And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which [is] Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar.
7. En-mishpat ] i.e. “the Spring of Judgement.” A spring of water at which there would be a sanctuary, whose priest gave oracles and decided disputes; known in the Israelite history as “Kadesh-barnea,” or, as here, “Kadesh.” It has been identified in| modern times with a spring and oasis, called Ain-Kadish, in the desert to the south of Beer-sheba. This was the spot at which the Israelite tribes concentrated after quitting the neighbourhood of Sinai: cf. Num 21:16; Deu 1:46.
the country ] Heb. field; LXX and Syr. “princes of” (reading sr for s’dh).
the Amalekites ] The nomad peoples of the desert who opposed the Israelite march (Exodus 17); and were overthrown by Saul (1 Samuel 15) in the wilderness south of Canaan.
the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazazon-tamar ] The Canaanite people dwelling at Engedi (see 2Ch 20:2) among the rocks on the west shore of the Dead Sea. It has also been conjecturally identified with the Tamar of Eze 47:19; Eze 48:28, a town on the S.W. of the Dead Sea. The name Hazazon-tamar has been explained to mean “the cutting of palms.” The name has been thought to be preserved in the Wady Hasasa, not far from Ain-gidi.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. En-mishpat] The well of judgment; probably so called from the judgment pronounced by God on Moses and Aaron for their rebellion at that place; Nu 20:1-10.
Amalekites] So called afterwards, from Amalek, son of Esau; Ge 36:12.
Hazezon-tamar.] Called, in the Chaldee, Engaddi; a city in the land of Canaan, which fell to the lot of Judah; Jos 15:62. See also 2Ch 20:2. It appears, from Canticles So 1:14, to have been a very fruitful place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Which is Kadesh, i.e. which after that time was called Kadesh, of which see Num 20:1; 20:14, &c.
The country of the Amalekites, i.e. which afterwards was possessed by the Amalekites, Gen 36:12. A known figure called prolepsis.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh,…. Pursuing their victories as far as Elparan by the wilderness, they had passed by the country of the Amalekites; wherefore they “returned”, or came back to fall upon them, and they came to a place called Enmishpat, or the “fountain of judgment”; which was not its future name, as Jarchi thinks, because there Moses and Aaron were to be judged concerning the business of that fountain, even the waters of Meribah, with which agrees the Targum of Jonathan;
“and they returned and came to the place where the judgment of Moses the prophet was determined by the fountain of the waters of contention:”
but it seems to have been the ancient name of the place, and by which it was called at this time, as Kadesh was the name of it at the time of Moses writing this; and therefore he adds,
which [is] Kadesh; that is, which is now called Kadesh, because there the Lord was sanctified, when the rock at that place was smitten, and waters gushed out: it was a city on the uttermost border of the land of Edom, Nu 20:1, and seems formerly to have been a place where causes were heard and judgment passed; and so Onkelos paraphrases it,
“to the plain of the division or decision of judgment;”
which, as Jarchi himself interprets it,
“is a place where the men of the province gathered together for all judgment;”
or for hearing all causes and determining them:
and smote all the country of the Amalekites; which, according to Josephus k, reached from Pelusium in Egypt to the Red sea; they inhabited Arabia Petraea, for he l says, the inhabitants of Gobolitis and Petra are called Amalekites; which name is generally supposed to have been given them here by way of anticipation, since the commonly received opinion is, that they were the descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau, who was not born when this war was waged, see
Ge 36:12; but the Mahometan writers derive the pedigree of Amalek, from whom these people had their name, from Noah in the line of Ham, and make him to be some generations older than Abram, which with them stands thus, Noah, Ham, Aram, Uz, Ad, Amalek m; and they speak of the Amalekites as dwelling in the country about Mecca, from whence they were driven by the Jorhamites n: and indeed it seems more probable that the Amalekites were of the posterity of Ham, since Chedorlaomer, a descendant of Shem, falls upon them, and smites them; and they being confederates with the Canaanites, and are with the Amorites, Philistines, and other Canaanitish nations, always mentioned, seem to be a more ancient nation than what could proceed from Amalek the son of Eliphaz, since Amalek is said to be the first of the nations,
Nu 24:20; nor does there ever appear to be any harmony and friendship between them and the Edomites, as it might be thought there would, if they were a branch of Esau’s family; nor did they give them any assistance, when destroyed by Saul, so that they seem rather to be a tribe of the Canaanitish nations; and they are, by Philo o the Jew, expressly called Phoenicians:
and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar; the same with the Emorites, see Ge 10:16; another tribe or nation of the Canaanites descended from Amor or Emor, a son of Canaan: the place of their habitation has its name of Hazezontamar from the multitude of palm trees which grew there: for Tamar signifies a palm tree, and Hazezon is from “to cut”; and this part of the name seems to be taken from the cutting of the top, crown, or head of the palm tree, for the sake of a liquor which has a more luscious sweetness than honey; and is of the consistence of a thin syrup, as Dr. Shaw p relates; the head of the palm tree being cut off, the top of the trunk is scooped into the shape of a basin, as he says, where the sap in ascending lodges itself at the rate of three or four quarts a day during the first week or fortnight, after which the quantity daily diminishes; and at the end of six weeks or two months the juices are entirely consumed, and the tree becomes dry, and serves only for timber or, firewood. This place is the same with Engedi, 2Ch 20:2; and so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan here translate it, “in Engedi”; and which place Pliny q says was famous for groves of palm trees; it was a city near the Dead sea, see
Eze 47:8; and Josephus says r it was situated by the lake Asphaltites, that is, the place where Sodom and Gomorrah stood; and he adds, that it was three hundred furlongs distant from Jerusalem, where were the best palm trees and balsam: so that now the four kings had got pretty near Sodom; wherefore it follows,
k Antiqu. l. 6. c. 7. sect. 3. l lbid. l. 3. c. 2. sect. 1. m Taarich, M. S. apud Reland. Palestina illustrata, tom. 1. p. 81. n Alkodaius, apud Pocock. Specimen Arab. Hist. p. 173. o De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 636. p Travels, tom. 1. p. 143. Ed. 2. q Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 17. r Antiqu. l. 9. c. 1. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7) They returned.More correctly, they turned, as they did not go back by the same route, but wheeled towards the north-west.
