And did, then, the earth stand still at the voice of man?-The miracle which then took place was not at the will of Joshua, but by the power of God, who inspired him to utter that command: and who can question that He who created the earth, and gave it motion, might, by the slightest exertion of his will, control, suspend, or alter the motion which he gave? The certain point is, that the day was miraculously prolonged "until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies." Beyond this we know nothing, and are not required to know more. It is quite impossible to account for it on philosophical principles, as a phenomenon which unassisted nature was capable of producing, and all our considerations must result in resolving this astonishing event into an extraordinary manifestation of the Divine power; and, as such, it is the more appropriate and impressive, when we recollect that the Canaanites worshipped the sun and moon, which were now demonstrated not only to be unable to protect their votaries, but to be the mere creatures of Jehovah, which he could render subservient to their destruction.

As to the form in which the miracle was exhibited, opinions have been very various. The most general opinion is that the earth ceased for the time to revolve upon its axis; which certainly would produce the effect required. But there are others who think that, as the miraculous character of the event may be maintained, and the necessary result effected, without an interference with those laws of motion which regulate the universe, we ought to adopt other explanations. These are various; but they generally agree in considering that the time when Joshua called upon the sun and moon was towards evening; thinking that what is translated hasted not to go down about a whole day," should be rendered "hasted not to go down when the day was completed;" and that the earth continued its revolution as usual, but that God was pleased at that juncture to give the atmosphere such refractive power as maintained its image above the horizon long after the sun itself had disappeared. It is sufficient to indicate this view, without following out its details, or stating the various modifications under which it has been entertained by different writers.

We must not omit to mention that there are ancient observations, traditions, and fables, which seem to refer to this miracle; and which, by showing the extensive manner in which it operated, and the profound impression it made upon the minds of men, seem to favour the opinion that a real disturbance of the laws of motion took place. The Chinese annals preserve a tradition that, in the time of the emperor Yao, whom their chronology places about the time of Joshua, the sun did not set for ten days. "Days" is perhaps a mistake, or exaggeration for hours ;" and so understood, the statement would, as nearly as may be, coincide with the date and the fact. Herodotus also says that he learned from the Egyptian priests, that within the period of 341 generations the sun had four times deviated from his common course, setting twice where he usually rises, and rising twice where he usually sets. It is useless to expect minute accuracy in these old traditions; but to what else can they refer than to some derangement in the apparent course of the sun, that is, in the actual motion of the earth? The story of Phaeton, and some other classical fables, seem to have reference to the same event. In the poets, also, there are allusions of a similar character, which would probably never have been imagined but from some general tradition that such a circumstance had at one time occurred. In Homer there are not less than three passages to this purport. In one, Agamemnon prays:—

"Almighty Father! glorious above all!

Cloud-girt, who dwell'st in heav'n, thy throne sublime!

Let not the sun go down and night approach

Till Priam's roof fall flat into the flames," &c.

Again, Jupiter having promised the Trojans that they should prevail until the sun went down, Juno, who was favourable to their adversaries, made the sun go down before its time:

"Majestic Juno sent the sun,

Unwearied minister of light, although
Reluctant, down into the ocean stream."

And, finally, Minerva retarded the rising of the sun, in order to prolong that great night in which Ulysses slew the suitors, and discovered himself to Penelope :

"Minerva check'd

Night's almost finish'd course, and held, meantime,
The golden dawn close pris'ner in the deep;
Forbidding her to lead her coursers forth,
Lampas and Phaethon, that furnish light
For all mankind."-CowPRR.

"The book of Jasher."-The Jews themselves are much divided in their opinions about this book. Some think it the book of Genesis, others that of Deuteronomy; some the book of Judges, others that of Job; and many understand the books of the law generally, in which they suppose the miracle was predicted. Jasher means "upright," so that the text may read, "the book of the upright." The Rev. T. H. Horne, following Josephus, is of opinion "that it was composed of certain records (kept in a safe place at that time, and afterwards removed into the Temple), which contained an account of what happened to the Jews from year to year, and particularly of the sun's standing still; and also directions for the use of the bow (see 2 Sam. i. 18), that is, directions for instituting archery and maintaining military exercises. So that this was not the work of an inspired person, but of some common historiographer, who wrote the annals of his own time, and might therefore deserve the name of Jasher, or the Upright; because what he wrote was generally deemed a true and authentic account of all the events and occurrences which had then happened."

