Failure Of Asher Series

Ahlab [A lub] (“fertile”), a town assigned to Asher, but never captured from the Canaanites; its probable location is about 6 km. (4 mi.) northeast of Tyre.

Achzib[ACK zib] (falsehood) the name of two towns in Israel:

1. A town in the Shephelah, the lowland of western Judah [7](Josh. 15:44), probably the same town as Chezib [8](Gen. 38:5) and Chozeba [9](1 Chr. 4:22).

2. A town in western Galilee, on the Mediterranean Sea near the border of ancient Phoenicia [10](Josh. 19:29; [11]Judg. 1:31). Identified as modern ez–Zib, Achzib was located about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Acre.

Helbah[HEL buh] (fertile) A town of the tribe of Asher probably on the plain of Phœnicia, not far from Sidon.

Aphek [Aphik] (“strength”). Probably the same place as Aphik A town assigned to the tribe of Asher but never captured from the Canaanites; located just southeast of Acco [12](Josh. 19:30) and forms the extreme north “border of the Amorites,” identified with the Aphaca of classical times, and Afka in modern times.

Rehob[REE hahb] (open space). A city in the territory of Asher, near Sidon [13](Josh. 19:28).

General Notes

[1](Gen. 49:13 ;NLT) “Zebulun will settle by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships; his borders will extend to Sidon." Zebulun's lot or portion in the division of the Promised Land extended from the Mediterranean Sea on the west, to the lake of Gennesareth on the east; see his division, Joshua 19:10, etc. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases the passage thus: "Zebulun shall be on the coasts of the sea, and he shall rule over the havens; he shall subdue the provinces of the sea with his, ships, and his border shall extend unto Sidon.—Adam Clarke's Commentary

[2](Jos. 19:28; NKJV ) "including Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon." The city of Sidon and the Sidonians are celebrated from the remotest antiquity. They are frequently mentioned by Homer.—Adam Clarke's Commentary

[3]Josh. 13:6; NLT: "and all the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, including all the land of the Sidonians. “I myself will drive these people out of the land ahead of the Israelites. So be sure to give this land to Israel as a special possession, just as I have commanded you" These will I drive out—That is, if the Israelites continued to be obedient; but they did not, and therefore they never fully possessed the whole of that land which, on this condition alone, God had promised them: the Sidonians were never expelled by the Israelites, and were only brought into a state of comparative subjection in the days of David and Solomon. Some have taken upon them to deny the authenticity of Divine revelation relative to this business, "because," say they, "God is stated to have absolutely promised that Joshua should conquer the whole land, and put the Israelites in possession of it." This is a total mistake.

1. God never absolutely, i.e., unconditionally, promised to put them in possession of this land. The promise of their possessing the whole was suspended on their fidelity to God. They were not faithful, and therefore God was not bound by his promise to give them any part of the land, after their first act of national defection from his worship.