Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 1:31
Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:
31. Asher ] dwelt in a productive strip of country (Gen 49:20), extending northwards from Carmel along the sea-coast (Jdg 5:17) to Phoenicia; P indicates the boundaries in Jos 19:24-31, but not many of the places can be identified. Occupying an indefinite territory between the Phoenicians and the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun, the Asherites seem to have been only partially identified with Israel; historically their importance was small, they took no part in the combination against Sisera (Jdg 5:17), and here it is implied that they could not hold their own against the older population. In the period of Seti I and Ramses II Egyptian sources mention ’A-sa-ru, a somewhat vigorous state located in the ‘Hinterland’ of S. Phoenicia up to the Lebanon, the very district occupied by the tribe of Asher. ’Asaru is simply the Egyptian form of Asher; but until fresh discoveries reveal the nature of the connexion between the two, no safe conclusions can be drawn for purposes of history. It has been supposed that some part of the Israelite nation, at any rate the tribe of Asher, was resident in Palestine under the 18th Dynasty, i.e. circ. 1400 b.c., before the time of Moses. See W. Max Mller, Asien u. Europa, p. 236 ff.
Acco ] is the mod. ‘Akka (so in the Amarna tablets nos. 157 9), the S. Jean d’Acre of the Crusaders, N. of Carmel on the coast; in Act 21:7 it is called Ptolemais, probably after Ptolemy II. This is the southernmost point on the coast in the present list; the northernmost is Zidon, the mod. aida, called Ziduna in the Am. tablets (nos. 147, 149, 150 f.), the famous Phoenician city. The Phoenicians are called Zidonians in the O.T., Jdg 3:3, 1Ki 11:5; they were never subjected by Israel. It is significant that Tyre, which is situated between these two points, is not mentioned.
Ahlab ] is probably only another form of Helbah, of which a third form is Mahalab Jos 19:29 (read ‘from Mahalab to Achzib’). It seems to be the place called Maalliba by Sennacherib (Taylor Cyl. CO T, 288), who mentions Achzib and Acco in the same line. It is conjectured (Moore) that this was the old name of Rs el-Abya, the ‘promontorium album’ of Pliny, three hours S. of Tyre.
Achzib ] called Ecdippa by the classical geographers, is the mod. ez-Zb, 2 hours N. of ‘Akka on the coast; Jos 19:29.
Aphik Rehob ] Jos 19:30, not uncommon names; in this region they have not been identified. Rehob (Josh. ib., Jos 21:31; 1Ch 6:75) may be the Egyptian Raubu, N. of the Kishon (Mller, As. u. Eur., p. 153); it is probable that both places were inland, not on the coast.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare the marginal reference. Accho, afterward called Ptolemais, now Akka or St. Jean dAcre, is named here for the first time.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 31. Neither did Asher] See on Jos 19:24-31.
Accho] Supposed to be the city of Ptolemais, near to Mount Carmel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho,…. The same with Ptolemais, [See comments on Ac 21:7]; so called from the first Ptolemy king of Egypt, who enlarged it; but it has since recovered its ancient name pretty nearly, and is now called Acca or Acra.
“On its north and east sides (Mr. Maundrell says w) it is encompassed with a spacious and fertile plain; on the west it is washed by the Mediterranean sea; and on the south by a large bay, extending from the city as far as Mount Carmel:”
nor the inhabitants of Zidon; a well known city in Phoenicia, belonging to this tribe, see Jos 19:28;
nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor Helbah, nor Aphik, nor of Rehob; two of these places, Ahlab and Helbah, are not mentioned among the cities of the tribe of Asher, Jos 19:24; unless Helbah is the same with Helkath, Jud 1:25; of the rest, Achzib,
[See comments on Jos 19:29], Aphik, and Rehob,
[See comments on Jos 19:30].
w Journey from Aleppo, p. 54.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(31) Neither did Asher.See Jos. 19:24-31.