24. "Put your feet upon the necks of these kings."-This was anciently a common form of expressing triumph over a fallen adversary. So David expresses his victories by saying, "Thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me" (Ps. xviii. 40). Thus it is said, that when the Persian king Sapor took captive the Roman emperor Valerian, he, for some time, used to put his feet on his neck when he mounted his horse; and, after a long captivity, caused him to be flayed. The custom is indeed recorded even on the rocks of the East. One very striking instance appears at Besitoon, in the ancient Media, where the sculptured face of a rock represents a conquering monarch standing with one foot upon the body of a conquered king, whose hands are uplifted in supplication. The conqueror, in this attitude, is in the act of addressing, in apparent rebuke and reproach, other captives, who stand before him connected together by a rope around their necks, and with their hands bound behind them. This sculpture is the more remarkable, if, as Sir R. K. Porter conjectures, the king is Salmeneser, king of Assyria; and that the ten capties are the representatives or chiefs of the ten tribes of Israel, whom that monarch conquered and carried into captivity. Another sculptured rock, in the same neighbourhood, represents a crowned figure with one foot upon the head and another between the shoulders of a prostrate king. Nor was this custom peculiar to the East: Quintus Curtius, relating the particulars of a single combat between Dioxippus, an Athenian, and Horratus, a Macedonian, says that,

in the end, the former, closing with the latter, struck up his heels, and threw him with great violence on the ground; then, after taking his sword from him, he set his foot upon his neck, and was about to dash out his brains, when the king (Alexander) interposed his authority to prevent him. Mr. Roberts says that trampling on the neck was, and is, in India, a common mode of expressing triumph. In the histories of the battles of the gods, or giants, particular mention is made of the closing scene, how the conquerors went and trampled on their enemies. The surest evidence of the prevalence of a custom is, however, exhibited by the part it bears in proverbial forms of speech. And Mr. Roberts says, "When people are disputing, should one be a little pressed, and the other begin to triumph, the former will say, 'I will tread on thy neck, and after that beat thee.' A low caste man, insulting one who is high, is sure to hear some one say to the offending individual, Put your feet on his neck.""

29. "Libnah."-Most of the proper names in this chapter recur in ch. xii. collectively; and such of them as require observation will there be noticed.

"Goshen." This district, with a town of the same name, are usually placed in the south of the tribe of Judah. It received the name probably from some resemblance, in the character and products of the soil, to the Goshen of Egypt.

7 Heb. on their heap. 8 Exod. 34. 11.
11 Or, the smooth mountain.

19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle.

20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.

21 ¶ And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and 12 Chap. 9. 3.

Verse 1. "Hazor-Madon-Shimron-Achshaph.”—These little principalities were in the northern portion of Palestine. The reader will have observed the progress of the war on this side Jordan. The Israelites first took Jericho, and then made a step towards the centre of the country by the conquest of Ai. This, with the loss of the Gibeonites from their confederacy, raised the kings of the south (chap. x. 1), whose defeat by the Hebrews was attended with the signal circumstances which engaged our attention in the preceding chapter. Joshua then proceeded to take the towns of the kings he had destroyed; extending his conquests over the country which afterwards belonged to Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon, and which, at a still later period, formed the kingdom of Judah. Horam, king of Gezer, in central Palestine, attempted to relieve one of the assaulted towns, Lachish; but his army was wholly destroyed in the attempt. These events now alarm the kings of the north, who form a grand confederacy with those of the centre, in the hope of crushing the invaders; particularly as they are strong in horses and chariots, which had not yet been tried against them. They could not, however, stand before the power which helped Israel; and, after their defeat, Joshua took their towns in detail, until the greater portion of the Promised Land had been conquered.

2. "Chinneroth."-This town appears to have been situated on the lake called, in Num. xxxiv. 11, "the sea of Chinnereth." We know nothing about the town; and, as the lake appears far more conspicuously in the New Testament than in the Old, we reserve a notice of it for Matth. iv. 18.

