region of Lebanon and even Damascus. This territory was never actually occupied by the Israelites. (see for this passage also Jos_11:8, 17 12:7) Hamath. The spies penetrated nearly as far as this, (Num_22:21) and David reduced the land into subjection as far as the borders of this territory. But the Israelites never subdued it. Toi, king of Hamath, was an ally, not a tributary of David. (2Sa_8:9) The border of Israel is always described as extending "to the entering in of Hamath", (1Ki_8:65 2Ki_14:25) though Jeroboam II is said to have "recovered" (v. 28) Hamath itself. This "entering in of Hamath" commences at the end of the region called Coele Syria, according to Robinson, "Later Biblical Researches," see. 12, at the northeast end of the Lebanon range. So Vandevelde and Porter. Vandevelde remarks that the expression refers to an "entrance formed by Nature herself," namely, the termination of the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges. The city of Hamath, which gave its name to the territory, is situated on the Orontes, and was known later as Epiphaneia, no doubt after Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria.

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

The land of the Givlites and the entire Lebanon eastward foward the rising sun. And on the eastern border, the northern end remained unconquered, [including] the entire Lebanon, from Baal-gad, to the end of the border; and in the width from east to west to Levo-Chamos. This is the entire northern border, for Levo-Chamos is at the northwestern corner, as stated in Parshas “These are the journeys.”

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.