Joshua 10:11

were in the going down to Beth-horon This was the second stage in the flight. The Amorite host had gained the height before their pursuers, and were hurrying down the pass of nether Beth-horon, "a rough, rocky road, sometimes over the upturned edges of the limestone strata, sometimes over sheets of smooth rock, sometimes over loose rectangular stones, sometimes over steps cut in the rock" (Stanley's Lectures, 1:242), when

the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them As afterwards in the great fight of Barak against Sisera (Judges 5:20), one of the fearful tempests, which from time to time sweep over the hills of Palestine, burst upon the disordered army, and hailstones of enormous size fell upon their shattered ranks.

they were moe which died with hailstones Some have explained these as meteoric stones, but it was rather a fearful storm, "thunder, lightning, and a deluge of hail," Jos. Ant. 5:1. 17. "By a very similar mischance the Austrians were overtaken in 1859 at the battle of Solferino." Even ordinary hailstones in Syria are often of enormous size. "I have seen some that measured two inches in diameter; but sometimes irregularly shaped pieces are found among them weighing alone twenty drams." Russell's Natural History of Aleppo, 1:76. "During a storm at Constantinople in 1831, many of the hailstones, or rather masses of ice, weighed from half a pound to above a pound. Under this tremendous fall, the roofs of houses were beaten in, trees were stripped of their leaves and branches, many persons who could not soon enough find shelter were killed, animals were slain, and limbs were broken. In fact, none who know the tremendous power which the hailstones of the East sometimes exhibit, will question, as some have questioned, the possibility that any hail could produce the effect described." Kitto's Bible Illustrations, II. p. 293.

they were moe "and ben deed man ye mowith stonus of haiul, than whom with swerd had smyten the sons of Yrael," Wyclif. In the edition of 1611, "moe" is the comparative of "many," and is altered to "more" in the later editions. Compare

"For elles hadde I dweld with Theseus

I-fetered in his prisoun for ever moo."

Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1231.

Bru. "Is he alone?

Lu. No, sir, there are moewith him."

Shakespeare, Jul. Cœs. 2:1. 71.