Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 19:47
And the coast of the children of Dan went out [too little] for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
47. went out too little for them ] The words “too little” are inserted in our Version. They are not found in the original Hebrew, which literally means, the border of the children of Dan went out from them, i.e. the border of the children of Dan was extended. “Squeezed into the narrow strip between the mountains and the sea, its energies were great beyond its numbers.” Stanley’s Sin. and Pal., p. 395; Lectures, p. 268.
went up to fight ] “Stieded vp, and fouten,” Wyclif. Har d pressed by the Amorites, whom they were unable to expel from the plain (Jdg 1:34), and by the Philistines, they longed for an addition to their territory, they sent out five spies from two towns in the low country, who tracked the Jordan to its source beyond the waters of Merom, and came to an eminence on which rose the town of
Leshem ] or Laish, far up in northern Palestine, the modern Tell el-Kdy near Bnis. It was a colony from Sidon, and its inhabitants, separated from their mother city by the huge mass of Lebanon and half of Anti-Lebanon, “ dwelt quiet and secure ” (Jdg 18:7), in the enjoyment of the warm climate and exquisite scenery, and tilling the fertile soil, irrigated by many streams. The spies marked the spot, and on their return bade their brethren arise, and take possession of a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth (Jdg 18:10), and the soil of which “even now produces large crops of wheat, barley, maize, sesame, rice, and other plants with very little labour while horses, cattle, and sheep fatten on the rich pastures, and large herds of black buffaloes luxuriate in the streams and deep mire of the marshes.” See Thomson’s Land and the Book, p. 214; Robinson, Bib. Res. iii. 396.
therefore the children of Dan went up to fight ] On receiving the news six hundred Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol girded on their weapons of war (Jdg 18:11), and pushed their way to the sources of the Jordan, and finding the town of Laish just as the spies had described it, far from its mother city, dwelling quiet and secure, they burst upon it, scaled its walls (Jdg 18:27), and
took it ] and set it on fire, massacring the inhabitants. Then they rebuilt the town, and dwelt therein, and
called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father ] The name Tell el-Kdi = “ the mound of the Judge”, still preserves the ancient Dan = “ judge.” See Tristram’s Land of Israel, p. 580.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The words too little are an insertion of the King James Version Render rather, the border of the children of Dan was extended. The Hebrew appears to mean the children of Dan enlarged their border because they had not room enough.
The reason of this was that the Danites, a numerous tribe (Num 26:5 note), found themselves Jdg 1:34-35 cooped up among the hills by the powerful and warlike Amorites. Hence, the Danite expedition (see the marginal reference), which surprised the Sidonion inhabitants of Leshem, an unwarlike and peaceable race, exterminated them, and annexed their city and territory to the portion of Dan.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 47. Went out too little for them] This is certainly the meaning of the passage; but our translators have been obliged to add the words too little to make this sense apparent. Houbigant contends that an ancient copyist, meeting frequently with the words vaiyetse haggebul, in the preceding history, became so familiarized to them that he wrote them here instead of vaiyaats haggebul, and the border of the children of Dan was STRAIT for them. It was on this account that they were obliged to go and fight against Leshem, and take and possess it, their former inheritance being too strait for their increasing population.
And called Leshem, Dan] This city was situated near the origin of Jordan, at the utmost northern extremity of the promised land, as Beer-sheba was at that of the south; and as after its capture by the Danites it was called Dan, hence arose the expression from Dan even to Beer-sheba, which always signified the whole extent of the promised land. Some suppose that Leshem was the same with Caesarea Philippi, but others with reason reject this opinion. It must be granted that the whole account given in this verse refers indisputably to a fact which did not take place till after the death of Joshua. It is another of the marginal or explicative notes which were added by some later hand. The whole account of this expedition of the Danites against Leshem is circumstantially given in Jdg 18:1-29 the book of Judges, and to that chapter the reader is referred.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Went out too little for them, Heb. went out from them, to wit, out of their hands or possession; for so this Hebrew word is used concerning those lands, which in the year of the jubilee are said to go out, Lev 25:28,30,31,33, i.e. out of the hands of the present possessor, to the first and ancient owner. And so peradventure this may signify that many of the Danites were forced by their powerful neighbors the Philistines to relinquish their coast, and their allotted habitations; which put them upon the following course.
The children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem after Joshuas death, as appears from Jdg 18 and seems to be here inserted, partly that all the chief places where the Danites (dwelt,) though far distant, might be mentioned together; and partly to give an account of this strange accident, why they removed from their appointed portion to so remote a place; which may be this, that being much molested and terrified by their bad neighbours, they thought fit to go to some place remote from them, which also they were in a manner constrained to do, because otherwise they must have taken some part of the portions of other tribes, whereas now going to the very utmost northern point of the land, they took that which did not belong to, or, at least, was not in the possession of any other tribe. See more Jdg 18.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
47. the children of Dan went up tofight against LeshemThe Danites, finding their inheritance toosmall, decided to enlarge its boundaries by the sword; and, havingconquered Leshem (Laish), they planted a colony there, calling thenew settlement by the name of Dan (see on Jud18:7).
