Judges 3:13

Jdg 3:13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.

Ver. 13. And possessed the city of palm trees.] A poor city now, but there, belike, he had built some forts and earthworks; namely at Jericho, famous for palm trees, as Justin also testifieth.

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.

Jdg 3:13-14. City of palm-trees — That is, Jericho. Not the city which was demolished, but the territory belonging to it. Here he fixed his camp, for the fertility of that soil, and because of its nearness to the passage over Jordan, which was most commodious both for the conjunction of his own forces, which lay on both sides of Jordan, to prevent the conjunction of the Israelites in Canaan with their brethren beyond Jordan, and to secure his retreat into his own country. Eighteen years — The former servitude lasted but eight years; this eighteen; for if smaller troubles do not the work, God will send greater.

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

Verse 13. The city of palm trees.] This the Targum renders the city of Jericho; but Jericho had been destroyed by Joshua, and certainly was not rebuilt till the reign of Ahab, long after this, 1Kg 16:34. However, as Jericho is expressly called the city of palm trees, De 34:3, the city in question must have been in the vicinity or plain of Jericho, and the king of Moab had seized it as a frontier town contiguous to his own estates. Calmet supposes that the city of palm trees means En-gaddi.

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

(13) The children of Ammon.—They were closely allied with the Moabites by affinities of race and character. (Gen_19:37-38.) We find them united with Moab against Jehoshaphat in 2Ch_20:1. (See Jdg_11:24.) It has been supposed that Chepharhaammonai (Jos_18:24), or “the village of the Ammonites,” is a memorial of this conquest (Stanley, Jewish Church, ii. 316).

Amalek.—The wild desert clans, which are united under this name, had been from the first the bitterest enemies of Israel. They had attacked the sick and feeble of their rearguard in the wilderness, and, after the battle of Rephidim, had called down on themselves the internecine anger of Israel (Exo_17:8-16; Deu_25:17), which finally found expression in the reign of Saul (1Sa_15:2-8). They are first mentioned in Gen_14:7, and it is probable that there was a tribe of Amalekites older than those descended from Eliphaz.

The city of palm trees.—No doubt Jericho. (See Jdg_1:16.) The verb “possessed” by no means implies that the whole city was necessarily re-built, still less that it was fortified. The “palace” of king Eglon was probably a wooden structure.

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

13. Ammon and Amalek] Moab and Ammon appear in alliance against Israel in 2Ch_20:1; Psa_83:6 f. includes Amalek also. The Amalekites were Bedouin of the deserts S. of Palestine, in the N. of the Sinaitic peninsula, cf. Num_13:29 and ch. Jdg_1:16 n., Jdg_6:3. The Dtc. editor generalizes the invasion (‘and smote Israel’); perhaps he also enlarges the forces of the enemy.

the city of palm trees] i.e. Jericho, see Jdg_1:16. The district was once famous for its palms, balsam woods, and gardens (cf. the glowing description of Josephus, War iv. 8, 3); now ‘a dozen isolated palms represent the splendid groves of the past,’ Bliss in DB. ii. 581. At this period the possession of Jericho enabled Eglon to pursue his conquests W. of the Jordan; the city evidently commanded the district; later on it belonged to the kingdom of David, 2Sa_10:5. But according to Jos_6:24-26 JE Jericho was burnt to the ground and laid under a curse by Joshua, while 1Ki_16:34 records the rebuilding of the city and the fulfilment of the curse in the time of Ahab. We must reconcile as best we can these conflicting statements.

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 he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek,.... Either the Lord gathered them to Eglon, inclined them to enter into a confederacy with him, to assist in the war against Israel; or the king of Moab got them to join with him in it, they being his neighbours, and enemies to Israel, and especially Amalek:

and went and smote Israel; first the two tribes and a half, which lay on that side Jordan Moab did, whom it is reasonable to suppose he would attack first; and having defeated them, he came over Jordan:

and possessed the city of the palm trees; Jericho, as the Targum, which was set with palm trees; see Deu 34:3; not the city itself, for that was destroyed by Joshua, and not rebuilt until the time of Ahab; but the country, about it, or, as Abarbinel thinks, a city that was near it; here Josephus says (t) he had his royal palace; it is probable he built a fort or garrison here, to secure the fords of Jordan, and his own retreat; as well as to keep up a communication with his own people, and prevent the tribes of the other side giving any assistance to their brethren, if able and disposed to do it.

(t) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 1.

