Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 12:7
And these [are] the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel [for] a possession according to their divisions;
7 24. Catalogue of the Kings vanquished on the West of the Jordan
7. And these are the kings ] This and the following verse coincide with ch. Jos 11:16, and Jos 10:40-42. They introduce the following narrative.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The names of the kings are given in the order of their actual encounter with Joshua. Those enumerated in Jos 12:10-18 either belonged to the league of the southern Canaanites (Jos 10:1 ff), the power of which was broken in the battle of Beth-horon, or were at any rate conquered in the campaign following that battle. Those mentioned in Jos 12:19-24 were in like manner connected with the northern confederates (Jos 11:1 ff), who were defeated at the Waters of Merom.
Jos 12:13-20
The identification of several of these places is still uncertain: the same name (e. g. Aphek, Jos 12:18) being applied to various places in various parts of Palestine. Geder, or Gedor Jos 15:58, a city in the mountain district in the south of the territory of Judah, is no doubt the modern Jedur.
Jos 12:21
Taanach – A Levitical town Jos 21:25 in the territory of Issachar, but assigned to the Manassites (Jos 17:11; Compare 1Ch 7:29), is identified with Taanuk. It was here that Barak encountered the host of Sisera Jdg 5:19. Megiddo was near it, and is thought to have been el Lejjun (the Roman Legion), (or Mujedda (Conder)).
Jos 12:22
Kedesh – i. e. Kedesh Naphtali, a city of refuge, a Levitical city, and the home of Barak Jdg 9:6.
Jokneam – A Levitical city in the territory of Zebulon Jos 19:11; perhaps the modern Kaimon. Tell Kaimon is a conspicuous and important position, commanding the main pass across the ridge of Carmel from Phoenicia to Egypt. This famous mountain range (about 15 miles long) no doubt received the name Carmel (the word means a fruitful field as opposed to wilderness) as descriptive of its character; and thus the name became an emblem of beauty and luxuriance (Isa 35:2; Son 7:5, etc.). Its highest part, about 4 miles from Tell Kaimon, is nearly 1,750 feet above the sea. Its modern name, Jebel Mar Elias, preserves still that association with the great deeds of Elijah, from which Carmel derives its chief Biblical interest. Mount Carmel was probably, like Lebanon, from very ancient Canaanite times, regarded as especially sacred; and since the altar of the Lord repaired by Elijah 1Ki 18:30 was an old one which had been broken down, Carmel was probably no less esteemed by the Israelites also. In later times the caves which abound toward the western bluffs of the range have been frequented by Christian, Jewish, and Mussulman anchorites. The order of Carmelite or barefooted friars took its rise from the convent founded by Louis, which still crowns the western headland.
Jos 12:23
The king of the nations – See Gen 14:1 and note. It means king of certain mixed and probably nomadic tribes, which regarded Gilgal Jos 9:19 as their center and capital.
Jos 12:24
Tirzah – This place, the capital of Jeroboam and his successors until the clays of Omri (1Ki 14:17; 1Ki 15:21, etc.), is identified by some with Tulluzah, a town 3 miles northeast of Nablous, (by others with Teiasir).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. From Baal-gad] A repetition of what is mentioned Jos 11:17.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
7. Baal-gad . . . even unto . . .Halak(See on Jos 11:17).A list of thirty-one chief towns is here given; and, as the wholeland contained a superficial extent of only fifteen miles in lengthby fifty in breadth, it is evident that these capital cities belongedto petty and insignificant kingdoms. With a few exceptions, they werenot the scenes of any important events recorded in the sacredhistory, and therefore do not require a particular notice.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And these [are] the kings of the country,…. After particularly named, Jos 12:9:
which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west; that is, on the west of Jordan:
from Baalgad, in the valley of Lebanon, even unto the mount Halak,
that goeth up to Seir; of which see Jos 11:17;
which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel [for] a possession,
according to their divisions; as after related in this book.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
List of the thirty-one kings of Canaan whom Joshua smote on the western side of the Jordan, “ from Baal-gad, in the valley of Lebanon, to the bald mountain that goeth up towards Seir ” (see Jos 11:17). This land Joshua gave to the other tribes of Israel. (On the different parts of the land, see at Jos 9:1; Jos 10:40, and Jos 11:2.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; 8 In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: 9 The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one; 10 The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11 The king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12 The king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13 The king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14 The king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15 The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16 The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Beth-el, one; 17 The king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; 18 The king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; 19 The king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 20 The king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; 21 The king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22 The king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one; 23 The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; 24 The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one.
