Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
mountains of Israel and its lowlands (see v. 2), i.e., the northern part of the land (in
the campaign described in vv. 1-15), that is to say, Canaan in all its extent, "from the
bald mountain which goeth up to Seir" in the south, "to Baal-gad, in the valley of
Lebanon under Hermon." The "bald mountain" ( Halak ), which is mentioned here
and in Josh 12:7 as the southern boundary of Canaan, is hardly the row of white cliffs
which stretches obliquely across the Arabah eight miles below the Dead Sea and
forms the dividing line that separates this valley into el-Ghor and el-Araba ( Rob. Pal.
ii. pp. 489, 492), or the present Madara , a strange-looking chalk-hill to the southwest
of the pass of Sufah ( Rob. ii. p. 589), a steep bare mountain in a barren plain, the
sides of which consist of stone and earth of a leaden ashy hue ( Seetzen , R. iii. pp. 14,
15); but in all probability the northern edge of the Azazimeh mountain with its white
and glistening masses of chalk.
Baal-gad , i.e., the place or town of Baal, who was there worshipped as Gad (see Isa
65:11), also called Baal-hermon in Judg 3:3 and 1 Chron 5:23, is not Baalbek, but the
Paneas or Caesarea Philippi of a later time, the present Banjas (see at Num 34:8-9).
This is the opinion of v. Raumer and Robinson , though Van de Velde is more
disposed to look for Baal-gad in the ruins of Kalath (the castle of) Bostra , or of
Kalath Aisafa , the former an hour and a half, the latter three hours to the north of
Banjas, the situation of which would accord with the biblical statements respecting
Baal-gad exceedingly well. The "valley of Lebanon" is not Coele-Syria , the modern
Bekâa , between Lebanon and Antilibanus, but the valley at the foot of the southern
slope of Jebel Sheik (Hermon).
Joshua 11:18-20
Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
Joshua made war with the kings of Canaan a long time; judging from Josh 14:7,10, as
much as seven years, though Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 19) speaks of five (see at Josh
14:10). No town submitted peaceably to the Israelites, with the exception of Gibeon:
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