Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
cannot imagine the reference to be to the territory of Og of Bashan, which was
formerly inhabited by Amorites, as that did not extend so far north; and the
explanation given by Knobel , that farther north there were not Canaanites, but
Amorites, who were of Semitic origin, rests upon hypotheses which cannot be
historically sustained.
Verse 5-7. There still remained to be taken (2) "the land of the Giblites," i.e., the
territory of the population of Gebal (1 Kings 5:32; Ezek. 27:9 ), the Byblos of the
classics, on the Mediterranean Sea, to the north of Beirut, called Jebail by the Arabs,
and according to Edrisi ( ed. Jaubert , i. p. 356), "a pretty town on the sea-shore,
enclosed in good walls, and surrounded by vineyards and extensive grounds planted
with fruit trees" (see also Abulfed. Tab. Syr. p. 94). It is still a town with an old wall,
some portions of which apparently belong to the time of the Crusades (see
Burckhardt , Syr. p. 296, and Ritter , Erdk. xvii. pp. 60ff.).
(Note: The evidence adduced by Movers (Phönizier, ii. 1, p. 103), that the Giblites did not belong to the
Canaanites, has more plausibility than truth.) "And all Lebanon toward the sunrising:" i.e., not
Antilibanus ( Knobel ), but the Lebanon which is to the east of the territory of Gebal, "from Baal-gad
under Mount Hermon," i.e., Paneas Banjas at the foot of Hermon (see at Josh 11:17), "unto the entering
in to Hamath,"
i.e., as far up as the territory of the kingdom of Hamath, with the capital of the same name on the Orontes
(see at Num 34:8).
Lastly, there still remained (3) "all the inhabitants of the mountains, from Lebanon to
Misrephothmaim," i.e., the promontory of Nakura (see at Josh 11:8), namely "all the
Sidonians," i.e., all the Phoenicians who dwelt from Lebanon southwards, from the
boundary of the territory of Hamath down to the promontory of Nakura. According to
ancient usage, the Sidonians stand for the Phoenicians generally, as in Homer, on
account of Sidon being the oldest capital of Phoenicia (see Ges. on Isa. i. pp. 724ff.).
All these the Lord would root out before Israel, and therefore Joshua was to divide
the whole of northern Canaan, which was inhabited by Phoenicians, among the
Israelites. "only divide thou it by lot for an inheritance," etc. raq (OT:7535), only,
i.e., although thou hast not yet taken it. hipiyl (OT:5307), to cause it to fall, here used
with reference to the lot, i.e., to divide by
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