Joshua 13:5

And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

13:1-6 At this chapter begins the account of the dividing of the land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel by lot; a narrative showing the performance of the promise made to the fathers, that this land should be given to the seed of Jacob. We are not to pass over these chapters of hard names as useless. Where God has a mouth to speak, and a hand to write, we should find an ear to hear, and an eye to read; and may God give us a heart to profit! Joshua is supposed to have been about one hundred years old at this time. It is good for those who are old and stricken in years to be put in remembrance of their being so. God considers the frame of his people, and would not have them burdened with work above their strength. And all people, especially old people, should set to do that quickly which must be done before they die, lest death prevent them, Ec 9:10. God promise that he would make the Israelites masters of all the countries yet unsubdued, through Joshua was old, and not able to do it; old, and not likely to live to see it done. Whatever becomes of us, and however we may be laid aside as despised, broken vessels, God will do his own work in his own time. We must work out our salvation, then God will work in us, and work with us; we must resist our spiritual enemies, then God will tread them under our feet; we must go forth to our Christian work and warfare, then God will go forth before us.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Giblites - The people of Gebal ("Jebail", 22 miles north of Beyronut). They were "stone-squarers" 1 Kings 5:18 and (ship) "caulkers" Ezekiel 27:9.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. all the land of the Giblites—Their capital was Gebal or Bylbos (Greek), on the Mediterranean, forty miles north of Sidon.

all Lebanon, toward the sunrising—that is, Anti-libanus; the eastern ridge, which has its proper termination in Hermon.

entering into Hamath—the valley of Baalbec.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The Gibites; a people dwelling near Sidon in Gebal, of which see 1 Kings 5:18 Ezekiel 27:9.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the land of the Giblites,.... This was another country that remained unconquered; the Greeks call it Byblus, and near to which Pliny (e) speaks of a place called Gabale, and is now called Gibyle; it is (f) said to be"pleasantly situated by the seaside, and at present it contains but a little extent of ground, but yet more than enough for the small number of its inhabitants:''it was in greater splendour, and its inhabitants of more fame, in the times of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 27:9,

and all Lebanon toward the sunrising; or east of the land; all that inhabited that mountain remained unconquered, though the conquest was carried as far as the borders thereof:

from Baalgad, under Mount Hermon; of which see Joshua 11:17;

unto the entering into Hamath: which was the north border of the land; see Numbers 34:8.

(e) Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 20.) (f) Maundrel's Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 33.

Geneva Study Bible

And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. the land of the Giblites] i.e. the land of the inhabitants of Gebal, a name which occurs in Psalm 83:7,

“Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;

The Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;”

and Ezekiel 27:8-9, “The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers.” It was a maritime town of Phœnicia. Its inhabitants are written “Giblians” in the Vulgate, and “Byblians” in the LXX. (while in 1 Kings 5:18 the word is rendered “stone-squarers”), whence we may infer the identity of the city with the Byblus of classical literature. Byblus was a seat of the worship of Adonis or Syrian Tammuz. The modern name is Jebail, about 22 miles north of Beyrout. The coins of Byblus have frequently the type of Astarte, also of Isis, who came here in search of the body of Osiris. “At Jebail and in other ancient Phœnician cities there are traces of the same large bevelled stones clamped with iron, which appear in the foundations of Solomon’s temple. These are probably the work of the Giblites.” See Ritter’s Geog. Pal. II. 214, 215.

all Lebanon, toward the sunrising] i.e. Anti-Lebanon.

from Baal-gad] See above, note on Joshua 11:17.

the entering into Hamath] The extreme northern boundary point of Palestine whither the spies originally penetrated (Numbers 13:21), and to which the kingdom of David and Solomon once actually extended (2 Samuel 8:3-12; 1 Chronicles 13:5; 1 Chronicles 18:3-11; 2 Chronicles 8:3-4). In the time of the Crusades it was called Epiphaneia, a town situated on the western bank of the Orontes, lower down the stream than Emesa. It is called “Hamath the Great” (Amos 6:2), and commanded the whole of the Orontes valley, from the low screen of hills which forms the watershed between the Orontes and the Litâny—“the entrance of Hamath”—to the defile of Daphne below Antioch.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - The Giblites. The inhabitants of Gebal, called Jebail (i.e., hill city, from Jebel) by the Arabs, and Byblus by the Greeks. This is Masius's idea, and other commentators have accepted it (see 1 Kings 5:32; Psalm 83:7; and Ezekiel 27:9, where the LXX. translates by Byblus). In the first named passage the word is translated "stone squarers," in our version (where it is the 18th and not the 32nd verse). All the other versions render "Giblites" as here, and no doubt the inhabitants of the Phoenician city of Jebail are meant, since in the ruins of Jebail the same kind of masonry is found as is seen in Solomon's temple. Byblus (Kenriek, 'Phoenicia,' l.c. Movers, l.c. Lenormant, 'Manual of the History of the East,' if. 223) was the great seat of the worship of Tammuz, or Adonis. Here his father Cinyras was supposed to have been king, and the licentious worship, with its corrupting influences, was spread over the whole region of Lebanon and even Damascus. This territory was never actually occupied by the Israelites (see for this passage also Joshua 11:8, 17; and Joshua 12:7). Hamath. The spies penetrated nearly as far as this (Numbers 42:21), and David reduced the land into subjection as far as the borders of this territory. But the Israelites never subdued it. Toi, king of Hamath, was an ally, not a tributary of David (2 Samuel 8:9). The border of Israel is always described as extending "to the entering in of Hamath" (1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:25), though Jeroboam II. is said to have "recovered" (v. 28) Hamath itself. This "entering in of Hamath" commences at the end of the region called Coele Syria, according to Robinson, 'Later Biblical Researches,' see. 12, at the northeast end of the Lebanon range. So Vandevelde and Porter. Vandevelde remarks that the expression refers to an "entrance formed by Nature herself," namely, the termination of the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges. The city of Hamath, which gave its name to the territory, is situated on the Orontes, and was known later as Epiphaneia, no doubt after Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria. Joshua 13:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

There still remained to be taken (2) "the land of the Giblites," i.e., the territory of the population of Gebal (1 Kings 5:18; Ezekiel 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 (Phnizier, 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 Joshua 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 Numbers 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 Joshua 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. רק, only, i.e., although thou hast not yet taken it. הפּיל, to cause it to fall, here used with reference to the lot, i.e., to divide by lot. "Fulfil thy duty in the distribution of the land, not even excepting what is still in the firm grasp of the enemy; for I will take care to perform what I have promised. From this we may learn to rely so perfectly upon the word of God, when undertaking any duty, as not to be deterred by doubts of fears" (Calvin).