Josue 12:24

Jerome's Latin Vulgate

rex Thersa unus: omnes reges triginta unus.

Parallel Translations

Clementine Latin Vulgate (1592)
sed super terram fundes quasi aquam,

Nova Vulgata (1979)
rex Thersa unus: omnes reges triginta unus.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Tirzah: 1 Kings 16:23, 2 Kings 15:14

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 14:17 - Tirzah Psalms 135:11 - and all the Habakkuk 3:12 - didst march

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The king of Tirzah, one,.... To what tribe this place fell is nowhere said: Adrichomius u places it in the tribe of Manasseh; and so does Bunting w, who says of it, that it was a fair and beautiful city, situated on a high and pleasant mountain, in the tribe of Manasseh, twenty four miles from Jerusalem to the north: here Jeroboam had his royal seat, and so his successors unto Omri, 1 Kings 14:17; and Dr Lightfoot x seems to suspect as if Shechem in Mount Ephraim and Tirzah were the same; for, he says, if Shechem and Tirzah were not one and the same town, it appears that Jeroboam had removed his court, when his son died, from where it was when he first erected his idols; compare 1 Kings 12:25, with

1 Kings 14:17; and so it may argue that there was some space between: it was, no doubt, a very pleasant and beautiful city, as not only appears from its name, but from the allusion to it in Song of Solomon 6:4;

all the kings thirty and one: it may seem strange that, in so small a country as Canaan was, there should be so many kings in it, since the length of it from Dan to Beersheba was scarce an hundred sixty miles, as Jerom y says; who further observes, that he was ashamed to give the breadth of it, lest it should give occasion to Heathens to blaspheme; for, adds he, from Joppa to our little village Bethlehem (where they then were) were forty six miles, to which succeeded only a vast desert: but it may be observed, that in ancient times, in other countries, there were a great many kings, as here in Britain, and in France, Spain, and Germany, as Bishop Patrick has observed from several writers; and Strabo z testifies the same of the cities of Phoenicia or Canaan, that they had each of them separate kings, as Joshua here describes them.

u Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 74. w Travels, &c. p. 160. x Works, vol. 1. p. 78. y Epist. Dardano, tom. 3. p. 22. I. K. z Geograph. l. 16. p. 519.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The names of the kings are given in the order of their actual encounter with Joshua. Those enumerated in Joshua 12:10-18 either belonged to the league of the southern Canaanites (Joshua 10:1 ff), the power of which was broken in the battle of Beth-horon, or were at any rate conquered in the campaign following that battle. Those mentioned in Joshua 12:19-24 were in like manner connected with the northern confederates (Joshua 11:1 ff), who were defeated at the Waters of Merom.

Joshua 12:13-20

The identification of several of these places is still uncertain: the same name (e. g. Aphek, Joshua 12:18) being applied to various places in various parts of Palestine. Geder, or Gedor Joshua 15:58, a city in the mountain district in the south of the territory of Judah, is no doubt the modern “Jedur”.

Joshua 12:21

Taanach - A Levitical town Joshua 21:25 in the territory of Issachar, but assigned to the Manassites (Joshua 17:11; Compare 1 Chronicles 7:29), is identified with “Taanuk”. It was here that Barak encountered the host of Sisera Judges 5:19. Megiddo was near it, and is thought to have been “el Lejjun” (the Roman Legion), (or Mujedd’a (Conder)).

Joshua 12:22

Kedesh - i. e. Kedesh Naphtali, a city of refuge, a Levitical city, and the home of Barak Judges 9:6.

Jokneam - A Levitical city in the territory of Zebulon Joshua 19:11; perhaps the modern “Kaimon”. “Tell Kaimon” is a conspicuous and important position, commanding the main pass across the ridge of Carmel from Phoenicia to Egypt. This famous mountain range (about 15 miles long) no doubt received the name Carmel (the word means “a fruitful field” as opposed to “wilderness”) as descriptive of its character; and thus the name became an emblem of beauty and luxuriance (Isaiah 35:2; Song of Solomon 7:5, etc.). Its highest part, about 4 miles from Tell Kaimon, is nearly 1,750 feet above the sea. Its modern name, “Jebel Mar Elias”, preserves still that association with the great deeds of Elijah, from which Carmel derives its chief Biblical interest. Mount Carmel was probably, like Lebanon, from very ancient Canaanite times, regarded as especially sacred; and since the altar of the Lord repaired by Elijah 1 Kings 18:30 was an old one which had been broken down, Carmel was probably no less esteemed by the Israelites also. In later times the caves which abound toward the western bluffs of the range have been frequented by Christian, Jewish, and Mussulman anchorites. The order of Carmelite or barefooted friars took its rise from the convent founded by Louis, which still crowns the western headland.

Joshua 12:23

The king of the nations - See Genesis 14:1 and note. It means king of certain mixed and probably nomadic tribes, which regarded Gilgal Joshua 9:19 as their center and capital.

Joshua 12:24

Tirzah - This place, the capital of Jeroboam and his successors until the clays of Omri (1Ki 14:17; 1 Kings 15:21, etc.), is identified by some with “Tulluzah”, a town 3 miles northeast of Nablous, (by others with Teiasir).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 12:24. King of Tirzah — This city appears to have been for a long time the capital of the kingdom of Israel, and the residence of its kings. See 1 Kings 14:17; 1 Kings 15:21; 1 Kings 15:33. Its situation cannot be exactly ascertained; but it is supposed to have been situated on a mountain about three leagues south of Samaria.

All the kings thirty and one. — The Septuagint say εικοσι εννεα, twenty-nine, and yet set down but twenty-eight, as they confound or omit the kings of Beth-el, Lasharon, and Madon.

So many kings in so small a territory, shows that their kingdoms must have been very small indeed. The kings of Beth-el and Ai had but about 12,000 subjects in the whole; but in ancient times all kings had very small territories. Every village or town had its chief; and this chief was independent of his neighbours, and exercised regal power in his own district. In reading all ancient histories, as well as the Bible, this circumstance must be kept constantly in view; for we ought to consider that in those times both kings and kingdoms were but a faint resemblance of those now.

Great Britain, in ancient times, was divided into many kingdoms: in the time of the Saxons it was divided into seven, hence called the Saxon heptarchy. But when Julius Caesar first entered this island, he found four kings in Kent alone; Cingetorix, Carnilius, Taximagulus, and Segonax. Hence we need not wonder at the numbers we read of in the land of Canaan. Ancient Gaul was thus divided; and the great number of sovereign princes, secular bishops, landgraves, dukes, &c., &c., in Germany, are the modern remains of those ancient divisions.