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

The children of Ammon (Bent-Ammon), almost always so spoken of from their ancestor Ben-ammi Gen 19:38, seem to be under the leadership of the king of Moab, as do also the Amlekites: this is perhaps the strengthening spoken of in Jdg 3:12. In Judg. 6 the combination is Midianites, Amalekites, and children of the East, or Arab tribes. In the narrative of Jephthah’s judgeship, the Ammonites alone are mentioned; but with a reference to the Moabites, and as if they were one people Jdg 11:24. The Amalekites appear as the constant and bitter foes of the Israelites (Exo 17:8 notes and references); and the naming a mountain in Ephraim, “the mount of the Amalekites” Jdg 12:15 is probably a memorial of this joint invasion of Moabites and Amalekites, and marks the scene either of their occupation, or of some signal victory over them.

The city of palm trees: i. e. Jericho Jdg 1:16, having been utterly destroyed by Joshua, and not rebuilt until the time of Ahab Jos 6:24-26; 1Ki 16:34, can only have existed at this time as an unwalled village, - like Jerusalem after its destruction by Nebuzaradan, until Nehemiah rebuilt its waits - and like its modern representative er-Riha, a village with a fortress for the Turkish garrison. This occupation of Jericho should be compared with the invasion in Jdg 10:9, where two out of the three tribes named, Benjamin and Ephraim, are the same as those here concerned, and where Jdg 10:7 the Philistines are coupled with the Ammonites, just as here Jdg 3:31 the Philistines are mentioned in near connection with the Moabites. See Introduction.

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

i.e. Jericho, as may be gathered from Deu 24:3; Jdg 1:16; 2Ch 28:15. Not the city, which was demolished, but the territory belonging to it. Here he fixed his camp, partly for the admirable fertility of that soil; and partly because of its nearness to the passage over Jordan, which was most commodious, both for the conjunction of his own forces, which lay on both sides of Jordan; and to prevent the conjunction of the Israelites in Canaan with their brethren beyond Jordan; and to secure his retreat into his own country, which therefore the Israelites prevented, Jdg 3:28.

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

13. And he gathered — Not the Lord, but Eglon gathered unto himself, (see Sept.,) and went and smote, and possessed. Ammon was an incestuous child of Lot by his younger, as Moab was by his elder, daughter. These two nations were intimately related through their entire biblical history. The Ammonites cannot be very exactly located. They seem to have been migratory and predatory, like the modern Bedouins, and hence ready to join the Moabites in a war with Israel. See on Jos_12:2.

Amalek — A nomadic tribe occupying the peninsula of Sinai and the wilderness stretching away to the hill country of Southern Palestine. They dwindled into a band of robbers, and were destroyed by David at Ziklag. 1Sa_30:16-19. See more on Jdg_6:3; Gen_14:7; Exo_17:8.

The city of palm trees — Jericho was so called because of the groves of palms in its vicinity. See on Jos_2:1. According to Josephus, the course of Eglon’s conquest was first to gain dominion over the eastern tribes, a portion of whose land had been wrested from his ancestors, then to make a sudden incursion into Western Palestine, establishing his headquarters at Jericho, the key of the whole country. Here, according to Josephus, he built a royal palace, and at this place he was assassinated by Ehud.

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

The children of Ammon. The technical name of the Ammonite people. (see Gen_19:38 Deu_2:19, 37 Jud_1:10:6, 11, 17, etc.) Sometimes, however, they are called Ammon, or Ammonites. (see Deu_23:3 1Sa_11:11, etc.) Amalek, or the Amalekites, were the hereditary enemies of Israel. (see Exo_17:8-16 Jud_1:5:14 6:3, 33 7:12 1Sa_15:2, etc.) The Amalekites appear, from Gen_36:12, to have been a branch of the Edomites, and the latest mention of them in the Bible finds a remnant of them in the neighbourhood of Mount Seir in the days of Hezekiah. (1Ch_4:41-43) The city of palm trees, i.e. Jericho, Deu_34:3 Jud_1:16. Jericho was the first city in Canaan which any one crossing the fords of the Jordan would come to. (see Jos_2:1 Jos_6:1, etc.) Though no longer a fenced city, it was important from the fertility of the plain, and from its commanding the fords.

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

City of Palm-trees - That is, Jericho. Not the city which was demolished, but the territory belonging to it. Here he fixed his camp, for the fertility of that soil, and because of its nearness to the passage over Jordan, which was most commodious both for the conjunction of his own forces which lay on both sides of Jordan; to prevent the conjunction of the Israelites in Canaan with their brethren beyond Jordan; and to secure his retreat into his own country.

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

The city of dates. Yericho.

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.