Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 15:20
So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
20. So [R.V. And ] Ben-hadad hearkened ] The conjunction is the simple copulative, and is so rendered in the parallel place in Chronicles.
the captains of the hosts which he had ] This is an attempt to represent the Hebrew construction. But it is not nearly so idiomatic as the translation in Chronicles which the R.V. has followed, that the same Hebrew might have in both places the same English rendering: the captains of his armies.
and smote Ijon ] This town lay in the north of Palestine and belonged to the tribe of Naphtali. It was attacked and plundered again in later days by Tiglath-pileser (2Ki 15:29).
and Dan ] This was the town formerly called Laish, which had been seized in the days of the Judges by some Danites from the south (Jos 19:47; Jdg 18:29). It lay on the extreme north of the country, so that ‘from Dan to Beersheba’ became an expression to describe the whole country from north to south.
and Abel-beth-maachah ] This city, like the rest, lay quite in the north, and was early a place of some importance. It is called ‘a city and a mother in Israel’ (2Sa 20:9). In the parallel passage in Chronicles the name is given as ‘Abel-maim,’ i.e. ‘Abel on the waters.’
all Cinneroth ] R.V. Chinneroth. From the way in which it is here mentioned this appears to have been a district and not a town. It was probably named from the lake of Gennesareth, or sea of Tiberias, which was in that neighbourhood, and was anciently called ‘the sea of Chinnereth’ (Num 24:11; Jos 13:27).
Naphtali ] This tribe lay directly in the way of Syrian and Assyrian invaders.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ijon is probably marked by the ruins called Tel-Dibbin, which are situated a few miles northwest of the site of Dan, in a fertile and beautiful little plain which bears the name of Merj Ayun or meadow of fountains. On Abel-beth-maachah, or Abel-maim (Abel-on-the waters) and Dan, see the marginal references
For Cinneroth or Genesareth see Jos 11:2.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Ijon, and Dan, &c.] He appears to have attacked and taken those towns which constituted the principal strength of the kingdom of Israel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The northern parts of Baashas kingdom, which were nearest to his own kingdom of Damascus, and most remote from those parts where Baasha was now employed, which were in the most southern parts of his dominions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
So Benhadad hearkened unto King Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel,…. He broke off his alliance with the king of Israel; and as he had a standing army, with proper officers, he sent them directly to take the cities of Israel:
and he smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali; places which lay on the northern part of Israel, the nearest to Syria. Ijon some place in the tribe of Naphtali, others in Asher; it seems to be on the extreme border of the land northward, as Dan also was; hence the phrase from Dan to Beersheba, i.e. from north to south. Abelbethmaachah is the same with Abelmaim, 2Ch 16:4 which perhaps is the same with that Abela, placed by Jerome x between Damascus and Paneas, supposed to be the Enhydra of Pliny y. Cinneroth is the same with Gennesaret, a fruitful country in Galilee, from which is a sea or lake of that name, mentioned in the New Testament, and was in the tribe of Naphtali, the land of which was seized upon at this time.
x De loc. Heb. fol. 83. K. y Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(20) Smote.The portion smitten now, as hereafter in the Assyrian invasion (2Ki. 15:29), is the mountain country near the source of the Jordan, which lay most exposed to the great approach to Israel from the north by the entering in of Hamath, through the wide valley between Lebanon and Ante-Lebanon, called by the Greeks Cle-Syria.
Ijon is only mentioned in these two passages as belonging to the territory of Naphtali. It is supposed to have stood not far from Dan, close to the nearer, but fuller, source of the Jordan, in a position of great natural beauty and some strength, identified with the modern Tel-Dibbin.
Abel-beth-Maachah (see 2Sa. 20:14-15) (the meadow of the house of Maachah), or (2Ch. 16:4) Abel-maim (the meadow upon the waters), lay probably in the marshy ground north of the water of Merom.
Cinneroth or Chinneroth, is the name afterwards corrupted into Gennesareth, signifying evidently a region in the neighbourhood of the lake.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Ijon “At the base of the mountains of Naphtali, a few miles northwest of the city of Dan, is a fertile and beautiful plain called Merj Ayun, (the Arabic word Ayun, though different in meaning, is radically identical with the Hebrew ,) and near its northern end is a large mound, called Tell Dibbin. The writer visited it some years ago, and found there the traces of a strong and ancient city. This, in all probability, is the site of the long lost Ijon.” J.L. Porter. The spot was visited in 1852 by Robinson, who regarded it as the site of the ancient Ijon, and described it as “a noble site for a city, overlooking, as it does, the whole plain of the Merj, and commanding one of the great roads between the seacoast and the interior. Unmistakable traces likewise show that in very ancient times the place was occupied by a city.”
Dan See on Jdg 18:29. Here Jeroboam had erected one of his golden calves. 1Ki 12:29.
Abel-bethmaachah See on 2Sa 20:14.
All Chinneroth This was probably a district lying in the territory of Naphtali, and adjoining the sea of Galilee, which was anciently called the sea of Cinneroth. See at Num 34:11; Jos 12:3. It may have taken its name either from the sea or from some city. See on Jos 11:2.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 15:20 So Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
Ver. 20. So Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa. ] Though against his oath. The Turks’ leagues, grounded upon the law of nations, be they with never so strong capitulations concluded, or solemnity of oath confirmed, have with them no longer force than standeth with their own profit. a
a Turk Hist., pref.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hosts = forces.
Ijon, &c. All in the neighbourhood of Gennesaret.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Ijon: Probably the same as Hazar-enan, a frontier town to Damascus – Eze 48:1, and perhaps the Inna of Coele-Syria, long. 68 degrees and a half, lat. 33 degrees, according to Ptolemy. 2Ki 15:29
Dan: 1Ki 12:29, Gen 14:14, Jdg 18:29, Abel-beth-maachah, 2Sa 20:14, 2Sa 20:15
Cinneroth: Jos 11:2, Jos 12:3
Reciprocal: 1Ki 20:1 – Benhadad 1Ki 20:34 – The cities 2Ch 16:4 – Ijon Isa 9:1 – when
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 15:20-21. And smote Ijon and Dan, &c. He fell upon the northern part of the kingdom of Israel, which was nearest to Damascus; while Baasha was busy at Ramah, which was in the more southern part. And dwelt in Tirzah Now the royal city of Israel. There he abode to defend his own kingdoms, and durst not return to oppose Asa, lest the Syrian king should make a second invasion. So Asa met with success in this ungodly course, as good men sometimes meet with disappointment in a good cause and course. So there is no judging of causes by events.