Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 12:23
The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one;
23. Dor ] See Jos 11:2.
the nations of Gilgal ] “The kyng of the Gentils (folkis) of Galgal,” Wyclif. For the word here rendered “nations” comp. Gen 10:5, “every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations;” Gen 14:1, “Tidal king of nations.” The Gilgal here mentioned is not the Gilgal on the Jordan, but the modern Jiljilieh, west of Ebal and Gerizim, in the plain along the Mediterranean. See above, ch. Jos 9:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 23. The king of Dor] The city of this name fell to the lot of the children of Manasseh, Jos 17:11. Bochart observes that it was one of the oldest royal cities in Phoenicia. The Canaanites held it, Jdg 1:27. Antiochus Sydetes besieged it in aftertimes, but could not make himself master of it. See Bochart, Canaan, lib. i., c. 28, and Dodd.
The king of the nations of Gilgal] This is supposed to mean the higher Galilee, surnamed Galilee of the Gentiles or, nations, as the Hebrew word goyim means. On this ground it should be read king of Galilee of the nations. Others suppose it is the same country with that of which Tidal was king, see Ge 14:1. The place is very uncertain, and commentators have rendered it more so by their conjectures.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Dor, of which Jos 11:2.
Gilgal; not of that Gilgal where Joshua first lodged after his passage over Jordan; where it doth not appear that there was either king or city; but of another city of the same name, (as was frequent in those parts,) probably in Galilee towards the sea whither divers people might possibly resort for trade and merchandise, over whom this was king, as formerly Tidal seems to have been, Gen 14:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
The king of Dor, in the coast of Dor, one,…. Of which see
Jos 11:2; it fell to the lot of Manasseh, but never was possessed by them, as were not Taanach and Megiddo, before mentioned, Jos 17:11 Jud 1:27;
the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; not the place where Joshua encamped after he had passed Jordan, for that was then no city; the Septuagint version renders it the land of Galilee; and Dr. Lightfoot s is of opinion that Galilee is meant, and in the Apocrypha:
“Who went forth by the way that leadeth to Galgala, and pitched their tents before Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and after they had won it, they slew much people.” (1 Maccabees 9:2)
Galgala is spoken of as near to Arbel, a city in Galilee: Jerom t takes this to be the same with Glagulis, which in his time was a village six miles from Antipatris to the north.
s Chorograph. Cent. c. 88. t De loc. Heb. fol. 92. B.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Dor: see Jos 11:2. Gilgal: the seat of the king of the Goyim (a proper name, as in Gen 14:1), in all probability the same place as the villa nomine Galgulis mentioned in the Onom. ( s. v. Gelgel) as being six Roman miles to the north of Antipatris, which still exists in the Moslem village of Jiljule (now almost a ruin; see Rob. Bibl. Res. p. 136), although this village is only two miles E.S.E. of Kefr Sba, the ancient Antipatris (see Ritter, Erdk. xvi. pp. 568-9). Thirza, the capital of the kings of Israel down to the time of Omri (1Ki 14:17; 1Ki 15:21, 1Ki 15:33; 1Ki 16:6.), is probably the present Talluza, an elevated and beautifully situated place, of a considerable size, surrounded by large olive groves, two hours to the north of Shechem (see Rob. Bibl. Res. p. 302, and Van de Velde, ii. p. 294).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
23. Dor See Jos 11:2.
[ King of the nations of Gilgal This intimates that Gilgal was a capital whose sovereign ruled several surrounding tribes. This Gilgal must be distinguished both from that in the Jordan valley and that in the hills of Ephraim. It was probably the Galgulis of Eusebius and Jerome, on the Mediterranean plain, about eighteen miles northeast of Joppa, and near to Antipatris. It is supposed by Robinson and others to be the same as the modern village of Jiljulieh, two miles southeast of the site of Antipatris.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 23. The king of Dor, in the coast of Dor The city of this name fell to the lot of the children of Manasseh; chap. Jos 17:11. It appears to have commanded a great territory; and Bochart observes, that it was one of the oldest royal cities in Phoenicia. The Canaanites held it; Jdg 1:27. Antiochus Sydetes besieged it in after times, but could not make himself master of it. See Boch. Can. lib. 1: cap. 28.
The king of the nations of Gilgal The LXX have it, the king of Gei of Galile, or rather, as Dr. Hammond renders it, of Galilee; for so he thinks it should be read: by which Galilee, he understands the Galilee of the nations, the same country whose king was Tidal, Gen 14:1. See Hamm. on Matt. note e. The Gilgal here mentioned cannot be the place where Joshua had his camp; there was no city at that time, and Joshua gave the spot the name of Gilgal for the reason mentioned, chap. Jos 5:9. Several learned men understand, by the king of the nations of Gilgal, a king who ruled over some district of Galilee of the Gentiles or nations; but, as St. Jerome remarks, this name, Galilee of the nations, was unknown in Joshua’s time; and we should fix its rise in the time of Solomon, when that prince gave Hiram the twenty cities spoken of 1Ki 9:11-13. St. Jerome further observes, that there was, in his time, a city named Gelgel, near the sea, not far from Joppa, and six miles from Antipatris. Perhaps this is the city we are looking for. Trade bringing people from all nations into these parts, perhaps the petty king of Gelgel might from thence have been called the king of the nations settled in the territories of this place. We must confess however, notwithstanding what Bishop Patrick mentions to the contrary in his notes on Gen 14:1., that there seems to be a more plausible opinion respecting the matter; for, first, it is certain that the name Gojim, which we find here in the Hebrew, is the same that we read of in Gen 14:1 where Tidal is called king of Gojim, or the nations. It is also as certain that the kingdom of this Tidal was neither near the sea, nor in the neighbourhood of Joppa: thus the conjecture of St. Jerome, approved by the Bishop of Ely, is not easily supported; on the contrary, the kingdom of Tidal may very naturally be supposed to be in north Galilee. It is strongly asserted, that the name of Galilee of the nations commenced in the time of Solomon; but it is more easy to assert than to prove. The name constantly implies a country much more extensive than the twenty cities which Solomon gave to Hiram. We do not see why it might not be anterior to that offer, and as old as Tidal. Though in the passage of Genesis the LXX render Gojim as a name appellative, they render it here as a proper name, and in all probability it should be so translated. Our historian, therefore, signifies to us, a king of Gojim of Galilee. See Wells’s Paraphrase. and notes; Calmet and Le Clerc.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
coast. See note on “borders”, Jos 11:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Dor: Jos 11:2, Jos 17:11
the nations: Gen 14:1, Gen 14:2, Isa 9:1
Gilgal: Jos 4:19, Jos 5:9, Jos 5:10
Reciprocal: 1Ki 4:11 – Dor
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 12:23. The king of Gilgal This Gilgal is not the place where Joshua encamped when he came over Jordan; for there was no city there, nor any king of that country, but the king of Jericho. That place had also its name from the circumcision of the Israelites there, chap. Jos 5:9.