Joshua 19:26

Jos 19:26. Carmel westward — Or, Carmel by the sea, to distinguish it from Carmel in the tribe of Judah. This was a place of eminent fruitfulness, agreeably to the prophecy concerning Asher, Gen 49:20.

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

to Carmel . . . and to Shihor-libnath--that is, the "black" or "muddy river"; probably the Nahr Belka, below Dor (Tantoura); for that town belonged to Asher (Jos 17:10). Thence the boundary line turned eastward to Beth-dagon, a town at the junction of Zebulun and Naphtali, and ran northwards as far as Cabul, with other towns, among which is mentioned (Jos 19:28) "great Zidon," so called on account of its being even then the flourishing metropolis of the Phœnicians. Though included in the inheritance of Asher, this town was never possessed by them (Jdg 1:31).

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 26. Carmel] The vineyard of God; a place greatly celebrated in Scripture, and especially for the miracles of Elijah; see 1Kg 18:19-40. The mountain of Carmel was so very fruitful as to pass into a proverb. There was another Carmel in the tribe of Judah, (see Jos 15:55), but this, in the tribe of Asher, was situated about one hundred and twenty furlongs south from Ptolemais, on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Calmet observes that there was, in the time of Vespasian, a temple on this mountain, dedicated to a god of the same name. There was a convent, and a religious order known by the name of Carmelites, established on this mountain in honour of Elijah: the time of the foundation of this order is greatly disputed. Some pretend that it was established by Elijah himself; while others, with more probability, fix it in A.D. 1180 or 1181, under the pontificate of Pope Alexander III.

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

26. Alammelech, and Amad, are at present unknown. Misheal has been identified with Misalli at the northern extremity of the plain of Sharon.

and reacheth to Carmel] This boundary struck Carmel on the west and Shihor-libnath, somewhere to the south of that range.

Shihor-libnath] Not, as some have supposed, the Belus, which falls into the Mediterranean near to Acre or Ptolemais, but south of Carmel, and probably the Nahr Zerka, or “Crocodile Brook,” which rises in the Carmel range, and flows into the Mediterranean just above Cæsarea. For the existence of crocodiles still in the Zerka, see Macgregor’s Rob Roy on the Jordan, p. 387, who also found a crocodile in the Kishon, which is only about 20 miles north of the Zerka, pp. 400–403. “I suspect,” writes Dr Thomson, “that long ages ago, some Egyptians, accustomed to worship this ugly creature, settled here (Cæsarea), and brought their gods with them. Once here, they would not easily be exterminated; for no better place could be desired by them than this vast jungle and impracticable swamp.” See Land and the Book, p. 497.

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 turneth towards the sunrising,.... Or eastward:

to Bethdagon; there was a city of this name in the tribe of Judah; see Gill on Jos 15:41. Dagon, being a god of the Phoenicians, had temples built for him in various places in Canaan:

and reacheth to Zebulun; not the tribe of Zebulun, but a city so called, the same Josephus (o) calls a strong city of Galilee, which had the name of Men, perhaps from the populousness of it, and separated Ptolemais from Judea:

and to the valley of Jiphthahel; see Jos 19:14,

toward the north side of Bethemek; of Bethemek no mention is made elsewhere: perhaps here was an idol temple before dedicated to the god of the valleys; see Kg1 20:28,

and Neiel; which the Greek version calls Inael, of which Jerom says (p), it is a certain village called Betoaenea, fifteen miles from Caesarea, situated on a mountain to the east, on which are said to be wholesome baths:

and goeth out to Cabul on the left hand; not the land of Cabul, Kg1 9:13; but a city, which Josephus (q) calls a village on the borders of Ptolemais. The Jews (r) speak of a city of this name, destroyed because of contentions in it.

(o) De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 18. sect. 9. (p) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. I. (q) Vita ejus, sect. 43. (r) Echa Rabbati, fol. 75. 4.

