Judges Chapter 3 verse 3 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 3. - The five lords, etc. The title seren, here rendered "lord," is one exclusively applied to the lords of the five Philistine cities enumerated in Joshua 13:3; 1 Samuel 6:17, 18, viz., Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. It occurs repeatedly in ch. 16; 1 Samuel 5, 6, 29, etc. The word means an axle-tree. The entering in of Hamath. There are two theories in regard to Hamath. Some, as Professor Rawlinson in the 'Dictionary of the Bible,' identify it with Hamah, a large and important city on the Orontes in Upper Syria, and consider that the kingdom of Hamath, which was overthrown by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 18:34; 2 Kings 19:13), and of which Hamath was the capital, was for the most part an independent Hamitic or Canaanite kingdom (Genesis 10:18), but occasionally, as in the days of Solomon and Jeroboam (1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:28; 2 Chronicles 8:4), subject to Israel Others, however, justly considering the great improbability of the Israelite dominion having ever extended so far north as the valley of the Orontes, and observing how it is spoken of as an integral part of Israel (1 Kings 8:65), look for Hamath much further south, in the neighbourhood of Beth-rehob (see Judges 18:28, note). As regards the phrase "the entering in of Hamath," the identical Hebrew words occur seven times, viz., Numbers 13:21; Numbers 34:8; Joshua 13:5; in this passage; 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:25; 2 Chronicles 7:8, and are variously rendered in the A.V.: "as men come to Hamath;" "unto the entrance of Hamath;" "the entering into Hamath;" "the entering in of Hamath (three times); and the entering of Hamath." The exact meaning of the phrase seems to be "the approach to Hamath," some particular spot in the valley from whence the direct road to Hamath begins; very much like the railway term for certain stations which are the nearest to, though at some little distance from, the place from which they are named, as, e.g., Shapwick Road, Mildenhall Road, etc. The latter words of the verse describe the territory of the Hivites, which reached from Mount Baal-hermon in the Lebanon range as far as the point where the road leads to Hamath.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(3) Five lords of the Philistines.--The princes of the Pentapolis, Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Gath, Ekron. The word rendered "lords" is evidently a technical or local title--Seranim. It is rendered by the LXX. "satrapies," and by the Vulgate, "satraps." It is variously derived from seren, "a hinge" (comp. "cardinal" from "cardo"); from sar, "a prince," being interchanged with sarim, in 1 Sam. 13:30; 1Samuel 29:6 (Ewald, i. 332); and from some Ph?nician root. For the Philistines, see Judges 13:1.All the Canaanites.--Of the sheph?lah or maritime plain.The Sidonians.--In Genesis 10:15 "Sidon" is the eldest son of Canaan. They maintained their complete independence to the last.The Hivites that dwelt in Mount Lebanon.--In Joshua 11:3 they are described as living "under Hermon, in the land at Mizpeh," whence Mizpeh has been identified with "el-Mutalleh," which also means "the look-out" or "watch-tower." The name has been derived from Havvah, a circular encampment or village, because they lived (as they do to this day in northern Syria) in circular villages, with enclosures for cattle in the centre. Ewald ( i. 318) supposes that the word means "midlanders," and Gesenius "villagers." The Hivite is the sixth son of Canaan, in Genesis 10:17. . . .