Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 16:2
And goeth out from Bethel to Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth,
2. and goeth out ] Thence it passed on to Luz. It seems impossible to determine exactly whether Bethel and Luz were the same town, Luz being the Canaanite and Bethel the Hebrew name, or whether they were distinct places close to one another.
( a) This verse, Jos 18:13, and Gen 28:19, seem to favour the last interpretation.
( b) Gen 35:6, Jdg 1:23, favour the former.
The conclusion of Mr Grove is “that the two places were distinct during the times preceding the conquest, Luz being the city, and Bethel the pillar and altar of Jacob; but after the destruction of Luz by the tribe of Ephraim the town of Bethel arose.” See his Article in Smith’s Bibl. Dict.
unto the borders of Archi ] Comp. 2Sa 16:16, 1Ch 27:33, where we read of Hushai the Archite. The precise locality is unknown.
to Ataroth ] See below Jos 16:5, and comp. Jos 18:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Of Archi – (Read of the Archite, also a designation of Davids friend Hushai (2Sa 15:32; 2Sa 16:16, etc.). The word is derived from Erech Gen 10:10. But whether there was in the neighborhood of Bethel a place bearing this Babylonian name, or whether a colony from the East had settled in this spot and brought the name with them, is unknown.
Ataroth – Called Jos 16:5; Jos 18:13 Ataroth-adar (= crowns of fame or greatness) perhaps to distinguish it from two other places bearing the same name but, situated on the other side of Jordan, in the territory of Gad Num 32:34. It is identified with Atara, near the road from Jerusalem to Nablous.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. From Bethel to Luz] From Ge 28:19 it appears that the place which Jacob called Beth-el was formerly called Luz; see the note there: but here they seem to be two distinct places. It is very likely that the place where Jacob had the vision was not in Luz, but in some place within a small distance of that city or village, (see the note on Ge 28:12), and that sometimes the whole place was called Beth-el, at other times Luz, and sometimes, as in the case above, the two places were distinguished. As we find the term London comprises, not only London, but also the city of Westminster and the borough of Southwark; though at other times all three are distinctly mentioned.
Archi to Ataroth] Archi was the country of Hushai, the friend of David, 2Sa 15:32, who is called Hushai the Archite. Ataroth, called Ataroth-addar, Ataroth the illustrious, Jos 16:5, and simply Ataroth, Jos 16:7, is supposed to have been about fifteen miles from Jerusalem.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
From Beth-el to Luz, or, from Bethel-luzah, as the LXX. here join the words; for Beth-el was anciently called Luz, Gen 28:19; 48:3; though some think this was another Luz, spoken of Jdg 1:26. Others make Beth-el and Luz two neighbouring towns, which afterwards being more built and inhabited, became one, as oft hath happened.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And goeth out from Bethel to Luz,…. For though these two places in time became one, yet they were originally distinct. Bethel, at which Jacob stopped, and who gave it its name, was a field adjacent to the city of Luz, Ge 38:11; and therefore with propriety may be, as they here are, distinguished:
and passeth along unto the borders Archi to Ataroth; or to Archiataroth; these two words being the name of one and the same place, and to be joined as they are, in the Greek version, and others; and is the same with Atarothaddar, Jos 16:5. Ataroth was its proper name, but it had these additional epithets to distinguish it from another Ataroth; see Jos 16:7; Jerom b makes mention of Atharoth by Ramma, in the tribe of Joseph, and of another in the tribe of Ephraim, now a village at the north of Sebaste, or Samaria, four miles from it, called Atharus; the former is here meant.
b De loc. Heb. fol. 88. G.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. From Beth-el to Luz Beth-el and Luz were the same city. See note on Jos 7:2. The Beth-el of the text is to be understood of the Mount Bethel named in the preceding verse.
Borders of Archi Or, of the Archite. No trace of this name is found in the vicinity of Beth-el. Perhaps in this name we have the last faint trace of one of the original Canaanitish tribes. Ataroth is supposed by Dr. Robinson to be identical with a large village called Atara, on the summit of a hill about six miles northwest of Beth-el; [but this verse and Jos 18:13 seem rather to place it between Beth-el and Beth-horon, so that we may rather identify it with the Atara which lies some three miles south of Beth-el. Here Robinson noticed considerable ruins of an ancient town. At Ataroth the border turned westward toward Beth-horon.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And it went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth.’
Here Bethel, the sacred place, is distinguished from the city Luz as in Gen 28:19. Elsewhere the two are identified (Jos 8:13; Gen 35:6; Jdg 1:23). At this point Luz is not yet named Bethel, a further indication of the age of the sources, and the sacred place is identified separately by the name Bethel. As in Jos 13:11 the borders of a people are called into play to define the boundary, ‘the border of the Archites’. The Archites were presumably a Canaanite ‘family group’, mentioned again in connection with Hushai the Archite, David’s friend (2Sa 15:32-37). ‘To Ataroth.’ There is no preposition in the Hebrew but it must be assumed. It is possibly the same as Ataroth-addar (Jos 16:5, see also Jos 18:13).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 2. And goeth out from Beth-el to Luz If now and then Luz and Beth-el are mentioned as one and the same place, as ch. Jos 18:13. Jdg 1:23 it is, perhaps, because in a length of time they were united, and the inhabitants of the former went to the latter. There are numerous examples in history of these unions of two cities into one. See Huet. Demonst. Evang. Prop. 4. We should apprehend, therefore, with Dupin, that the whole verse might be rendered thus: And goeth out from Beth-el Luzah, to Archi-ataroth. See his Prolegomena, l. i. c. iii. sect. 2.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jos 16:2 And goeth out from Bethel to Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth,
Ver. 2. Unto the borders of Archi. ] Hushai’s country, 2Sa 16:16 ennobled by his name, as Co was to Hippocrates, and little Hippo by great Augustine.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Beth-el to Lux, Compare Gen 28:19 and Jdg 1:26, the “Mount” Beth-el of Jos 16:1.
of Archi = the Archite. Compare 2Sa 16:32; 2Sa 16:16.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Bethel: Jos 18:13, Gen 28:19, Jdg 1:22-26
Archi: 2Sa 16:16, 1Ch 27:33
Reciprocal: Jos 16:5 – Atarothaddar Jdg 4:5 – between 1Sa 30:27 – Bethel 2Sa 15:32 – Archite 1Ch 2:54 – Ataroth 1Ch 7:28 – Bethel
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 16:2. From Bethel to Luz Dupin translates this Bethel-Luz, and Dr. Waterland, Bethel, which is Luz; for we sometimes find them mentioned as one and the same place, as Jos 18:13; Jdg 1:23; and it is probable that in a length of time they were united, and the inhabitants of the former went to the latter. The borders of Archi to Ataroth Or rather, the borders of Archi-Ataroth, as both the Seventy and the Vulgate render it, and as the words are in the Hebrew, this being the same city which is afterward called Ataroth, Jos 16:7.