Ver. 29. Then the coast turneth to Ramah, &c.— There were several cities of this name in Palestine. Masius supposes the present to be the same as was afterwards called Zarepta. Ramah signifies high, elevated; and such, it seems, was the situation of Zarepta, celebrated for its vineyards, which evidently suppose an elevated situation.
And to the strong city Tyre— So the LXX and Vulgate, followed by a variety of interpreters, translate the clause. Sidon is much spoken of in the Books of Moses, and even in Jacob's prophesies: the famous city of Tyre was not in being till the time of David. Homer, who makes frequent mention of Sidon, and the Sidonians, nowhere takes notice of the Tyrians. The sacred writer in this place, therefore, must have intended to point out some other city of the same name; there were four different places in Phoenicia called Tyre. Perhaps the historian here had in view Palaetyrus or Ancient Tyre, which was built on the main land, whereas the other Tyre was erected over against it, in an island. This is the opinion of Perizonius, Grotius, Calmet, Le Clerc, &c. For an ingenious account of the origin of Tyre, &c. we refer the reader to the learned chronology of M. Vignoles, lib. 4: cap. 1, &c.
And the coast turneth to Hosah—and—to Achzib— From the neighbourhood of Tyre, the western border of Asher came round towards Hosah, (a place now unknown,) and abutted on the territory or neighbouring quarter of the sea, in the next adjacent district of Achzib, which, according to St. Jerome, is the same city as Pliny calls Ecdippa. Maundrell, in his voyage to Aleppo, p. 53 gives the following account of it; "Having travelled about an hour in the plain of Acra, we passed by an old town called Zib, situate on an ascent, close by the sea side. This may probably be the old Achzib, mentioned, Judges 19:29 and Joshua 1:31 called afterwards Ecdippa; for St. Jerome places Achzib nine miles distant from Ptolemais, towards Tyre, to which account we found the situation of Zib exactly agreeing."