Joshua 15:44

Verse 44. Keilah] This town was near Hebron, and is said to have been the burying-place of the prophet Habakkuk. David obliged the Philistines to raise the siege of it; (see 1Sa 23:1-13;) but finding that its inhabitants had purposed to deliver him into the hands of Saul, who was coming in pursuit of him, he made his escape. See this remarkable case explained in the note on De 32:15.

Mareshah] Called also Maresheth and Marasthi; it was the birth-place of the prophet Micah. Near this place was the famous battle between Asa, king of Judah, and Zera, king of Cush or Ethiopia, who was at the head of one thousand thousand men, and three hundred chariots. Asa defeated this immense host and took much spoil, 2Ch 14:9-15.

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

(44) Of the nine towns in Jos_15:42-44, Conder identifies five.

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

Ashdod with her towns and, her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages,.... Gaza was another of the principalities of the Philistines, of which See Gill on Amo 1:7; See Gill on Zep 2:4; See Gill on Act 8:26; these, with the two other principalities not mentioned, Gath and Ashkelon, were in the western border of the tribe of Judah, which reached from Ekron, the first that is mentioned:

unto the river of Egypt; of which see Jos 15:4,

and the great sea, and the border thereof; the Mediterranean sea, called so in comparison of the lesser seas in Judea, the salt sea, and the sea of Tiberias; whose border was its shore, and the cities upon it, and not the isles in the sea, as Jarchi.

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

Ceila, which David took from the Philistines, and were he was nearly betrayed into the hands of Saul, 1 Kings xxiii. Habacuc was buried here, on the road between Eleutheropolis and Hebron.

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).

44. Keilah was a walled town not far from Nezib. Its inhabitants were delivered from the oppression of the Philistines by David and his men, who afterwards for a time settled in the town. 1Sa_23:1-13. “Eight Roman miles from the ancient Eleutheropolis, on the way to Hebron, is a large ruined tower or castle called Kela. It stands on a projecting cliff on the right bank of Wady-el-Feranj. There can be little doubt that this is the long lost Keilah.” — Porter. [Achzib is probably identical with Chezib, (Gen_38:5,) now Kusaba, fifteen miles southwest of Beit-jibrin. Mareshah is supposed by Robinson and Tobler to be the ruins called Marash, one mile and a half south of Beit-jibrin, on a gently-swelling hill leading down from the mountains to the great western plain. The ruins are not extensive, but Robinson thinks they were used in building the neighbouring Eleutheropolis.]

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

Mareshah. One of Rehoboam"s fortified cities. (2Ch_11:8) Here Asa met Zerah the Ethiopian, or Cushite, and overthrew him. (2Ch_14:9) Here lived the prophet who foretold the destruction of Jehoshaphat"s navy. (also 2Ch_20:37. See Mic_1:15) How Marash, close to Beit-Jibrin or Eleutheropolis (Tristram, Conder). If it be the same as Moresheth-Gath in Mic_1:14, this adds additional probability to the identification of Gath with Beit-Jibrin. (see note on Jos_13:3)

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