Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
the Canaanites of the south, so likewise in vv. 19 and 20 the capitals of the allied
kings of northern Canaan are given first, and after that the other towns that were
taken in the northern war, but had not been mentioned by name in ch. 11: there can be
no doubt whatever that the four towns in vv. 17 and 18 are to be classed among the
kings'-towns taken in the war with the king of Jerusalem and his allies, and therefore
are to be sought for in the south of Canaan and not in the north.
Consequently we cannot agree with Van de Velde and Knobel in identifying
Tappuach with En-Tappuach (Josh 17:7), and looking for it in Atûf , a place to the
north-east of Nablus and near the valley of the Jordan; we connect it rather with
Tappuach in the lowlands of Judah (Josh 15:34), though the place itself has not yet
been discovered. Hefer again is neither to be identified with Gath-hepher in the tribe
of Zebulun (Josh 19:13), nor with Chafaraim in the tribe of Issachar (ch. 19:19), but
is most probably the capital of the land of Hefer (1 Kings 4:10), and to be sought for
in the neighbourhood of Socoh in the plain of Judah. Aphek is probably the town of
that name not far from Ebenezer (1 Sam 4:1), where the ark was taken by the
Philistines, and is most likely to be sought for in the plain of Judah, though not in the
village of Ahbek ( Rob. Pal. ii. p. 343); but it has not yet been traced. Knobel
imagines that it was Aphek near to Jezreel (1 Sam 29:1), which was situated,
according to the Onom. , in the neighbourhood of Endor (1 Sam 29:1; 1 Kings
20:25,30); but this Aphek is too far north. Lassaron only occurs here, and hitherto it
has been impossible to trace it. Knobel supposes it to be the place called Saruneh , to
the west of the lake of Tiberias, and conjectures that the name has been contracted
from Lassaron by aphaeresis of the liquid. This is quite possible, if only we could
look for Lassaron so far to the north. Bachienne and Rosenmüller imagine it to be the
village of Sharon in the celebrated plain of that name, between Lydda and Arsuf.
Joshua 12:19-20
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