Ver. 10. And chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon— That is, by the way of the mountain on which the town of Beth-horon was raised at the time of writing this book; for that town did not yet exist, nor was it built till the Israelites had taken possession of the land of Canaan. It was founded by Sherah, the daughter or granddaughter of Ephraim. See 1 Chronicles 7:24. But it should be remarked, that she built Beth-horon the nether and the upper; these are the expressions of the historian. We do not exactly know the situation of these two towns; both of them were in the tribe of Ephraim, one to the south, the other to the north. It is certain, that that of which we are now speaking is Beth-horon the nether, or the southern, which was upon the frontiers of Ephraim, near the mountains. See Wells's Geog. vol. 2: p. 200.
And smote them to Azekah and unto Makkedah— The towns of Azekah and Makkedah are afterwards reckoned among the cities of Judah, chap. Joshua 15:35; Joshua 15:41. They are both placed in the northern part of that tribe. Azekah could not be a great way from Jarmuth, so far as one may judge from chap. Judges 15:35 and consequently must be less northerly than Makkedah.