John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 8. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel , etc.] 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 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 f232 , it was renowned for its antiquity and the fame of its buildings; and Mela says f233 , that before it was conquered by the Persians, it was the greatest of the maritime cities, though now greatly reduced: Mark Maundrell 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 f235 , 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 thinks it had its name from Sidon, the firstborn of Canaan, and that he built it, ( Genesis 10:15); but Justin says 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 Mark 6:45 8:22 Luke 9:10 10:13 John 1:44 12:21), 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 f238 : 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 calls Sidon the artificer of glass, or a city where glass was made: and Strabo says f240 , 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 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 f242 : 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-9 - The wonders God wrought for the Israelites were to encourage them to act vigorously themselves. Thus the war against Satan's kingdom carried on by preaching the gospel, was at first forwarded by miracles but being fully proved to be of God, we are now left to the Divin grace in the usual course, in the use of the sword of the Spirit. God encouraged Joshua. Fresh dangers and difficulties make it necessary to seek fresh supports from the word of God, which we have nigh unto u for use in every time of need. God proportions our trials to ou strength, and our strength to our trials. Joshua's obedience in destroying the horses and chariots, shows his self-denial in complianc with God's command. The possession of things on which the carnal hear is prone to depend, is hurtful to the life of faith, and the walk with God; therefore it is better to be without worldly advantages, than to have the soul endangered by them. (Jos 11:10-14)
Original Hebrew ויתנם5414 יהוה3068 ביד3027 ישׂראל3478 ויכום5221 וירדפום7291 עד5704 צידון6721 רבה7227 ועד5704 משׂרפות מים4956 ועד5704 בקעת1237 מצפה4708 מזרחה4217 ויכם5221 עד5704 בלתי1115 השׁאיר7604 להם שׂריד׃8300
