Joshua 11:17

Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) The mount Halak is marked as unknown in Conder’s Biblical Gazetteer. But “the smooth hill which goeth up to Seir,” may very possibly be the salt hill now called Khasur-Usdum, which has a glacier-like appearance, and forms a sufficiently striking object to be mentioned as a boundary-mark.

Baal-gad has by some been identified with Baal-hermon, afterwards Paneas, and Caesarea Philippi. Others think it is still unknown.

Benson Commentary

Joshua 11:17. That goeth up to Seir — That is, to the country of Seir or Edom, namely, to that part of it which was south from Judea. Unto Baal-gad, in the valley of Lebanon, &c. — As the preceding words express the bounds of Joshua’s conquest southward, so hither they extended northward. And this seems to be a description of the length of the country which he took from the king of Hazor, and all those who joined with him, as Archbishop Usher understands it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:15-23 Never let the sons of Anak be a terror to the Israel of God, for their day to fall will come. The land rested from war. It ended not in a peace with the Canaanites, that was forbidden, but in a peace from them. There is a rest, a rest from war, remaining for the people of God, into which they shall enter, when their warfare is accomplished. That which was now done, is compared with what had been said to Moses. God's word and his works, if viewed together, will be found mutually to set each other forth. If we make conscience of our duty, we need not question the performance of the promise. But the believer must never put off his armour, or expect lasting peace, till he closes his eyes in death; nay, as his strength and usefulness increase, he may expect more heavy trials; yet the Lord will not permit any enemies to assault the believer till he has prepared him for the battle. Christ Jesus ever lives to plead for his people, and their faith shall not fail, however Satan may be permitted to assault them. And however tedious, sharp, and difficult the believer's warfare, his patience in tribulation may be encouraged by the joyfulness of hope; for he will, ere long, rest from sin and from sorrow in the Canaan above.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The mount Halak - See the margin and reference. The name serves to mark the southern limit of Joshua's conquests. It suits equally well several of the ranges near the south border of Palestine, and it is uncertain which of them is the one here indicated.

Baal-gad Joshua 12:7; Joshua 13:5 is probably Paneas, the Caesarea Philippi of later times. The name means "troop or city of Baal," or a place where Baal was worshipped as the giver of "good luck." Compare Isaiah 65:11. It was probably the same as Baal-Hermon (Judges 3:3; 1 Chronicles 5:23; and see Deuteronomy 3:9).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

17. from the mount Halak—Hebrew, "the smooth mountain."

that goeth up to Seir—an irregular line of white naked hills, about eighty feet high, and seven or eight geographical miles in length that cross the whole Ghor, eight miles south of the Dead Sea, probably "the ascent of Akrabbim" [Robinson].

unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon—the city or temple of the god of destiny, in Baalbec.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That goeth up to Seir i.e. to the country of Seir or Edom, to wit, that part of it which was south from Judea, not that which was eastward from it, as appears from hence, that here, as also Joshua 12:7, is mention of the two extreme bounds of the land conquered by Joshua; whereof the other which follows being in the north, this must needs be in the south of the land.

Baal-gad; a part of Mount Lebanon.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up unto Seir,.... Or the "smooth" and "bald" mountain, which had no trees on it, as some interpret it, observed by Kimchi; it was a mount on the borders of Edom, to which the land of Canaan reached on that side:

even unto Baalgad, in the valley of Lebanon, under Mount Hermon; and so describes the northern part of the land conquered by Joshua:

and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them; both in the southern and northern parts of the land.

Geneva Study Bible

Even from the mount {k} Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them.

(k) So called, because it was bare and without trees.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

17. even from the mount Halak] Or, as it is rendered in the margin, “the smooth mountain,” or “the bald mountain.” We find this name only once again, viz. in Joshua 12:7, and there, as here, it seems to mark the southern limit of Joshua’s conquests. Several ranges near the southern border of Canaan might be thus described. (a) Some would identify it with the modern Jebel-el-Mukrah, 60 miles south of the Dead Sea; (b) others with the mountain Madurah, or Maderah; (c) while others would identify it with the range of white cliffs, which cuts the Arabah obliquely at about eight English miles to the south of the Dead Sea, and divides the great valley into the two parts El Ghor and El Arabah. This row of cliffs, which is about 60 to 80 feet high, might very well be called “the bald mountain which ascends to Seir,” for it was a point well adapted to form the southern boundary of Canaan, since it both touches the territory of Kadesh-Barnea, and joins in the east the upper chain of the mountains of Seir.—See Keil in loc.