We have here a breviate of Joshua’s conquests.
I. The limits of the country he conquered. It lay between Jordan on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and extended from Baal-gad near Lebanon in the north to Halak, which lay upon the country of Edom in the south, v. 7. The boundaries are more largely described, Num. xxxiv. 2, c. But what is here said is enough to show that God had been as good as his word, and had given them possession of all he had promised them by Moses, if they would but have kept it.
II. The various kinds of land that were found in this country, which contributed both to its pleasantness and to its fruitfulness, v. 8. There were mountains, not craggy, and rocky, and barren, which are frightful to the traveller and useless to the inhabitants, but fruitful hills, such as put forth precious things (Deut. xxxiii. 15), which charmed the spectator’s eye and filled the owner’s hand. And valleys, not mossy and boggy, but covered with corn, Ps. lxv. 13. There were plains, and springs to water them and even in that rich land there were wildernesses too, or forests, which were not so thickly inhabited as other parts, yet had towns and houses in them, but served as foils to set off the more pleasant and fruitful countries.
III. The several nations that had been in possession of this country–Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, c., all of them descended from Canaan, the accursed son of Ham, Gen. x. 15-18. Seven nations they are called (Deut. vii. 1), and so many are there reckoned up, but here six only are mentioned, the Girgashites being either lost or left out, though we find them, Gen 10:16Gen 15:21. Either they were incorporated with some other of these nations, or, as the tradition of the Jews is, upon the approach of Israel under Joshua they all withdrew and went into Africa, leaving their country to be possessed by Israel, with whom they saw it was to no purpose to contend, and therefore they are not named among the nations that Joshua subdued.
IV. A list of the kings that were conquered and subdued by the sword of Israel, some in the field, others in their own cities, thirty-one in all, and very particularly named and counted, it should seem, in the order in which they were conquered; for the catalogue begins with the kings of Jericho and Ai, then takes in the king of Jerusalem and the princes of the south that were in confederacy with him, and then proceeds to those of the northern association. Now, 1. This shows what a very fruitful country Canaan then was, which could support so many kingdoms, and in which so many kings chose to throng together rather than disperse themselves into other countries, which we may suppose not yet inhabited, but where, though they might find more room, they could not expect such plenty and pleasure: this was the land God spied out for Israel; and yet at this day it is one of the most barren, despicable, and unprofitable countries in the world: such is the effect of the curse it lies under, since its possessors rejected Christ and his gospel, as was foretold by Moses, Deut. xxix. 23. 2. It shows what narrow limits men’s ambition was then confined to. These kings contented themselves with the government, each of them, of one city and the towns and villages that pertained to it; and no one of them, for aught that appears, aimed to make himself master of the rest, but, when there was occasion, all united for the common safety. Yet it should seem that what was wanting in the extent of their territories was made up in the absoluteness of their power, their subjects being all their tenants and vassals, and entirely at their command. 3. It shows how good God was to Israel, in giving them victory over all these kings, and possession of all these kingdoms, and what obligations he hereby laid upon them to observe his statutes and to keep his laws,Psa 105:44; Psa 105:45. Here were thirty-one kingdoms, or seigniories, to be divided among nine tribes and a half of Israel. Of these there fell to the lot of Judah the kingdoms of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, Debir, Arad, Libnah, and Adullam, eight in all, besides part of the kingdom of Jerusalem and part of Geder. Benjamin had the kingdoms of Jericho, Ai, Jerusalem, Makkedah, Beth-el, and the nations of Gilgal, six in all. Simeon had the kingdom of Hormah and part of Geder. Ephraim had the kingdoms of Gezer and Tirzah. Manasseh (that half-tribe) had the kingdoms of Tappuah and Hepher, Taanach and Megiddo. Asher had the kingdoms of Aphek and Achshaph. Zebulun had the kingdoms of Lasharon, Shimron-meron, and Jokneam. Naphtali had the kingdoms of Madon, Hazor, and Kedesh. And Issachar had that of Dor. These were some of the great and famous kings that God smote, for his mercy endureth for ever; and gave their land for a heritage, even a heritage unto Israel his servant, for his mercy endureth for ever, Ps. cxxxvi. 17, &c.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Conquered Kings, vs. 7-24
The rest of chapter 12 lists the thirty-one kings and their cities on the west side of Jordan which were conquered by Joshua and the children of Israel. The north to south limits lay between Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon in the north to mount Halak, bordering on Seir, the land of the Edomites in the south.
-These lands were apportioned to the remaining nine and a half tribes. Those from Jericho through Tappuah in the list were in the area of the southern confederacy, while the remainder fall in the realm of Jabin who organized the northern resistance. Many of these were not mentioned in the campaigns, as recorded in Joshua, chapters 10 and 11. They are included in such summary statements as Jos 10:40; Jos 11:16-17.
The main lesson of this chapter is to emphasize the completeness of God’s judgment on the pagan Canaanites and the accuracy of His promise to deliver all the land into the hands of Israel, (Ecc 12:13-14).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Jos. 12:7. Baal gad. Halak] Cf. on chap. Jos. 11:17.
Jos. 12:8. Mountains, etc.] Cf. on chapters Jos. 9:1; Jos. 10:40. Geographical notes on most of the places named in the following verses will be found under the Critical Notes of the preceding chapters, principally under chapters 10, 11.
Jos. 12:13. King of Geder] Geder is thought to be the Gederah of chap. Jos. 15:36, and was probably situated in the lowlands of Judah.
Jos. 12:14. Hormah] = destruction. The place was thus devoted on two occasions (Num. 21:3; Jdg. 1:17). As the latter passage indicates, it was also called Zephath. The Israelites were defeated in this locality after the return of the spies (Num. 14:45). The site is placed by Robinson near the pass es-Sufah, on the south of the Dead Sea. Arad] On the north of the wilderness of Judah (Jdg. 1:16), i.e., the southern part of this wilderness. It is thought to have been about twenty miles directly south of Hebron.
Jos. 12:15. Adullam] A city of great antiquity (Gen. 38:1), situated in the Shephelah (Jos. 15:33; Jos. 15:35), not far from Gath. It was fortified by Rehoboam, reoccupied on the return from the captivity (Neh. 11:30), and is mentioned under the name of Odollam in 2Ma. 12:38.
Jos. 12:17. Tappuah] Probably that mentioned in chap. Jos. 15:33-34, as in the Shephelah, or it may be the Tappuah on the frontier between Ephraim and Manasseh (chaps. Jos. 16:8; Jos. 17:8). There was also a Beth-Tappuah in the mountains of Judah (chap. Jos. 15:53). Hepher] = a pit. In 1Ki. 4:10 we find it mentioned as all the land of Hepher, being named together with Shochoh as placed under one of the twelve officers whom Solomon set over all Israel. It should therefore be looked for near to Shochoh, i.e., in the Shephelah, and not, as by Knobel, be identified with Haphraim (= two pits) in the plain of Jezreel, belonging to Issachar (chap. Jos. 19:19). It is also to be distinguished from Gath-Hepher, or Gittah-Hepher, in the tribe of Zebulon (chap. Jos. 19:13; 2Ki. 14:25).
Jos. 12:18. Aphek] = strength. It might be applied, says Dean Stanley, to any fort or fastness. It is so common a name in Palestine, that its mention in 1Sa. 29:1 is not of itself sufficient to identify it with the spot so called near Jerusalem, in 1Sa. 4:1; and the scene of the first Philistine victory must therefore remain uncertain, since there is nothing in the details of the battle to fix it (Sinai and Palestine). The Aphek here named is thought to be the same as Aphekah, in the mountains of Judah (chap Jos. 15:53), while Keil holds it to be identical with the Aphek of 1Sa. 4:1.
Jos. 12:19. Lasharon] Cf. Margin. Mentioned only in this place, and not known.
Jos. 12:21. Taanach Megiddo] Two cities generally named together, situated on the boundary between Manasseh and Issachar, in the plain of Esdraelon by the river Kishon, into which the waters of Megiddo probably ran. The neighbourhood is famous as the scene of some of the most important battles in Hebrew history.
Jos. 12:22. Kedesh] A Levitical city of refuge on the mountains of Naphtali (chap. Jos. 19:37; Jos. 20:7; Jos. 21:32), according to the Onomast., twenty Roman miles from Tyre. There are two other cities mentioned of the same nameone in Judah (chap. Jos. 15:23), and the other in Issachar (1Ch. 6:72) [Keil.] Jokneam of Carmel] Belonging to Zebulon, and given to the Merarite Levites (chap. Jos. 21:34). Robinson thinks it may be placed at the modern Tel Kaimon.
Jos. 12:23. Nations of Gilgal] Lit.=Goyim of Gilgal. The Goyim are thought to have been certain tribes, as those named in Gen. 14:1, called by this term as a proper name, and living in Gilgal, now Jiljilia, near Antipatris.
Jos. 12:24. Tirzah] Evidently near Shechem, and of proverbial beauty (Son. 6:4); selected by the first sovereign, Jeroboam (1Ki. 14:17), and then, during three short reigns, the habitual residence of the royal house (1Ki. 15:21; 1Ki. 16:8; 1Ki. 16:17; 1Ki. 16:23). [Stanleys Sinai and Palestine.] Robinson identifies the city with Telluzah.
Jos. 12:7-24. THE COUNTED AND UNCOUNTED DEAD.
In the brief chronicles of these few verses, dull and unimaginative as they look, there may be traced two or three features not without their pathos, and not devoid of significance to us who are the tenants of life and time now.
I. Some of the dead are counted, and some are not counted. Here is one man put down as slain, to represent a kingdom of dead. That is done in each of the thirty-one instances. The slain of the army and the slain of the home, the slain who were aged and the slain who were young, slain men and slain women: all these are merely counted in their slain king. Modern registration may be more thorough, but in the minds and thoughts of surviving men and women now, the count of the dead proceeds on much the same basis.
1. Men count the few, and not the many. Only here and there a name of the past survives in the present. The living are too weak, in more ways than one, to bear in mind more than a few of the dead. We, too, count our dead representatively.
2. Men count the great, and pass over the obscure. In the realms of statesmanship, eloquence, literature, art, science, and the like, men can do little more than put down the names of their kings.
3. Men count the deaths which are unusually sad, and keep little reckoning of such as are more ordinary. Irrespective of those who may be left, it seems more than a common calamity for a king to be slain, or die. To pass out of all the magnificence and power of an imposing past into a stillness and silence and helplessness which differ nothing from that of a dead peasant, seems peculiarly sad for the dying man himself. So, for a little season, over whatever realm the departed king may have reigned, his survivors will remember him. They put his death down in their chronicles.
4. Men count the rich and forget the poor. Great wealth? then much marble, or granite; little wealth? only a small monument; just enough during life for lifes necessities? the barest measure of plainest stone must suffice in death; very poor? then no stone whatever, and, it may be, not even a grave to oneself. Such is the testimony given by the graveyards and the cemeteries; and, taking society in its broader aspect, the witness without is a pretty faithful symbol and record of the mind within. What county, or town, or parish, remembers a dozen of its poor of the last generation? Without murmuring against the inevitable, it may be well sometimes to mark the fact.
5. God counts, and will count, every one. He forgets no single person in all the host of the dead. From the youngest infant to Methuselah, from the poorest person to the richest, He remembers all. I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.
II. These dead Canaanites, counted and uncounted, were all overtaken by a common judgment. Kings, and leaders, and people, fell in a general slaughter. Heedless of condition or character, every one appeared to be dealt with alike.
1. In this life the guilty and innocent often seem to be judged in the same measure. (a) Some men are conspicuously guilty. They are leaders in wickedness. They use high positions and great influence to lead others astray. (b) Others are comparatively innocent. Like many of these Canaanites, who, it may be, held aloof from the wickedness around them, they take little active part in the open wickedness of their fellows. (c) The innocent and guilty seem to be dealt with alike. Children and adults, worshippers of idols and those who refused to worship, fell in the same way before the swords of the Israelites. Men look on life as, in its degree, it everywhere repeats this history; and they say, The ways of the Lord are not equal.
2. The judgments of life are far more equal than they seem. (a) The particular way in which we may be taken out of this life is a very small item in the account of eternity. We must all die. Who can say what time is the best? Who can say what manner is the best? God has the right to choose both the time and manner of our departure. It is best so. We are thankful it is so. What a mass of embodied pain and crime and wrinkled wickedness would still crawl the earth, if men chose the day of their own death! Ahab and Jezebel and Judas and Nero would be with us still. What perplexity would fill men if they had to decide on the manner of their departure! Men would stand before the various diseases, and other ways of exit, saying, What I shall choose I wot not. To have made us all choose our own way of dying would have been for God to have doubled the ordeal: most men would have suffered at least one death in anticipation, ere they came to the fact. It is probably only our shortsightedness, and our recoil from the horror that is visible, which leads us to throw so much emphasis as we mentally do on the slaughter of these more innocent Canaanites by the sword. Anyway, the manner and time of death are small items in the matter of eternity. (b) Gods real judgment of every man is within the man. Much of punishment is the recoil of our own guilt. The true Nemesis is not some one with a pair of scales and a whip, standing without us, but something standing within us, making us to do our own weighing and our own scourging.
Fear not, then, thou child infirm:
Theres no god dare wrong a worm.
Laurel crowns cleave to deserts,
And power to him who power exerts;
Hast not thy share? on winged feet,
Lo! it rushes thee to meet;
And all that Nature made thy own,
Floating in air, or pent in stone,
Will rive the hills and swim the sea,
And, like thy shadow, follow thee.
Emerson.
(c) This judgment of God within a man is continued after this life, and is always true and equal to the mans deserts. Thus, the Saviour, for once during His ministry, draws aside the veil that shuts out perdition, and shews us Abraham standing afar off, and saying in language of terrible significance to Dives: Son, remember. Whatever may be the outward state of the wicked on the other side of this life, surely this remembering will be the judgment.
III. These dead are all overwritten by a common epitaph. The counted kings, and the uncounted people, were those which Joshua and the children of Israel smote. They were not merely killed in a war; they were smitten because of idolatry. God had said: The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full, and, till it became full, God waited. Then the Israelites were bidden to smite. Thus the common epitaph of all these Canaanites is really this: Slain because of idolatry.
1. The state of unrepented sin generally leads to some conspicuous sin, great in the insult which it offers God and in the injury which it does to men.
2. The conspicuous sins of men, which stand immediately connected with judgment, are but the outcome of a life of sin.
3. The conspicuous sin of this dispensation, with which the judgment of men is specially connected, is the rejection of the Saviour. The great epitaph which stands written over all those who enter into the second death is a very brief one. Of His children God writes, These all died in faith; of the rest of mankind it may be said, These all died in unbelief.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
LIST OF THE KINGS SUBDUED BY JOSHUA, Jos 12:7-24.
[This list is acknowledged by the most rationalistic critics to be a very ancient document. Ewald speaks of it as “a record of remarkable interest in many ways. Its distinctive antiquity would be sufficiently evident from its enumeration of cities which in those early days were great and powerful, but which afterwards sank into absolute insignificance, or were never heard of again.” It was not improbably composed by Joshua himself. A number of the kings here mentioned are not otherwise known, but so far as the previous history throws light on it this list follows mainly the order of the conquest. On the apparent exceptions see note on Jos 12:16.
From the fulness of this list as compared with the previous history we at once see that it was no object of the compiler of the Book of Joshua to record a complete history of all the wars and conquests of Joshua. He has given a detailed account of only the most important, but enough to show, together with this list, that under the administration of the great captain the whole land was subdued.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7-13. For Baal-gad and Halak see Jos 11:17. For the Canaanitish tribes see Jos 3:10.
Jericho See Jos 2:1.
Ai and Bethel See Jos 7:2.
Jerusalem See Jos 10:1.
Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon See Jos 10:3.
Gezer See Jos 10:33.
Debir See Jos 10:38. Geder is now unknown.
14. Hormah The name of this city was originally Zephath, (Jdg 1:17,) and a trace of this latter name Dr. Robinson found in the rocky pass es-Sufah in the mountain barrier which completes the plateau of Southern Palestine; but the true identification is with Sebaita, some twenty-five miles south-west of Beer-sheba. See note on Jdg 1:17. The name Hormah commemorates the execution of the ban or curse of utter destruction which Moses pronounced on all the dependencies of Arad, (Num 21:2,) and which Judah and Simeon fulfilled. Jdg 1:17. Arad still exists in Tell Arad, twenty miles south of Hebron. Dr. Robinson describes it as “a barren-looking eminence rising above the country around.” Its king troubled Israel in their desert journey, Num 21:1.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel smote Beyond Jordan Westward, from Baalgad, in the valley of Lebanon, even to mount Halak, which goes up to Seir. And Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions, in the hill country, and in the Shephelah and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness and in the Negeb, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.’
We now come to the conquests of Joshua. For Baalgad and mount Halak compare on Jos 11:16-17. Once again we are reminded that the land outlined, which belonged to the tribes mentioned, was given as a possession to the tribes of Israel according to their ‘divisions’, by tribe and sub-tribe. Now follows a list of the thirty one kings slain by Israel under Joshua seemingly given in the general order in which slain, although not necessarily strictly for Makkedah and Libnah at least are out of order chronologically. There is also a tendency to gather the names in areas, but not consistently. Note the ancient method of counting by ‘ones’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
List of Kings Conquered by Joshua Jos 12:7-24 records the list of kings conquered by Joshua during the conquest of Canaan.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Conquered Kings West of Jordan
v. 7. And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baal-gad, in the Valley of Lebanon, v. 8. in the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, v. 9. the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; v. 10. the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; v. 11. the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; v. 12. the king of Eglon, one, v. 13. the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, v. 14. the king of Hormah, v. 15. the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; v. 16. the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one, v. 17. the king of Tappuah, v. 18. the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; v. 19. the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one, v. 20. the king of Shimronmeron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; v. 21. the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, v. 22. the king of Kedesh, v. 23. the king of Dor in the coast of Dor, v. 24. the king of Tirzah,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Ver. 7, 8. And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote, on this side Jordan The author wrote in the country of Canaan, properly so called; and this region was, with respect to him, on this side Jordan, to the west of that river. With respect to the limits which he describes of this conquered land, he specifies them as in ver. 17 of the foregoing chapter. Here Calmet is of opinion, that instead of translating even unto the mount Halak, &c. we should render it, even to the mountains of separation, which serve as limits betwixt the land of Canaan and that of Seir, and rise towards Idumea. Nothing can better suit with those mountains which lay to the south of Judaea, than this name mountains of separation; to be convinced, we need only cast our eyes over any accurate map of the country.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I bring all these verses together into one view, from the same reason as I did the former, because they all relate to one and the same subject, the splendid victories of Joshua. And I only detain the Reader with a short remark upon the whole: namely, how faithful God was to his promise; and this the church sung in after ages, when recounting the wonders of his love, in slaying mighty kings, and giving their lands for an heritage to his people. Psa 135:10-12 . But what are all the splendid victories of Joshua, to the victories of our Lord Jesus Christ! What the enjoyment even of Canaan, to the everlasting mansions the Son of God hath prepared for his people: Oh! for grace to behold, and see, and know, in all things thy preeminence. Col 1:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jos 12:7 And these [are] the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel [for] a possession according to their divisions;
Ver. 7. Which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel. ] A spacious and fruitful tract of ground, a country, which if God had fashioned the world like a ring, as he did like a globe, might have been the gem of it. But what was Canaan in its flourish in comparison of heaven, and of that city of pearl, the new Jerusalem, whither the Lord Christ will certainly bring all his people in despite of their enemies! they shall surely and safely sail, through Christ’s blood, into the bosom of the Father, and unto those mountains of spices. Son 8:14
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED TEXT): Jos 12:7-24
7Now these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated beyond the Jordan toward the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even as far as Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions, 8in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, on the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the Negev; the Hittite, the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite: 9the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; 10the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; 17the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; 18the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; 19the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 20the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; 21the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; 23the king of Dor in the heights of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one; 24the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.
Jos 12:7-24 This is a repetitive summary of Joshua’s conquest recorded earlier.
Jos 12:7 Baal-gad See note at Jos 13:5.
Jos 12:8 the slopes This term (BDB 78) is used of a different area in Jos 10:40.
Jos 12:10-24 the king of The Canaanites had a city-state, as did the Philistines and the Greek peoples.
Jos 12:23
NASB, JPSOAthe king of Goiim in Gilgal
NKJVthe king of the people of Gilgal
NRSVthe king of Goiim in Galilee
TEVGoiim (in Galilee)
NJBthe king of the nations in Galilee
The Septuagint has in Galilee. The MT has the king of the nations in Gilgal or the foreign king at Gilgal, which does not make sense.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
according to their. Some codices, with five early printed edition, and Syriac, read “in their”,
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
on this side: Jos 12:1, Jos 3:17, Jos 9:1
Baalgad: Jos 11:17, Jos 13:5
Seir: Gen 14:6, Gen 32:3, Gen 36:8, Gen 36:20, Gen 36:30, Deu 2:1, Deu 2:4
Joshua gave: Jos 1:3, Jos 1:4, Jos 11:23, Jos 13:1 – Jos 19:51, Deu 11:23, Deu 11:24
Reciprocal: Gen 10:19 – And the Jos 13:4 – the land of Psa 68:12 – Kings Psa 135:12 – gave their Psa 149:8 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
12:7 And these [are] the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount {b} Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel [for] a possession according to their divisions;
(b) Read Jos 11:17.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The slaughter of the western kings 12:7-24
The writer identified 31 kings in the essential order in which Joshua defeated them.
"Many of the same names appear in the Amarna letters, thus confirming the historicity of our text." [Note: Davis and Whitcomb, p. 75.]
"The description was not complete. Shechem is not mentioned, and the hills of Ephraim are sparsely represented, as is the territory north of Hazor. Completeness is not the object. The writer seeks to compile a list that will impress the readers with the greatness of the feat of God in working for Israel and of the greatness of the leadership of Joshua in following the example of Moses and completing the task first given to Moses. Still, the writer is aware that much remains to be done." [Note: Butler, p. 139.]
This summary concludes the record of the conquest of the land (chs. 1-12), Joshua’s first major responsibility. He was now able to divide the land among the Israelites (chs. 13-21), his second great work (Jos 1:6).