Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 10:33
Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.
33. Then Horam ] His city lay at no great distance from Lachish.
Gezer ] or, as it is called later, Gazara ( 2Ma 10:32 ), Gadara (Jos. Ant. 5:1:22), was an ancient city of Canaan. It was afterwards allotted with its suburbs to the Kohathite Levites (Jos 21:21; 1Ch 6:67); but the original inhabitants were not dispossessed (Jdg 1:29), and even down to the reign of Solomon the Canaanites were still dwelling there, and paying tribute to Israel (1Ki 9:16). Its site has lately been identified with Tel el Jezar, about four miles from Amws, on the road to Ramlah and Lydd. “The position of the Levitical city of Gezer ( Jos 12:12 ; 1Ch 6:67; Jdg 1:29), which Pharaoh gave to his daughter Solomon’s queen as a dowry, has been a subject of prolonged controversy. M. Clermont Ganneau discovered the ancient site, with the very name itself still lingering on the spot. Not only that, but he found the Levitical boundaries. In no other case have these been found. They were cut in the rock itself not on movable stones in two separate places, in Greek and square Hebrew characters, signifying the ‘boundary of Gezer.’ The date seems to be Maccabean.” ( Quarterly Statement of the “Palestine Exploration Fund,” 1874.)
and Joshua smote him ] Joshua seems to have been content with repulsing his attack, slaying the king, and inflicting a severe defeat upon his people. Gezer itself lay too far northward of his present line of operations to justify its capture.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gezer lies on the southern border of the tribe of Ephraim Jos 16:3. It was considerably to the northward of Joshuas present line of operations, and does not appear to have been captured at this time. He contented himself for the present with repulsing the attack made upon him, killed Horam (compare Jos 12:12), inflicting a severe defeat upon his people, and then continued to pursue his conquests over the confederated kings and their allies in south Canaan.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 33. Horam king of Gezer] It is likely that Horam was in a state of alliance with the king of Lachish, and therefore came to his assistance as soon as it appeared that he was likely to be attacked. Joshua probably sent a detachment against him, before he was able to form a junction with the forces of Lachish; and utterly destroyed him and his army.
Gezer is supposed to have been situated near Azotus. See 1Mac 16:34. It fell to the tribe of Ephraim, Jos 16:3, but was probably taken afterwards by some of the remnant of the Canaanitish nations; for we find it was given by Pharaoh to his son-in-law Solomon, 1Kg 9:16, which proves that it had got out of the possession of the Israelites previously to the days of Solomon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Gezer; either that in Ephraim, of which Jos 16:3; Jdg 1:29; but that seems too remote from the other places; or rather, that in Judah, which was near Lachish, 1Ch 14:16, whose king therefore was more capable, and more obliged to help them for his own sake.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish,…. Perhaps the rather induced to it, because it had no king to defend it. In Jerom’s e time it was a village called Gazera, four miles from Nicopolis, or Emmaus, to the north: if this king came before the city was taken, he was not able to raise the siege; and if he came after, and so too late, he fell into the hands of Joshua:
and Joshua smote him, and his people, until he had left him none remaining; destroyed him and all his army, so that there were none left to return and relate their unhappy case.
e De loc. Heb. fol. 92. A.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(33) Gezer is identified as Tell-Jezer or Tel-el-Jezar, about four miles from Amws or Emmaus.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
33. Horam, like the other ill-fated kings mentioned in this chapter, has left no other record. Gezer must have been between the Lower Beth-horon and the sea. It does not seem to have been destroyed by Joshua. Some identify it with the village Jazur, four or five miles east of Joppa, but this is uncertain. [It was an important city of the Caaaanites, and fell within the borders of Ephraim, (Jos 16:3,) but that tribe failed to drive out the original inhabitants. Jdg 1:19. Subsequently Pharaoh, king of Egypt, captured it, slew its Canaanitish inhabitants, and presented it to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. Pharaoh burned the city, but Solomon rebuilt and fortified Joshua 2: 1Ki 9:16-17.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua smote him, and his people, until he had left him none remaining.’
When Horam, king of Gezer, heard that Lachish was being attacked (they may well have had a mutual help pact) he hastened to help them. But he arrived too late and found himself having to face Israel alone. The result was that he was slain and his army decimated. Joshua must have been a brilliant general. But Gezer was a strong city and never fully occupied by Israel, although later subjected to taskwork (Jos 16:10). It was later captured by Merenptah of Egypt and then by the Philistines, being given by Egypt to Solomon on his marriage.
Gezer was on the northern ridge of the Shephelah, overlooking the Valley of Aijalon, a few miles from the main coastal highway between Egypt and the north. It had been taken by the Egyptians in the 15th century BC, and is mentioned as remaining loyal (if vacillating) in the Amarna letters. But at this stage it appears to have been at least semi-independent. As mentioned it was later taken by Merenptah while the Israelite occupation was still under way. It would later be occupied by the newly arriving Philistines, possibly with Egyptian consent.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 33. Then Horam, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish, &c. While Joshua was besieging Lachish, the king of Gezer came to its assistance. Gezer was in the south part of the country, which fell to the tribe of Ephraim, (ch. Jos 16:3.) between Beth-horon and the sea, and, as it should seem, not far from Gibeon: 1Ch 14:16 but it is evident that the Israelites did not possess it till the time of Solomon, to whom it was given by his father-in-law, Pharaoh, 1Ki 9:16-17. In St. Jerome’s time, it was no more than a little town, known by the name of Gazara, four miles south of Nicopolia, the ancient Emmaus. Joshua did not proceed thither, but detached a party of his army from Lachish, which cut in pieces that of Horam, and then came back and completed the siege.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jos 10:33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.
Ver. 33. Then Horam king of Gezer. ] Whereof read 1Ch 14:16 . It lay near to Lachish, and sped the worse for its neighbourhood: as did Hamath for Damascus. Zec 9:2
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gezer. See note on 1Ki 9:16, 1Ki 9:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gezer: Gezer was situated on the confines of Ephraim and Manasseh, between Beth-horon and the sea; and is evidently the village of Gazara mentioned by Eusebius, four miles – northfrom Nicopolis or Emmaus. Jos 12:12, Jos 16:3, Jos 16:10, Jos 21:21, Jdg 1:29, 1Ki 9:16, 1Ki 9:17, 1Ch 6:67, 1Ch 20:4
Reciprocal: Jos 8:29 – the king Jos 10:39 – he left none 1Ki 9:15 – Gezer