8 Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward. They struck them until they left them none remaining.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And the Lord delivered them, etc The greatness of the overthrow may be inferred from this, that the slaughter continued as far as Sidon, which was far distant from the lake of Merom. Sidon is called great, from its celebrity as a commercial emporium and the great number of its inhabitants. There is no comparison instituted between it and a minor town of same name. The Hebrew noun Mozerephoth, which some retain without change as a proper name, we have preferred to translate "the boiling of the waters," because it is probable that there were thermal springs there, which boiled. Moreover, as the panic which hurried them away into such a scattered flight, plainly shows that they were driven headlong by the secret terror of the Lord. So it is certain that the Israelites who dared to follow the fugitives through so many dangers were carried to a higher pitch of valor than human by celestial agency. Praise is bestowed on Joshua as well for his abstinence as for his prompt obedience. Nor would he have submitted so willingly to the loss of so many horses and chariots, had not the fear of God overawed him. For such is our ingenuity in devising pretexts, it would have been plausible to allege, that though he could not fit them for military use, still their value was by no means to be despised. But he thought that he had no right to take anything into consideration but the pleasure of God. Then, as he had succeeded by his own good conduct, in making the people willing and obedient, he, as an individual, justly received the praise of what had been performed generally by all.
One portion of the defeated host fled north-westward toward Zidon; the other northeastward up the Ard el Huleh.
Zidon, as the metropolis of various subject towns and territories, appears Joshua 19:28 to have been afterward assigned to Asher, but was not, in fact, conquered by that tribe Judges 1:31. It is mentioned in Egyptian papyri of great antiquity, and by Homer, and was in the most ancient times the capital of Phoenicia. In later times it was eclipsed by Tyre (compare 2-Samuel 5:11). The prophets frequently couple Tyre and Sidon together, as does also the New Testament (Isaiah 23:2, Isaiah 23:4,Isaiah 23:12; Jeremiah 27:3; Jeremiah 47:4; Matthew 11:22; Matthew 15:21, etc.).
Both the site and signification of Misre-photh-maim are uncertain. Some have thought it identical with "Zarephath which belongeth to Zidon" 1-Kings 17:9, the Sarepta of the New Test. The name is explained by some (see the margin) as meaning hot springs; by others as salt pits; i. e. pits where the sea water was evaporated for the sake of its salt; and again by others as "smelting factories near the waters." Some, tracing the word to quite another root, render it "heights of waters," or copious springs.
Great Zidon - If this were the same with the Sidon of the ancients, it was illustrious long before the Trojan war; and both it and its inhabitants are frequently mentioned by Homer as excelling in works of skill and utility, and abounding in wealth: -
Ενθ' εσαν οἱ πεπλοι παμποικιλοι, εογα γυναικων
Σιδονιων.
Iliad, lib. vi., ver. 289.
"There lay the ventures of no vulgar art,
Sidonian maids embroidered every part."
Pope.
Αργυρεον κρητηρα τετυγμενον· ἑξ δ' αρα μετρα
Χανδανεν, αυταρ καλλει ενικα πασαν επ' αιαν
Πολλον, επι Σιδονες πολυδαιδαλοι ευ ησκησαν.
Iliad, lib. xxiii., ver. 741.
"A silver urn that full six measures held,
By none in weight or workmanship excell'd;
Sidonian artists taught the frame to shine,
Elaborate with artifice divine."
Pope.
Εκ μεν Σιδωνος πολυχαλκου ευχομαι ειναι.
Odyss. xv. 424.
"I am of Sidon, famous for her wealth."
The art of making glass is attributed by Pliny to this city: Sidon artifex vitri, Hist. Nat. l. v., c. 19.
Misrephoth-maim - Or, Misrephoth of the waters. What this place was is unknown, but Calmet conjectures it to be the same with Sarepta, a city of Phoenicia, contiguous to Sidon. The word signifies the burning of the waters, or inflammation; probably it was a place noted for its hot springs: this idea seems to have struck Luther, as he translates it, die warme wasser, the hot waters.
And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto (e) Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.
(e) Which signifies hot waters, or according to some, brine pits.
