Judges 2:9

Jdg 2:9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.

Ver. 9. And they buried him.] Burial is a mercy, whatever the Cynics held to the contrary: and places of burial are to be kept decent, in token that we expect a resurrection.

In Timnathheres.] That is, The picture of the sun which was there worshipped. In detestation whereof, it may seem, the name was altered by transposition of letters in Timnathserah.

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.

Here, by turning the letters backward is Sereh, as Josh. 24:30.

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

(9) They buried him.—This circumstance is usually added in the case of kings, heroes, &c. (Gen_23:19; Jer_22:18, &c.), and this care about burial seems to point to at least a dim hope of that immortality which had not as yet been fully “brought to light.”

In the border of his inheritance.—(See Jos_19:49-50. It was in Mount Ephraim, and in a rugged and barren district—a circumstance which raised the astonishment of Paula at the self-denial of Joshua (Jer., Ep. 108): “She was much astonished that the distributor of possessions had chosen rough mountain districts for himself.”

Timnath-heres.—“The portion of the sun.” This seems to be a mere “slip of the pen” (Ewald)—an accidental transposition of letters for Timnath-serah (“the portion that remains”), which is the reading of Jos_19:50, and of the best versions, and of some MSS. here. The mistake is, however, ancient, for it originated the Rabbinic story that it is a reference to “the sun standing still upon Gibeah,” and that the image of the sun (temunath ha-cheres) was sculptured on his tomb. The LXX., after Jos_24:30, add the interesting Hagadah (traditional legend), that the people buried in Joshua’s tomb the flint knives with which they had performed the neglected rite of circumcision, after the passage of the Jordan (Jos_5:2). The name Timnath has been, perhaps, preserved in the modern Tibneh, about six miles from Shiloh. Its ruins yet contain some richly decorated tombs. There was another Timnath in Dan.

The hill Gaash.—The name means “mount earthquake.” Its torrent beds are mentioned in 2Sa_23:30. It has not been identified.

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

9. in the border of his inheritance] i.e. within the district allotted to him, Jos_19:49.

Timnath-heres] An early tradition, mentioned by Eusebius (Onom.Sacr. 261, 33) and Jerome, pointed out the tomb of Joshua at Thamna, a fortified place of some importance in Maccabaean and Roman times (1Ma_9:50; Jos., Ant. xiv. 11, 2, War iv. 8, 1), which, from the topographical notices of Josephus ll. cc., may be identified with the modern Tibneh, about 10 m. N.W. of Beth-el, in the Central Highlands. It is not unlikely that this was Timnath-ḥeres; remarkable tombs are still to be seen on the N. slope of the hill to the S.W. of the town. A later, mediaeval, tradition fixes the site at Hâris, about 9 m. S.W. of Shechem (Nâblus). Timnath-ḥeres, lit. ‘(sacred) territory of the Sun’ (cf. Mount Heres i. 35, Beth-shemesh), is written Timnath-seraḥ in Jos_19:50; Jos_24:30, and by Syr.and Vulgate here, perhaps to avoid idolatrous associations; cf. Isa_19:18, where ḥeres ‘sun’ has been changed to heres ‘destruction.’

Gaash] has not been identified; 2Sa_23:30 = 1Ch_11:32 mention ‘the wadis of G.’

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 they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres,.... In Jos 24:30; it is called Timnathserah, the letters of "serah" being here inverted, make "heres", which sometimes is used for the sun, Job 9:7; and therefore some observe, that the whole name signifies the figure of the sun, which the Jews say was put on his monument, in commemoration of the miracle of the sun standing still at his request, and had this inscription on it,"this is he that caused the sun to stand still;''but this is not very probable, since it might have had a tendency to idolatry, the sun being what was the first object of idolatrous worship among the Heathens, and had the greatest show of reason for it:

in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash; See Gill on Jos 24:30.

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

Timnath-heres, called Timnath-serah, Jos 19:50; 24:30.

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

Timnath-heres. Probably, though not certainly, the modern Tibneh, six miles from Jifna. It is called in Jos_19:50 and Jos_24:30 Timnath-serah, the letters of which are identical, but the order is inverted. Timnath-heres is probably the right form. It means "The portion of the Sun." We have Mount Heres in Jud 1:35, near Ajalon. Ir-shemesh (city of the sun) and Beth-shemesh (house of the sun) are other instances of places called from the sun. Some have supposed some connection between the name Timnath. heres, as Joshua"s inheritance, and the miracle of the sun standing still upon Gibeon at the word of Joshua. (Jos_10:12, Jos_10:13) The neighbourhood of Timnath-heres to Ajalon (Jud 1:35) may give some countenance to this. The hill Gaash is only elsewhere mentioned as the birthplace of Hiddai or Hurai, (2Sa_23:30 1Ch_11:32) but the exact site is unknown.

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

Timmathheres

Timnathserah. Jos 19:50.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

he was assigned

This can be stated in active form. AT: "that God gave him" (See: Active or Passive)

Timnath Heres

This is the name of an area of land. (See: How to Translate Names)

Mount Gaash

This is the name of a mountain. (See: How to Translate Names)

All that generation was also gathered to their fathers

The phrase "was also gathered to their fathers" means that as the people of that generation died, their souls went to the same place as their ancestors who died before them. It is a polite way of saying they died. (See: Euphemism)

fathers

Here this means the ancestors of a certain person or people group.

grew up

"grew older" or "became older"

who did not know Yahweh

Here "did not know" means they had not experienced Yahweh or his power the way the previous generation had.

translationWords

assign

Ephraim

generation

ancestor

Yahweh

Israel

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

At Timnas Cheres. So entitled because a likeness of the sun was placed over his grave, as if to say, "Alas, that a man who halted the sun lies in the grave."

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.