Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 1:33

Charles Ellicott Commentary

Judges 1:33

1819–1905
Anglican
Charles Ellicott
Charles Ellicott

Charles Ellicott Commentary

Judges 1:33

1819–1905
Anglican
SCRIPTURE

"Naphtali drove not out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to taskwork." — Judges 1:33 (ASV)

Neither did Naphtali. See Joshua 19:32-38. Beth-shemesh. The name means “house of the sun,” and the place was probably a great center of Baal-worship. However, this Beth-shemesh in Naphtali is not the same as Ir-shemesh (“city of the sun”) in Joshua 15:10, which was on the borders of Judah. It is the “mount of the sun” (Har-cheres) in Judges 1:35.

In Isaiah 19:18, alluding to another “city of the sun” (On, i.e., Heliopolis), the prophet calls it not Is-ha-Cheres, “the city of the sun,” but Ir-ha-Heres, “the city of overthrow,” with one of those scornful plays on words of which the Jews were fond.

Beth-anath. Nothing is known of this town. The name perhaps means “house of echo,” and some identify it with Baneas or Paneas, a place at which the echo was famous.

Nevertheless. The tribe of Naphtali was in the same unhappy condition as that of Asher, living in the midst of a Canaanite population superior in strength to them. They had, however, succeeded in reducing the two chief towns (out of nineteen—Joshua 19:38) to a tributary condition.