And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel,.... The whole host, who either were killed or wounded, or put to flight: it was of the Lord that Israel was directed to make so quick a march, and come upon them so suddenly, and that they were off their guard, and unprovided for them, and so fell into their hands:
who smote them; with the edge of the sword killed and wounded great numbers; and the rest fleeing, they
chased them unto great Zidon; not that there was another Zidon called the less, as Kimchi and Ben Melech thought there seemed to be, and which also Jerom (i) suggests; but this was so called because of its greatness, the large extent of it, and the abundance of wealth and riches in it: Curtius says (k), it was renowned for its antiquity and the fame of its buildings; and Mela says (l), that before it was conquered by the Persians, it was the greatest of the maritime cities, though now greatly reduced: Mr Maundrell (m) says of it,"Sidon is stocked well enough with inhabitants but is very much shrunk from its ancient extent, and more from its splendour, as appears from a great many beautiful pillars that lie scattered up and down the gardens without the present walls:''it lay, according to Strabo, not more than two hundred furlongs from Tyre (n), or twenty five miles: it was more ancient than that, which is called the daughter of it: Homer speaks much of Sidon, as the same writer observes, but not a word of Tyre: Josephus (o) thinks it had its name from Sidon, the firstborn of Canaan, and that he built it, Genesis 10:15; but Justin says (p) it had its name from the plenty of fishes there: and Tzaid in the Chaldee and Syriac languages signifies fishing and a fisherman: hence Bethsaida, a city mentioned in the New Testament, Matthew 11:21, had its name; and Sidon is at this day called Said, and is now in the hands of the Turks: and though it was a part of the land of Canaan, and belonged to the tribe of Asher, never was conquered and possessed by them, but remained an Heathen city to the time of Christ:
and unto Misrephothmaim, or "boilings of water", it seems as if it was a place of hot baths, but the Targum renders it "pits of water", which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech say, were pits into which the salt waters of the sea were drawn, and where they were heated by the sun, and made salt of; and so it is thought this was a place of salt pits, where salt was boiled, either by the heat of the sun or by fire (q): Junius and Tremellius render the word by "glass furnaces", furnaces in which glass was made; and it is certain, that at Sidon, and near it, within the borders of which this place was, Joshua 13:6; glass was made: Pliny (r) calls Sidon the artificer of glass, or a city where glass was made: and Strabo says (s), that between Ace and Tyre is a shore which bears glassy sand, but they say it is not melted there, but carried to Sidon to be melted; and some say the Sidonians have a glassy sand fit for melting: Calmet (t) thinks this place is the same with Sarepta, Luke 4:26; which had its name from melting: of what construction the furnaces were in this place cannot be said, no doubt great improvement has been since made (u):
and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward, and they smote them, until they left them none remaining; the same with the valley of Lebanon; now as Sidon lay northwest and this was eastward, it seems that the armies of the Canaanites, in their consternation and confusion, fled some to the west and some to the east, who were pursued by different bodies of the army of Israel, separated for that purpose.
(i) De loc. Hebrews. fol. 92. B. (k) Hist. l. 4. c. 1. 4. (l) De Situ Orbis, l. 1. c. 12. (m) Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 45. (n) Geograph. l. 16. p. 521. (o) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 2. (p) E Trogo, l. 19. c. 3. (q) Vid. Adrichom. Theatrum Terrae Sanct. sect. p. 2. (r) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19. (s) Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 16. p. 521.) (t) Dictionary on this word. (u) Vid. Merrett de Fornac. Vitriar. p. 421, &c.
they left none remaining--of those whom they overtook. All those who fell into their hands alive were slain.
Great Zidon - A great city in the northwest part of Canaan, upon the sea. Misrephoth - maim - A place not far from Zidon, supposed to be so called from the salt or glass which they made there. Valley of Mizpeh - Under mount Hermon, as appears by comparing this with Joshua 11:3, and Joshua 11:17. where it seems to be called the valley of Lebanon. This lay on the east, as Zidon did on the west; and so it seems they fled several ways, and the Israelites also divided themselves into two bodies, one pursuing east, and the other west.
*More commentary available at chapter level.