Joshua 19:37

And Kedesh, and Edrei, and Enhazor,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:17-51 Joshua waited till all the tribes were settled, before he asked any provision for himself. He was content to be unfixed, till he saw them all placed, and herein is an example to all in public places, to prefer the common welfare before private advantage. Those who labour most to do good to others, seek an inheritance in the Canaan above: but it will be soon enough to enter thereon, when they have done all the service to their brethren of which they are capable. Nor can any thing more effectually assure them of their title to it, than endeavouring to bring others to desire, to seek, and to obtain it. Our Lord Jesus came and dwelt on earth, not in pomp but poverty, providing rest for man, yet himself not having where to lay his head; for Christ pleased not himself. Nor would he enter upon his inheritance, till by his obedience to death he secured the eternal inheritance for all his people; nor will he account his own glory completed, till every ransomed sinner is put in possession of his heavenly rest.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The number of the fortified cities of Naphtali is remarkable, though it does not tally with the catalogue. It was no doubt good policy to protect the northern frontier by a belt of fortresses, as the south was protected by the fenced cities of Judah. Hammath, a Levitical city (compare Joshua 21:32; 1 Chronicles 6:76), is not to be confounded with the Hamath on the northeastern frontier of the land Numbers 13:21. The name (from a root signifying "to be warm") probably indicates that hot springs existed here; and is perhaps rightly traced in Ammaus, near Tiberias. Rakkath was, according to the rabbis, rebuilt by Herod and called Tiberias. The name ("bank, shore") suits the site of Tiberias very well. Migdal-el, perhaps the Magdala of Matthew 15:39, is now the miserable village of "El Mejdel."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

34. Aznoth-tabor—on the east of Tabor towards the Jordan, for the border ran thence to Hukkok, touching upon that of Zebulun; and as the territory of Zebulun did not extend as far as the Jordan, Aznoth-tabor and Hukkok must have been border towns on the line which separated Naphtali from Issachar.

to Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising—The sixty cities, Havoth-jair, which were on the eastern side of the Jordan, opposite Naphtali, were reckoned as belonging to Judah, because Jair, their possessor, was a descendant of Judah (1Ch 2:4-22) [Keil].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Kedesh,.... This is Kedesh in Galilee, in Mount Naphtali, to distinguish it from others of the same name; it was one of the cities of refuge, Joshua 20:7. Jerom says (m) in his day it was called Cidissus, and was twenty miles from Tyre by Paneas; See Gill on Joshua 12:22.

and Edrei is a different place from one of that name in the kingdom of Og, Numbers 21:33,

and Enhazor, of which we read nowhere else.

(m) Ut supra, (De loc. Heb.) fol. 90. B.

Geneva Study Bible

And Kedesh, and Edrei, and Enhazor,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

37. Kedesh] or Kedesh Naphtali (= “the Holy Place of Naphtali”), see above, ch. Joshua 12:22, originally, as we have seen, was a royal, and probably a sacred city of the Canaanites. It was conquered by Joshua (ch. Joshua 12:22), and made subsequently “a city of refuge.” Here (a) Barak was born; here (b) he was when Deborah summoned him to fight the battle of his country; hither (c) the prophetess came with him; and hence (d) having rallied the warriors of Zebulun and Naphtali he marched with 10000 men to Tabor (Jdg 4:1-10).

Edrei, and En-hazor] are unknown. This Edrei must not be confounded with the well-known Edrei in Bashan.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 37. - Kedesh (see Joshua 12:22). It was the residence of Barak (Judges 4:6). Known to Josephus (Bell. Jud., 4.2.3.) as Cydoessa, to Eusebius and Jerome as Cydissus; it is now Kedes (see Robinson, 'Later Biblical Researches'). Edrei. Not the Edrei of Og, which was beyond Jordan. Joshua 19:37

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Kedesh (see at Joshua 12:2). Edrei, a different place from the town of the same name in Bashan (Joshua 1:2, Joshua 1:4), is still unknown. En-hazor is probably to be sought for in Bell Hazur and Ain Hazur, which is not very far distant, on the south-west of Rameh, though the ruins upon Tell Hazur are merely the ruins of an ordinary village, with one single cistern that has fallen to pieces (Rob. Bibl. Res. pp. 80, 81).