even unto Baal-Gad] This was a town dedicated to Baal, under the aspect of “Gad” or the “god of good fortune” (Joshua 12:7; Joshua 13:5), probably the same as Baal-Hermon (Jdg 3:3; 1 Chronicles 5:23). In later times it was known as Panium or Paneas, and when enlarged and embellished by Herod Philip, Cæsarea Philippi, to distinguish it from Cæsarea “Palestinæ” or Cæsarea “on the sea” (Mark 8:27). Dean Stanley calls it a Syrian Tivoli, and certainly there is much in the rocks, caverns, cascades, and the natural beauty of the scenery, to recall the Roman Tibur. Behind the village, in front of a great natural cavern, a river bursts forth from the earth, the “upper source” of the Jordan. Inscriptions and niches in the face of the cliff tell of the old idol worship of Baal and of Pan. Tristram’s Land of Israel, p. 581.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 17. - The Mount Halak. The smooth mountain. Literally," monte glabro," Vulg.; λεῖον, Symmachus. This may either be interpreted "the mountain bare of foliage," as opposed to Seir, the hairy or wooded mountain, as Masius and Rosenmuller suppose, or, as the latter also suggests, it may mean the mountain which has a smooth outline, as opposed to a precipitous cliff. This falls in with the character of the hills on the south of Palestine (see note on Joshua 10:40). The LXX. renders by a proper name. But this the article forbids. The Syriac interpreter renders "the dividing mountain." But חלק rather signifies in this sense to assign by lot. Keil would identify it with "the row of white cliffs which cuts the Arabah obliquely at about eight English miles to the south of the Dead Sea," and divides the great valley into two parts, the Ghor and the Arabah. He gives up the other "smooth" or "bald" mountains, because they do not "go up to Self." Later explorers have failed to settle its situation. Seir. This mountainous region was well known as the territory of Esau (see Genesis 32:2). Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon. For valley (בִּקְעָה) see note on ver. 8. Baal-gad has been by some identified with Baalbek, or Heliopolis, a Syrian city, whose vast ruins strike the beholder with astonishment even now. But Baalbek lay considerably to the north of Palestine. It has therefore with greater probability been identified by Robinson, Von Raumer, and others, with Paneas or Caesarea Philippi. Baal-gad signifies "the lord of fortune," an aspect under which the Babylonian Baal or Bel was frequently worshipped. The word Gad, erroneously translated "troop" in our version (Genesis 30:11; Isaiah 65:11), is properly "fortune," and hence the god Fortune. The worship of Pan in later times supplanted that of Baal, but traces of both cults, in inscriptions and niches, may be found in the neighbourhood to the present day (see Tristram, 'Land of Israel'). All travellers speak with enthusiasm of the situation of Banias. Josephus says that it affords a profusion of natural gifts. Seetzen corroborates him. Dean Stanley compares it to Tivoli, and Canon Tristram thinks that in its rocks, caverns, and cascades there is much to remind the visitor of what is perhaps the loveliest place in all Italy. He continues, "The situation of Banias is indeed magnificent. With tall limestone cliffs to the north and east, a rugged torrent of basalt to the south, and a gentle slope for its western front, Banias is almost hidden till the traveller is among the ruins." Banias stands at the end of a gorge of the Hermon range with the wide range of the Huleh plain opening out before it, as the Campagna and Rome in the distance are seen from the mouth of the gorge at Tivoli. Vandevelds, however, identifies Banias with Beth-rehob, on the insufficient ground that Baal-gad is said to be in, not at, the mouth of the valley or Bik'ath of Lebanon. He prefers the castles either of Bostra or of Aisafa, the one an hour and a half, the other three hours north of Banias. It should be added that an arm of the Jordan rises and rushes through the gorge here, "praeceps," like the Anio at Tivoli. The valley of Lebanon is supposed by some not to be the valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, but the country on the southern declivity of Mount Hermon. But the term בִּקְעָה here unquestionably means the well-known Bukei'a or Coele Syria, i.e., the tract between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon (see Knobel). Joshua 11:17

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Retrospective View of the Conquest of the Whole Land. - Joshua 11:16, Joshua 11:17. Joshua took all this land, namely, those portions of Southern Canaan that have already been mentioned in Joshua 10:40-41; also the Arabah, and the mountains of Israel and its lowlands (see Joshua 11:2), i.e., the northern part of the land (in the campaign described in Joshua 11:1-15), that is to say, Canaan in all its extent, "from the bald mountain which goeth up to Seir" in the south, "to Baal-gad, in the valley of Lebanon under Hermon." The "bald mountain" (Halak), which is mentioned here and in Joshua 12:7 as the southern boundary of Canaan, is hardly the row of white cliffs which stretches obliquely across the Arabah eight miles below the Dead Sea and forms the dividing line that separates this valley into el-Ghor and el-Araba (Rob. Pal. ii. pp. 489, 492), or the present Madara, a strange-looking chalk-hill to the south-west of the pass of Sufah (Rob. ii. p. 589), a steep bare mountain in a barren plain, the sides of which consist of stone and earth of a leaden ashy hue (Seetzen, R. iii. pp. 14, 15); but in all probability the northern edge of the Azazimeh mountain with its white and glistening masses of chalk. Baal-gad, i.e., the place or town of Baal, who was there worshipped as Gad (see Isaiah 65:11), also called Baal-hermon in Judges 3:3 and 1 Chronicles 5:23, is not Baalbek, but the Paneas or Caesarea Philippi of a later time, the present Banjas (see at Numbers 34:8-9). This is the opinion of v. Raumer and Robinson, though Van de Velde is more disposed to look for Baal-gad in the ruins of Kalath (the castle of) Bostra, or of Kalath Aisafa, the former an hour and a half, the latter three hours to the north of Banjas, the situation of which would accord with the biblical statements respecting Baal-gad exceedingly well. The "valley of Lebanon" is not Coele-Syria, the modern Beka, between Lebanon and Antilibanus, but the valley at the foot of the southern slope of Jebel Sheik (Hermon).