Joshua 11:3

_AND TO THE CANAANITE ON THE EAST AND ON THE WEST, AND TO THE AMORITE, AND THE HITTITE, AND THE PERIZZITE, AND THE JEBUSITE IN THE MOUNTAINS, AND TO THE HIVITE UNDER HERMON IN THE LAND OF MIZPEH._ The Canaanite on the east and on the west - a particular branch of the Canaanite population who occupied the western bank of the Jordan as far northward as the sea of Galilee, and also the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. UNDER HERMON - now Jebel-es-sheikh. It was the modern boundary of Canaan on the went of the Jordan. LAND OF MIZPEH - now Coele-Syria....

1-9 The wonders God wrought for the Israelites were to encourage them to act vigorously themselves. Thus the war against Satan's kingdom, carried on by preaching the gospel, was at first forwarded by miracles; but being fully proved to be of God, we are now left to the Divine grace in the usual course, in the use of the sword of the Spirit. God encouraged Joshua. Fresh dangers and difficulties make it necessary to seek fresh supports from the word of God, which we have nigh unto us for use in every time of need. God proportions our trials to our strength, and our strength to our trials. Joshua's obedience in destroying the horses and chariots, shows his self-denial in compliance with God's command. The possession of things on which the carnal heart is prone to depend, is hurtful to the life of faith, and the walk with God; therefore it is better to be without worldly advantages, than to...

Verse Joshua 11:3. _THE CANAANITE ON THE EAST, C._] Those who dwelt on the borders of Jordan, south of the sea of Tiberias. _ON THE WEST_] Those were the Phoenicians who dwelt on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, from _Dor_ northwards, on the way to Mount Libanus.-_Calmet_. _THE HIVITE UNDER HERMON_] Mount Hermon was to the east of Libanus and the fountains of Jordan it is the same with _Syrion_ and _Baal_ _Hermon_ in Scripture. _THE LAND OF MIZPEH._] There were several cities of this name: _one_ in the tribe of _Judah_, (Joshua 15:38); a _second_ in the tribe of _Benjamin_, (Joshua 18:26);

HERMON - See Deuteronomy 3:9 note. THE LAND OF MIZPEH - or Mizpah,” the land of the watch-tower” The locality is probably identified as a plain stretching at the foot of Hermon southwestward, from Hasbeya, toward the Bahr el Huleh. In a land abounding in striking points of view like Palestine, the name Mizpah was naturally, like “Belle Vue” among ourselves, bestowed on many places. The Mizpeh here mentioned must not be confounded with the Mizpeh of Gilead (Joshua 13:26, and Judges 11:29); nor with the Mizpeh of Judah Joshua 15:38; nor yet with that of Moab...

EXPOSITION THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR.— JOSHUA 11:1 AND IT CAME TO PASS. The political constitution of Palestine was, humanly speaking, the cause of its overthrow. The division of the country into a host of petty states, and the consequent want of cohesion and concert, made its conquest a comparatively easy task. Had the kings of the north rallied round the standard set up in Central Palestine by Adoni-zedek, a far more formidable opposition would have been offered to Joshua at Gibeon. Calvin takes us, however, at once to the fountain head, and remarks how God fitted the burden to those who had to bear it. In spite of the great things God had done to them, they might have been driven to despair (and every one knows how weak their faith was) by the ove

[AND TO] THE CANAANITES ON THE EAST AND ON THE WEST,.... That is, that particular nation of the seven so called, part of which dwelt in the eastern part of the land, by the dead sea, and by the coast of Jordan, Numbers 13:29; and others dwelt on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, which was to the west of the land: AND [TO] THE AMORITE, AND [TO] THE HITTITE, AND [TO] THE PERIZZITE: which were scattered about in several parts of the country: AND THE JEBUSITE IN THE MOUNTAINS; in the mountainous part of Judea, in the mountains about Jerusalem, and which they still inhabited, and did to the times of David: AND [TO] THE HIVITE UNDER HERMON, IN THE LAND OF MIZPEH, so described to distinguish them from the Gibeonites, who were also Hivites. Mizpeh is the place, as Kimchi thinks, where the people of Israel are often said to meet together;

FURTHER CONQUESTS CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Jabin and his confederacy (Joshua 11:1)_ 2. The divine encouragement (Joshua 11:6) 3. The victory (Joshua 11:7) 4. The obedience of Joshua (Joshua 11:15) 5. The continued conflict with the kings (Joshua 11:16) The Kings of the north formed the second confederacy, headed by Jabin, King of Hazor. Jabin means “understanding” and Hazor, “an enclosure.” He with other kings, and with them “much people even as the sand that is upon the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots

JOSHUA 11. DEFEAT OF JABIN AND HIS COALITION. Jabin, king of Hazor, gathers a vast army of Canaanites at the Waters of Merom (locality uncertain, p. 32). The coalition was utterly defeated, the king was slain, and his city burnt. In Judges 4, a king of the same name and the same city appears, who for twenty years mightily oppressed the children of Israel. Joshua's victory here seems to be inconsistent with the account given of Jabin in Judges 4. The original story of Barak's campaign (Judges 5) has no reference to Jabin, but only to Sisera. The prose narrative (Judges 4) combines the war against Sisera with that against Jabin, and makes the former the general of the latter. It is noticeable that the terms of the short narrative in which the battle is here described are very vague and general, and 8, with its statement that the Israelites pursued their enemies as far as Zidon in the N. an...

MIZPEH. Watch-tower....

_and to the Canaanite_ Not satisfied with summoning to his banner the tribes of the north, Jabin extended his "war-token" to the remnants of the defeated tribes of the south too; (_a_) the Canaanites, or "lowlanders" of the east and west; (_b_) the Amorites, or "highlanders" of the south; (_c_) the Hittites; (_d_) the Perizzites; (_e_) the Jebusites, from the still unconquered Jebus; (_f_) the Hivites under the snowy heights of Hermon, the most beautiful and conspicuous mountain in Palestine or Syria. For the distribution of these various nations see note above, ch. Joshua 3:10. _in the land of Mizpeh_ Mizpeh means "prospect" or "watch-tower." It has the article here = "_the Land of the Watch-Tower_." There were several places in Palestine bearing this name. This Mizpeh was probably in a plain stretching south-west at the foot of Hermon, where now is s