5. "The waters of Merom."-This is the lake near the head of the Jordan, afterwards called Semochonitis, and now Bahr-el-Houle. According to Josephus, it was about seven miles long and three and a half broad. This probably refers to its condition when swollen by the melted snows of Lebanon: at other times it is little other than an extensive marsh through which the Jordan flows, without appearing to mingle with its waters, but to preserve its current distinct. The lake is in the midst of a wide and solitary plain, and along the brink, and in the shallow parts, is covered with reeds and rushes. The waters are muddy and reputed unwholesome. The lake, however, contains fish, and its fisheries are rented from the Mutsellim of Szaffad by some fishermen of that town. The shores of the lake are uninhabited, except in two or three villages on its eastern border. Although there are no hills near the lake, its level is considerably higher than that of the lake of Chinnereth (Tabaria), whence, probably, it derived its name, "the waters of Merom," that is, literally, "the higher waters." Some commentators think that "the waters of Merom" cannot here mean the lake Houle, but perhaps the river Kishon in the plain of Esdraelon; because, the lake being some fifteen or twenty leagues within the territory of the confederates, it was more likely they would meet Joshua on their frontiers than allow him to enter so far into their country before giving him battle. There are some circumstances which seem to favour this conclusion. See Pococke's Travels,' Burckhardt's 'Syria and the Holy Land,' and Carne's • Recollections of the East.'

6. "Horses."-It is remarkable that, in the sacred books, we have not till now met with the horse any where but in Egypt, and that, now, we find it in the north of Palestine, but not any where intermediately between that country and Egypt. The most striking point in this is the silence concerning horses as used by the people of Arabia, which naturalists have been disposed to consider as the native country of that animal. We cannot resist the conviction that there were no horses then in that region. The omission to notice the animal during the long period when the Israelites wandered in and on the confines of Arabia, might be supposed to be accidental, were it not that, when they came to actual conflict with Arabian tribes, as the Midianites, we find that they have plenty of camels, asses, oxen, and sheep; but that the horse continues to be unnoticed; which would have been all but impossible, had they brought horses into action, or had any of these animals been killed or taken by the Israelites. At a later period (Judg. vi. 5) the same Arabian people made annual incursions into Palestine and "their camels were past numbering," and even their kings rode on camels (viii. 21); but they had no horses. And, in the reign of Saul, when the tribes beyond Jordan waged war with four Arabian nations, for the possession of the eastern pasture grounds, the victorious Hebrews found 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep; 2000 asses, and 100,000 slaves;--still not a word of horses (1 Chron. v. 10, 20-22). And, not to multiply examples, we may safely say that in the whole Scripture history the horse is never mentioned in connection with Arabia. With all this, ancient history accords; for it does not describe Arabia as distinguished in any way for its horses; and even Strabo, who lived so late as the time of Christ, expressly describes Arabia as destitute of these animals. Of Arabia Felix, he says that it had neither horses, mules, nor swine; and of Arabia Deserta, that it had no horses, camels supplying their place. It is true that the Arabians profess to deduce the genealogy of their best horses from the stud of Solomon; but while this is manifestly a fable, resulting from the Arabian custom of ascribing every thing pre-eminent to Solomon, it is nevertheless valuable as an admission that horses existed even in Palestine earlier than in Arabia. This explains sufficiently why Moses did not contemplate that the Hebrews would ever go to Arabia for horses, but that they would go to Egypt; and also, why Solomon, when forming a body of cavalry, obtained his horses from Egypt, not from Arabia. When the Arabians began to pay attention to the breeding of horses, we do not know, and the inquiry has no connection with our object; but it is certain that horses were numerous and highly valued in that country before the time of Mohammed."

