Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 10:3
Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
3. king of Hebron ] Situated amongst the mountains, 20 Roman miles, about 7 hours, south of Jerusalem; one of the most ancient cities in the world, rivalling even Damascus, being a well-known town even when Abraham first entered Canaan (Gen 13:18). Its original name was Kirjath-Arba (Jdg 1:10), “the city of Arba,” the father of Anak, and progenitor of the giant Anakims (Jos 21:11; Jos 15:13-14). Hoham denotes “Jehovah of the multitude.”
Piram king of Jarmuth ] the present Yarmk, about 1 miles from Beit-Netif, on the left of the road to Jerusalem. Near it is an eminence called Tell-Ermd. It was visited by Robinson.
Japhia king of Lachish ] Lachish has been identified with (1) Um-Lkis, (2) Zukkarijeh, 2 hours south-west of Beit-Jibrn. It was afterwards fortified by Rehoboam (2Ch 11:9). Here Amaziah died (2Ki 14:19). It was besieged by Sennacherib, who moved thence to Libnah (Isa 36:2; Isa 37:8).
Debir king of Eglon ] Lachish and Eglon are mentioned in several other passages (Jos 12:11-12; Jos 15:39), in such a way as shews they were not far apart. Eglon has been identified with ’Ajlan.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
3. When Nebuchadnezzar came up against Jerusalem, he fought against all “the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah,” i.e. they had strength to stand out, when the others had fallen (Jer 34:7).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For Hebron, see Gen 13:18. Jarmuth, afterward one of the cities of Judah Jos 15:35, is probably identified with the modern Yarmuk. Lachish was also a city of Judah Jos 15:39, and, like Jarmuth, occupied by Jews after the captivity, Neh. 11:39. It was fortified by Rehoboam after the revolt of the Ten tribes 2Ch 11:9, and seems to have been regarded as one of the safest places of refuge 2Ki 14:19. Through Lachish the idolatry of Israel was imported into Judah Mic 1:13, and of this sin the capture of the city by Sennacherib was the punishment 2Ki 18:14-17; 2Ki 19:8. Lachish is by most authorities identified with Um Lakis, lying some twenty miles west of Eleutheropolis, on the road to Gaza (and by Conder with El Hesy).
Eglon is the modern Ajlan.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Hoham king of Hebron] This city was situated in the mountains, southward of Jerusalem, from which it was about thirty miles distant. It fell to the tribe of Judah.
Piram king of Jarmuth] There were two cities of this name; one belonged to the tribe of Issachar, see Jos 21:29; that mentioned here fell to the tribe of Judah, see Jos 15:35; it is supposed to have been about eighteen miles distant from Jerusalem.
Japhia king of Lachish] This city is celebrated in Scripture; in that city Amaziah was slain by conspirators, 2Kg 14:19. It was besieged by Sennacherib, 2Kg 18:14; 2Kg 18:17; and without effect by the king of Assyria, as we learn from Isa 37:8: it was also besieged by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, see Jer 34:7; it also fell to the lot of Judah, Jos 15:39.
Debir king of Eglon] Where this city was situated is very uncertain; but we learn from Jos 15:39, that it fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He sent, either because he was superior to them in power or dignity, or because he was nearest the danger, and most forward in the work.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3, 4. Wherefore Adoni-zedek . . .sent, . . . saying, Come up unto me, and help meA combinedattack was meditated on Gibeon, with a view not only to punish itspeople for their desertion of the native cause, but by its overthrowto interpose a barrier to the farther inroads of the Israelites. Thisconfederacy among the mountaineers of Southern Palestine was formedand headed by the king of Jerusalem, because his territory was mostexposed to danger, Gibeon being only six miles distant, and becausehe evidently possessed some degree of pre-eminence over his royalneighbors.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron,…. Which, according to Jerom d was twenty two miles from Jerusalem; it was an ancient city built seven years before Zoan in Egypt; [See comments on Ge 13:18] and
[See comments on Nu 13:22]:
and unto Piram king of Jarmuth; a city which fell to the lot of Judah, as did Hebron, Jos 15:35; according to Jerom e, it was four miles distant from Eleutheropolis; according to Procopius f fourteen, about the village Eshtaol, near to which Samson was buried, Jud 16:31; but Jerom g speaks of a city called Jermus, in the tribe of Judah, which seems to be the same with this; and which he says in his day was a village, that went by the name of Jermucha, ten miles from Eleutheropolis, as you go to Aelia or Jerusalem; and as Eleutheropolis lay twenty miles from Jerusalem, this place must be ten miles from it, lying between them both:
and unto Japhia king of Lachish; which the above writer says h was a city in the tribe of Judah, and in his time a village, seven miles from Eleutheropolis, as you go to Daroma, or the south; and, according to Bunting i, it lay between Eleutheropolis and Hebron, and was twenty miles from Jerusalem towards the southwest:
and unto Debir king of Eglon; which the Septuagint version calls Odollam or Adullam; and Jerom, following this version, makes Eglon the same with Adullam, when it is certain they were different places, and had distinct kings over them, Jos 12:12; and which he says k in his time was a very large village, twelve miles from Eleutheropolis to the east; and, according to Bunting l it was twelve miles from Jerusalem southward. To these four kings the king of Jerusalem sent:
saying; as follows.
d De loc. Heb. fol. 87. E. e lb. fol. 92. H. f Apud Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. l. 2. p. 505. g Ut supra, (De loc. Heb. fol. 92.) I. h Ib. M. i Travels, p. 99. k De loc. Heb. fol. 91. A. l Travels, p. 92.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.Hebron, i.e., el-Khalil,
Jarmuth is identified as el-Yarmk.
