Albert Barnes Commentary Joshua 13:3

"from the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the border of Ekron northward, [which] is reckoned to the Canaanites; the five lords of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avvim," — Joshua 13:3 (ASV)

Sihor is derived from a root signifying “to be black,” and is suitable enough as a designation for the Nile (Isaiah 23:3). Here it most probably stands for “the river of Egypt” (Numbers 34:3, note), the modern “Wady el Arish.”

Ekron (“Akir”) lay on the northern boundary of Judah (Joshua 15:11) and was actually conquered by the men of that tribe (Judges 1:18), though assigned in the allotment of the land to Dan (Joshua 19:43). It seems to have fallen again into the hands of the Philistines in the days of the Judges (1 Samuel 5:10), was reconquered by Samuel (compare to 1 Samuel 7:14), but figures in subsequent times as a Philistine city only (compare to 1 Samuel 17:52; 2 Kings 1:2, 16, etc.).

Lords— The Hebrew word סרן seren means “an axle,” and is applied as a title special to the chiefs (compare to Judges 3:3 and marginal references) of the Philistines (Genesis 10:14).

Gaza was the most southern of the Philistine cities (Joshua 11:22). It was allotted to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:47) and was, with Askalon, taken by the warriors of that tribe (Judges 1:18). Both cities were soon re-occupied by the Philistines and subsequently are always mentioned as Philistine cities. Gaza lay on the direct route of the Egyptian armies in their invasions of Syria, by whom it was captured more than once.

Special judgments are denounced against Gaza for the cruelty of its people toward the Jews in the time of their humiliation (Amos 1:6–7; Zephaniah 2:4; Zechariah 9:5). In the time of Jerome, the ancient city was a ruin whose foundations could hardly be traced, and the town existing at that time was built on another site. Gaza was in later times an episcopal see and is now a thriving place containing some 15,000 inhabitants, a larger population than that of Jerusalem.

Ashdod (“Esdud; ” Azotus, Acts 8:40) was, like Gaza, allotted to Judah but was soon regained by the Philistines and became a principal seat of their Dagon worship. Here the ark of God was taken after its capture by the Philistines (1 Samuel 5:1 and following). Its name (“fortress,” “castle”), no less than its history (compare to 2 Chronicles 26:6; Isaiah 20:1; Nehemiah 4:7, etc.), indicates its importance as a stronghold; it withstood for twenty-nine years the longest siege on record by the Egyptian king Psammetichus. Like Gaza, it was doomed by the Jewish prophets to desolation, and it was utterly destroyed by the Maccabees (11:4). It was, however, rebuilt by the Romans and figures in Christian times as an episcopal city.

Askelon , the birthplace of Herod the Great, figures as an important town and seaport in the history of the Crusades, and very massive ruins still attest the ancient strength and grandeur of the place. It is situated about midway between Gaza and Ashdod.

Gath seems to have been first taken by David (1 Chronicles 18:1). It is not named again in the book of Joshua. It was the town of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4) and is mentioned in David’s elegy over Saul as a leading Philistine city (2 Samuel 1:20). It was the nearest of the Philistine cities to Jerusalem, but both the name and the city have perished; its site is conjecturally placed (by Condor) at Tell es Safi.

Avites— See Deuteronomy 2:23, note.