It will also be observed that the Israelites had no horses to encounter on the east of the Jordan, in the countries of Sihon and Og. Neither did they find any at Jericho. Every living creature in that city was devoted to God and put to death, and we find asses, oxen, sheep. and goats enumerated-but no horses. Neither do the kings of the south of Palestiae bring any cavalry against the Hebrews; at least none are mentioned, as we may be sure they would have been, had any existed, on account of the importance attached to their presence. We now first find these animals brought forward by the kings of the north: and the question naturally occurs, how it is that we find them there rather than in the districts nearer to Egypt, from whence these animals were usually obtained? It may therefore be inferred that the Egyptians, whose policy often induced them to forego great advantages to promote the security of their country, did not. at this time, afford to their Asiatic neighbours any facilities in obtaining these warlike animals, which formed the principal strength of their own level country. And this renders it probable that the princes of northern Palestine derived their horses from Armenia, which was in ancient times celebrated for its horses, and which certainly did at a later period send them to the north of Palestine to the great commercial fairs of Tyre. Thus Ezekiel (xxvii. 14) says, speaking of that city," They of the house of Togarmah (that is, Armenia) traded in thy fairs with horses, and horse. men, and mules." What the Armenians afterwards did at Tyre they very probably, at this earlier period, did at "Great Zidon."-For some remarks on the houghing (hamstringing) of horses, see the note on 2 Sam. viii. 4.

13. “But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them.”—Instead of “stood still in their strength," "stood on the hills" would be more correct and intelligible. The original, rendered “strength,” is n (tillam), and the word tel means a hill, not only in Hebrew but in the Chaldee and Arabic; whence it frequently occurs in composition with the names of places in Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Syria. The sense seems to be, that Joshua burned the cities in the plains, but preserved those that were situated on the hills. The reason of this seems clearly enough to be, that, fearing to weaken his army by putting a garrison in all the towns he took, he preferred keeping those which were the most easily defended; destroying the others, to prevent the enemy from resuming the occupation of them. This explanation is the more probable from Judg. i. 19, where we see that the cavalry of the Canaanites afforded them such advantages in the plain that the Hebrews could not maintain their possession of the plains, but were obliged to confine themselves to the hills. The obvious course for them to take was, therefore, that which the above interpretation suggests.

16. Mountain of Israel.”—Some think this was Bethel, where the Lord twice appeared to Jacob, and promised him the land, and where he also changed the patriarch's name from Jacob to Israel. Others, however, understand "mountain" in the plural, in the same sense as in verse 21, where "mountains of Israel," in opposition to "mountains of Judah," obviously denotes all the mountains of the country, except those in the tribe of Judah.

18. "Joshua made war a long time."-This long time must have been between six and seven years, as determined by the age of Caleb, who tells us, in ch. xiv. 7-10, that he was forty years of age when Moses sent him as one of the original spies from Kadesh-barnea, and that he was eighty-five years old at the division of the land. Consequently, forty-five years had been passed since he went to spy the land, and as thirty-eight of these years had expired before the Jordan was passed, there of course remain about seven years, which had been employed in the conquest of the land west of the Jordan. As, however, some interval may have elapsed between the cessation of the war and the division of the country, it is possible that, as Josephus says, the war lasted only five years.

21. "Anakims."-See the note on Gen. xiii. 18. It will be recollected that this gigantic people were of a different race from the Canaanites, and were not included in the list of devoted nations. They were the same race who so terrified the original spies, and the report of whose stature had so much effect in discouraging the Israelites. (Num. xiii.) It would doubtless have been imprudent to have allowed them to remain in the heart of the country: they were therefore dealt with like the other inhabitants; and Caleb, one of the only two spies whom their appearance had not in the first instance intimidated, expelled them from their capital Kirjath-Arba, which had been given to him by Joshua, and the name of which he changed to Hebron. (See ch. xiv. 12, et seq.; xv. 13, 14; Judges i. 10.) The Philistines on the coast gave refuge to those who escaped, and some of their descendants were remaining in David's time; for it is almost certain that Goliath, and the other Philistine giants mentioned in his history, were descended from these refugees.

22. "Gath."--See 1 Sam. xxi. 10. "Ashdod."-See 1 Sam. v. 1.

CHAPTER XII.

1 The two kings whose countries Moses took and disposed of 7 The one and thirty kings on the other side Jordan which Joshua smote.

Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:

2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half

1 Num. 21. 24 Deut. 3. 6 * Or, Teman. 554

Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

3 And from the plain to the sea of Chinneroth on the east, and unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way to Beth-jeshimoth; and from the south, under 'Ashdoth-pisgah':

4 And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of 'the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,

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.

