Joshua 13:4 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

i.e. From those southern parts of the sea-coast now possessed by the Philistines, all the more northern parts of the sea-coast being yet inhabited by the Canaanites, almost as far as Sidon, as it here follows; for there is no mention made of any conquests of Joshua upon the sea-coast. The Canaanites, properly so called, are said to dwell by the sea, Numbers 13:29, and these are here spoken of, though some of them dwelt in other parts of the land. Mearah; a strong place; it matters not whether it was a city, or an impregnable cave, which some writers mention to be in those parts. Aphek; not that of Judah, of which Joshua 15:53 but another in the tribe of Asher, of which Joshua 12:18 Judges 1:31. To the borders of the Amorites: the Amorites were a strong and very numerous people, and we find them dispersed in several parts, some within Jordan, and some without it; some in the south, and others in the north, of whom he speaks there.