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

Carmel, so famous for the miracles of Elias, 3 Kings xviii. 20. Josephus (Jewish Wars ii. 17,) places it 120 stadia south of Ptolemais. This range of mountains extended northward through the tribes of Issachar and of Zabulon. Pliny ([Natural History?] v. 17,) speaks of a promontory and of a town of this name. Here also the god Carmel was adored, having an altar, but no temple or image, as the ancients had decreed. Nec simulacrum Deo aut templum, (sic tradidere majores) ara tantum et reverentia. (Tacitus, Hist. ii. 78.) --- Vespasian consulted the priest Basilides. Carmel means "the vineyard of the Lord," or the excellent vineyard, &c. It was so rich and beautiful as to become proverbial. The spouse compares the head of his beloved to Carmel, chap. vii. 5. Isaias (xxxii. 15,) foretels that the deserts shall be equal to Carmel. It was covered with wood and fruit. (St. Jerome in Isaias x. 18., and Jeremias iv. 26.) The city, which was built upon this mountain, and which Pliny calls by the same name, was formerly styled Ecbatana. The oracle had denounced to Cambyses that he should die at Ecbatana, and he concluded that the city of Media was meant; but it was "that of Syria," says Herodotus, (iii. 64,) where he died. --- Labanath. Hebrew leaves out the conjunction. --- Sihor means a "troubled" river, (chap. xiii. 3,) or brook, which probably ran near the white promontory mentioned by Pliny, (v. 19,) near Tyre. Labanath signifies "white."

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).

Carmel westward, or, Carmel by the sea, to distinguish it from that Carmel in the tribe of Judah, 1Sa 25:2. This was a place of eminent fruitfulness, Isa 33:9; 35:2; 37:24, agreeable to the prophecy concerning Asher, Gen 49:20; Deu 33:24.

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

Reacheth. Literally, toucheth, i.e. skirteth, as in vers. 11 and 22. So in the next verse, with regard to Zebulun. The term appears to be the invariable one when a district, not a particular place, is spoken of. To Carmel westward. The Carmel range appears to have been included in the tribe of Asher. For we read (Jos_17:10, Jos_17:11) that Asher met Manasseh on the north, whence we conclude that it must have cut off Issachar from the sea, and that as Dor was among the towns which Manasseh held within the territory of Issachar and Asher, it must therefore have been within the boundaries of the latter. Shihor-libnath. For Shihor, see Jos_13:3. Libnath, which signifies white or shining, has been supposed by some to mean the glassy river, from its calm, unbroken flow, though this appears improbable, since Shihor means turbid. It is far more probable that the current was rendered turbid by a quantity of chalk or limestone which it carried along in its course, and hence the name "muddy white." Keil thinks it to be the Nahr-el-Zerka, or crocodile river, of Pliny, in which Beland, Von Raumer, Knobel, and Rosenmuller agree with him. But when he proceeds to argue that this river, being blue, "might answer both to shihor, black, and libnath, white," he takes a flight in which it is impossible to follow him. Gesenius, from the glazed appearance of burnt brick or tiles ( l"banah), conjectures, that it may be the Belus, or "glass river," so called, however, in ancient times because the fine sand on its banks enabled the manufacture of glass to be carried on here. But this, emptying itself into the sea near Acre, has been thought to be too far north. Vandevelde, however, one of the latest authorities, as well as Mr. Conder, is inclined to agree with Gesenius. The difficulty of this identification consists in the fact that Carmel and Dor (Jos_17:11) are said to have been in Asher. (see note on Jos_17:10) The Nahr-el-Zerka has not been found by recent explorers to contain crocodiles, but it has been thought possible that they have hitherto eluded observation. Kenrick, however ("Phoenicia," p. 24), thinks that as crocodilus originally meant a lizard, the lacertus Niloticus is meant, the river being, in his opinion, too shallow in summa to be the haunt of the crocodile proper (see also Tristram, "Land of Israel." p. 103, who believes it possible that the crocodile may be found there, though no specimen has as yet been produced). The Zerkais described in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Paper, January, 1874, as "a torpid stream flowing through fetid marshes, in which reeds, canes, and the stunted papyrus grow." When it is added, "and where alone in Palestine the crocodile is found," no evidence is given in favour of the statement. It empties itself into the sea between Dor and Caesarea, a few miles north of the latter.

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

Carmel west-ward - Or, Carmel by the sea, to distinguish it from Carmel in the tribe of Judah. This was a place of eminent fruitfulness, agreeable to the prophecy concerning Asher, Gen. xlix, 20.

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