Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians and Hivites - Judges 3:3

In the book of Judges we learned how, “these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan. Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof”, and in chapter three and verse three of Judges, we learn about, “the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites” where we read,

Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.

The verse reads, “Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites …” The writer began with the word, “namely” which means “with the following names and identifications”, “five lords of the Philistines” or “five rulers and tyrants belonging to the Philistines whose name means “immigrants’ and were the inhabitants of Philistia; descendants of Mizraim who immigrated from Caphtor (Crete?) to the western seacoast of Canaan”, “and all the Canaanites” which means “and each, the whole and everyone of the Canaanites whose name means ‘zealous or lowland” and were the descendants and inhabitants belonging to Cana”, “and the Sidonians” whose name means ‘hunting’ and referred to the inhabitants of Tsidon”, “and the Hivites” whose name means ‘villagers’ and was the sixth generation of descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, who were living in northern Canaan near Mount Hermon at the time of the conquest”. The writer shared how the “five rulers” belonging to the “Philistines”, everyone of the “Canaanites”, the “Sidonians” and the “Hivites” were some of the people groups that were left within the promise land among the people of Israel. 

The verse goes on to say, “… that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.”  The writer continued with the words, “that dwelt in mount Lebanon” which means “who lived, abided and inhabited the rising above the plain known as Lebanon whose name means ‘whiteness’ and was a wooded mountain range on the northern border of Israel”, “from mount Baalhermon” or “separate and apart from the rising above the plain known as Baalhermon or “baal-chermon whose name means ‘lord of destruction’ and was a city near or on Mount Hermon, named as a seat of Baal worship” “until the entering in of Hamath” which means “till the enumerating of and bringing near belonging to Hamath whose name means ‘fortress’ and was the principle city of upper Syria in the valley of the Orontes”. The writer shared how the “Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites” lived within the rising above the plain belonging to “Lebanon” separate and apart from the mountain belonging to “Baalhermon” and to the entrance of “Hamath”. 

When we think through words in this verse, we learn about the people groups and their locations which included the “Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites” who were located within their rising of the plain belonging to “Lebanon” which was apart from the mountain known as “Baalhermon” and to the entrance of “Hamath”. All of these nations and places were adversaries to the people of Israel, and they would be used by Jehovah God to test the people of Israel in their commitment to Him. God wants us to cling exclusively to Him through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the grave after three days. When we yield to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and equip us with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and give us the ability to fight against all foes who desire to destroy us and keep us from following Him and His ways. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 6:12)

Next time we learn that these people were left, “to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".