Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
which was allotted to them under Joshua was too small for them, on account of their
inability to drive out the Amorites from several of their towns (Judg 1:34-35; 18:2).
For further particulars concerning this conquest, see Judg 18. Leshem or Laish (Judg
18:7,27), i.e., Dan , which the Onom. describes as viculus quarto a Paneade milliario
euntibus Tyrum , was the present Tell el Kadi , or el Leddan , the central source of the
Jordan, to the west of Banjas, a place with ancient ruins (see Rob. iii. p. 351; Bibl.
Res. pp. 390, 393). It was there that Jeroboam set up the golden calves (1 Kings
12:29-30, etc.); and it is frequently mentioned as the northernmost city of the
Israelites, in contrast with Beersheba, which was in the extreme south of the land
(Judg 20:1; 1 Sam 3:20; 2 Sam 3:10: see also Ritter , Erdk. xvi. pp. 207ff.).
Joshua 19:49-50
When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the
children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them:
Conclusion of the Distribution of the Land. - Vv. 49, 50. When the land was
distributed among the tribes according to its territories, the Israelites gave Joshua an
inheritance in the midst of them, according to the command of Jehovah, namely the
town of Timnath-serah , upon the mountains of Ephraim, for which he asked, and
which he finished building; and there he dwelt until the time of his death (Josh 24:30;
Judg 2:9). "According to the word of the Lord" ( lit. "at the mouth of Jehovah") does
not refer to a divine oracle communicated through the high priest, but to a promise
which Joshua had probably received from God at the same time as Caleb, viz., in
Kadesh, but which, like the promise given to Caleb, is not mentioned in the
Pentateuch (see at Josh 15:13; 14:9). Timnath-serah , called Timnath-heres in Judg
2:9, must not be confounded with Timnah in the tribe of Dan (v. 43; Josh 15:10), as is
the case in the Onom. It has been preserved in the present ruins and foundation walls
of a place called Tibneh , which was once a large town, about seven hours to the
north of Jerusalem, and two hours to the west of Jiljilia, standing upon two
mountains, with many caverns that have been used as graves (see Eli Smith in Ritter ,
Erdk. xvi. pp. 562ff., and Rob. Bibl. Res. p. 141).
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