Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 19:26
And Alammelech, and Amad, and Misheal; and reacheth to Carmel westward, and to Shihor-libnath;
26. Alammelech, and Amad, are at present unknown. Misheal has been identified with Misalli at the northern extremity of the plain of Sharon.
and reacheth to Carmel ] This boundary struck Carmel on the west and Shihor-libnath, somewhere to the south of that range.
Shihor-libnath ] Not, as some have supposed, the Belus, which falls into the Mediterranean near to Acre or Ptolemais, but south of Carmel, and probably the Nahr Zerka, or “Crocodile Brook,” which rises in the Carmel range, and flows into the Mediterranean just above Csarea. For the existence of crocodiles still in the Zerka, see Macgregor’s Rob Roy on the Jordan, p. 387, who also found a crocodile in the Kishon, which is only about 20 miles north of the Zerka, pp. 400 403. “I suspect,” writes Dr Thomson, “that long ages ago, some Egyptians, accustomed to worship this ugly creature, settled here (Csarea), and brought their gods with them. Once here, they would not easily be exterminated; for no better place could be desired by them than this vast jungle and impracticable swamp.” See Land and the Book, p. 497.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 26. Carmel] The vineyard of God; a place greatly celebrated in Scripture, and especially for the miracles of Elijah; see 1Kg 18:19-40. The mountain of Carmel was so very fruitful as to pass into a proverb. There was another Carmel in the tribe of Judah, (see Jos 15:55), but this, in the tribe of Asher, was situated about one hundred and twenty furlongs south from Ptolemais, on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Calmet observes that there was, in the time of Vespasian, a temple on this mountain, dedicated to a god of the same name. There was a convent, and a religious order known by the name of Carmelites, established on this mountain in honour of Elijah: the time of the foundation of this order is greatly disputed. Some pretend that it was established by Elijah himself; while others, with more probability, fix it in A.D. 1180 or 1181, under the pontificate of Pope Alexander III.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Carmel westward, or, Carmel by the sea, to distinguish it from that Carmel in the tribe of Judah, 1Sa 25:2. This was a place of eminent fruitfulness, Isa 33:9; 35:2; 37:24, agreeable to the prophecy concerning Asher, Gen 49:20; Deu 33:24.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. to Carmel . . . and toShihor-libnaththat is, the “black” or “muddyriver”; probably the Nahr Belka, below Dor (Tantoura); for thattown belonged to Asher (Jos 17:10).Thence the boundary line turned eastward to Beth-dagon, a town at thejunction of Zebulun and Naphtali, and ran northwards as far as Cabul,with other towns, among which is mentioned (Jos19:28) “great Zidon,” so called on account of its beingeven then the flourishing metropolis of the Phoelignicians. Thoughincluded in the inheritance of Asher, this town was never possessedby them (Jud 1:31).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Alammelech, and Amad,…. Of the two first of these there is no mention elsewhere;
and Misheal is the same with Mashal, 1Ch 6:74; and is by Jerom l called Masan, and said to be near Carmel to the sea:
and reacheth to Carmel westward; or, “to the sea”, as Carmel is called “Carmel by the sea”, [See comments on Jer 46:18]: it is hereby distinguished from Carmel in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:55; (Pliny m calls it a promontory):
and to Shihorlibnath; the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions make two places of it: but the sum of the cities after given will not admit of it: more rightly Junius renders it Sihor by Libhath, and takes Sihor to be the river Belus, or Pagidus; so called either because of its likeness to the Nile, one of whose names is Sihor, Jer 2:18; or because its waters might be black and muddy; it was the river out of which sand was fetched to make glass of: and Libnath, which has its name from whiteness, the same writer thinks may be the Album Promontorium, or white promontory of Pliny n, which he places near Ptolemais, between Ecdippa and Tyre, and is very probable.
l De loc. Heb. fol. 93. E. m Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19.) n Ibid.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Ver. 26. Alammelech,Amad,Misheal, &c. These are cities unknown, but situate near mount Carmel, famous for the miracles of Elijah, and very different from that which went by the same name in the tribe of Judah, 2 Kings 18; Jos 15:55. The Carmel of Asher was near the sea; and, according to Josephus, at one hundred and twenty furlongs from Ptolemais on the south. Hist. Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 9. The ancients boasted of it on account of its height, and called it the holy mountain of Jupiter. There was said to be a temple and a god of the same name with the mountain; and Jamblichus mentions, that Pythagoras often went thither to study. Several ages since, Carmel was variously honoured by the Christians, on account of the cave, where, as it is thought, Elijah remained some time before he was carried up to heaven. Hence sprung the order of the Carmelites, founded in the wilderness of Syria, in 1180, by Almerick, Bishop of Antioch. Their old convent is destroyed; that which they now inhabit is lower down, and can scarcely maintain three monks. Efforts have been made to re-establish it on the top of the mountain, but in vain, an Emir of the Arabs having made it his residence.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Misheal: Situated, according to Eusebius, near mount Carmel, on the sea coast. Jos 21:30, 1Ch 6:74, Marshal
Carmel: 1Sa 15:12, 1Ki 18:20, 1Ki 18:42, Son 7:5, Isa 33:9, Isa 35:2, Isa 37:24, Jer 46:18
Reciprocal: Deu 11:29 – General 1Ki 18:19 – mount Carmel 1Ch 6:75 – Hukok
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 19:26. Carmel westward Or, Carmel by the sea, to distinguish it from Carmel in the tribe of Judah. This was a place of eminent fruitfulness, agreeably to the prophecy concerning Asher, Gen 49:20.