Accho.The seaport so famous under the names of Ptolemais (Act. 21:7; 1Ma. 5:15; 1Ma. 10:1), Acre, and St. Jean dAcre (now Acca). Josephus called it Ako (Antt. ix. 14, 2).
Zidon.(Jos. 11:8.) Asher never succeeded in conquering Zidon, which was the capital of Phnicia, though eclipsed by its neighbour Tyre. (2Sa. 5:11; Isaiah 23; Jeremiah 27, 47; Mat. 11:22, &c.) It is now called Saida.
Ahlab.An unknown town.
Achzib.(See Jos. 19:29.) Better known as Ecdippa (Jos. B. J. i. 13, 4), the modern Zib, about nine miles north of Akka. There was a less well-known Achzib in Judah (Chezib)Gen. 38:5; Mic. 1:14; Jos. 15:44.
Helbah.The name is rendered the coast in Jos. 19:29. The site is unknown.
Aphik.The Aphek of Jos. 19:30, now Afka (Robinson, Bible Res., 3:606). The name means strength. It was famous for a Temple of Venus, destroyed by Constantine. (Euseb. Vit. Const.) There seems to have been another Aphek near Hebron. (Jos. 12:18.)
Rehob.A Levitical city (Jos. 21:31; 1Ch. 6:75).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. Accho is a flourishing seaport on a bay of the same name, just north of Mount Carmel. It was named Ptolemais, in honour of one of the Ptolemies. Its modern name is Acre. It contains a mixed population of five thousand. On Zidon, or great Sidon, see Jos 11:8. “The district of Sidon,” says Wilkins, “had apparently been included in the earliest scheme of conquest. But it had not fallen to the lot of either of the two most powerful and warlike tribes Judah and Ephraim; it was destined for the feebler and less energetic Asher, Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali. The impetuous rush of the hardy warriors of the desert, thirsting for the blessings of the Promised Land, had spent itself in early efforts, and the northern tribes were well contented with the marvellous fertility of the plain of Esdraelon, which probably furnished abundant supplies for their scanty numbers. The Phenicians would, on the other hand, have the strongest inducements to live on terms of amity with their new neighbours. The great lines of traffic with Egypt, Arabia, Babylon, and Assyria, were in the hands of the invaders, and any hostilities with them must necessarily have caused a ruinous suspension of commerce.” Phenicia and Israel. Ahlab is named in this place only. In Jos 19:29, this name is wanting; but the word Cheleb, translated coast, is, in the opinion of Fuerst, the name of the town here written Ahlab. Its site is unknown, as is also Helbah.
Achzib Jos 19:29, note. Aphik is written Aphek in Jos 13:4, where see note. Rehob is not identified.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob.’
These cities were mainly in the plain of Acco. Rehob means ‘open place, market place’ and is mentioned in a list of Raamses II placing it in the southern part of the plain. Aphik (Aphek – Jos 19:30) means ‘fortress’. A number of cities went by the name. Achzib was a harbour town. It is probable that Zidon refers to the inhabitants in the area below the city of Zidon, for Zidon itself was not a part of their inheritance (Jos 18:28-28). Their borders reached to Tyre and Zidon but did not include them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Asher: Jos 19:24-30
Accho: Accho, the Ptolemais of the Greeks and Romans, and called Saint John of Acre by the Crusaders, is situated on the Mediterranean, in a fine plain, at the north angle of a bay to which it gives name, and which extends in a semicircle of three leagues as far as Carmel, and nine leagues from Tyre.
Zidon: Another celebrated city of Phoenicia, now Saide, situated in a fine country on the Mediterranean, 400 stadia from Berytus, and 200 – northfrom Tyre, according to Strabo, one day’s journey from Paneas, according to Josephus, and sixty-six miles from Damascus, according to Abulfeda.
Achzib: Or, Ecdippa, now Zib, nine miles north, from Accho.
Reciprocal: Num 13:21 – Rehob Jos 19:28 – great Jos 19:29 – Achzib Jos 21:31 – Rehob 2Sa 10:8 – Rehob 1Ki 20:26 – Aphek Mat 15:21 – Tyre