Ver. 11. And—as they—were in the going down to Beth-horon— First, the kings in league fled towards Beth-horon, which was situate upon a little hill to the north of Gibeon. Their design evidently was to throw themselves into the place, and to occupy the heights of the mountains; but they were yet only on the declivity of the hill which led to Beth-horon, when the power of God armed nature to complete their overthrow. Hence, probably, the name Beth-horon, which signifies literally the house of anger.
And—the Lord cast down great stones—upon them unto Azekah, and they died, &c.— I. Some able commentators understand these words of a real shower of stones. This is the opinion of Grotius, Masius, Bonfrere, Vossius, and some others, particularly Calmet; see his learned Dissertation before his Commentary on Joshua. The substance of their arguments is here subjoined. I. The text expressly signifies, that the Lord cast upon the army of the Amoritish kings great stones; and, though these stones are immediately after called hail-stones, yet that is only to denote the swiftness, quantity, and size of these stones. Indeed, the expression to fall like hail is not only common to all the ancient, but has also been preserved in most modern languages. 2. History makes mention of divers showers of stones having fallen in the course of time at divers places, and even speaks of enormous masses falling from heaven; witness that which Calmet attests to have been seen in the parochial church of Ensishem in Alsace, and which, we are assured, fell among the hail on the 7th Nov. 1492. It is like a blackish flint which had been in the fire, and whose circumference had been broken into several pieces; it is said to have weighed about three hundred pounds. These facts, say some, are so well attested, that one cannot entertain a doubt of them without being guilty of manifest temerity. 3. No one can deny that dust, sand, earth, and other materials, may be carried to a considerable height into the air by a whirlwind: now what can hinder these matters from mixing with sulphureous, bituminous, or oily exhalations, and with the moisture of the clouds, hardening together through their own weight, and the pressure of the air and clouds, so as to fall afterwards, when they can be no longer kept up? Or, the shower of stones mentioned by Joshua might happen thus: Flints might have been raised into the air by a blast or whirlwind from without, or by a fire and compressed air from within. The wisdom of the Almighty might so manage these causes, and so determine them, as to produce their effects at the time and in the circumstances proper for destroying the enemies of his people. Nothing, in one sense, is more natural than all this; nothing, in another sense, more miraculous. It is by no means necessary, therefore, to have recourse to a figurative sense, nor, as others have done, to the assistance of angels, to account for this miracle, since all that was supernatural in this event consisted merely in the directing of the tempest in such a manner as to make it fall on the heads of the Canaanites.
II. Such, in substance, are the arguments urged in support of the literal sense. But to most commentators they seem very insubstantial; and not without reason. For, 1. That which Joshua calls stones, he himself explains by hail-stones. 2. It is so understood by the LXX, Josephus, (Hist. Jud. lib. 5: cap. 1.) and the author of Sir 46:6; Sir 46:3. The showers of stones spoken of by so many writers have the appearance of fable, and merit little or no credit. See Scheuchzer, tom. iv. p. 106. 4. On the contrary, the fearful devastations of hail are determined by Scripture, Exodus 9:23; Exodus 9:35.Ezekiel 13:13; Ezekiel 22:5. They are no less so by facts drawn from ancient and modern history, all absolutely incontestable. Let any one but open the Philosophical Transactions of our Royal Society, and he will see examples, taken not only from past ages, but almost from our own time, of hail-stones nearly half a pound in weight, which have ruined countries, and killed great numbers of men and beasts for seventy miles round. Such was the hail which fell in Suffolk the 17th of July 1666; that which oppressed the country about Lisle in 1686; that which happened in Wales in 1697; and, particularly, that which did so much damage in Staffordshire in the same year. We have, moreover, an account of the hail which in 1717 desolated Namur, and the whole country round it, the smallest pieces of which weighed a quarter of a pound, others a pound, others three, and some eight. All these events prove, that hail-stones alone are sufficient to have done that damage to the army of the Amorites which is mentioned by the sacred historian; so that nothing obliges us to have recourse to another explanation. 6. If then it be asked, wherein confirms the miracle? It is easily answered, that it is in the circumstances of the event, which happened in the very instant proper for assisting those to whom God had promised victory; and which, without doing any hurt to God's protected people, destroyed his enemies, and was more fatal to them than the sword of the conquerors: an event that will always be considered as a miracle by every unprejudiced mind. God, for the working of miracles, has frequently employed the agency of second causes and natural phaenomena: frequently, without producing new beings, he only employs in a manner extraordinary, and impossible to any but himself, those beings which his hand has already formed. In the present case, perhaps, he might not form the hail by an immediate effort of his Omnipotence, and perhaps the impetuous wind which caused it to fall with full force from Beth-horon to Azekah, i.e. twelve or fourteen miles in extent, had nothing in it but what was natural; but the time when the thing happened, and the persons who suffered it, shew his hand too visibly for us to be able to overlook it. To conclude, fabulous story has imitated, or rather disfigured this wonderful event, by assuring us, that, at the prayer of Hercules, Jupiter sent a shower of hail upon Albion and Bergion. See Pomp. Mela. lib. 2: cap. 5. Calmet and Bibliotheque Raisonnee, tom. 29: p. 2 art. 8.