Lachish is still uncertain; but see Note on Terse 32.
Eglon is identified as Agln in Philistia.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Hebron This city, one of the most ancient in the world, is situated among the mountains of Judah, twenty miles south of Jerusalem. It is two thousand eight hundred feet above the Mediterranean, and is the highest town in Palestine, being six hundred feet above Jerusalem. Hence the appropriateness of the expression in Jos 20:7: “Hebron in the mountain of Judah.” It was well known when Abraham sojourned there, nearly four thousand years ago. Its original name was Kirjath-Arba, the city of Arba, and it was sometimes called Mamre. Ritter argues that the original name was Hebron, and that this name was restored after the expulsion of the Anakim. Jos 15:14. It is now called by the Mohammedans El-Khulil, “the Friend,” that is, of God the designation of Abraham, whose tomb, the cave of Machpelah, is still here, one of the historic remains in the Holy Land of which travellers have no doubts. It is enclosed within a mosque. The present population is about ten thousand. Jarmuth was a town in the low country of Judah, but not so far west as the plain. It was southwest from Jerusalem about eighteen miles. Robinson found here a hamlet called Yarmuk, which doubtless represents the ancient capital of Piram, and contains among the hewn stones of its ruins some traces of its ancient greatness. Lachish, probably the modern Um-Lakis, is about fifteen miles west of Hebron, on the lower range of hills, so far below the summit of Hebron that it is called “the plain.” It was rebuilt after Joshua destroyed it, and in the reign of Hezekiah was taken by Sennacherib. The siege is mentioned in 2Ch 32:9, and a plan of the city and its capture is portrayed on slabs found by Layard at Nineveh. See notes and cuts at 2Ki 18:14; 2Ki 19:8. Eglon was about eight miles west by north from Lachish on the plain. Its name is supposed to survive in Ajlan, a shapeless mass of ruins covering a round hillock. In translating this verse the Septuagint has erroneously called this place Adullam.
‘ For that reason Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying.’
In view of the disturbing situation and the capitulation of Gibeon, the king of Jerusalem connected possible allies in the southern hill country and the Shephelah (the lowlands or lower slopes). We know from the Amarna letters that Jerusalem headed a small confederacy, and with Shechem was one of the two most powerful forces in the hill country. In the time of Abraham its king had been an influential figure to whom Abraham had paid tribute (Genesis 14), because he was allowed to graze his lands.
Hebron (el-Halil) was about thirty two kilometres (twenty miles) south of Jerusalem, Yarmuth (Khirbet Yarmuk) twenty five kilometres (sixteen miles) west south west, Lachish about forty kilometres (twenty five miles) south west and Eglon (el-Hesi) thirteen kilometres (eight miles) beyond Lachish. Hebron and Lachish were major cities. Lachish is a thirty one acre tell but was unfortified at this time, although the houses on the edge possibly formed a defensive ring.
Ver. 3. Adoni-zedecsent unto Hoham, &c. Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, were four cities situated south of Jerusalem, and, together with that city, given to the tribe of Judah, as we shall see hereafter.
Jos 10:3 Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
Ver. 3. Sent unto Hoham king of Hebron. ] “Sic squamae Satan ita cohaerent ut earum opere textili densato quasi loricatus incedat Satan et cataphractus: quod de Faedere Concordiae qua malignantes ecclesiae membra se complexa muniebant et circumvallabant,” – elegantissime Lutherus, et vere. Persecutors conspire and complot against God’s people, who may boldly say unto them, as Isa 8:9-10 , “Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces: take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; for God is with us: the enemy is come into the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.” These words Basil bade the persecuted Christians use to the heathen princes, Animo praesenti et intrepido, with an undaunted spirit and well-knit resolution.
king of Jerusalem: Jos 10:1, Jos 10:5, Jos 12:10-13, Jos 15:35-39, Jos 15:54, Jos 15:63, Jos 18:28
Hebron: Hebron was situated on an eminence, 20 miles south of Jerusalem, and the same distance north of Beersheba. It is now called El Khalil, “the well-beloved,” the usual epithet which the Turks and Arabs apply to Abraham, whose sepulchral cave they still shew; over which St. Helena built a magnificent church Its original site was on an eminence, at the southern foot of which the present village is pleasantly situated, on which are the remains of an ancient castle, its sole defence. Jos 14:15, Gen 23:2, Gen 37:14, Num 13:22, 2Sa 2:11
Lachish: 2Ki 18:14, 2Ki 18:17, 2Ch 11:9, Mic 1:13
Reciprocal: Jos 10:23 – General Jos 10:31 – Lachish Jos 10:34 – Eglon Jos 10:36 – Hebron Jos 11:1 – he sent Jos 12:11 – Jarmuth Jos 12:12 – Eglon Jos 12:13 – Debir Jos 15:15 – General Jos 15:39 – Lachish Jos 21:29 – Jarmuth 2Sa 5:6 – Jerusalem 1Ch 6:58 – Debir Neh 11:30 – Lachish Psa 83:5 – they are Jer 34:7 – Lachish
10:3 Wherefore {a} Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
(a) That is, “Lord of justice”, so tyrants take for themselves glorious names, when indeed they are the very enemies of God and all justice.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes