Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 13:9
From Aroer, that [is] upon the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that [is] in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon;
9. and all the plain of Medeba ] Instead of “half Gilead,” as in ch. Jos 12:2, we have here “all the plain (= Mishor = “table-land” or “downs”) of Medeba unto Dibon,” “the wijld feeldis of Medeba,” Wyclif. Medeba is first mentioned in the fragment of a populare song of the time of the conquest, Num 21:30, “Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.” It is in the pastoral district of the Belka, four miles S. E. of Heshbon, and like it lying on a rounded but rocky hill. In Christian times it was a noted bishopric of the patriarchate of Becerra. Dibon, or Dibon-Gad, from its being taken possession of and rebuilt by the children of Gad (Num 32:3; Num 32:34), or Dimon (in Isa 15:9), has been discovered with the name Dhiban on the Roman road three miles north of the Arnon ( Wady el-Mojeb). Here the inscribed block of basalt, known as “the Moabite stone,” was discovered in 1868.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 9. From Aroer] See Clarke on Jos 12:2.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The city that is in the midst of the river; of which see Poole “Deu 3:16“, and see Poole “Jos 12:2“. Either this is the same city now mentioned, even Aroer, which is said to have been a double city, as the very name seems to import, whereof one part was on the bank of the river, and the other in the middle of it, whence we read of the cities of Aroer, Isa 17:2; or it is another city, possibly Ar, as it is elsewhere named.
Medeba and
Dibon; two cities anciently belonging to the Moabites, and taken from them by the Amorites, Num 21:30, and from them by the Israelites; and after the Israelites were gone into captivity, recovered by the first possessors the Moabites, as may seem from Isa 15:2.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
From Aroer, that [is] on the bank of the river Arnon,…. A city belonging to Moab, from whence the description begins, the river Arnon, on which it was situated, being the border between Moab and the Amorites, Nu 21:13;
and the city that [is] in the midst of the river; or “even the city”; meaning the same city of Aroer, it lying both on the bank of it, and in the middle of it, or it was a double city, as may seem from Isa 17:2; and so differently situated at that river:
and all the plains of Medeba unto Dibon; of these two places, see
Nu 21:30; between them lay a plain, which some take to be the plain of Moab; but it rather seems to be a plain that was between these two places, and, according to Jos 13:17, Dibon itself was in a plain.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
9-12. On the places named in these verses see the notes on Jos 13:16-31, where the tribal territories are fully described.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 9-12. From Aroer, &c. These four verses specify at large the territories on the east of Jordan already occupied by the fore-mentioned two tribes and a half. See Num 21:24; Num 21:35; Num 32:33; Num 32:42. Deuteronomy 3 and the six first verses of the foregoing chapter.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jos 13:9 From Aroer, that [is] upon the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that [is] in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon;
Ver. 9. From Aroer, that is upon the bank. ] Besides which, it may seem there was another Aroer, in the midst of the river, Isa 17:2 as Venice in the midst of the sea, and taking for her motto,
“ Media insuperabilis unda. ”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Aroer: Jos 13:16, Jos 12:2, Deu 3:12, Deu 3:16
all the plain: Num 21:30, Isa 15:2, Jer 48:18, Jer 48:22
Reciprocal: Gen 31:21 – Gilead Gen 31:48 – Galeed Deu 2:36 – Aroer Deu 3:8 – the land 2Sa 24:5 – Aroer 1Ki 4:19 – the country of Sihon 2Ki 10:33 – the land of Gilead 1Ch 19:7 – Medeba Jer 48:20 – Arnon
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 13:9-11. The city that is in the midst of the river Some interpreters render this clause, The city in the midst of the valley; judging that, as Arnon was but a small brook, it could hardly have a city, or an island large enough for a city to be built on, in the midst of it. But certainly a city might be built on ground lying between two streams of the same river: see on Jos 12:2. Medeba unto Dibon Two cities anciently belonging to the Moabites, and taken from them by the Amorites, (Num 21:30,) and from them by the Israelites; and, after the Israelites were gone into captivity, recovered by the first possessors, the Moabites. And Maachathites Whose land God had given to the Israelites without Jordan, though they had not yet used the gift of God, nor taken possession of it, as is noted, Jos 13:13.