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Selected Verse: Joshua 10:10 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Jos 10:10 |
King James |
And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
GOD FIGHTS AGAINST THEM WITH HAILSTONES. (Jos 10:10-11)
the Lord discomfited them--Hebrew, "terrified," confounded the Amorite allies, probably by a fearful storm of lightning and thunder. So the word is usually employed (Sa1 7:10; Psa 18:13; Psa 144:6).
and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon--This refers to the attack of the Israelites upon the besiegers. It is evident that there had been much hard fighting around the heights of Gibeon, for the day was far spent before the enemy took to flight.
chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon--that is, "the House of Caves," of which there are still traces existing. There were two contiguous villages of that name, upper and nether. Upper Beth-horon was nearest Gibeon--about ten miles distant, and approached by a gradual ascent through a long and precipitous ravine. This was the first stage of the flight. The fugitives had crossed the high ridge of Upper Beth-horon, and were in full flight down the descent to Beth-horon the Nether. The road between the two places is so rocky and rugged that there is a path made by means of steps cut in the rock [ROBINSON]. Down this pass Joshua continued his victorious rout. Here it was that the Lord interposed, assisting His people by means of a storm, which, having been probably gathering all day, burst with such irresistible fury, that "they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword." The Oriental hailstorm is a terrific agent; the hailstones are masses of ice, large as walnuts, and sometimes as two fists; their prodigious size, and the violence with which they fall, make them always very injurious to property, and often fatal to life. The miraculous feature of this tempest, which fell on the Amorite army, was the entire preservation of the Israelites from its destructive ravages. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Beth-horon - The two places of this name, the upper and the lower Beth-horon (marginal reference), are identified with the villages Beit-ur el Foka (the upper) and Beit-ur et Tahta (the lower): Beit-ur being probably a corruption of Beth-horon. The name itself ("house of caves") points to the exceedingly rocky character of the district. Upper Beth-horon was between six and seven miles west of Gibeon; and "the way that goeth up to Beth-horon" must accordingly be the hilly road which leads from Gibeon to it. Between the two Beth-horons is a steep pass, "the going down to Beth-horon" Jos 10:11; and here the Amorites were crushed by the hailstones. The main road from Jerusalem and the Jordan valley to the seacoast lay through the pass of Beth-horon; and, accordingly, both the Beth-horons were secured by Solomon with strong fortifications Ch2 8:5. It was in this pass that Judas Maccabaeus routed the Syrians under Seron (1 Macc. 3:13ff). and here also, according to Jewish traditions, the destruction of the host of Sennacherib took place Kg2 19:35.
Azekah, which has not been as yet certainly identified, was in the hill country, between the mountains around Gibeon and the plain (see the marginal reference). It was fortified by Rehoboam Ch2 11:9 and besieged by the Babylonians Jer 34:7 shortly before the captivity. It was an inhabited city after the return from the exile Neh 11:30.
Makkedah - The exact site of this town is uncertain. It was situated in the plain between the mountains and the line of seacoast which the Philistines held Jos 15:41, and no great way northeast of Libnab Jos 12:15-16. (Warren (Conder) identifies it with the modern el Mughhar, a village on the south side of the valley of Torek.) |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| At Gibeon - Heb. in Gibeon, not in the city, but in the territory belonging to it. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon - Multitudes of them fell in the onset; after which they fled, and the Israelites pursued them by the way of Beth-horon. There were two cities of this name, the upper and lower, both in the tribe of Ephraim, and built by Sherah, the daughter of Ephraim, Ch1 7:24. The situation of these two cities is not exactly known.
To Azekah, and unto Makkedah - These two cities were in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:35-41. |
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.
10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.
11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
15 The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
16 The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
41 And Gederoth, Bethdagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages:
30 Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beersheba unto the valley of Hinnom.
7 When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
9 And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,
35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
5 Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;
11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
35 Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah,
36 And Sharaim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages:
37 Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdalgad,
38 And Dilean, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel,
39 Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon,
40 And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish,
41 And Gederoth, Bethdagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages:
24 (And his daughter was Sherah, who built Bethhoron the nether, and the upper, and Uzzensherah.)