Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 12:21
The king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
21. Taanach ] Almost always in company with Megiddo, one of the chief towns of the rich district which forms the western portion of the great plain of Esdraelon (1Ki 4:12). It was a city of the Levites (Jos 21:25), and was famous for the victory of Barak (Jdg 5:19). Under the form Ta’annuk it retains its old name with hardly the change of a letter.
Megiddo ] which commanded one of those passes from the north into the hill country, which were of such critical importance in the history of Juda. It does not seem to have been really occupied by the Israelites till the time of Solomon, and is famous as the place (i) where Ahaziah died in his flight from Jehu (2Ki 9:27), and (ii) where Josiah was fatally wounded in the battle against Necho king of Egypt (2Ch 35:22-24). The modern name is el-Lejjn, the “Legio” of Eusebius and Jerome.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 21. Taanach] A city in the half tribe of Manasseh, to the west of Jordan, not far from the frontiers of Zebulun, Jos 17:11. This city was assigned to the Levites, Jos 21:25.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The king of Taanach, one,…. It was in the tribe of Manasseh, Jos 17:11; Jerom says q, in his time it was a large village, distant from Legion on the plain of Esdraelon three miles:
the king of Megiddo, one; which belonged to the same tribe,
Jos 17:11; near this place were some waters where the Canaanites fought with the Israelites, Jud 5:19; and a valley where Josiah was slain, 2Ch 35:22.
q De Loc. Heb. fol. 95. D.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Taanach, which was allotted to the Manassites in the territory of Issachar, and given up to the Levites (Jos 17:11; Jos 21:25), but was not entirely wrested from the Canaanites (Jdg 1:27), is the present Tell Tanak, an hour and a quarter to the south-east of Lejun, a flat hill sown with corn; whilst the old name has been preserved in the small village of Tanak, at the south-eastern foot of the Tell (see Van de Velde, i. p. 269, and Rob. Pal. iii. p. 156). – Megiddo, which was also allotted to the Manassites in the territory of Issachar, though without the Canaanites having been entirely expelled (Jos 17:11; Jdg 1:27), was fortified by Solomon (1Ki 9:15), and is also well known as the place were Ahaziah died (2Ki 9:27), and where Josiah was beaten and slain by Pharaoh Necho (2Ki 23:29-30; 2Ch 35:20.). Robinson has shown that it was preserved in the Legio of a later time, the present Lejun (Pal. iii. pp. 177ff.; see also Bibl. Res. p. 116).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
‘ The king of Taanach, one, the king of Megiddo, one.’
These were kings of two of the major cities of Canaan, situated on either side of the Plain of Esdraelon, each having a large population in the tens of thousands. Megiddo was the largest, controlling the pass that led onto the Plain. It is unlikely that these cities were taken. They were heavily fortified, and had Joshua taken them we would have been told about it. It would probably have required another miracle. They were important cities on the main trade route through Canaan, and for this reason were main targets for Egypt when Egypt was strong. They also had connections with Mesopotmia, and a fragment of the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh was found on the site of Megiddo. Possibly they joined forces against Joshua, becoming alarmed at what had happened to Hazor, and were then defeated and killed in open battle. Both later fell to Israel, (possibly after being attacked by someone else) but, instead of destroying the Canaanites, they set them to taskwork (Jdg 1:27-28).
Megiddo was destroyed in c. 1150 BC, well after the time of Joshua and before the time of Deborah. This may have been the work of Israel, but it could in fact have had any number of causes. Israel were not the only predators. The small settlement then built on the site may well have been an Israelite village. But Megiddo was shortly to be rebuilt by Egypt.
Excavations in Taanach produced fourteen tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform demonstrating that the language was used even between local officials. In the debris of a late bronze age destruction a tablet was found in the Canaanite cuneiform alphabet. Taanach is mentioned by Thothmes III, by Shishak, and in the Amarna letters for raiding Megiddo which was loyal to Egypt.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 21. The king of TaanachThe king of Megiddo Taanach, a city assigned to the Levites, chap. Jos 21:25 in the half tribe of Manasseh, to the west of Jordan, chap. Jos 17:11 was not far from the frontiers of Zebulun. Eusebius and St. Jerome place it four miles from Legion; but this latter city, well known in the book of the Laws of Palestine, written by the first, and translated by the second of these learned men, being now unknown, cannot help us to fix the precise distances. Cellarius places Taanach between mount Tabor and the Mediterranean sea, fifteen miles from Nazareth westward. Taanach seems to have been not far from the river Kishon, and the city of Megiddo. Jdg 5:19-21. We should add that the Canaanites were not entirely driven from thence: probably, they seized upon it after the death of Joshua: see Jdg 1:27-28. Megiddo, situate near the Kishon, belonged as well as Taanach, to the half tribe of Manasseh; Jdg 5:19. The Canaanites held it a long time; ch. Jos 17:11-13. Solomon rebuilt it; 1Ki 9:15 and in its neighbourhood Josiah was defeated by the king of Egypt, 2Ch 25:22.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Taanach: Jos 17:11, Jdg 5:19
Megiddo: 1Ki 4:12, 2Ki 23:29, 2Ki 23:30