Joshua 19:36

And Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:17-51 Joshua waited till all the tribes were settled, before he asked any provision for himself. He was content to be unfixed, till he saw them all placed, and herein is an example to all in public places, to prefer the common welfare before private advantage. Those who labour most to do good to others, seek an inheritance in the Canaan above: but it will be soon enough to enter thereon, when they have done all the service to their brethren of which they are capable. Nor can any thing more effectually assure them of their title to it, than endeavouring to bring others to desire, to seek, and to obtain it. Our Lord Jesus came and dwelt on earth, not in pomp but poverty, providing rest for man, yet himself not having where to lay his head; for Christ pleased not himself. Nor would he enter upon his inheritance, till by his obedience to death he secured the eternal inheritance for all his people; nor will he account his own glory completed, till every ransomed sinner is put in possession of his heavenly rest.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The number of the fortified cities of Naphtali is remarkable, though it does not tally with the catalogue. It was no doubt good policy to protect the northern frontier by a belt of fortresses, as the south was protected by the fenced cities of Judah. Hammath, a Levitical city (compare Joshua 21:32; 1 Chronicles 6:76), is not to be confounded with the Hamath on the northeastern frontier of the land Numbers 13:21. The name (from a root signifying "to be warm") probably indicates that hot springs existed here; and is perhaps rightly traced in Ammaus, near Tiberias. Rakkath was, according to the rabbis, rebuilt by Herod and called Tiberias. The name ("bank, shore") suits the site of Tiberias very well. Migdal-el, perhaps the Magdala of Matthew 15:39, is now the miserable village of "El Mejdel."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

34. Aznoth-tabor—on the east of Tabor towards the Jordan, for the border ran thence to Hukkok, touching upon that of Zebulun; and as the territory of Zebulun did not extend as far as the Jordan, Aznoth-tabor and Hukkok must have been border towns on the line which separated Naphtali from Issachar.

to Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising—The sixty cities, Havoth-jair, which were on the eastern side of the Jordan, opposite Naphtali, were reckoned as belonging to Judah, because Jair, their possessor, was a descendant of Judah (1Ch 2:4-22) [Keil].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Adamah,.... Adamah is different from Adami, Joshua 19:33; and may seem to confirm the notion of some, that Nekeb there is an epithet of it, and so distinguishes it from Adamah here:

and Ramah; of Ramah, as there were several places of this name; see Gill on Joshua 19:29,

and Hazor was a royal city, of which; see Gill on Joshua 11:1.

Geneva Study Bible

And Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

36. Adamah] is unknown, as also Ramah, which must not be mistaken for the Ramah of Joshua 19:29.

Hazor] See above, Joshua 11:1; Joshua 11:6-10. Dr Robinson would identify it with Tel Khuraibeh, Captain Wilson and Anderson with Tel Hara. “Here were found the remains of an ancient fortress, a city with its walls and towers still to be traced, and on the eastern slope, the usual concomitants of old ruins, broken glass and pottery.” Here, they both agree, was the long-lost Hazor, which “lay over” the lake Hûleh. “The position,” says Captain Wilson, “is one of great strength and overhangs the lake. Every argument which Robinson adduces in favour of Tel Khuraibeh applies with much greater force to these ruins.” Dr Porter, however, refuses to accept either theory, arguing that as the strength of Jabin lay in chariots, “we must look for Hazor on the lower slopes of the mountains, so as to be easily accessible for chariots.” Our Work in Palestine, p. 177.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 36. - Hazor (see above, Joshua 11:1-10). Joshua 19:36

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Adamah is unknown. Knobel is of opinion, that as Adamah signifies red, the place referred to may possibly be Ras el Ahmar, i.e., red-head, on the north of Safed (Rob. iii. p. 370; Bibl. Res. p. 69). Ramah is the present Rameh (Ramea), a large well-built village, inhabited by Christians and Druses, surrounded by extensive olive plantations, and provided with an excellent well. It stands upon the slope of a mountain, in a beautiful plain on the south-west of Safed, but without any relics of antiquity (see Seetzen, ii. p. 129; Rob. Bibl. Res. pp. 78-9). Hazor has not yet been traced with certainty (see at Joshua 11:1).