Joshua 12:5

And reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:1-6 Fresh mercies must not drown the remembrance of former mercies, nor must the glory of the present instruments of good to the church diminish the just honour of those who went before them, since God is the same who wrought by both. Moses gave to one part of Israel a very rich and fruitful country, but it was on the outside of Jordan. Joshua gave to all Israel the holy land, within Jordan. So the law has given to some few of God's spiritual Israel worldly blessings, earnests of good things to come; but our Lord Jesus, the true Joshua, provided for all the children of promise spiritual blessings, and the heavenly Canaan.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

From the plain - Render "over the plain;" for the words describe not one of the boundaries of Sihon's kingdom, but part of the territory included in it, i. e. the eastern portion of the Ghor, between the Sea of Tiberias and the Dead Sea.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 12

Jos 12:1-6. The Two Kings Whose Countries Moses Took and Disposed of.

1. Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan—This chapter contains a recapitulation of the conquests made in the promised land, with the additional mention of some places not formerly noted in the sacred history. The river Arnon on the south and mount Hermon on the north were the respective boundaries of the land acquired by the Israelites beyond Jordan (see Nu 21:21-24; De 2:36; 3:3-16 [and see on [187]De 2:24]).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The Geshurites, of which see Deu 3:14 Joshua 13:13 2 Samuel 13:37 15:8.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And reigned in Mount Hermon,.... That is, over all the people that inhabited that mount or dwelt under it, Joshua 11:17, and adjacent to it, of which mountain; see Gill on Deuteronomy 3:8 and See Gill on Deuteronomy 3:9,

and in Salcah: which was a city belonging to the kingdom of Og, Deuteronomy 3:10,

and in all Bashan; or Batanea, a country famous for pasturage, Micah 7:14, and for fat cattle, Ezekiel 39:18, and for oaks, Isaiah 2:13, frequently mentioned in Scripture:

unto the border of the Geshurites, and the Maachathites; which were two nations the Israelites never expelled, Joshua 13:13; of which see Deuteronomy 3:14,

and half Gilead; which belonged to Og, as the other half did to Sihon, before observed, which was as follows:

the border of Sihon king of Heshbon; here the two kingdoms joined, even in the midst of Gilead, which was divided between them, but now wholly fell into the hands of Israel.

Geneva Study Bible

And reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. and in Salcah] Identical with the town of Sûlkhad at the southern extremity of the Jebel Haurân. It was conquered by the Israelites, Deuteronomy 3:10. The town is of considerable size, two or three miles in circumference, surrounding a castle on a lofty isolated hill. “The country is stony and undulating; but the soil is rich, and traces of former cultivation are everywhere visible. The view from the top of the castle is extensive and strangely interesting.… On the segment of the plain, extending from the south to the east, I counted the towns or large villages, none of them more than 12 miles distant, and almost all of them, so far as I could see by the aid of a telescope, still habitable like Sulkhad, but entirely deserted. Well may we exclaim with the prophet, as we look over this mournful scene of utter desolation, ‘Moab is confounded; for it is broken down; howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, and judgment is come upon the plain country … upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon, and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near’ (Jeremiah 48:19-24).” Porter’s Handbook, 11. 522.

the border of the Geshurites] Geshur was a little principality in the N.E. corner of Bashan, adjoining the province of Argob (Deuteronomy 3:14), and the kingdom of Aram or Syria (2 Samuel 15:8). Hither Absalom fled after the murder of Amnon (2 Samuel 13:37).

the Maachathites] The people of Maacha dwelt on the south-west slope of Hermon at the sources of the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:14).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - The Geshurites. See Joshua 13:2, 11, 13; and Deuteronomy 3:14; also 2 Samuel 13:37, where we find the principality of Geshur still in possession of its independence. It was in the northeast corner of Bashan, abutting upon Syria, and is called "Geshur in Syria" (2 Samuel 15:8). It is perhaps an instance of undesigned coincidence that Maachah, the mother of Absalom and the daughter of the king of Geshur, was so named, since she probably derived her name from the adjoining territory of Maachah (see note on Joshua 13:2). Joshua 12:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And the territory of Og," sc., they took possession of (Joshua 12:1). On Og, vid., Deuteronomy 3:11; and on his residences, Ashtaroth (probably to be seen in Tell Ashtereh) and Edrei (now Draa or Dra), see at Genesis 14:5 and Numbers 21:33. On his territory, see Deuteronomy 3:10, Deuteronomy 3:13-14.