Jos19:49-51. THE CHILDRENOF ISRAEL GIVEAN INHERITANCE TOJOSHUA.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the coast of the children of Dan went out [too little] for them,…. Being a very numerous tribe, the cities allotted them were not sufficient for them; or rather, leaving out the supplement “too little”, the words will run, it “went out from them”; they lost part of it, being driven out of the valley into the mountain by the Amorites, Jud 1:34; which obliged them to seek out elsewhere for habitations:
therefore the children of Dan went out to fight against Leshem; called Laish, Jud 18:1, where the whole story is related of their lighting against this place and taking it; which, though some time after the death of Joshua, is here recorded to give at once an account of the inheritance of Dan; and which is no argument against Joshua’s being the writer of this book, as is urged; since it might be inserted by another hand, Ezra, or some other inspired man, for the reason before given:
and took and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it,
and dwelt therein; being a Canaanitish city, they put all in it to the sword, as the Lord had commanded, and took possession of it for an habitation:
and called Leshem Dan, after the name of Dan their father; this is the place which is always meant, where the phrase is used “from Dan to Beersheba”, Jud 20:1, this being at the utmost northern border of the land of Canaan, as Beersheba was at the further part of the southern coast of it. It was, according to Jerom c, situated near Paneas, out of which the river Jordan flowed; and Kimchi on the text observes, their Rabbins d say, that Leshem is Pamias (i.e. Paneas), and that Jordan flows from the cave of Pamias, and had its name because it descended from Dan; and so Josephus e says, that Panium is a cave under a mountain, from whence rise the springs of Jordan, and is the fountain of it; and Pliny also says f, the river Jordan rises out of the fountain Paneas. This city was enlarged and beautified by Philip Herod, and he called it by the name of Caesarea Philippi, both in honour of Tiberius Caesar g and after his own name, by which name it goes in Mt 16:13; and is called in the Jerusalem Targum on Ge 14:14, Dan of Caesarea.
c De loc. Heb. fol. 93. A. d T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 6. 1. & Bava Bathra, fol. 74. 2. e Antiqu. l. 15. c. 10. sect. 3. De Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 21. sect. 3. & l. 3. c. 9. sect. 7. f Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 15. g Joseph. Antiqu. l. 18. c. 2. sect. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(47) And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them.The words too
little are not in the original; and it seems better to translate literally: And the coast of the children of Dan went out from themi.e., their territory was partly re-conquered by the Philistines. Something similar seems to have occurred in several districts of the country. The Israelites not taking advantage of the impression produced by Joshuas great victories to occupy the territory assigned to them, the nations of Canaan re-possessed themselves of their former abodes. and held them against Israel. The Philistines are expressly said to have been left to prove Israel. Joshua was not permitted to exterminate them. And although Dan and Judah, numerically the two strongest of all the tribes (both in the census in the plains of Moab and at Sinai), were placed next to the Philistines, and had the task of conquering that nation assigned to them, still it was not effected. We read in Judges 1, The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not suffer them to come down into the valley.
Hence the Danites, instead of attacking the Philistines and Amorites in their inheritance, preferred to form a new settlement in the north, and put to the sword a people quiet and secure, who had no deliverer, rather than run with patience the race set before them. They were not minded to resist unto blood, striving against their foes. (See the narrative in Judges 18, especially Jos. 19:27-28.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
47. The coast went out too little Here the English version is at fault by inserting too little. Masius has given the sense correctly thus: “The Danites emigrated beyond themselves, that is, beyond the inheritance in which they were first placed by the divine lot, and set out in search of other possessions.” This occurred after the death of Joshua, and is here narrated out of its chronological order, so as to complete the description of Dan’s lot.
Therefore went up to fight Rather, and the children of Dan went up and fought. Leshem, or Laish, is at the extreme north, near the foot of Mount Hermon. A minute account of this expedition and its results is found in Judges 18, where see notes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the border of the children of Dan went out from them. And the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt in it. And they called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.’
This note was not a part of the original surveyor’s report, being added as a comment by the writer. ‘Went out from them’ may signify that they were unable to expand to their borders, and were prevented from doing so. That is how LXX sees it (see below). The great constraint they were under comes out in their subsequent action. Many of them forsook the land God had given them and sought a better land, although some remained. This invasion of Laish (Leshem) is described more fully in Judges 17-18, and resulted in the setting up of the sanctuary of Dan. The whole disreputable story is recounted with obvious disapproval by the writer of Judges.
