Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
Verse 42. Libnah: see at Josh 10:29. Ether and Ashan , which were afterwards given
to the Simeonites (Josh 19:7), and are probably to be sought for on the border of the
Negeb, have not yet been discovered. The conjecture that Ether is connected with the
ruins of Attârah ( Rob. iii. App.) in the province of Gaza, is a very uncertain one.
Ashan , probably the same as Kor-ashan (1 Sam 30:30), became a priests' city
afterwards (1 Chron 6:44; see at Josh 21:16).
Verse 43. Jiphtah, Ashnah , and Nezib have not yet been traced. Beit-nesib , to the
east of Beit-jibrin on the Wady Sur ( Rob. ii. p. 344, and iii. p. 13), the Neesib of the
Onom. , seven Roman miles to the east of Eleutheropolis, does not suit this group so
far as its situation is concerned, as it lies within the limits of the first group.
Verse 44. Keilah , which is mentioned in the history of David (1 Sam 23), and then
again after the captivity (Neh 3:17), is neither the Ceeila' , Ceila of the Onom. , on
the east of Eleutheropolis, the present Kila ( Tobler , Dritte Wand. p. 151), which lies
upon the mountains of Judah; nor is it to be found, as Knobel supposes, in the ruins of
Jugaleh ( Rob. iii. App.), as they lie to the south of the mountains of Hebron, whereas
Keilah is to be sought for in the shephelah , or at all events to the west or south-west
of the mountains of Hebron. Achzib (Mic 1:14), the same as Chesib (Gen 38:5), has
been preserved in the ruins at Kussâbeh , a place with a fountain ( Rob. ii. p. 391),
i.e., the fountain of Kesâba, about five hours south by west from Beit-jibrin.
Mareshah , which was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron 11:8; cf. Mic 1:15), and was
the place where Asa defeated Zerah the Ethiopian (2 Chron 14:9), the home of
Eliezer (2 Chron 20:37), and afterwards the important town of Marissa (see v.
Raumer , Pal. pp. 211-12), was between Hebron and Ashdod, since Judas
Maccabaeus is represented in 1 Macc. 5:65-68 (where the reading should be
Eari'ssan instead of Sama'reian (NT:4540), according to Joseph. Ant. xii. 8, 6) as
going from Hebron through Marissa into the land of the Philistines, and turning to
Ashdod. According to the
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