Joshua 12:13

7-24 We have here the limits of the country Joshua conquered. A list is given of the kings subdued by Israel: thirty-one in all. This shows how fruitful Canaan then was, in which so many chose to throng together. This was the land God appointed for Israel; yet in our day it is one of the most barren and unprofitable countries in the world. Such is the effect of the curse it lies under, since its possessors rejected Christ and his gospel, as was foretold by Moses, Deuteronomy 29:23. The vengeance of a righteous God, inflicted on all these kings and their subjects, for their wickedness, should make us dread and hate sin. The fruitful land bestowed on his chosen people, should fill our hearts with hope and confidence in his mercy, and with humble gratitude....

Verse Joshua 12:13. _THE KING OF GEDER_] Probably the same with _Gedor_, Joshua 15:58; it was situated in the tribe of Judah....

The names of the kings are given in the order of their actual encounter with Joshua. Those enumerated in Joshua 12:10 either belonged to the league of the southern Canaanites (Joshua 10:1 ff), the power of which was broken in the battle of Beth-horon, or were at any rate conquered in the campaign following that battle. Those mentioned in Joshua 12:19 were in like manner connected with the northern confederates (Joshua 11:1 ff), who were defeated at the Waters of Merom. Joshua 12:13 The iden

EXPOSITION THE EXTENT OF JOSHUA'S CONQUESTS. JOSHUA 12:1 NOW THESE ARE THE KINGS. The historian now enters upon a complete description of the whole territory which had, up to this date, fallen into the hands of the Israelites. First he traces out the border of the trans-Jordanic possessions of Israel, which he describes as bounded on the south by the river Arnon, on the west of course by the Jordan, and as extending from Hermon, past the Sea of Chinneroth, to the borders of the Dead Sea. The eastern border is not clearly defined, but the boundary extended far further eastward in the north than in the south, since the territory of Og was much more extensive than that of Sihon. On the west of Jordan the territory is described as extending "from Baal-gad

THE KING OF DEBIR, ONE,.... The same with Kirjathsepher, of which place, Joshua 10:38; THE KING OF GEDER, ONE: Jerom h seems to confound this with the tower of Eder, beyond which Jacob pitched his tent, Genesis 35:21; and he speaks of a Gaddera in the tribe of Judah, in his time a village belonging to the country about Aelia or Jerusalem, and of Gahedur in the tribe of Judah, a large village, ten miles from Diospolis or Lydda, as you go to Eleutheropolis: it seems to be the same with Gederah, Joshua 15:36, or Gedor, Joshua 15:58. h De loc. Heb. fol. 92. A. B....

THE CONQUERED KINGS CHAPTER 12 _ 1. The kings on the other side of Jordan (Joshua 12:1)_ 2. The kings on this side of Jordan (Joshua 12:7) “The land rested from war” is the concluding statement of the previous chapter. It was after Joshua had made war a long time with all those kings (Joshua 11:18). Deuteronomy 6:10 was also fulfilled. “And it shall be, when the LORD Thy God shall have brought thee into the land, which He sware unto thy Fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, an

JOSHUA 12. LIST OF THE CONQUERED KINGS. The whole of this chapter, which is a detailed expansion of Joshua 11:16, So Joshua took all that land, is a late composition of the Deuteronomic school; of which it can only be said that the first six verses are probably less removed from historical verity than the last eighteen. The statement (Joshua 12:6, that Moses had given the half tribe of Manasseh land on the east of the Jordan is unhistorical (ch. 17*). Joshua 12:10 (_cf._ Judges 1:7) mentions the king of Jerusalem, but _cf._ Joshua 15:63 and...

DEBIR. Compare Joshua 10:38....

Catalogue of the Kings vanquished on the West of the Jordan 7. _And these are the kings_ This and the following verse coincide with ch. Joshua 11:16, and Joshua 10:40-42. They introduce the following narrative....

_VER._ 13. _THE KING OF GEDER_— This is the first and only time that mention is made of a _king of Geder._ This city is in all probability the same as _Gedera, Gederothaim, Gederoth_ or _Geder,_ in the tribe of Judah, mentioned chap. Joshua 15:36; Joshua 15:41; Judges 15:58 and 2 Chronicles 28:18. We cannot tell the exact situation of it; but it seems not to have been far distant from Jamnia. Strabo calls it _Godara,_ and places it within the territory of Joppa and Jamnia. Bochart says, that all these names carry the idea of cities inclosed with hedges. See Can. lib. 1: cap. 34....