Enmishpat.The fountain of justice, because at this spring the ancient inhabitants of the country used to meet to settle their disputes. It was also called Kadesh, probably the Ain Qadis described by Professor Palmer. It was a great stronghold, and both a sanctuary and a seat of government. It has been visited lately by Mr. Trumbull, for whose account see Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, July, 1881, pp. 208-212.
The Amalekites.Saul had to pursue these wandering hordes into the recesses of Paran (1Sa. 15:7), but they were evidently now in possession of the Negeb of Judea.
Hazezon tamar, the felling of the palm, is certainly the same as Engedi (2Ch. 20:2). For descriptions of this wonderful spot, so dear to Solomon (Son. 1:14), see Conder, Tent-work, ii. 135; Tristram, Land of Israel, 281; and for its strategical importance, Tristram, Land of Moab, 25.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. They returned, and came to En-mishpat Having pursued their victorious march southward through all the regions named as far as the wilderness of Paran, they turned northward, fetching a compass to En-mishpat, which seems to have been the ancient name of Kadesh. The site of Kadesh was for a long time an unsettled question. Stanley identified it with Petra; Robinson with Ain-el-Weibeh, some twenty miles northwest of Mt. Hor; Rowlands with Ain Gades, forty miles west of Mr. Hor. But it was reserved for an American traveller, H.C. Trumbull, to confirm the opinion of Rowlands, and put beyond reasonable doubt the locality of this ancient and long lost fountain. Some eighty miles southwest of Hebron he discovered several large springs issuing from underneath a ragged spur of a range of limestone hills, and still bearing the name Qadees. The abundant waters fill several wells or pools, are remarkably pure and sweet, and flow off under the waving grass. The fountain creates an oasis of verdure and beauty in the midst of the great desert et-Tih. “A carpet of grass covered the ground. Fig trees laden with fruit nearly ripe enough for eating, were along the shelter of the southern hillside. Shrubs and flowers showed themselves in variety and profusion.” TRUMBULL’S Kadesh-Barnea, pp. 272, 273. New York, 1883. Returning from the great wilderness of Paran, the victorious kings would have passed through the region afterward known as the country of the Amalekites, which bordered on the south of Palestine. The Amalekites were a branch of the Edomites, (Gen 36:12,) and are mentioned here proleptically. It is not said they smote the Amalekites, but the country (Hebrews the whole field) of the Amalekites.
Also the Amorites in Hazezon-tamar Hazezon-tamar is said to be the same as En-gedi, (2Ch 20:11,) and the latter name lingers in the modern Ain-Jidy, on the western shore of the Dead Sea . The Amorites, descendants of Canaan, (Gen 10:16,) early settled in the palm groves of this region . The conquerors, returning from the south by way of Kadesh, would naturally enter the vale of Siddim from the west, and smite these Amorites on their way.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 14:7. They returned, and came i.e.. The kings mentioned Gen 14:5 returned from the conquest of the people enumerated in the foregoing verses, and then came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, a city in the frontiers of Idumaea, near the place where the Israelites afterwards murmured for want of water, and where God supplied them with water out of the rock En-mishpat, which signifies the fountain of judgment, might probably be so called, because judgment was there administered to the neighbouring people; or perhaps it was so called in after-times, from that severe judgment which God in that place passed upon Moses and Aaron for humouring the people in their unbelief. See Num 20:12.
And smote the country of the Amalekites Hence it is evident, that Moses, under the direction of the Divine Spirit, who inspired him, intermixed ancient with modern names; which renders it difficult to give a determinate account of the nations and people referred to. The country of the Amalekites means that country which was inhabited by the people so called in the days of Moses; for the Amalekites had their name from Amalek, Esau’s grandson, ch. Gen 36:12. For the Amorites, see ch. Gen 10:16. and Deu 20:20. Hazezon-tamar, was the same with Engedi, 2Ch 20:2 a city, lying afterwards within the borders of the tribe of Judah, not far from the Dead-sea, Jos 15:62.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 14:7 And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which [is] Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
Ver. 7. And smote all the country. ] Great is the woe of war. See Trapp on “ Gen 14:2 “ Great also was the goodness of God to Abram, in giving so many, and so victorious, nations into his hands.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
En-mishpat = the spring of judgment. Not yet Kadesh = the Sanctuary.
all the country. Hebrew “the whole field”, put by Synecdoche (of the Part), App-6, for country.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Kadesh: En-mishpat or Kadesh, was about 8 leagues south of Hebron. Gen 16:14, Gen 20:1, Num 20:1, Deu 1:19, Deu 1:46
Amalekites: Gen 36:12, Gen 36:16, Exo 17:8-16, Num 14:43, Num 14:45, Num 24:20, 1Sa 15:1-35, 1Sa 27:1-12, 1Sa 30:1-31
Hazezontamar: Called by the Chaldee, “En-gaddi,” a town on the western shore of the Dead Sea. Jos 15:62, 2Ch 20:2
Reciprocal: Num 13:29 – Amalekites Jos 15:3 – Zin Jdg 11:16 – came Jdg 12:15 – in the mount 1Sa 23:29 – General 2Sa 1:8 – an Amalekite