Laish was at the foot of Mount Hermon by the source of the Jordan to the north of the promised land, probably modern Tell el-Qadi (‘the judges’ mound’). It had been settled since about 5000 BC and had been a wealthy city covering thirty acres, named in the Egyptian execration texts as rws, and in the Mari texts as Lasi. It was captured by Thutmose III. But it had allowed itself to become isolated and although it was reasonably strongly fortified with an earthen rampart, Dan ‘took it and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt in it’, renaming it Dan.
LXX places Jos 19:48 immediately after verse 46 and then incorporates here material from Jdg 1:34-35. It says ‘and the children of Dan did not drive out the Amorite who afflicted them in the mountain, and the Amorite would not allow them to come down into the valley, but they forcibly took from them the border of their portion. And the sons of Dan went and fought against Lachis, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword; and they dwelt in it, and called the name of it Lasendan. and the Amorite continued to dwell in Edom and in Salamin: and the hand of Ephraim prevailed against them, and they became tributaries to them.’
This whole incident brings home how difficult the Israelites were finding it when they sought to settle the valleys and plains where the Canaanites dwelt in comparatively large numbers. Joshua’s victories had weakened Canaanite resistance but it had not destroyed it, and the delay in taking advantage of them had enabled Canaanite resistance to harden.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 47. And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore, &c. The words too little, are neither in the Hebrew, the LXX, nor the Vulgate. The text literally is, And the country of the children of Dan went cut from them. Now the phrase, went out from them, is naturally explained here by the manner in which it is used, Lev 25:28-33.; where, speaking of the year of jubilee, Moses says, that the estates went out from those who had acquired them, because they then passed into other hands; namely, of the proprietors who had alienated them to that period. In this place, therefore, in like manner, to say that the coast of the Danites went out from them, is saying that it passed partly into other hands than their own, or, in a word, was taken from them. In fact, their formidable neighbours, the Amorites, forced the Danites into the mountains, and would not suffer them to come down to the valley. See Jdg 1:34. The city of Leshem (called in Jdg 18:29. Laish,) was not far from Jordan. The Danites gave it their name after they had conquered it. In after-times, when it fell into the hands of the Romans, they called it Paneas, and made it the metropolis of Iturea and Trachonitis. Philip, the son of Herod the Great, afterwards repaired it, and, in compliment to Tiberius Caesar, gave it the name of Cesarea Philippi. This expedition against Leshem was made after the death of Joshua. For more respecting it, see on Judges 18.; where there is an account of the whole expedition. From this, as some insist, it appears, that this book was not written by Joshua; whereas no more can be inferred from it, than that in after-times this passage might be here inserted by Samuel or Ezra, or some other inspired writer, in order to complete the account of the Danites’ possessions. It is very evident, that the present verse is not by the same pen with the rest of the book. But as the learned Bishop Huet observes, were the whole verse taken away, all that is said of this tribe would be perfectly coherent, and leave no breach at all in the context.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jos 19:47 And the coast of the children of Dan went out [too little] for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
Ver. 47. Went up to fight against Leshem. ] Called Laish in Jdg 18:7 Where they turned open idolaters, and are therefore cut out of the roll of Christ’s people. Rev 7:1-17 1Ch 7:1-40
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the coast: Jdg 1:34, Jdg 1:35, Jdg 18:1-29
called Leshem: Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:27, Jdg 18:29, Laish
Reciprocal: Deu 33:22 – General Deu 34:1 – Dan 2Sa 24:6 – land of Tahtimhodshi 2Ki 6:1 – too strait for us
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 19:47. The coast of Dan went out too little The words too little are not in the Hebrew, where there is nothing that corresponds with them. The passage runs thus: The coast of the children of Dan went out from them; that is, they were dispossessed of it in some parts, or kept out of them by the former inhabitants; and we find, by Jdg 1:34, that the Amorites forced them into the mountains, and would not suffer them to dwell in the valley. This reduced them to such straits, that they were constrained to enlarge their border some other way; which they did as follows. They went up to fight against Leshem A city not far from Jordan, called Laish in the book of Judges, before it was taken by the Danites. And called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father It was customary for conquerors to change the names of those places they subdued. This was done with respect to Leshem, after the death of Joshua; and is related more largely in the book of Judges, chap. 18., where the whole expedition is recorded. From whence some have argued that this book was not written by Joshua; whereas no more can fairly be inferred, than that, in after times, Ezra, or some other, thought good to insert this verse here, in order to complete the account of the Danites possessions.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
19:47 And the coast of the children of Dan went out [too little] for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to {l} fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
(l) According as Jacob had prophesied in Gen 49:17.