Or, the springs of Pisgah, or the hill,
Deut. 3. 11. Chap. 13. 12.

4 Deut. 3. 17, and 4. 49.

6 Them did Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel smite: and "Moses the servant of the LORD gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;

8 In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: 9 The king of Jericho, one; 'the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one;

10 10The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;

11 The king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;

12 The king of Eglon, one; "the king of Gezer, one;

6 Num. 32. 29. Deut 3. 12. 12 Chap. 10. 38.

7 Chap

13 The king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;

14 The king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;

15 The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

16 14The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Beth-el, one;

17 The king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;

18 The king of Aphek, one; the king of "Lasharon, one;

19 The king of Madon, one; "the king of Hazor, one;

20 The king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;

21 The king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;

22 The king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one;

23 The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of "the nations of Gilgal, one;

24 The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one.

8 Chap. 6. 2.

Chap. 13. 8.
11. 17.
9Chap. 8. 29. 10 Chap. 10. 23. 11 Chap. 10. 33.
18 Chap. 10. 29. 14 Chap. 10. 28. 15 Or, Sharon. 16 Chap. 11. 10. 17 Gen. 14. 1.

Verse 5. "All Bashan.... and half Gilead.”—See chap. xiii. 11.

L

7. "Unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir."-Wells and others think that Mount Halak, which may be rendered "the smooth mountain," is merely a name applied to a part of Lebanon distinguished for its smoothness; and that Seir is another name for Hermon, which, as we learn from Deut. iii. 9, was called Sirion by the Sidonians, and Shenir by the Amorites-names not very different from Seir. But as Mount Halak is here obviously employed in opposition to Lebanon, in a definition of boundary, we prefer the opinion of Calmet, who thinks that the denomination applies to the hills in the extreme south of the country, nearest to the Seir of Edom. It will be recollected that a ridge of hills extends southward, with occasional interruption, through the centre of the country, forming, as it were, the backbone of the country west of the Jordan and Dead Sea. Parallel to this range is that which bounds the valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea on the west; and these two together render very hilly all the country, in this part, between the central ridge and the Jordan and Dead Sea. But the ridge of the centre is discontinued in the south of Judah's territory; while that of the Jordan is prolonged southward, forming the western mountains of Seir, and enclosing or the west the great Ghor, or ancient valley of the Jordan, which we have so often mentioned. Now, as we would understand, Mount Halak is the last of the many ramifications which these two lines of mountain throw out towards each other; and this shuts up on the south that peculiarly hilly portion of Canaan to which we have referred. This Halak branch, is thrown out at the bottom (south) of the Dead Sea, and forms the ascent from the southern plains into the hill country of Judah. This explanation will be rendered perfectly clear by reference to a map: and it does not much matter whether we regard Halak as a proper name, or translate it, as Calmet does, into "the mountains of separation."

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9. "Jericho," &c.-In the following list of the thirty-one ancient kingdoms of Canaan there occur very few names of places that are connected with any event of consequence in the subsequent portions of the sacred history, or concerning whose modern sites any information is extant. Jerusalem and Jericho, which will hereafter engage our attention, and Hebron and Bethel, which have already been noticed, are the only towns of much interest to the reader of Scripture. Concerning most of the others, the maps of Palestine afford all the information which is of any importance, and which consists merely in the determination of their sites and relative position. This applies with equal truth to the numerous names which occur in the ensuing chapters, which give an account of the division of the territory among the tribes. We shall not therefore encumber the page with speculations about names of no subsequent interest; but, leaving it to the map to show their distribution over the face of the country, we shall confine our attention to the few names that seem to require elucidation or remark. It may be here right to inform the reader that the great mass of the names which appear in the maps of Palestine are fixed according to the positions assigned by Eusebius and Jerome, who had an intimate knowledge of the country, at a time when a much larger number of the ancient names existed than at present.

11. “Lachish.”—This place is several times mentioned in Scripture. It is one of the cities which were repaired and fortified, and made "exceeding strong," by Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 10); and it seems to have become of so much importance, that when Sennacherib invaded Jerusalem, he besieged in person, detaching his generals from thence against Jerusalem (2 Kings xviii. 14, 17); and at a subsequent period, the Babylonian invader does not seem to have